Kate Hope Day

I always find alternate reality stories intriguing; after all, who hasn’t thought of the proverbial fork in the road and wondered how different their lives would be if they made a different decision? What would it be like to find out just how different things would be? Would you regret it?

While alternate realities are a part of If, Then, it turns out the story is not so much an exploration of the road not traveled so much as it is a story about the line between alternate realities show more blurring. It is about seeing an alternate self and wondering how and why your lives differ. It is trying to make sense of the differences and questioning whether your alternate self is happier. It is about the choices we consciously make and those we don’t recognize as choices but which impact our lives all the same.

I loved Kate Hope Day’s If, Then. It is intelligent but approachable. It is clever, with an ending that took me by surprise even though I thought I knew how the story was going to end. It is supremely well-written, balancing characters and drama with the right blend of development for each. The novel itself is not very long, but Ms. Day makes excellent use of each word to extract the full amount of world and character building necessary for understanding and connection. I just wish it was making more of a splash among readers because it is so creative and an excellent overall read. show less

Coming of Age in Space Camp

June, Kate Hope Day’s protagonist, defines precocious, at least when it comes to intellectual and mechanical matters. In the social department, she has a lot to learn, which she does over the course of this coming of age, quasi sci-fi novel. A couple of things set Day’s novel apart: a female teen heroine who holds onto an idea with stubborn tenacity and a truly gritty exposition of what astronaut life probably is like and what it might be like in the near show more future.

When we first meet June, she’s 12 living in her aunt’s home. Her uncle, the brilliant space developmental pioneer has died, but not after leaving the world a unique fuel cell technology. The National Space Program has used this technology to power a deep space project, the crewed ship Inquiry. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong, contact has been lost with the ship, and while some can’t accept it, the general consensus holds that the ship and crew are lost due to a fuel cell failure. June’s one who can’t accept the failure and firmly believes the brilliant crew has found a way to survive. Fast forward to June training in space school where she grows the chops to accomplish her ardent desire: prove Inquiry’s crew survived and discover and correct the fuel cell problem.

But this comes at the end and coincides with June’s maturing, not only as an astronaut but also as a human being capable of giving and receiving love. So, yes, we have teen romantic passion in the mix. The bulk of the novel follows her through Peter Reed, the space school named after her uncle, with lots of emphasis on training and her building friendships as her emotional maturity develops. Regarding the training and life as an astronaut in this near future world, readers will find space exploration mostly occupied with fixing things that seem to break constantly. June’s not only got an appetite but also an aptitude for this, something like Ray and Rocky in Project Hail Mary (though this novel contains little of the inventive detail Andy Weir packed into his). None of this, though, is an advertisement for space exploration.

Sci-fi fans will probably find the novel generally lacking. Those who enjoy coming of age novels will probably enjoy it. If you like strong female protagonists, June and the other young women will gladden your heart. Readers who normally confine themselves to YAs will also probably like the novel, as well. show less

If, Then takes place on a quiet street in a small Oregon town shelter in the shadow of a dormant volcano called Broken Mountain. We get to know three of the families living there as they go about their lives. There are Ginny and Mark and their son Noah. There are Samara and her father both mourning her mother who recently died. There is Cass with her newborn daughter, her husband Amar off on a research vessel while she feels the loss of her own career. Ginny, Mark, Samara, and Cass all see show more alternate versions of their lives. Samara sees her mother still alive, Cass sees a pregnant Cass, Ginny sees herself with Edith, a colleague, instead of her husband Mark, and Mark sees a sort of Mountain Mark who scares him.

Not only are they seeing things, but they are not telling anyone, keeping their confusion and anxiety to themselves. Nonetheless, this sparks a crisis for all of them which leads to them making important decisions about what kind of reality they want.



I liked Kate Hope Day’s If, Then very much. In many ways, it is a quiet story about people making choices about their lives. Should I live here or there? Should I go back to school? Should I leave my husband? Nonetheless, Day infuses their stories with urgency so that readers have to keep reading. The sense of place is compelling, and Day draws on all the senses to reify the environment which plays a critical role in the story. The story is peopled with characters who are likable and complex enough to intrigue us, leaving readers uncertain what choices they may make. This all adds up to an excellent book well worth reading.

If, Then will be published on March 12th, I received a copy from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.

If, Then at Penguin Random House
Kate Hope Day

★★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/02/02/9780525511229/ show less

I love stories that take place in multiple universes, but I felt like this book was trying to do everything, and so it lacked a clear vision or message. It was interesting to contemplate how small choices could create wildly divergent futures, but there just wasn't enough room for a story about a woman grieving her mother, and a woman contemplating building her family while keeping an intellectual life, and a woman reassessing her sexuality, while also telling a story of a man who becomes show more obsessed with protecting his family. Cutting back on the number of POV characters might have allowed some deeper exploration of the real life dramas going on within the more fantastical structure of the story. show less