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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Abandonment
3.5 stars.
It came across a little formulaic for me to bump this up to 4 stars but I fully acknowledge that the reason is probably that this is the only genre of MG (contemporary/tragedy/best friend feels) I'm interested in reading and so I judge them harsher than others. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid debut, but it is very much a debut. It edged on Coralee coming across as a budding manic-pixie-dream-girl (*gag*) but that gets cleaned up at the end enough for me to get over it.
I loved the small town Georgia setting, loved that it was set during the school year, LOVED that red wolves got a shout out. I also appreciated that things in Ethan's head were not always how they were in reality and that the few reveals were subtle and natural.
An author to watch, I think she'll grow a lot with her next few books.
It came across a little formulaic for me to bump this up to 4 stars but I fully acknowledge that the reason is probably that this is the only genre of MG (contemporary/tragedy/best friend feels) I'm interested in reading and so I judge them harsher than others. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid debut, but it is very much a debut. It edged on Coralee coming across as a budding manic-pixie-dream-girl (*gag*) but that gets cleaned up at the end enough for me to get over it.
I loved the small town Georgia setting, loved that it was set during the school year, LOVED that red wolves got a shout out. I also appreciated that things in Ethan's head were not always how they were in reality and that the few reveals were subtle and natural.
An author to watch, I think she'll grow a lot with her next few books.
Ethan Truitt, 12, and his best friend Kacey Reid used to have all kinds of adventures together, until one night Ethan dares Kacey to do something and, though it ends in a tragic accident, Ethan can't help but blame himself for causing it.
Now, his parents are moving from Boston to Palm Knot, a coastal town in Georgia, using the excuse that they need to take care of his elderly grandfather, but in reality, Ethan knows it is an attempt to help him come to terms with his overwhelming grief and his all-consuming guilt.
At first, living with his grumpy grandpa Ike in a somewhat dumpy, dilapidated house, and with an angry older brother who resents him because of the move, really isn’t helpful. At school, Suzanne, who seems to have a little crush on Ethan, wants him to hang around with her and her friends, the “cool kids,” but Ethan isn’t very inclined to do that. Instead, he starts hanging around with the intrepid Coralee Jessup, a smart, talkative black girl who claims to be violin prodigy, and who is not much liked by the “cool kids.”
Coralee also introduces Ethan to the unofficial library in the back of the hardware store, both run by Mack, a woman who has been collecting books for decades and who always has some salt water taffy for her patrons. And maybe grandpa Ike isn’t so bad after all, especially when he decides to teach Ethan how to drive his pickup truck.
As Ethan adjusts to life in Palm Knot, the circumstances of Kacey’s accident are slowly revealed in flashbacks. The reader knows that Kacey is still alive because Ethan has run away a few times to try and see her. She is in a nursing home, in a coma and on life support. When Ethan is told that her parents have decided to take her off life support, Ethan’s pain is intense and palpable. His pain is compounded by the fact that when he finds out that Coralee has betrayed his confidence about what happened to Kacey to Suzanne, Suzanne also makes it a point to tell him the truth about Coralee’s life with the result that Ethan begins to believe that everything Coralee has told him about herself is a lie.
Everything comes to a dramatic climax and denouement when a hurricane hits Palm Knot and Coralee goes missing. Ethan couldn’t help Kacey when she was hurt, but can he redeem himself and help save the new friend he turned his back on?
The Ethan I Was Before couldn’t be a more appropriate title for Ethan’s story. No one remains unchanged after going through a trauma that literally shatters the innocence of childhood, and the intense feelings that follow.
This coming of age novel is written in the first person from Ethan’s point of view, so that the reader journeys with him through all his turmoil and agony as he finally attempts to come to terms with Kacey’s accident and his part in it, and begins to discover who he is now. Besides his narration, there are, throughout the book, lists that Ethan makes at the suggestion of his therapist in Boston just before he moved, thinking it might help him make sense of his world and who he is now, ”The Ethan you were before may be gone, but now you have the chance to get to know the new Ethan.”
