I’m hanging my head in shame. This book had been sitting on my NetGalley shelf for longer than I care to admit and was published back in May. I finally picked it up after wanting something easy after my last bookclub pick and, well, let me tell you… I loved it. Also, why aren’t more people talking about this book?

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano is, as you may have guessed, the story of Rose and recounts the nine different ways her life could have gone, depending on her reaction to a certain conversation with her husband about their decision whether or not to try for a baby (think Sliding Doors).

This book was such a careful and thoughtful examination of motherhood. Unlike popular opinion might suggest, choosing to become a mother isn’t always natural or easy or even desired. The stories of Rose beautifully look at the various options out there, from outright rejection of motherhood to overwhelming acceptance and everything in between. The one message that rings through loud and clear is that there is no right or wrong way, only YOUR way.

Rose is surrounded by an amazing support crew in the shape of her parents and friends. Through the shifting stories of her life, this book also looks at the various way women might mother without ever having given birth to a baby. So very well done!

I felt with Rose in each and every one of her nine lives. I, too, had my doubts about motherhood and was never truly broody. I wondered how it would affect my career (a lot, it turns out), my relationship (also a lot, although not necessarily for the worse), my goals in life, etc.

Today I’m blessed with two gorgeous boys and have zero regrets but that’s just MY story, and what’s worked for me may not necessarily do so for someone else.

I’d highly recommend this book to anyone, whether or not you’ve grappled with the question of parenthood or not. It’s such a sensitive and beautiful examination of life choices and a truly accomplished work of fiction.

This was an honest look at both motherhood and being child-free. Freitas has written a story featuring nine versions of the same woman, Rose, all with the same experiences and history. And each Rose's story starts at the same place: having an argument with her husband about pre-natal vitamins. Because Rose had always been sure she didn't want children, and her husband agreed with her when they got married. But then he changed his mind and he's pressuring Rose to change hers too.

And that's where the different stories start to diverge, weaving a complex look at modern motherhood and society's expectations for women. Because the other characters in this story have opinions about motherhood and they're not afraid to share them, just like in real life. There's the parents who are eager or desperate to become grandparents. There's the best friend who's ride-or-die until she's not. The friends who give knowing looks. The casual assertions of "oh you'll change your mind, all women eventually do". And there's the husband who suddenly wants something very different from life.

I was a little bit afraid that all the Roses would eventually fall back into one who would decide that society and her husband were right, that she needed to become pregnant and have a kid at all costs because otherwise her life would be meaningless. I'm happy to say that that definitely did not happen. Throughout the story, Freitas gave equal value to whatever decision that particular Rose had made for herself. Unlike in some other books that tackle the same subject, there were also no "punishment from God" type situations, where one version of Rose had a more miserable life than another one because of her decision.

All in all, this story made me feel many different things. I laughed and I cried. I was cheering for Rose and then the next moment felt frustrated by her. I judged her. I definitely judged other characters. But throughout, nobody became a villain or a monster. Despite all the messy events that take place in every Rose's life, every character and every decision was treated fair by the story. Which was such a relief to read.

You might need to take notes while reading this one though, because keeping track of so many different versions of the same character can end up being really confusing along the way.

Rose Napolitano doesn't want children. Her husband didn't want children too, but now he is has changed his mind. In this Sliding Doors-esque book, we see how Rose's life turned out differently when she made a slightly different decision at one, seemingly innocent moment. We see nine different versions of Rose.

There aren't enough books out there that deal with the topic of women who are child-less by choice and who don't want children. The reason why this book is so important is that it doesn't seek to justify why Rose doesn't want children -- it isn't because of something awful that happened in her childhood or that she's a terrible person who isn't capable of love or that she's selfish, or one of the many other reasons that people with children think lies behind the decision. The author doesn't judge the decision to have (or not have children). And it shows that Rose can lead a fulfilling life, no matter what decision she takes at that very moment.

Absolutely loved this. So multi-faceted, relatable, feminist and emotional.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and chose it because it’s one of only few books that has a woman at its centre who doesn’t want children.

Stylistically, this novel reminded me of Life After Life in it’s structure, The premise is very basics - Rose, who has never felt the inclination to have children, wonders whether she could have one after all. Her husband Luke would like to try. We then explore nine different lives to see where other decisions take her. Having found out at the age of 24 that is was very unlikely I’d have children, I really related to the issues raised by the book. Some of her lives were closer to home than others, but I did enjoy the fact that whatever decision was made, it raised different issues. Rose is a successful academic who has argued with her husband about taking pre-natal vitamins. She said she would, but didn’t. The row escalates and ends their marriage. Then she finds herself having the argument again and it goes differently. They stay together and Rose has to seriously think about whether she wants to become a mother. In the Groundhog Day process of choosing over and over again, shows us how small changes and openness to change can reinvent our lives. I’ve lived my life in different chapters. My husband died and eleven years later I met my present partner and he has two gorgeous girls who I help bring up. We often talk about the fact that if I hadn’t gone through such tragedy, we wouldn’t all be together and I wouldn’t be a step mum.

I loved the way the author looked at the expectations of society and other generations to having children - of course any judgement made fell instantly on the woman and not the man, Even now in the 21st Century there are expectations on mother’s shoulders from judgements about not breast-feeding, and about breast feeding if done in public. I’ve heard childless people called ‘selfish’ and this hurts particularly when you’ve had no choice in the matter. How can not having a child be selfish? - yes if you don’t have children there’s more disposable income for holidays and other treats, but that’s just financial. From the amount of people who say they WANT a child, it could seem that some people have children for purely selfish reasons. There are voracious debates against women who stay at home to look after their children and against women who go out to work. Mothers can’t win, There were parts of this book that made me so angry. I wanted Luke to stand up to his parents who support his change of heart and want grandchildren, They needed to back off from Rose and he does let his wife down. He had said he never wanted children and his change of heart is pushing Rose into a corner. She’s livid that her life achievements like her PhD and professorship are thought of as nothing, next to choosing to breed. There are no conversations where Luke agrees that they’d made a promise to each other that won’t have children and he’ll honour it. The onus here is always on the woman. All of this is touched on in the book, the whole range of human experience, from love to loss, divorce, betrayal. a woman’s ability to pursue her career and what these choices do to her sense of self. It was fascinating, infuriating and really did resonate strongly. I’m going to recommend it to my friends.

When Rose and Luke were married Rose made it very clear that she was not interested in having children, and Luke agreed. However, some years later Luke (and his parents) start to put pressure on Rose to change her mind. She has a successful academic career and for her that is enough. The book enfolds into various scenarios of how things may turn out, depending on what decisions she and Luke make. I found it really interesting, especially in the 21st century how women who don't want to have children are viewed. I was rooting for Rose all the way! (And I do have children)

I loved this book. The author explores how the outcome of each of Rose and Luke's fight created a new life for Rose. Each new life is well explored and the author does a good job of fleshing out the characters, particularly Rose and her reasons for not wanting a child

Rose and Luke are happily married - or so Rose thought. From the start of their relationship, they've both agreed that they didn't want, and wouldn't have children. But now Luke has changed his mind. Should Rose change hers too to make Luke (and his parents) happy?
I'm a bit of a sucker for this style of book, one which explores the what-ifs of life. Maybe we've all wondered what would have happened if we'd done things differently? Take one decision and life unfolds in a certain way. Take another and things are completely changed. But, to be honest, I didn't find the alternate 'lives' presented here to be different enough to be really compelling, and I didn't like the 'happy families' ending.

The starting premise is that one day Rose and Luke argue over whether or not they'll have a child. And in different time-lines, the fall out from the argument is different - sometimes Luke leaves, sometimes Rose does, sometimes their relationship carries on - but the slightly disappointing aspect was that whatever happens somehow having a child to love and care for (even if not her own) is seen as necessary for a happy-ever-after scenario for Rose.

Generally I didn't find Rose to be a character I could sympathise with. She made sure from the outset that Luke was aware of her decision to never have children, yet it hardly takes any persuading from him for her to consider changing her mind. Also, when there's surely no need to choose between career and having children these days, Rose's main objections didn't make sense - it was as if the author didn't want to follow the thought path that not everyone likes children or wants them. I'd have enjoyed it more if in at least one version Rose had thrown Luke out, and led an exciting, fulfilling, childless life.

Sadly just didn’t work for me. I found that each replayed life didn’t have enough to distinguish it - and it felt overplayed. The premise is similar to that employed by The Midnight Library - while I got bored of her reliving her life each time, ML managed to keep me engaged while NLofRN didn’t achieve this.

It does lend itself to thinking about situations from multiple perspectives and enables you to replay scenarios - however sadly this book fell short for me.

The premise of this book is basically should Rose, a woman who has always said she never wanted to be a Mother, actually change her mind and have a baby. It then explores 9 different possible story-lines to reach a conclusion.

It is definitely an interesting subject to explore that I suspect many women can relate to in some form or other. The writing is strong and the characters well fleshed out and believe but I found keeping track of the 9 different story lines a struggle at times. Some stood out more than others and some seemed to merge into each other and where harder to differentiate between.

However it kept my attention right to the end. I wanted to know which of the lives Rose ended up with, but to be honest I was hoping it would be a whole new life we had not even touched on yet where she kept to her pledge never to be a Mother and had a wonderful life anyway. Sadly that is only partly what happened and the fact that having a child or there being a child in her life even if it is not hers seemed to be the outcome in the story-lines that were happy felt a betrayal of the subject matter that claims to be for all women like Rose who never wanted a baby. I think if you are one of those women who never wanted a baby and felt pressures to or have chosen the no Mother route you will be dismayed by the end and maybe even angry.

I would read something by this author again though as I think she is a good writer. It is a well written book just the story and the ending didn't work for me.

As a woman in my 40s who has never wanted to become a mother, I found this book riveting, comforting and a little scary. I worried needlessly that it would be difficult to follow but actually found that the complexity of the parallel lives did not detract from the stories. I struggled to put it down and would recommend to everyone, regardless of your gender and regardless of your choices in life.

I was intrigued, but a little daunted by the idea of this book. How was I going to keep track of all the lives? In fact they are slowly introduced, and it’s not that difficult.
Rose is married to Luke, when they married, it was agreed that they wouldn’t have children, but now Luke isn’t so sure.
The book focusses on a pivotal point in their marriage, from where the many alternative lives are explored.
I enjoyed the exploration of the multitude of choices women have today in terms of work, and parenthood, and how there have always been pressures, they are just different for each generation.
Also addressed is the view of society of women who choose not to conform to accepted role models.
The relationship between Rose and her mother was beautifully drawn.
This would have been five stars, but for the ending, which was far too tidy for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the opportunity to read this book.

I really liked The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano! This isn't a book I would normally pick up, but I took a chance on it and found myself pleasantly surprised by this novel all about one woman and her life-altering decision about whether or not to have a child.

The good:

✧ I think a novel like this has to invest you in its main character, and Freitas definitely did that. Rose felt very real. She differed, sometimes quite considerably, between lives. At times she was someone to root for, others she was very unlikeable, but ultimately she felt very human. And that's a great thing because this story was all about exploring very human themes. As Rose, who has always been vehemently against becoming a mother, decides whether or not to have a baby, the reader is taken along with her for the journey and we get to really understand what makes her tick, we're pulled along with each of her thoughts and feelings.

✧ The rest of the cast, and the relationships formed between Rose and these characters, was also very strong. There are elements of each of the relationships that just about anyone could relate to in one way or another. It's not just Rose, but also the richness of these relationships (positive or negative) that carries this story.

✧ This was a really interesting way to explore themes of motherhood, womanhood, feminism, etc. Of course, the butterfly effect is not a new concept, but it was a fascinating way to demonstrate and explore the multi-faceted nature of what it means to be a woman to oneself, a significant other, and society.

The bad:

✦ The only major criticism I would have is that it was a little confusing to keep track of what had happened in each of Rose's nine lives. Some stuck in my head pretty easily, but after a while, I ended up having to make a note on my phone that I could refer back to so that I could remind myself of what had happened. Especially when multiple lives were covered in a single chapter, it made sense storywise, but it wasn't the best for clarity.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a light read and an in-depth character to go on a journey with!

I'd like to give a massive thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot put into words how much I love a good non-linear story, almost as much as I love reading alternate timelines and parallel lives. I was super excited when I first read the blurb for this novel. It sparked many conversations between my husband and I about writing and reading these types of narratives, and I enjoyed how Rose’s personality shifted depending on the choices made but still carried the same strong core voice throughout.

