Welcome to Litsy!

I was expecting an emotionally devastating Sliding Doors style lifelong love story, but I didn't really warm to Jim & Eva.

The 3 versions of their lives felt very similar, whether they were together or apart. I was more invested in the alternate histories than their core relationship.

It did, however, explore the inadequacy of a romantic connection when placed in the context of an entire life. Love isn't always enough. Which sucks.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm not quite halfway through this book & realised a short while ago that I don't really like either of the central characters very much. They're (in turn) resentful, unfaithful, selfish, & make unwise decisions in whichever reality! The only "positive" is their supposedly fate-like feeling of connection.

I am invested in the Sliding-Doors-style premise. I think a lot about alternate realities & different versions in my own life.

Undecided...

Currently reading! (Not even including audiobooks / books for work 😅)

I seem to be reading all the books.

Here we have a bit of a shelf of shame!

These are books that I bought long ago in HARDBACK (so desperate was I to read them that I couldn't wait for paperback...) aaaaaaaand they haven't been read yet 😬

The Versions of Us came out over 7 years ago... The Luminaries about a decade ago 🙈

Whoops... So although I'm knee deep in challenges already, I hope I can get through these this year 💪🏻

Any faves here??

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: One Day

#Scarathlon2022 @StayCurious
#TeamMonsterMash

To begin with I found the three versions kind of hard to follow. As the story progressed I started to enjoy it more and more. A very thought provoking book and perfect example of chance and destiny. Worth a read 💜 #TheVersionsOfUs #LauraBarnett #pick #lovedit

This book reminds me of this movie. So far getting into the alternate timelines, but it was a little tricky to start...

I just can't with this book. 😐
Long broken sentences drive me crazy.

Still trying to get through this. It's a little hard to follow as the 3 timelines occur semi simultaneously and I can't just sit down and read it all at once. I don't really like the characters either, but at about halfway through I feel committed to finish.

Book gifts I got last night at work 😆😊❤️

I have found my #nirvana and it is called 2nd & Charles. I can wander aisles and ogle books and my husband won‘t bug me. He‘s too busy going through the video games.

#bookhaul #moretbr

Finally got round to starting this one, a gift from @Caroline2 - really like it so far, so thank you. #jbuk

Can you tell Daisy has a very hard life? #dogsoflitsy

7 | #SeptemberDanes

Lots of #DejaVu in this one, with three possible outcomes played out after a man and woman meet. Nice idea, but fell a bit flat for me.

This one took me a while to get into. The multiple storylines had me confused at time, but I eased into it after about one third of the book.
I ended up loving this! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved the messages and the intertwining of the characters‘ lives over the span of 60 years

A clever concept but a difficult read with underwritten story lines and characters. I‘d give “The Versions of Us” a miss and will rate it 2 stars.

See my full review on my blog! 📚

This has an interesting approach to a love story. A young couple meet by accident on a college campus in 1958 , then there's 3 different versions of their relationship that play out. I enjoyed this novel .

Thank you so much for the book @Caroline2
After a long day at work (working late on a Friday is the worst) this was a lovely treat to come home to. It sounds really good. I'm going to save this one for my holidays. 🏖️

I love the your Litsy stickers on the package! So cute 😍

#jbuk

I liked this story, even though it was some work. There are 3 versions of the lives of the two main characters. The book continually switches between the 3 lives. I had to keep reviewing to make sure I knew which version I was in. I probably should have just read all version one first, then two, then three. It might have been easier.

I figure I should finish my reading of books with the same story told in multiple versions and start tackling all the ebooks I've downloaded 😏

As I‘ve said before, I‘m fascinated with these “what if” novels. I think we all have moments in life where we make a pivotal decision which sets our future path, and we wonder after the fact what if we would‘ve made a different choice?
I would definitely recommend this book but I think it would be much easier to follow with the paper version. This is a very ambitious work with an interesting premise and I think Laura Barnett really pulled it off.

I‘m almost done with this and like it so far. I‘m fascinated with “what if” stories and this novel is based on three versions of Eva‘s life.

These are the two newest additions to my physical TBR pile !

Good concept- a little hard to follow at first on the Kindle as it went back and forth between three storylines (maybe a better paper read?) There were a few too many affairs for my liking, but overall an interesting look at life and the different paths it may take.

