Wow. I don't think when I knew what this book was going to be about at all when I started listening to it. Thora and Santi keep on finding themselves in Cologne and living their lives all over again, time after time and only they remember. Why is the huge twist of the book and I'm not going to give it away but this isn't the simple romance it might seen on the surface. In most lives Thora is gay anyway. It really touched me, and left me with a tear in the eye, despite the fact that I was driving at the time.

Thora and Santi are strangers in a foreign city when a chance encounter intertwines their fates. At once they recognise in each other a kindred spirit - someone who shares their insatiable curiosity, who is longing for more in life than the cards they've been dealt. Only days later, a tragic accident cuts their story short.

When Thora and Santi meet each other in different lives, they had no recollection of the previous times they had met each other. Until something unusual happened in one of their lives.

Each chapter is like a short story of Thora and Santi meeting in a different place. Thora and Santi live in many different lives together: lovers, co-workers, siblings and many more. I had no idea where this story was going or how it was going to end. The book is divided into three parts, Things only started making sense nearer the end. You do need to read this book with an open mind. A story of unconditional love.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #CatrionaSilvey for my ARC of #MeetMeInAnotherLife in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable and unique read about how our relationships with other people define us. Definitely worth reading if you're looking for something a bit different.

Nicely written but the storyline was just too confusing for me. It seemed like lots of short stories told within one story with the characters all having the same names. I must admit, I gave up when I was about 25% of the way through!

Wonderful absorbing story, so clever and calibrated to make you aware of more of the story and the connections as you read on, learning about Thora and Santi as they learn about themselves and about each other.

So much heartbreak and hope, I read this book in one sitting and will read it again to catch the nuances and the clues I may have missed first time around.

Truly remarkable, absorbing and touching, a love story to hope and endurance.

When Thora and Santi meet for the first time a ruined clock tower in Cologne, they recognise in each other a restless yearning for something bigger. Their relationship is cut short by a tragic accident, but this is not the end. Thora and Santi meet over and over again in various lives as lovers, enemies, siblings, parent and child, teacher and student—always living in the same town and cursed to remember all of their past lives while attempting to live the current one. Santi is philosophical and hopeful—he looks for meaning and trusts in a higher power. Thora is cynical and struggles with a sense of futility. But neither of them have any idea why they are trapped, living different versions of their lives over and over again.

For most of the book I wasn’t entirely sure where this magical-realist time loop/parallel worlds story was going. The sense of doom and inevitability reminded me of Kate Atkinson’s ‘Life After Life’ and the Netflix series, ‘Russian Doll’. But the reason for their multiple lives, when it is finally revealed, is brilliant and devastating—I was entirely blindsided. A wonderfully complex, ambitious story, that is also full of heart and humour. Loved it.

I enjoyed this book very much, especially the clever way it solved what was actually happening. The multiple lives were a mixed bag though, some left you wanting more and a couple were not terribly interesting. The book gets very much better as it goes along, so stick with it and be prepared to laugh and cry. .

I think the main point to say is that this book looks like a collection of short stories with the same characters, and I feel that it should be written clearly in the blurb.

The blurb sounds really amazing, I love the book cover and the marketing around it.

I have to say that I did not finish this book, and maybe one day I will... but I simply don't like short stories and I wasn't engaged in them. I've read until almost the end of Part 1, checked that Part 2 has the same format and gave up.

Maybe one day (or more likely, days) when I'll need something shorter, I'll read the rest of the stories separately.

I love the writing, the emotions that the stories brought. I even cried on one of them a little bit. The potential is huge, I just don't think I was the right person to this book format.
It's definitely an interesting idea to write a collection of short stories with the same characters, so people would get used to them, there are several themes repeated in every story (like being an astronaut, interest of stars and religious belief that Santi has).

Unfortunately at this point it's DNF for me, but it's only because I'm not the right audience. If the book was clearly stating those are short stories, I wouldn't have picked it up. I appreciate the unique idea, love the writing, so it's 3* for me.

When I first started reading this book, I will be honest I found it confusing, and a bit slow and tedious. The jumping from chapter to chapter was just not making sense, and dragged a bit. Why were we being presented with new life stories over and over? With characters of the same names? Yet of different ages, with different relationships to one another? While confused, and at times frustrated, I wanted to understand what was happening. The more I read the more the commonalities became clear, and the threads linking the life stories began to weave their way into each chapter, and I found myself well and truly gripped. Santi and Thora were on a mission to discover why this was happening to them, and I went from a curious reader, to one just as frantic in the race against the clock.

A beautifully written piece, unique, thought provoking and complex.

*I received this book from NetGalley for review but all opinions are my own.

From the initial description, the premise of 'Meet Me In Another Life' seems reasonably straightfoward - Thora and Santi are destined to be together and will meet in many different guises until they finally discover the truth. Therefore, this is a love story. Not exactly, 'Meet Me In Another Life' is a love story but it is also part mystery and part life lesson. A highly enjoyable, thought provoking tale, where our two protagonists will meet repeatedly in multiple scenarios and timelines, each time learning a little more about each other. Each time, there are clues to the truth behind their meetings and this intriguing universe created by Catriona Silvey - enough clues to help the reader start to guess but never enough for us to fully imagine the truth.
An exciting and thoroughly original story - sit back, read and enjoy.

How can I sum up my feelings for this one of a kind read ? Superbly written characters, Santi and Thora draw you in to their story and take you with them on their journey of love and grief to the stars. Little details given throughout the story make you pause for thought - clues maybe scattered into aid or confuse - the constellation tattoo on Thora’s wrist, the Wolf and Fox link, and the constant reference to the clock tower? A love story to cross boundaries ‘ I’ve waited for you for lifetimes’ Just wonderful.

