Unique & Engaging

The Diverging Lives Of Bethany Raven by Sarah E Bonner is a very entertaining contemporary novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The plotline is unique – one in which Bethany Raven wakes each day in a different version of herself. There are similar but different life experiences as we witness what life could have been like if she had made different choices. “One tiny choice created a whole ripple.”

Her final wake up life is horrendous as she is married to a bully. Bethany is desperate to find her way back home.

Constant in her many lives is Tyler Adams – her nemesis in her original life, and just a science teacher in her final life but his brain is huge, and she needs all his knowledge to help her get back home.

We witness Bethany Raven interacting with her friends in the different worlds.

Her bond with her sister is strongest in Bethany’s original world.

With so much of her life in uproar, Bethany Raven finds comfort in physics. “I wrote out the theorem. Finding a soothing rhythm in numbers… Trusting that maths and order and logic will help me.”

All the characters were well drawn, likable and believable. There is a warmth and a camaraderie that developed between the two lead characters.

The novel was engaging and entertaining. This unique perspective of life grabbed my attention from the start and I never wanted the book to end.

I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON