I am really in the minority on this one, and that’s okay. That being said, I went into this book with pretty high expectations. It was pretty hyped when it first came out and continues to receive a lot of really positive reviews. Unfortunately it just didn’t work for me.

What I liked:

1. The concept was intriguing. I like the idea of a sci-fi thriller.

2. It has a cinematic quality to it. Especially in the beginning, I could just see it very clearly in my head. I feel like this could be an interesting movie or limited series. Apparently the rights have been purchased to turn the book into a movie, but I haven’t heard anything concrete.
*EDIT: So I learned after I posted this review that this man is actually a screenwriter. This makes complete sense to me. The way this is written, it almost sounds more like a screenplay than a true narrative story.*

What I didn’t like:

1. Vague descriptions of synopsis vs. reality of the narrative.
I didn’t actually read a synopsis of this before I read it, but when people would describe it they’d say something like, “It’s about this man who wakes up one day and he’s living a life that isn’t familiar to him. His wife and kid don’t exist and he has no clue what’s going on.” But that is not really what this is about. We know pretty much immediately what has happened to Jason. It takes him a bit, but he gets there too, eventually. I thought I was going into a sci-fi mystery/thriller, but most of the plot points were fairly predictable.


2. Pacing. I found myself bored during the middle part of this book. How many times do we need to hear about the variety of Jason/Daniellas he found? Apparently, the correct answer to that question is 514. It just got very monotonous at a certain point, I get it. His reality was the only one where they stay together. I didn’t need the middle half of the book to focus solely on that for me to understand.


3. Loose ends/plot contrivances. There are so many story points that are just dropped. When Jason and Amanda escape from the corporation the other Jason works for that whole storyline is just dropped. I was expecting it to come back later and it never does.

Also, Amanda seems pretty pointless to me as a character. She helps Jason escape, which is very convenient, but after that point her character serves little to no purpose, except as a lukewarm wannabe love interest. She disappears about 2/3 through the book and is barely mentioned after that.

4. I also didn’t understand what was so special about Daniella that would make potentially hundreds of Jasons fight for her. Seriously, they were willing to KILL for her. I just don’t get it. Why is the only acceptable universe the one where they stay together? Are we supposed to believe that they had no validity as individuals? That they couldn't possibly be happy without the other? Ehhhh...I'm not buying it.

5. The writing style. The writing style was interesting, but I did find the structure to be a little distant. It is almost told as though he’s writing a report about it instead of me being immersed in the narrative. It was very step-by-step.

Generic example (I listened to the audiobook and I’m writing this on a plane so I can’t directly quote the book):
“I go to the store. I want to buy a bottle of wine, but they don’t have the kind my wife likes. I decide to go home instead. On my way out the door my phone rings. It’s my wife. She asks me to get ice cream. I go back in the store and pick out her favorite flavor. Then I drive home just in time for dinner.” It just has a simplistic quality to it that didn’t connect with me.


6. Lackluster climax. From the rave reviews I was expecting some sort of big twist at the end, but that was nowhere to be found. There was a moment where I thought the book had the option to go very dark, which I would’ve had a lot of respect for. When he calls for all the Jasons to meet and have a lottery for Daniella and Charly, my first thought was that he was leading them into a trap and was going to kill all of them in one fell swoop or something. But no. He was actually going to let a bunch of versions of himself hold a lottery where his wife was the prize. WTF?! Instead, the end ties up relatively neatly when the Jasons let them go with almost no pushback and I was left feeling underwhelmed.

*EDIT: Other Odds and Ends:

1. I listened to the entire book on audio on a plane ride. It wasn't until I finally read some other reviews that I learned of the unique structure of this book. Apparently there are a lot of paragraph breaks and sentence fragments. I'm trying to understand why this would be the stylistic choice. The only thing I can think it that it's supposed to feel like a stream-of-consciousness type feel. Perhaps it was an attempt to inject some tension into the book, because the narrative itself lacked any sense of foreboding. I'm not sure how this would've affected my overall view of the book, but I don't see it making me completely change my mind.*

There are definitely some interesting conversations to be had with this book in regards to the way in which every choice we make affects the quality and circumstances of our lives, but I didn’t find it to be groundbreaking or particularly unique.

There was so much hype surrounding this book about a year ago, and I was very intrigued by the synopsis. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like the execution was there.