My Life in a Book is a life story gift: for £59 in the UK or $79 in the US (as of November 2026), your parent or grandparent gets a year of weekly questions by email, then their answers print as a full-color A5 hardcover. It is one of the cheapest ways to get a printed family keepsake.
It suits a storyteller who is happy to type or dictate, and a buyer who will keep an eye on the deadline. It is a poor fit if you want a structured memoir, your own life story written for you, or a book you can publish.
In this My Life in a Book review, you’ll learn:
- Exactly what £59 or $79 buys, what extra copies cost and what the extension fee is
- What My Life in a Book reviews on Trustpilot praise, and the complaints that keep coming up
- How it compares with Storyworth and Remento, including for UK buyers
- Where it genuinely beats Chapter, and when Chapter is the better choice
Here is the full review.
What My Life in a Book Actually Is
My Life in a Book — a guided storytelling service that emails a storyteller one question at a time for a year, collects their written or dictated answers, and prints them as a hardcover keepsake book.
You buy it as a gift and choose a start date, such as a birthday. The storyteller gets a question each week, answers it online, and can add photos. Each answer is shared with you and other family members by email, according to the company’s How It Works page.
When enough stories are collected, the storyteller asks for the book to print. The company’s shipping policy says printing and delivery take up to 15-20 business days from that request.
Is My Life in a Book a UK company?
No, not on paper. My Life in a Book prices in pounds and ships free to the UK, so many British buyers assume it is a UK firm. Its terms of service say the site is run by MLIB, “a registered French company”, governed by French law.
The site footer lists a mailing address in New York, and Trustpilot lists the company location as the United States. None of this is a red flag on its own. It does mean you should not expect a UK customer service team or UK consumer law to govern the contract.
If your first question is how it stacks up against the market leader, our Storyworth review covers the most common alternative in detail.
How Does My Life in a Book Work?
My Life in a Book works in four steps: you gift it and pick a start date, the storyteller answers a question each week, family members read and edit the stories, and the storyteller prints the finished book. Everything runs through email and a web editor.
Here is the process in more detail, based on the company’s own pages:
- You choose a theme and questions. Every account starts with 52 pre-selected questions, one year’s worth. You can swap any of them from a larger library or write your own. Themes include preserving memories, a couple’s journey and new parenthood.
- You set the pace. Questions can arrive weekly, every two weeks, monthly or all at once.
- The storyteller answers. They type, or use the voice-to-text feature to speak and have it transcribed. Photos can be added to each story.
- Family collaborates. Multiple editors can review and edit content, and get notified when a new story arrives.
- You design and print. You pick from 40 cover templates, some of which take your own photo, then order the book and any extra copies.
Question sets are available in 12 languages, including French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese and Korean. That is unusual in this category and useful for multilingual families.
One detail matters for older storytellers. Voice-to-text turns speech into written text. We found no mention on the site of saving the audio or printing QR codes that play it back, which Remento’s books do.
How Much Does My Life in a Book Cost?
My Life in a Book costs £59 in the UK or $79 in the US for one storyteller, a year of questions and one printed full-color book, as of November 2026. Extra copies bought at checkout add £30 or $40 each. It is a one-time purchase, not an auto-renewing subscription.
These are the prices shown on the My Life in a Book product page, checked November 10, 2026:
| What you buy | UK price | US price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 storyteller, 1 year of questions, 1 hardcover | £59 | $79 |
| 1 storyteller, 2 copies | £89 | $119 |
| 1 storyteller, 3 copies | £119 | $159 |
| 2 storytellers, 1 copy | £96 | $128 |
| Extra copy (at checkout) | £30 | $40 |
| One-year extension of the prompt period | Not shown in GBP | $59 |
Canadian and Australian buyers see 112 CAD and 112 AUD for the single-copy package. The site was also running a sitewide discount code when we checked, so you may pay less.
What the book includes
The terms of service describe the included book as an A5 hardcover, color-printed. The product page says it holds up to 500 pages. A5 is roughly 5.8 x 8.3 inches, a little smaller than a standard US memoir.
The extension fee and the deadline
The $79 covers a 12-month creation period. The terms say that if you want prompts beyond that, you “may optionally purchase a one-year extension for $59”, and that you do not need it to print a book written in the first year.
Several Trustpilot reviewers say this deadline caught them out. They describe a 12-month window plus a month for edits, after which printing credits expire and an extension costs around $60. Some say they did not realise this at purchase.
Our advice: put the gift date plus 11 months in your calendar. That gives you time to edit, design the cover and press print before the window closes.
Extra copies cost slightly different amounts depending on where you look
The site is not fully consistent here. The checkout and the How It Works FAQ price extra copies at $40 each. The terms of service say $30 each. In the UK store, each extra copy adds £30 to the package price.
Trust the price your cart shows, and screenshot it before you pay.
Shipping to the UK, US and elsewhere
The shipping policy says the first print run of 1-15 books ships free to the US and UK, and costs $15 elsewhere. Later print runs cost $10 to the US, $5 to the UK and $15 elsewhere.
The How It Works FAQ is more generous. It says shipping is free to the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the EU. If you are ordering from outside the US and UK, check the figure at checkout.
What a family order really costs
Say you are a UK buyer and three siblings each want a copy. The three-copy package is £119. If the storyteller needs a second year, add the extension fee. That is still cheap by the standards of this category.
The refund window
My Life in a Book offers a 30-day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase, according to its refund policy. The book prints months later, so in practice the guarantee covers whether you want the service, not whether you like the finished book.
What My Life in a Book Does Well
My Life in a Book does the basics of a prompt-based life story book well, at a lower price than most rivals.
It is cheap for what you get. £59 or $79 includes the year of questions and a full-color hardcover. Storyworth’s full-color plan and Remento both start at $99.
There is no auto-renewal. The extension is optional and you buy it only if you need more time. Compare that with Remento, which renews at $99 a year unless you switch it off.
The questions are flexible. You can swap, skip, reorder and write your own, and choose the cadence. Several reviewers praise being able to tweak questions to fit their life.
The book itself gets good reviews. Trustpilot’s own AI summary highlights the hardcover quality, and printed books are rarely the subject of complaints in the reviews we read.
Families can join in. Every story is shared by email as it is written, and multiple editors can help. Many gift buyers say the weekly story became something they looked forward to.
Multilingual question sets. Twelve languages make it a good option when the storyteller is more comfortable in a language other than English.
The page limit is generous. Up to 500 pages in the included book is more than Remento’s 200-page cap.
What My Life in a Book Does Not Do Well
My Life in a Book produces a collection of answers, not a memoir. And its low-star reviews point to real friction in the software and the deadline.
There is no narrative arc. Each chapter is a standalone answer to one question. Nothing ties the stories into themes or a story shape. Our guide on how to structure a memoir explains what that missing structure looks like.
The storyteller does the writing. Voice-to-text helps, but someone still has to produce 52 answers and clean them up. One Trustpilot reviewer says typing up the book took far longer than expected and wished for editing or proofreading help.
The editor frustrates some users. Low-star reviews describe images that would not stay saved, no layout preview before printing, and paragraph spacing that would not hold. Others say the platform was too complicated for parents who are not confident online.
The deadline is easy to miss. As noted above, several reviewers say the 12-month window and extension fee were not clear when they bought. One says their mother’s printing window expired before the book printed.
Support gets mixed reviews. Some reviewers praise fast, kind help. A minority describe unanswered emails, bounced support messages and slow refunds. The company does reply publicly to every negative review on Trustpilot.
It keeps text, not voice. Without audio playback in the book, you lose how your grandmother actually sounded. If that matters to you, read our Storyworth vs Remento comparison.
You cannot publish it. There is no ISBN, no Amazon listing and no route to selling the book. You would need to self-publish separately.
What Do My Life in a Book Reviews Say?
