Rating: ✫✫✫✫
"All we want in this world is happiness but it takes so much courage not to settle. It's human nature not to take risks in most cases."
Some moments change everything. One decision can change fate, and put you on the path to a completely different life.
Nineteen year old Eva is cycling in Cambridge, and swerves to avoid a dog. In doing so, she meets Jim, who asks her out for a drink. What follows is divided into three potential courses of action:
Version 1: Eva says yes, and a whirlwind romance begins.
Version 2: Eva says no, and returns to her boyfriend, and their multitude of problems.
Version 3: Eva says yes, but her past catches up with her and complicates things.
The Versions of Us follows all three possibilities, and demonstrates how the course of true love never did run smooth. The interactions of Eva and Jim in every version are a reminder that every decision has the power to change the path of life dramatically, and that you should always follow your heart.
✼
I loved this book and the whole idea behind it. The concept is that every decision has the potential to change your life; can put you on a path from which everything else spirals. I just felt, when reading this book, that it spoke to me. Following your heart is hard but important, and getting by isn't the same as being happy. It actually made me emotional in places, because Eva and Jim go through so many battles in their lives, and every tiny decision causes a long sequence of consequences that are in equal parts heart-warming and devastating.
Eva and Jim are wonderful, and the three versions of their story are closely linked, but varied. In some places, they are together and happy, in others they are living very separate lives. And at some points, timing is their biggest enemy. I think this book started off fantastically, but towards the end it became a bit monotonous and tiresome. The characters became irrational just to stop the story from becoming boring, and I think that ruined the integrity of the overall concept somewhat. However, it was so beautifully written, and for the most part the different stories of Eva and Jim were done justice.
*spoiler alert*
Plot
It would be near impossible to analyse the plot of this book in a conventional way. There are so many twists in each version, that when you read the three stories in union it's very complicated. I tried to keep track of the stories chronologically, but while Eva and Jim are together in one version, in another they've separated, and it was just too confusing. Therefore, a more sporadic and thematic approach needed to be adopted!
What is important to first mention is that I loved the set up of the book, and the introduction of each version. The first saw them fall in love and start off very happy. The second saw Eva return to her boyfriend, David, despite her underlying unhappiness. The third saw Eva return reluctantly to David after discovering she was pregnant, despite her desire to remain with Jim. These were all completely different paths for the pair to take, and the narrative was structured so that they are all equally exciting to the reader.
However, things obviously start to get confusing pretty consistently across all three versions. Version 2 sees Eva and Jim meet again further down their timeline, unable to place each other at first. It showed a real sense of fate which was adorable. Version 3 sees Jim realise that he should not have let Eva go that easily. I'll happily point out that at this point that I was determined that the pair were going to have a big romantic fairy tale ending. Version 1, however, which was looking to be the smoothest ride for the two, went into meltdown, with Jim betraying Eva. Words cannot express how annoyed I was, because it just felt so unnecessary. I understand that in terms of a good story, there needed to be some complications, but I really wish it could have been done in a more believable way. There was no real justification for Jim's actions, and so it was clearly just done to complicate matters. And in my eyes, that's just not a good enough way to change a story. If you want to mix things up, you need to structure your story so that the mix-up adds something to the overall plot. It's not good to add in a random complication for the sake of it. And it's such a shame that there was a lot of that throughout this book. That's the nature of having three very similar stories, I suppose; you need to keep mixing things up to maintain interest. I just hated that it was done so unnecessarily in places.
After reading the first part of each version, things do tend to get fairly blurry, because so much happens, and it's not as easy to keep track of which version is which. Both Eva and Jim find other partners, and the introduction of children makes it all the more complicated. But throughout these additional characters and events, the relationship between Jim and Eva is always at the forefront. Whether this was always successful is questionable, but the two are endearing and sweet enough that they can carry the story without the random plot twists being too frustrating.
✼
One thing I especially liked about the book was how the different stories subtly intertwined. They all follow different paths, but also have many notable similarities. In one version, Vivian pushes Jim to pursue law so he won't end up like his father - an artist prone to affairs. In another version, Jim is an artist, and that's exactly what he does. Additionally, Eva has a daughter in all different versions, despite their different names. One daughter is Jim's, while the other two are David's. I loved the little nods to the simultaneous storylines. It really added depth to the book, and it showed that the plot had been carefully considered and drawn out.
Another example of a parallel, and one of the most poignant moments of the book for me, is when Eva talks to her mother, Miriam, about her difficult relationship with David:
"You have made a cage for yourself, my love. You think it is impossible to get out. But it is not impossible. You need only to open the door."
Miriam's story finds a parallel with Eva's here. Miriam had, of course, been forced to leave Eva's father, and she had found solace in her relationship with Jakob. Not only do I think this quote is so powerful, but it also shows a distinct connection to Miriam's own life, which is lovely. It's details like this that show that real thought has gone into the plot of the book, and it was nice to see these interactions, which mean more than might initially be apparent.
✼
What's obviously really important about this book is the core relationship between Eva and Jim, three times over. As much as it was frustrating and heart-breaking to witness their relationship fail in multiple ways over the course of the novel, you never stop rooting for them. This really shows the strength of their characters, and their bond. It's not easy to create two characters who are themselves very flawed, and yet still get your readers to root so consistently for them. There were many moments when I felt one or the other of them made a bad decision, but that's fundamentally the point of the story. The Versions of Us looks at those everyday decisions, and encourages us to consider how our actions may have consequences. But finally, thankfully, our hero and heroine do find some happiness together.
"For all the years he has spent without her dulling now, losing their shape and colour - as if he were sleepwalking through them, and has only just remembered what it is to be fully awake."
And isn't that what true love really is?
Verdict
"He stands for a moment before opening the studio door, looking down at the beach, flooded with a disorientating happiness; and he savours it, drinks it in, because he is old enough now to know happiness for what it is: brief and fleeting, not a state to strive for, to seek to live in, but to catch when it comes, and to hold on to for as long as you can."
This book teaches you to look through the details and the mess, and to really consider only whether you have genuine love and happiness. And I think that's really beautiful.
The Versions of Us could have easily had 5 stars. The idea is fantastic, and the story explores the idea of fate and consequences wonderfully. The stories intertwine, and the writing is really beautiful throughout. Every moment was emphasised, and I fell in love with the romance behind every word.
Sadly, what let the book down a little was the constant complications that were thrown at Eva and Jim. In the confines of one narrative, this would have been absolutely fine, and I'm sure would have just added to ups and downs of the overall plot. When you introduce another two versions of their story, there comes a point where it's just too confusing to follow, and this takes away from the excitement of their relationship. It also grew a little monotonous; complications work if they are introduced to serve a purpose in terms of plot progression, but there comes a point when they just become irritating.
Yet I couldn't help but fall for the beauty of this story. Fate can be a difficult thing to write about without it becoming soppy. The Versions of Us had the balance, and just captured the romance of life and love in every version. I would definitely recommend this book for people who like their love stories to be thought-provoking.
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