I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from NetGalley.

Wow, what a beautiful read! Erica and Daniel will stay with me as characters for a long time.

We get to know Erica and Daniel as they meet and fall in love and start their life together. Daniel is able to cope with and embrace Erica's "idiosyncrasy" but then tragedy strikes. The couple are thrown into turmoil and lose their way, and their connection to each other. Erica believes she has the power to reconnect them but its not without risks.

Favourite quote, although there were many: 
"All endings are horrible. If you only ever thought of the end of something, you'd never start anything, would you?"

This book has the feel of Sliding Doors and how we make so many tiny decisions every day that all add up in the end.

Out in Kindle now and the paperback is out 15th October 2020.

Thank you to NetGalley, One More Chapter, & HarperCollins UK for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

DNF @ 25%

The idea of this book is brilliant - being able to flit in and out of different paths your life could have taken, if only you had made different choices ... but it did not pan out for me. I normally don't really mind not having good explanations for fantastical elements (see: the movie About Time), but here it didn't work. The characters held appeal and I was interested in seeing what happened to them, but ultimately the plot held me back and I struggled to get to 25%.

What a poignant read!

I absolutely loved the concept of this story, if you got the chance to live another life...would you take it? 
A little twist to the usual love story, which made it interesting and different! 
I loved Erica and Daniel and was routing for them all the way! Who doesn't want to find their Daniel?

It is full of emotion, and questions! My favourite quote "Everything is the product of thousand moments that have gone before,"
Would highly recommend!

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. The Start of Us by Hannah Emery explores the question, “If you had a chance to live another life…would you? At the time of her parent's divorce, Erica discovered she could leave the present time and observe things that happened in the past. It was more of a curse than a blessing because she never knew when it was going to happen and disappearing for hours on end played havoc with her relationships with people because who would believe her? She thought she had outgrown it until it started to happen again after her boyfriend dumped her at a party. Only this time, it’s not someone else’s past she’s watching it’s a version of her who’s parents didn’t get divorced and who she thinks is stronger and more adventurous than she is. That party is a turning point in her life because she meets Daniel at the party and they fall in love and begin a life together, but there is always that what if … and when she and Daniel lose their infant son she begins to wonder if a world without that loss wouldn’t be a better place. The book reminded me a bit of the movie Sliding Doors, I enjoyed reading it and do recommend it. Publishing Date: July 31, 2020. #TheStartOfUs #HannahEmery #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter #HarperCollinsCanada

Although I expected a light yet thought-provoking novel, 'The Start of Us' served up a heaping dose of 'Be careful what you wish for'. The story was a somber reminder that sometimes we need to be grateful for the blessings that we do have. The time-traveling aspect of the story that was necessary for Erica to explore the 'what-if' of her life without Daniel was a bit muddled as far a logic is concerned, but the story still held its ground. With a narrative containing a surprising depth, teeming with emotion, 'The Start of Us' was one of the few books that doesn't take the easy way out. Very good read.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and Hannah Emery for and ARC of 'The Start of Us' in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

Really enjoyed this. Lived the characters and the cover is fab too. First I've read of this author but won't be the last. Thank you to netgalley and the author and publishers for allowing me the chance to read this for my honest review

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a free E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! 
First, I would like to warn people before reading this book that there might be a trigger warning- death of an infant. 
What first drew me to this book was the summery! I thought it was going to be a typical romance, but boy was I mistaken. This book takes the reader on fantastical journey with a woman, who is able to slip through time and see different outcomes of possible futures and chance meetings. This book was a beautiful story about loss, the what-ifs of the infinite choices people make everyday, and love. 
Erica is a strong woman that holds many people at a distance due to her unique secret of being able to slip into different alternate realities. While attending a party, Erica meets Daniel and decides he will be the person outside her family to learn of her secret. As they are building a life together, tragedy hits them hard. Erica and Daniel finds everyday harder and harder to bear the grief that is slowly consuming them. In order  to find their better selves, Erica begins to believe their true lives belongs in the alternate versions of themselves. Erica must make a choice over which life does she really want? Can going back and changing the decisions bring them a better future?
This book has a lot going for it! The premise of the book reminds me of a mix of different movies that have a similar time travel theme. The pacing was very good. The author did a great job writing deep and well written characters that are realistic in the choices and reactions they have throughout the story. Erica, especially, showed a lot of growth with the people in her lives that ultimately helped her to make the best decision! The ending was beautiful and well deserved for the characters.  Overall, I recommend this book to people who love a couple who overcome a lot of obstacles in order to be together! I can't wait to read more by this author!

Overall a cute concept but it fell a little flat for me. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, and I’m not sure explaining the magical realism aspect helped them book at all, it just brought up too many questions that went unanswered.

DNF at 41%.

I really wanted to like this book. Both the description and the cover make it feel so cute, but unfortunately it fell flat for me.  over 100 pages in and I don't feel like I really know either of the main characters and I'm just bored.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own. 

The Start Of Us
By: Hannah Emery 

REVIEW ☆☆☆
I was surprised that I didn't love The Start Of Us like I thought I would. For a romcom chicklit type story, this one leaned too much towards sad for my taste. I just couldn't connect with the overall concept at all, and unfortunately, this book was not for me.

Contrary to other reviews, I actually enjoyed this book. It does deal with tragedy and loss but the "what if" aspect appealed to me. I would have liked more detail of Erica's past and Daniel felt like a secondary character through much of the book. However, I did like the thought of the time travelling/alternative reality part of the book. Erica did annoy me at times but that's OK because characters aren't necessarily meant to be liked all of the time. I would definitely like to read more by this author.

I think the cover of this book is misleading. Based on the cover (which, yes, I know), one would think this was lighthearted chick lit. What this is - is a mix of chick-lit, science fiction and just...plain old fiction. 

Erica is able to see the past. Or, is she? Erica is able to almost time travel -to see choices and decisions that were made that led to her current life. Except - it's not, it's an alternative universe. A  -what if? if you will. 

This wasn't terrible, but I've read a few books who have worked at the angle and have done it 10x better. Still, this was an enjoyable read to plow through while at the beach. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3 stars
This had time traveling, complicated relationships, and the idea of What If. The time put into this book is immense, i am sure, laying out all the what-if moments. For me, this wasn't my type of story but for those who like time travel and the idea of What if, it will give them something to think about.

TW:<spoiler> Infant Death, Death of a Loved One </spoiler>This type of book is right in my must read genre - the contemporary with parallel lives or time moving non-linearly. 

I was not prepared for the tragedy referenced in the synopsis and actually went back to look at it again, confused, because my assumption was wrong and I was so sure that it had <i> said </i> what I thought was going to happen. This is definitely a crying book, and one that didn’t go where I expected in the end, though I was happy with the ending.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book and especially by the comparison to Lydia Bird.  However, the characters did not hold the same charm and I never found them to be likable.  The story seemed to bounce around in a less clear fashion and was hard to follow at times.

Thank you to Netgalley, One More Chapter, Harper Collins UK, and Hannah Emery for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!!

I really enjoyed this book! I love the idea of being able to travel through time, it’s such a fun concept! There are parallels to The Time Traveller’s Wife to me, so if you enjoyed that one give this a try!

I like the characters and the authenticity of their behaviours and reactions to events of life. It is by no means a happy and straight forward love story, but it sure is a love story! I think the author was very creative in the use of time travel and how it evolves within this story. 

I love the authors use of the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I don’t believe there is one person on this planet who has not at one time or another thought “what if...” or “if only I had...”. This book takes a good look at what the alternative could be and shows that life will never be what we think it would be if only we had done things differently.

Give this book a go and see what you think!!!

Trigger warnings: sudden death, domestic arguments

This book was weird AF and all over the place, but I found it strangely enjoyable. Erica was a hot mess, I wish there was more explanation of her situation and with her dad. It had a lot of potential. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Even if the style of writing and the concept are interesting the story didn't keep my attention and it fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love the concept of this book, unfortunately it just did not work for me. There was just some thing about Erica and Daniel that got to me. And I am not sure why I was of the opinion this was gonna be more uplifting, but I found it quite depressing. Although it could’ve just been a case of bad timing.

The author's description paints a vivid picture of Erica and her life(s). The story floats in and out of different stages and the style is smooth enough that it is easy to follow. The narrative's ebb and flow are especially fluid in the first act where we get to know Erica and Daniel. Erica is a frustrating character as she is too flat to be compelling. Daniel is more dynamic, but he's written too thin to drive the story forward. The second act becomes more stagnated and bogged down and mirrors Erica's moods of despair and resignation. I like this parrallel, but the stroy does not build enough and seems to miss the climax. The ending is too brusque considering where Erica and Daniel end up. 
The Start of Us has an interesting idea of time travel, but the traveler is not especially enamored of her gift and does not accomplish much with it. The secondary characters lack the depth that can round out the story and the one character to root for is not the protagonist (Daniel) and becomes background fodder.  It is difficult to see where this book falls, it is not romance as the chemistry is a tad too tepid. The unresolved angst is reminiscent of YA OR NA, but it's not marketed as such. It lacks the lightness of chick-lit and there is not enough set up to be fantasy. Contemporary fiction technically fits the bill, but it lacks resolution. I like the writing and the concept, but this story faltered out of the gate.