It‘s a little chilly, but definitely bearable. The sun is out and I am able to be reading on the porch! Finally some spring weather 😊

This is good so far. A little difficult to follow at first, with three parallel storylines, but an interesting concept.

Ohhhh, this book!
Read this one with a book club or as a buddy read, because you WILL want to talk it over with others as you read it/right after.
Barnett walks us through 3 different versions of Eva & Jim‘s romance. In all three it is inevitable. But in none is it without a lifetime of complications & difficulties.
I still can‘t decide which version I prefer. I think I‘ll be thinking about it for a while to come.
Read this book!📚
4.5⭐️

Started this one today. So far it‘s a little weird to get into. But I‘m hopeful 🤞

Love the premise of the book—different versions of the story but wondering if I should have read this in book form as it‘s hard to keep up with all the versions. LOL. #litsyhumor #britlit

This was a little confusing to get in to at the start, but once I'd separated the three story arcs, it got easier. A story of two people, and the different ways their lives went, based on one decision. If you'd asked me my opinion a third of the way through, I would have given a very different opinion to the one I have now! I enjoyed it. Very much so. And the ending may have required some tissues 😥

My first ever post on here goes for a book that was written for everyone who, like me, wonders what would happen if they made a different choice. It builds up, taking you on a journey of a love story that feels real, giving you all the feelings and emotions any real relationship would give you. Worth a read, and maybe a thought on how chance and making a decision could change your life forever.
#bookofthemonth

Can anyone recommend any holiday books? Last year I read The Versions of Us and it was the perfect holiday read. What are your favourites?!?

Gosh I'm glad I stuck with this one. It's a bit of a #slowread but worth it - even though the characters make such terrible decisions! Loved them still. It's like Sliding Doors but so much more 😭💛

Quiet, poignant, reflective story - or stories really - about a man and woman and their lives together and apart. The book traces their relationship in three versions of what might have been. Their relationships are never perfect, never smooth, they are not even always together. But it was a beautiful depiction of how easily things could be different and I loved how the author wove together the similar details of each storyline. Really good read.

I LOVED the premise of this book! However, the characters were so unlikable. In each version we followed selfish malcontents who made their lives miserable by only focusing on what they didn't have rather than the many blessings surrounding them. It was tough to finish this book.

I started this book on audio recently. I'm only a little way into it but I am having a little trouble keeping the various stories of Jim and Eva straight. I think listening to it might be making it more confusing. Has anyone else listened to it? Did you get the stories straight after a bit? Or maybe should I try it in print instead?

Hoping to start this before I have to get ready for my sons family birthday party later today. This is his 3rd celebration 🎉 this week at our house for his 8th bday and I'm pooped.... really want to just stay in my pjs and read! Lol... spoiled 8 year old! 😀

Kind of like 'Sliding Doors'. Takes a bit of concentration to remember which characters are in which time stream, but that does get easier so bear with it. An interesting study of how, even with the two same people, even small changes in events can result is big changes in outcome. I didn't always like the characters, but I felt invested in every single version of them.

🍦 ice cream and night reading 📖

I had to giggle and post. This is my life. Books and caffeine all the time 😂💜 it's a great life. Really happy to start this book!

I'm finding it a bit hard to get into this story, or to care about the characters. Did anyone else feel this way?

They are my #lastboikstacked. Yesterday was Top Ten Tuesday on the blog and these are just some of the books that others had considered the nest of 2016 and piqued my interest. I hope I get to them in 2017! #seasonsreadings @RealLifeReading

Love reading by the light from the Christmas tree 🎄

Because he is old enough now to know happiness for what it is: brief and fleeting, not a state to strive for, to seek to live in, but to catch when it comes, and to hold on to for as long as you can 🍂

This #Thanksgiving, I'm #thankful for books, time off to read them, and pumpkin pie 🦃🍁📚

Sliding doors type fiction, well done. Sometime joyous, sometimes reflective, sometimes heart wrenching.

How often people feel this way?...

One couple plus three possible futures? I'm in! I will check you out of library jail, hug you, read under the covers tonight with you, the cat will sleep on top of you and I shall have my morning coffee with you. Same goes to you To The Bright Edge Of The World ❤️

Rainy afternoon reading. ☔️💦🌧 #bookclubpick