Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and felt that you know them?”

I urge everyone who plans to read this book to grab a tissue before you do. Wow! What a beautiful, heartwrenching, yet completely heartwarming book, all about a unique love spanning across centuries. It’s so different, written with such beauty and hope and wonder. I loved it! I’m so happy to share my review of Life Number Nine. It’s unlike any other love story you’ll ever read.

About the book

Jem and Mika have never met.

Jem and Mika’s lives have intertwined, again and again, across lifetimes.

When perfect strangers Mika and Jem first meet by chance, they recognise each other – not from life, but from a shared dream. Both are wary of forming new connections and have their demons to fight: Jem is in recovery from a near-fatal accident, and Mika is undocumented and under scrutiny from the authorities.

As their dreams – or are they memories? – grow in intensity, they are forced to consider the possibility that they have known and loved each other over and over, across the centuries. Will they find happiness together this time?

The beginning

I can’t start this review without saying this; how bloody gorgeous is Joe’s writing?! I not only loved his beautiful words, but I was also immediately drawn in by the unique narration. Like we’re looking at the world from above, zooming into one character’s life, then another. It took me longer to get into this book than I’d have liked, but I think I was just knocked off balance a little bit because of how different it was. It’s very different to my norm! We meet Jem and Mika who cross paths, just by chance. But there is something. A feeling, perhaps. But something that isn’t thought about again. Jem is soon involved in a dangerous accident and narrowly avoided death. He came across as somewhat introverted, unlike Mika, who felt like a rebellious soul straight away. These two people were opposites, yet the perfect pair… not that they know it, yet. But that one chance meeting was the start of everything. When they meet again, there are unspoken words. “Do I know you?” “Have we met before?” Their brief meetings fuel their dreams which I found fascinating, and talk of lucid dreaming really piqued my interest. I’ve wanted a lucid dream for years!

“Jem wants to have an adventure. Just one. Standing at Death’s open door, it’s all he wants. One more adventure. If he gets out of this place, he will find one.”

The book, aside from the usual chapter format, also experiments with different storytelling formats which I appreciated, but didn’t really ‘get‘ at first. There’s poetry, words from ancient tablets in a museum, scripts. I realised, after a lot of confusion, that these all indicated Jem and Mika’s dreams, or maybe, as strange as it sounded, their chance meetings from across different time periods, from different lives lived. When it finally clicked, I was blown away by the author’s creativity, and it gave the book a whole new meaning for me. The wording was sometimes confusing, but I stuck with it. It really was beautiful, such a unique way of writing. I felt this book crossed into a few different genres at times which felt great. I loved how Jem and Mika arrange to meet, how they know something odd is happening to both of them. Their awkwardness at first was expected, but they slowly begin to discuss their dreams, what they might mean or signify. It was a really interesting start to the book and I was already thinking about where it could go, how Jem and Mika’s relationship would grow from being complete strangers with a strange connection. Would anyone believe them if they shared it?

The middle

By this point, characters were starting to take shape in my mind and I was finally growing that attachment to them I’d been craving. In their separate personal lives, things were falling apart a little. Mika’s life is turned upside down by some life changing news and she loses her job. She’s also so far away from her father, the only family she has. Her working visa ran out months ago, which is coming back to haunt her. Jem also finds himself jobless as he decides to quit one day, and he barely gets to see his daughter, Emily. But Jem and Mika soon find solace in each other, even if it was just a little at the start due to Mika’s reluctance to open up. I loved the slow burn of them getting to know each other, revealing details about themselves, their lives, gradually, discussing their dreams, their ancestors, what their strange connection could mean. It really got me thinking. The author’s words felt so wonderful to get lost in. I just love finding authors who do things a little differently, who make you see things in a whole new light. Jem and Mika’s story and their experiences completely ticked that box for me. I really grew to love them both.

“If we meet again, my friend, I pray we remember sooner. I pray we do not waste time by not remembering the past we share.”

Chapters pass by in vivid colour and with each dream, each fast-travel backwards in time, I just loved it more and more. It was odd. It was very weird. But good god what a captivating book. Jem and Mika’s connection was so beautifully explored, their separate lives full of a kind of intrigue and uncertainty that made them all the more interesting as characters. They are each flawed, they are each battling their own demons, but when they come together, real life starts to melt away. That is, until the Home Office finally catch up with Mika, insisting that she needs to leave the country. When two people are so deeply connected, like Jem and Mika are, it’s natural to worry when one person seems to disappear. I felt Jem’s pain, his numbness, his desperate need to find Mika, to talk to her, find out what’s going on. It completely tugs at your heart, the words so powerful, the imagery so strong. I could feel character emotions completely, the descriptions consistently beautiful and deeply moving. I couldn’t wait to see how the author approached the ending. Will Jem and Mika find happiness together? Will the universe allow it?

The end

Jem and Mika’s connection was special. Completely unique. So when the pair decided to be ‘just friends’, I wasn’t sure I could take it. Their secrets, their individual lives seemed to push them onto different paths, but in my eyes, they just had to be together. Had to. Jem reveals the most heartbreaking part of his past which just broke me in two. So unexpected, so sad. But it also explained a lot about his family life, his relationship with his ex-wife and daughter. For both him and Mika, life seems to fall apart over and over. But then, it also falls back together in the most beautiful way. I continued to be so obsessed with the author’s words, how stunning and real every description felt, how much I felt moved by character actions, the descriptions of thoughts and feelings felt deep in my bones. Everything was so beautifully written and so wonderfully colourful. Jem was a character I really felt attached to throughout all of this, and I was so desperate for his happiness. And the adventure he’d promised himself.

“Everything gets run down. Everything breaks eventually. But some things get repaired. Some things have another life, after the first one.”

I loved one particular dream here, the last. After this shared dream, they realised that every dream they experienced had been working their way forward in time, to the present day versions of themselves. There was nothing more to see. There was such an unexpected event, something that really punched me in the gut, something that changes everything. It was so sad, so impactful, so delicately explored. There’s a dark, depressing feeling that clouds over everything. There was such an amazing contrast in the description, in what the future looks like for these characters. There’s another dream, a very different one, which is set in the future, one which eventually made me tear up. And the ending, the outcome, was one I certainly didn’t expect. After I finished that last page, I stared blankly at the wall. I didn’t know what else to do! So incredibly thought-provoking, so moving, and certainly a book which encourages you to make the most of every day. An unforgettable journey. I’m really looking forward to reading more books by this author after this!

Overall thoughts

Life Number Nine is so much more than a love story. It’s the thought-provoking journey of two imperfect beings. It’s about the meaning of soulmates. It’s about the fascinating idea that what if we’ve met each other before, in different lifetimes? I was instantly captivated by Joe’s stunning words and grew to adore Jem and Mika’s incredibly moving story. It’s filled with hope and adventure, a book told through not only the present day life of two very different people, but also through dreams and memories spanning across centuries. The author experiments with different media formats, there are scripts and poetry which really kept things interesting and fresh, and I never knew what would come next. It’s emotion-filled, poignant at times, and really makes us think about the time we have on this Earth and how we should make the most of it. A must read for those looking for something a bit different. I really enjoyed it!

Huge thank you to the author, Joe Heap, and the team at HarperCollins for my early copy! You can grab your own copy of Life Number Nine from Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following Joe on Instagram for more updates.

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