Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman

1 review

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Ten years ago, Bess and Joni were cleared of having caused the death of their best friend, Evangeline, during a summer trip to Greece. The fallout from Evangeline’s tragic death sent Bess and Joni’s lives in completely different directions - Joni, a successful public speaker and influencer, and Bess a recluse, still struggling with the guilt and trauma of that summer. When Joni’s fiancée, Willa, goes missing, Joni shows up on Bess’ doorstep to call in a favor on a ten-year-old debt; but there’s more to the story of Willa’s disappearance than Joni is letting on, just like there’s more to that fateful night in Mykonos than Bess remembers. 

I wanted to like this book more than I did… but, man, for something mystery-esque, it just felt so predictable. Furthermore, I didn’t find any of the characters very likable, other than poor Theo. It was also both somehow longer than it needed to be and also didn’t really resolve? I hated the ending. After all of the lead up, the lies, the shadiness, I wanted something shocking - some big twist where no body gets a happy ending. I think the ending is meant to give some peace, like those still standing can finally move on from everything… but I personally thought it was boring. 

I will say, the writing overall is good. Though I didn’t LIKE the characters, there were some points where I couldn’t put the book down because I was just entranced by their bullshit. Teenage girls are awful! But in the end, the disappointment at where the story went outweighed the enjoyment of watching their train wreck of a trip unfold. 
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