"He wants to believe that each lifetime, they come closer to seeing each other face to face. But now he feels her fleeing from him, back turned as she fades into the dark."

Thora and Santi's lives are inexplicably linked. Sometimes they are lovers, parent and child, student and teacher, friends or patient and nurse. They are anchored by the city of Cologne, an old cat and the clock tower, where strange messages are graffitied. In each incarnation they spar over philosophical ideas, yearn for the stars and eventually start to wonder why they keep meeting. It was an absolute delight to meet these characters in each of their reincarnations as they learned a little more about each other. I shared their hopes and dreams, frustrations and achievements. At times I was cross with them, then I would be filled with pity, or rejoiced in their happiness. I laughed, I cried, I looked at my world a little differently and, as events became clearer, I did not want their story to end.

The plot is so original that I had no idea how it would conclude. It's an immensely satisfying ending to a wonderful book.
I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

This is an amazing read full of love and heartache but there is so much more involved. It is the story of Thora and Santi.Thora has mastered the ability to live many lives. In some she is much older than Santi and in others she is married to him. The plot is controlled by Thora who chases after Santi in many timelines.
More than one philosophical view meanders through the adventures and when you think you understand it another event occurs to confuse aspects of their relationship. It is sometimes love but other times fear. Eventually Santi gets sick of Thora and she too looks for a way out of their situation. This is a very controlled story and it needs to be read more than once. This is the best way to work out all the timelines and who does what in each time and also why. Santi finds love and happiness with other women sometimes before Thora always spoils that time line for him. Thora is a very clever woman who works out all the events each time they happen.
This is an entertaining story that is beautifully constructed. Both of them are always stuck in Cologne Germany. This location they can never seem to escape from. The ending is a surprise but it is the most appropriate way to end their adventures together.

Meet Me in Another Life - Catriona Silvey

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Two people. Infinite lifetimes. One impossible choice.

Thora and Santi are strangers in a foreign city when a chance encounter intertwines their fates. At once, they recognize in each other a kindred spirit—someone who shares their insatiable curiosity, who is longing for more in life than the cards they’ve been dealt. Only days later, though, a tragic accident cuts their story short.

Thora and Santi will always meet in the same place, but not always in the same time. Each chapter is like a short story of a different meeting of the pair. The pair live countless different lives that always intertwine in some way.

This book was completely different to what I was expecting, and I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it. It was an enjoyable read, very well written and great attention to detail. I would definitely recommend reading this book with an open mind.

Rating 4/5

This has been one of the most unique novels I’ve read in quite some time! It follows the main characters of Thora and Santi who go through lifetime after lifetime connected to each other and their quest to discover why this is happening. Such an easy to read and addictive book - I read it in one sitting! Highly recommended and I would read anything else by this author in a heartbeat. Perfection.

When I first started reading this book I thought it was a romance novel.

Thora and Santi met, accidentally, under the stars and climbed an old clocktower to get closer to them. But by the end of the chapter not everything was as it seemed as it came to an end. They meet again in a variety of circumstances over and over but with a few things staying the same. When they meet again in the second chapter he's a teacher and she's his pupil. I must admit I did wonder where the story was going and what was happening but I'm glad I stuck with it to find out.

This is a multi-layered read that will keep you thinking about the possibilities long after you have finished the book. It's beautifully written and an amazing read. Definitely not straightforward but fascinating from start to finish. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Meet Me in Another Life tells the story of Santi and Thora as they meet again, and again, and again, in the same place, at the same time, across many different lives. In what may be fate or a coincidence, the two are drawn together across so many lifetimes that the question soon changes from ‘what is happening?’ to ‘why?’ and it becomes clear that they must work together, despite their consistently differing outlooks, to figure it all out.

This book is unlike anything I’ve read before. The way that it is structured, almost making each chapter a stand-alone short story about Santi and Thora, makes it a very quick and pacey read, but the questions that the characters pose to each other are often quite philosophical and challenging. Despite this, and the constantly shifting scenarios, it was so easy to get completely sucked in and start theorizing my own explanations for their constant meetings that I got through this entire book in a day, desperately waiting for them to figure it all out.

Santi and Thora were fascinating characters and the way their many lifetimes took a toll on them and changed them in each chapter was really interesting to see. Thora especially altered so significantly in the story, but also somehow remained believable, that I was really impressed by how strong her character’s personality was. A lot of this story definitely revolved around the characters finding and understanding themselves, and I think this was done really well.

It took me a while to figure out what was happening towards the beginning, and the major differences in certain lifetimes did throw me off, but I enjoyed every chapter all the same and found myself especially invested in the ending (which did not disappoint). It’s a really worthwhile read overall, and I would absolutely recommend this to anyone that is looking for something unique, or a book that really makes you think.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book,. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I was really looking forward to this book and the concept intrigued me but i think for me there were just a few too many different timelines, some ending really quickly and some going into more depth but in some stages i was getting confused as to which timeline we were in and i had to put it down.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital arc of this book, all opinions expressed here are my own.

Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey is a story that will keep you entranced til the very end.

Thora and Santi have a chance encounter in a local pub. Then they keep meeting. Is it fate or is there more going on? Life after life they reunite. Friends, lovers, teachers, siblings, family. Their lives are always entwined.

It’s hard to say much about the story without spoilers but I found the book well written and enjoyable. An entertaining four star read for me. I feel like it would be perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey is available on the 8th of July.

Beautifully written book, but I could not get into it. It felt repetitive. But I will read it again, as I do not like DNFing books half way through