This is the story of Maggie Vine, a woman who wants it all: a chance at love, a thriving career, and a child. In her second novel, Alison Rose Greenberg captures Maggie’s journey as she tries to achieve everything she has longed for as an adult.
In Maybe Once, Maybe Twice, Greenberg flashes back to Maggie’s younger days, depicting her struggles as a musical artist and her push-pull love story with Garrett Scholl. Garrett is the musician of Maggie’s dreams, but he’s caught between the life he wants and the life his family expects from him. On Maggie’s thirtieth birthday, they make a marriage pact for when they’re both thirty-five. However, Maggie already made the same deal with her first boyfriend, the now-famous Hollywood star Asher Reyes. When both men pop back up around her thirty-fifth birthday, she is propelled into not one, but two second-chance love stories.
Greenberg does well to draw us into the lives of her characters. Maggie has so much intrigue and depth, yet she is also wildly comical. And she is filled with hope, even when life knocks her down. The novel’s supporting characters offer Maggie’s story the perfect amount of balance. Additionally, music plays an important role in the book — and not just because Maggie is a musician. Greenberg ties many scenes to the songs of Taylor Swift, Dave Matthews Band, and Foo Fighters.
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is chock-full of characters who are never guaranteed a perfect ending but whom we want to root for nonetheless. Gripping from start to finish, the book takes us on a wonderful emotional roller coaster.
Elizabeth Slotnick works in the technology space but has a growing presence on bookstagram, where she reviews books spanning across all genres. She graduated from the University of Virginia and lives in Seattle, WA.