My Life in a Book reviews are strongly positive overall. As of November 10, 2026, Trustpilot shows a 4.6 TrustScore from 2,992 reviews, with 73% five-star, 23% four-star and about 1% one-star. Praise centres on the weekly prompts and the finished book.
| Source | What we found (November 2026) |
|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 4.6 from 2,992 reviews; 73% five stars, 1% one star |
| Company website | Claims “over 15,000 happy customers”; reviews shown are hand-picked |
| No substantive threads found about this service | |
| Storyworth blog | Comparison posts exist, but Storyworth is a competitor |
Positive My Life in a Book reviews
The recurring themes are gratitude and rediscovered memories. Storytellers say the weekly question pushed them to write down things they had put off for years, and that later questions brought back long-forgotten childhood memories.
Gift buyers say reading a parent’s weekly story was the highlight. One Trustpilot reviewer says their father, in his 90s, found it easy and enjoyed it. Recent reviews also mention an update that allows multiple photos per story.
My Life in a Book reviews complaints
Negative reviews are a small share, but they cluster around a few issues. On the 1- and 2-star Trustpilot reviews we read, dated May 2025 to August 2026:
- The 12-month deadline and extension fee, which several reviewers say they did not know about at purchase
- Editor problems, such as photos not saving, spacing lost and no print preview
- Difficulty for non-technical parents, with buyers ending up doing the formatting
- Support and refunds, including unanswered emails and one reviewer still waiting on a refund
- Printing and delivery, such as missed reprints, late shipping and one order of books arriving with bent corners
Notice what is mostly missing: complaints that the printed book looked cheap. The friction is in the software, the deadline and support.
My Life in a Book reviews UK
UK buyers see prices in pounds, and the first print run ships free to the UK. Trustpilot reviewers from Great Britain raise the same themes as everyone else. One UK reviewer says the $60 extension felt like a last-minute charge, and another wanted questions grouped by life stage rather than repeating topics.
The bigger UK point is the one above: the company is French-registered, not British. Keep your order confirmation and contact support by email if anything goes wrong.
My Life in a Book reviews Reddit
We found no substantive Reddit discussion of My Life in a Book as of November 2026. Web searches pairing the brand name with Reddit returned no relevant threads. Trustpilot is the largest independent source, so weigh any single blog verdict, including this one, against it.
My Life in a Book vs Storyworth vs Remento
My Life in a Book is the cheapest of the three for a full-color book. Storyworth is cheapest overall if a black-and-white interior is fine. Remento is best if the storyteller would rather talk than type, because it keeps their voice.
Prices below come from each company’s own pricing pages, checked November 10, 2026 (Storyworth pricing, Remento pricing guide):
| My Life in a Book | Storyworth | Remento | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $79 / £59 (full color) | $69 Basic (black-and-white interior) | $99 (full color) |
| Full-color plan | $79 | $99 Color | $99 |
| Pages in included book | Up to 500 | Up to 480 Basic, 300 Color | Up to 200 |
| Main input | Typed or dictated answers | Written email answers, plus phone stories | Spoken recordings |
| Voice in the book | No audio playback found | Not on its pricing page | QR code on every story |
| Extra color copy | $40 / £30 | $79 | $69 |
| After year one | Optional $59 extension | Unlimited plan renews at $99/year | Renews at $99/year or $12/month |
Where My Life in a Book wins: price, GBP checkout with free UK shipping on the first print run, page count, 12 languages and no auto-renewal.
Where Storyworth wins: a $39 black-and-white extra copy for big families, and phone stories with automatic transcription on every plan. Our Storyworth alternatives guide covers the wider field.
Where Remento wins: voice playback, a speak-only experience for older storytellers, and AI that turns rambling talk into readable prose.
Who Should Buy My Life in a Book
My Life in a Book is the right purchase if most of these are true:
- You are buying a gift for a parent or grandparent who is willing to take part
- They are comfortable typing or dictating short written answers each week
- Budget matters, especially if you are in the UK and want to pay in pounds
- You want a keepsake, not a book to publish or sell
- You will manage the deadline, chasing answers and pressing print within the year
If that is you, our guide on how to interview family for a memoir will help you choose better questions.
Who Should Not Buy My Life in a Book
Walk away from My Life in a Book if any of these describe you:
- You are writing your own story. A year of weekly prompts is a slow route when you could build your own life story outline and write it.
- You want a real memoir, with themes, an arc and chapters that build on each other.
