The Other Side of Now

One Of The Hardest Hitting 'Glimpse' Tales I've Ever Come Across. This is one of those 'glimpse' tales - ala The Family Man (the 2000s era movie with Nic Cage and Tea Leoni) or It's A Wonderful Life, and yet in its specific mechanics, it hit me harder than any I've come across before it. There are really only two books I've come across before - that I believe I've written reviews for over the years - that even come close, but revealing which two gets way too close to spoiler territory. So read this book then look back through my reviews (available on Hardcover.app, BookHype.com, PageBound.co, TheStoryGraph, Goodreads, or my blog at BookAnon.com) and see if you can make the connection yourself. :D (Ok, so *no one* is going to do that. But it could be a fun challenge for someone who is particularly bored, maybe? :D) Also, don't forget to leave your own review of this book after you read it. *Then* go look through mine. :D

But seriously, this is an utterly hilarious book that happens to have a lot of heart - both of which are hallmarks of this type of tale, and both of which are done particularly well by Harbison.

The selection of exact characterization here helps - a regular girl from Florida who has two different dreams which ultimately become two different realities one day such that she gets to live through both and see what both are really like. Yes, there is a fair amount of Hollywood name dropping and commentary, but again, I've seen that in many other books with similar characters, and it works well to establish this exact characterization early, particularly since the real 'meat' of the book is actually the *other* life.

What made this hit so hard personally was an event I don't speak much of publicly, but which has direct bearing on this book - but again, I have to be very vague here in order to avoid spoilers. Suffice it to say that my reality - assuming the one I'm typing this review in *is* reality - wound up very different from the one in the book, yet it is also all *too* easy for me to see how my reality could have been a version of this tale, all the way to me becoming a version of our lead character. (Though to be clear, *no one* is casting me as an actor. The one time I acted at all was in a HS play - Midsummer Night's Dream - and even playing a character who was *supposed* to be a bad actor... damn, I was *really* bad at even that!)

If you've never encountered a 'glimpse' tale, this is genuinely one of the better ones I've come across, particularly in the last few years, so it is a great place to start. Long time fans of the type of tale, like me, will likely enjoy this particular tale quite a bit too.

Very much recommended.