A book I read in one sitting and couldn't put down.
It's original, enthralling and well written, I loved the plot, the well written and fleshed out characters.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book. If you like stories that would give you the vibes of Sliding Doors or Life After Life, I'd highly recommend it. It's complex, well written, interesting characters. I read it in a short time charmed by the story.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a brilliant book, had me hooked from start to finish. Just as you got comfortable as the reader, things got shaken up again! Lots of different stories being told in one, but without confusing or losing the reader. Made me both laugh and cry and you really get attached to Lauren Pailing, particularly as the book goes on. I can thoroughly recommend this book, very much like Life After Life!

This is a book to confuse your mind as you need to stay on the ball with remembering each underlying story.

It was a funny one to read as I finished it not being sure if I liked it but it kept me in for the full ride to see what happened

So very different and thought provoking. I was intrigued by the thought processes as the story progressed. Well written and enjoyable.

DNF @ 20%.

I was so excited to hear that I had been accepted for this ARC. The author intrigued me, the cover looked beautiful but above all the premise sounded amazing. Having said this, I think what let this book down for me was the concept. It is one of the most original stories that I have read but the execution was a little too confusing for such a unique idea. I found myself having to re-read sections to muddle through exactly what was going on. This distracted me from the overall plot of the novel and I eventually decided to set it aside for now.

I considered reading on further but ultimately I was wasn't invested in this story and I knew that my enjoyment would decrease more the longer that I forced myself to read it. I'm disappointed. A promising concept but not the one for me.

Will I be buying a physical copy of this book for myself? I don't think so, no. I don't think that I will feel the urge to pick it up again anytime soon.

Should you buy this book? Sure. There's nothing to say that you won't enjoy this book just because I didn't, but I think it's important to go into it knowing how another person felt about it.

~ Thank you so much to Harlequin UK & NetGalley for an early review copy of The First Time Lauren Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd.

Ok, this started out an enjoyable read and I found myself wanting to find out more. Then it went a bit dull and I really had to keep plugging on as I thought I must find out what this book is going to end like and found I was left a bit disappointed and empty. #NetGalley#TheFirstTimeLaurenPailingDied

I've been intrigued by the concept of this book for quite some time, so when HQ kindly accepted my request for a NetGalley ARC, I was absolutely delighted. I decided today that I'd dip into a couple of pages and then start my weekend. Safe to say, this is one of few books in my life time that was genuinely unputdownable. I devoured it in one sitting of about three hours and it's one of my favourite reads of the year. Utterly captivating and beautifully written, The First Time Lauren Pailing Died is not to be missed!

Firstly I would like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for my free ARC.
What a deliciously time travelling, sliding doors tale of different lives (and deaths) and how that might cross over in some sort of deja vu type event. The author has used this genre to capture the human essence, the psyche of youth, grief, parenting, relationships and how we grow as we experience life.
The structure was easy to follow set out by character, and with easy prose poignant in places that unravel "looks" and body language with just language.
Lauren Pailing our main protagonist is the time guide. The timeline has one constant - the missing Peter Stanning, and it is this that eventually grips Lauren in a quest to uncover the mystery of her memories. The story has supporting characters each rich with emotion and foibles- not in the least Vera and Bob, Lauren's parents. Lauren grows up having glimpses of different lives but she does not recall her other lives at first but only has some strange memories which she thinks must be false ones. The story converges after a final death and the incredible notion of living your life in multiple universe is brought to the fore. The author brings the story to an end with elegance and style, I was not disappointed.
I highly recommend this page turner. Lovers of The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, A Thousand Paper Birds and How to Stop Time will thoroughly enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ books (HarperCollins) for a review copy.

I really enjoyed this book - especially as a ‘light sci-fi’ fan - the idea of Lauren living (and dying) in multiple lives creating multiple interesting stories.

I am happy to recommend this book as a five star read. I look forward to reading more from Alyson Rudd in the future.

I loved this book. Yes as others have said there are similarities to Sliding Doors (and I think also to Life After Life a bit) but I think the thing that sets it apart is how ordinary each of the lives become. Where Sliding Doors sought to show us extremes, this book merely offers us alternates and I think is the better for it. As the book goes on we're introduced to multiple realities, which sounds as though it will be complex but blissfully isn't at all. I thought it was clever and elegant and somehow made a complicated idea seem so simple.

This book starts well with an evocative description of life in the 1970s as the author describes the inside of a grocery van.
I liked the premise for the story of multiple universes but I didn't feel it quite lived up to its early promise and I wanted to know why Lauren experienced this phenomenon when others didn't. Nevertheless a clever original idea for a book

This book was original but I couldn't get into the story. It wasn't for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

'The more beams Lauren looked through, the more it seemed...that there were endless variations of life'.

The premise of this story is that Lauren is born with the gift of second sight. Whether this gift is a blessing or a curse is for the reader to decide. Without giving any spoilers an event occurs early in the book from which all events then lead. We're given a glimpse into alternative realities which makes for an interesting concept. I found the characterization to be charming, intricate and heart felt. To be human is to err. To go through tragedy is to suffer. But ultimately this has a feel good conclusion and an authentic voice.

#TheFirstTimeLaurenPailingDied is when she was 13. She has seen sunbeams that offer a glimpse into parallel worlds, for all of her life. When she dies, she shifts to one of these worlds, where things are slightly different.

We follow Lauren’s lives and the lives of her family, who are irrevocably changed following losing her. Sometimes I got confused about which ‘version’ I was reading, but this did not inhibit me, I enjoyed figuring it out!

Unpredictable and intriguing, I’d recommend this novel and will look out for further work from the author.

Thank you #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

Gulped this down in one sitting. Yes it is a little 'Sliding Doors' but with an unusual twist. I couldn't stop reading this time shifting, contemporary novel. Not really a thriller, not really a love story, but a tour de force of parental love in all its forms. Riveting.

I really enjoyed the way that this book unfolds. We follow Laura and her family through three different iterations as she jumps an alternate reality when she dies. Laura is aware of these different realities because she could glimpse small clips of each one and with the help of a therapist puts it all together (thankfully for the benefit of the reader!).

This raises all kinds of emotions as each reality plays out in different way with different outcomes for each family member.

The mechanisms of switching realities is dealt with efficiently, leaving plenty of time to mess with characters and pull their lives in all kinds of directions.

I loved the bit about singing along to Kids in America - wicked observation about Ms Wilde's singing abilities but so very true. Also the reality where there are not cats, hilarious.

Having just finished this book I am unsure how to review and rate it. It is an interesting idea and I found the book easy to follow, although it does flit about and keeps you on your reading toes. Lovely sense of time and place and I am old enough to remember everything mentioned, especially the TV programmes. I was unsure about some of the characters as, apart from Lauren, none of them seemed to be padded out enough to seem real., and some were totally superfluous to the story, The ending was a bit of a disappointment but I can't see how else it might have ended. Overall it is probably 3½ stars so I shall be generous and round up to 4. With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting take on parallel lives as Lauren Pailing dies and reappears in slightly different versions of her previous life. This a thought-provoking novel and makes you ponder on the choices you make along life’s journey. A good read.

Such a brilliant book. So clever. The story grips you right through to the very end of the book. Don't want to give anything away but I totally recommend this to everyone.