I became an instant fan girl of Laura Pearson when I read The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine last year. Her imagination is just so unique when it comes to the stories she wants to tell in her books!
Take this book, The Many Futures of Maddy Hart. Whenever Maddy Hart is in the middle of getting intimate with someone, she is thrown out of the moment and fast forwards to what her life will be exactly 10 years time if she stays with this person. Let's just say, the futures with some of these people do not look great. As a result, Maddy tends to stay away from men as a general rule.
Maddy is trying to make ends meet as an advertising copywriter whilst waiting for her big acting break. One day she is hired for a job where she is a Christmas elf, and there she meets a fellow wannabe actor, Oliver.
When fate throws Maddy and Oliver together again, Maddy does try to resist him but he's just so lovely. And when the times come, she sees a future that seems pretty darn perfect. He meets her parents, and her brother and soon they bond. However, each time she goes to the future she learns more, and it soon becomes clear that her perfect life is a little more complicated than she first assumed. And to get to that perfect future means that she might have to break her own heart, and Oliver's, along the way.
This is a unique story, and the book is filled with great family and friendships. Maddy loves her parents, and she does everything that she can to support them, especially her younger brother, and they in turn are supportive of her even though they don't always understand the decisions she makes. Maddy's best friend Priya is the only one who knows about the visions that Maddy has, and I can understand why she would be curious about what Maddy sees in the future as it relates to her. Another great character was Mrs Aziz who was their neighbour at the beginning of the book, and who becomes a confidante to Maddy.
If I think back to my ex, could I have known what my life would be like 10 years after I met him. Well, yes, I think it probably wasn't a huge surprise that things ended as they did, with me being a single parent. But there are positives though. I have been with my husband for just over 8 years, and if I think back to when we first started seeing each other I was pretty confident early on that we were going to be happy together, and we are. Of course, the difference is that we have to live through those years to get to that point, and trust in fate, and each other.
The central question of the book is really is it better to know what the future holds or is it better to just live it as it happens.
I have seen this book referenced in several reviews as magical realism and at first that label threw me. I therefore went and looked at the definition, which Brittanica.com says is a "narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction." and I can see how that would be applied to this book, and Eliza Valentine too!
This is my third book from Laura Pearson. My favourite is still the first book I read, The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine, but this was also a really good read, telling Maddy's story in a very unusual and unique way! I own most of Laura Pearson's backlist now, and I can't wait to read more of her books, and see what unique tale she comes up with next!
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.
Rating 4/5
About the book
The Many Futures of Maddy Hart
Suddenly Maddy is right there… in her very own future. And it’s all wrong, yet again.
It happens to her every time. When the kisses lead to the bedroom, just when she thinks she might have found the one… Just for a split second, Maddy disappears, and she finds that she’s living her own life. But ten years into the future.
She’s only there for a little while. But each time, it’s long enough to know that she doesn’t want to be any of those future versions of Maddy. Because every man she falls for seems to lead her to a future that is just… wrong.
Until she meets Oliver. And the vision of their future is happy. Beautiful even. A little girl runs around, her braids flying behind her, giggling about how she wants sausages for dinner. She has eyes just like Oliver’s.
There’s just one catch. If Maddy wants the family she’s seeing in her future with Oliver, she realizes she has to break his heart now…
Would you destroy your present if there’s a chance that it could give you the perfect future?
Perfect for fans of David Nicholls, Matt Haig, and The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. The most unmissable ‘what if?’ love story of the year!
Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/ManyFutures
About the Author
Laura Pearson is the author of issues-based women’s fiction. She founded The Bookload on Facebook and has had several pieces published in the Guardian and the Telegraph.
Social Media Links –
Facebook: @LauraPearson22
Twitter: @LauraPAuthor
Instagram: @LauraPAuthor
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/LauraPearsonNews
Bookbub profile: @laurapearson22
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