Insignificant Others by Sarah Jio ~ A Review

by Susan Roberts

 

An escapist novel following a young woman stuck in a “time loop” of one-day relationships with romantic partners from her past.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.  A free book was provided for an honest review.

April 2025; William Morrow; 978-0063371156
audio, ebook, print (304 pages); women's fiction

What if you could have a second chance to say “yes” to the one who got away?

Imagine if you had to chance to spend a day with all of the guys who got away during your life to see what your life would have been like if you had stayed with them.  This new book by Sarah Jio looks at that scenario using a bit of magical realism to give her main character a look at the "WHAT IFs" in her life.

Lena is a workaholic.  She has been dating the same man for over two years, and he checks all the boxes on her list of what would make a good husband.  She has a feeling that he's going to propose tonight, so she buys a new dress and gets her hair done so she can look her best.  Instead of proposing, he breaks up with her.  She is crushed and confused and heads to her aunt's home on Bainbridge Island near Seattle to heal her broken heart and try to figure out what she needs to do next.  She falls asleep in the guest house, but when she wakes up, she is in a fancy apartment in Paris, in bed with a handsome Frenchman who refers to Lena as his wife.  She remembers that he was a man she met at a wedding years before, where they discussed the futility of marriage.  She's confused, but she gets through that day, only to wake up in the morning on a farm 'married' to a man that she had several dates with years before.  Over the next several days, she wakes up with husbands in Ireland, New York City, downtown Seattle, and one morning with the man that she expected to propose at the beginning of her adventure.  At each stop, she learns more about the man that got away -- some of them were really bad candidates for relationships, but several of the others seemed like they would have been a good catch and given her a happily ever after life.  Lena learns more about herself and how she wants to live her life at each stop she makes, but will she realize exactly what kind of man she needs for a happy relationship?

Lena started out the novel as a very pretentious and structured person, and it was easy to dislike her.  But by the end, she has changed so much that I was really hoping she would figure out what she wanted out of life and who, if anyone, could provide her with a happy life.

This book was an interesting read and it was fun to look at the 'what ifs' in someone's life.  Checking all of the boxes on what would make a good husband is not the best way to find happiness. Lena had to understand what she truly wanted out of life and where she would find love before she could find her happy ending.

Buy Insignificant Others at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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