Much of the book is given over to what I suppose must be Rose’s internal monologue as she questions herself and those around her, figures out what she wants and occasionally turns over and attempts to understand her own darkest thoughts. It is really, really nice to read such a well realised character, and this is definitely one of the book’s strengths.

However, it also helped me to pick up on one of the book’s greatest weaknesses, which is that the other characters are not quite as well fleshed out. When the book is constantly bouncing around between 9 different “lives”, a deeper understanding of what on earth is wrong with Rose’s husband Luke is nowhere to be found. Across their different paths he can be manipulative, lacking in empathy for her position in their conflict, manages to cheat across many different versions of their marriage, is a disappointing father, and is generally unsupportive even though we are told that at one point he was essentially The Best Man Ever and that their love story was beautiful. I would have loved something that gave a little more background as to why he ultimately goes back on his promise to Rose that he would never want children other than that his parents started to bother him about it.

Maybe the biggest issue of all is that the story is a little bloated with all these different lives. At one point I had to stop reading for a day to finish up a university assignment and I was very confused when I returned to it and ultimately made the choice to stop attempting to track which life was which and just get on board. Maybe if it was “The Four Lives of Rose Napolitano” (although I recognise that it does not have the same ring) we could have had that space to delve into Luke’s story, or gotten a little extra on why her friend Jill is so invested in her original decision not to have children, or perhaps we could have seen her with different children as her one possible child appears to be a girl called Addie -no matter what happens- without fear of losing the thread of the story.

All this said though, I did like the character Rose most of the time, and when I didn’t, I still felt like I understood the choices she was making. The book gave me a lot to think about and made me cry at a slightly unexpected moment toward the end.

This is a new author for me and I was intrigued by the premise of the book. I found it fascinating, how a woman's life could evolve after making one single decision. I loved the relationship between Rose and her parents and the subject of being a parent with all the life changes that involves was really well examined. However, I have to admit I found it hard to keep track of what life Rose was living at each point, so much so that I am tempted to go back and reread the book while noting down which life is which!

I think I enjoyed this more when I stopped trying to remember which 'life' was which. I found it confusing and annoying before this letting go as some of the lives' are very similar. Ultimately this is an interesting novel about the decision not to have children and the pressure it puts on a couple. Unusually, it is the man in this novel who wants to go back on their promise of childlessness, prompted by his own parents. I am sure that many couples make this decision and feel pressured by their families and society in general. Don't be put off this book if you disagree with the childless idea, in some 'lives' there is a child who is very loved. This would be a fabulous choice for a book club, it raises many interesting questions about relationships, parenthood, societal attitudes and the 'who's body is it anyway' debate. Very good read.

The formatting of this book could be confusing if you don’t read the subtitles.

This has one of my favourite tropes in story telling. What could happen if? This book details the life of a women and all the what ifs that could happen if she made different decisions at certain junctions of her life.

I really enjoyed this book.

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano was a strange one for me. I neither loved it or hated it, it just felt very middle of the road.

I think I would have connected with this one more if I was at a different stage of my life. Because even though I loooove alternate universe and Sliding Doors stories, I just couldn’t connect with the main character of this one. The reason for this is because all of her alternate lives revolved around having or not having a child, and that’s just not a stage I’m at.

I felt a lot of sympathy for Rose though because no matter what life she was in, her husband was Not the One. I really didn’t like him and I was crossing everything that Rose would just leave him. It wasn’t a nice relationship to read about. But that’s kind of the point of the book.

I think this will be a great book for some people. A lot of people will understand the pressure that is being put on Rose to have a child, pressure that comes from within the family and from outside. I just personally didn’t find the book all that exciting or relatable (at least, not for the most part).

I enjoyed this book, as it was nice to read about the experience's of a woman who knows she does not want children, and I found the constant harassing of her from all in her life on that matter to be very realistic. I will say that I think I would have preferred to read about 3/4 alternative lives, and go deeper into their mindsets? For example, I really liked the character of Thomas and would have liked to have read more about his and Rose's relationship. I didn't really like the character of Luke in any of the scenarios! Although, I think that may have been the point...

An interesting take on a familiar "sliding doors" story, though I can't say it left me begging for 1 more chapter before bed as some books do. Ok read for if you want something to do