- The storyteller struggles with computers. Reviewers repeatedly say non-technical parents found the editor hard, and the buyer ended up doing the work.
- Hearing their voice matters. Choose a recording-based service instead.
- You want to publish. There is no ISBN, no retail listing and no sales route.
Where My Life in a Book Beats Chapter
Chapter is our product, so here is the honest comparison. On several points that matter for a family gift, My Life in a Book is simply better.
It prints and ships the book for you. The £59 or $79 includes a full-color hardcover delivered to your door. Chapter delivers a finished manuscript. Printing it, even a single family copy, is a step you handle yourself.
It is cheaper. £59 or $79 with a printed book included is less than Chapter’s $97, which buys software and no printing.
It is built for someone else’s story. The storyteller only has to answer one email question at a time. Chapter is built for an author who drives the project, answers questions about the book and reviews an outline. That is the wrong job to hand an 85-year-old.
The words stay entirely theirs. Each answer prints as the storyteller wrote or dictated it. Chapter uses AI to draft prose from your input, in your voice, but it is still a draft you review rather than a verbatim record.
It turns the project into a family ritual. Siblings receive each story as it is written and can help edit. Chapter is a single-author tool and is built to finish a book quickly, which is a weakness when the slow weekly rhythm is the point.
It offers question sets in 12 languages. For a storyteller who wants to answer in Arabic, Japanese or Portuguese, that is a real advantage.
If your goal is an inexpensive printed gift for a parent who will happily answer a question a week, buy My Life in a Book. Chapter is not the right tool for that job.
The Alternative We Built
My Life in a Book collects answers one question at a time. Many people who search for it actually want something else: a complete, structured book about their own life, or a parent’s life told as one story rather than 52 separate answers.
Our Pick — Chapter
Chapter is AI book writing software that plans and writes a complete nonfiction book, memoirs included, in your voice. You approve the outline first, so the finished manuscript has chapters that connect, themes that carry through and a real arc. More than 10,000 authors have used it, and it has been featured in USA Today and the New York Times.
Best for: Writing your own memoir, or a parent’s life story as one structured book you can publish Pricing: $97 one time, 2 books included (fiction or nonfiction), 30-day money-back guarantee Why we built it: Most people who want a life story book stall on turning scattered memories into a finished, organised manuscript.
Chapter has honest limits. There is no free tier or trial. It does not print or ship books, and you still review and edit what it drafts. You keep 100% of the rights, though, so the finished book is yours to publish. Our Chapter review covers the details.
The two also work together. A family can run My Life in a Book for a year, then use the answers as source material for a fuller legacy book. Our guide on how to write a memoir with AI shows that workflow.
If you want a finished memoir with real structure rather than a stack of separate answers, Chapter’s nonfiction software writes the complete book for $97 one time, with 2 books included, no subscription and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
FAQ
Is My Life in a Book worth it?
My Life in a Book is worth it if you want an affordable printed keepsake of a parent’s or grandparent’s stories. For £59 or $79, you get a year of questions and a full-color A5 hardcover. It is less worth it if the storyteller struggles with computers or you want a structured memoir.
Is My Life in a Book a subscription?
No, My Life in a Book is not an auto-renewing subscription. The price covers a 12-month creation period and one printed book. If you need more time, you can buy an optional one-year extension for $59, according to its terms. You do not need it to print a book written in year one.
Is My Life in a Book a UK company?
No, My Life in a Book is not registered in the UK. Its terms of service say the site is run by MLIB, a registered French company, under French law, and the site lists a New York mailing address. It does sell in pounds and ships the first print run free to the UK.
How long does My Life in a Book take to arrive?
My Life in a Book takes up to 15-20 business days to arrive after the storyteller asks for the book to print, according to its shipping policy. Writing usually takes up to a year first, because the service sends 52 questions at the pace you choose, from weekly to all at once.
What is the difference between My Life in a Book and Storyworth?
The main difference between My Life in a Book and Storyworth is price and print. My Life in a Book includes a full-color book for $79, while Storyworth’s full-color plan costs $99 and its $69 Basic plan prints black and white. Storyworth adds phone stories and cheaper $39 black-and-white extra copies.