This is a debut novel for Ali Standish, and while I thought there was just a little too much going on at the end of the story, I also felt that she really understood what Ethan was going through and conveys it to her readers quite well and with a great deal of empathy. Ethan’s story is very moving and will have readers riveted, I know I was. And while it is an emotionally charged novel about guilt, grief, the possibility of healing, it is ultimately a novel about the importance of family, friendship, honesty, and most importantly, hope.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from Edelweiss+
Now, his parents are moving from Boston to Palm Knot, a coastal town in Georgia, using the excuse that they need to take care of his elderly grandfather, but in reality, Ethan knows it is an attempt to help him come to terms with his overwhelming grief and his all-consuming guilt.
At first, living with his grumpy grandpa Ike in a somewhat dumpy, dilapidated house, and with an angry older brother who resents him because of the move, really isn’t helpful. At school, Suzanne, who seems to have a little crush on Ethan, wants him to hang around with her and her friends, the “cool kids,” but Ethan isn’t very inclined to do that. Instead, he starts hanging around with the intrepid Coralee Jessup, a smart, talkative black girl who claims to be violin prodigy, and who is not much liked by the “cool kids.”
Coralee also introduces Ethan to the unofficial library in the back of the hardware store, both run by Mack, a woman who has been collecting books for decades and who always has some salt water taffy for her patrons. And maybe grandpa Ike isn’t so bad after all, especially when he decides to teach Ethan how to drive his pickup truck.
As Ethan adjusts to life in Palm Knot, the circumstances of Kacey’s accident are slowly revealed in flashbacks. The reader knows that Kacey is still alive because Ethan has run away a few times to try and see her. She is in a nursing home, in a coma and on life support. When Ethan is told that her parents have decided to take her off life support, Ethan’s pain is intense and palpable. His pain is compounded by the fact that when he finds out that Coralee has betrayed his confidence about what happened to Kacey to Suzanne, Suzanne also makes it a point to tell him the truth about Coralee’s life with the result that Ethan begins to believe that everything Coralee has told him about herself is a lie.
Everything comes to a dramatic climax and denouement when a hurricane hits Palm Knot and Coralee goes missing. Ethan couldn’t help Kacey when she was hurt, but can he redeem himself and help save the new friend he turned his back on?
The Ethan I Was Before couldn’t be a more appropriate title for Ethan’s story. No one remains unchanged after going through a trauma that literally shatters the innocence of childhood, and the intense feelings that follow.
This coming of age novel is written in the first person from Ethan’s point of view, so that the reader journeys with him through all his turmoil and agony as he finally attempts to come to terms with Kacey’s accident and his part in it, and begins to discover who he is now. Besides his narration, there are, throughout the book, lists that Ethan makes at the suggestion of his therapist in Boston just before he moved, thinking it might help him make sense of his world and who he is now, ”The Ethan you were before may be gone, but now you have the chance to get to know the new Ethan.”
This is a debut novel for Ali Standish, and while I thought there was just a little too much going on at the end of the story, I also felt that she really understood what Ethan was going through and conveys it to her readers quite well and with a great deal of empathy. Ethan’s story is very moving and will have readers riveted, I know I was. And while it is an emotionally charged novel about guilt, grief, the possibility of healing, it is ultimately a novel about the importance of family, friendship, honesty, and most importantly, hope.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from Edelweiss+
Guilt, grief, family relationships and secrets, all interwoven seamlessly through the characters in this middle grade novel. Excellent.
There are so many levels to unravel in this book, but they all fit nicely together. I loved the end. Definitely for older middle school students.
Kacey Reid’s window has been dark for 59 days.
The Ethan I Was Before is told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Ethan Truitt, Kacey’s best friend. Ethan blames himself for what happened to her. Along with his grief, he is filled with guilt. He used to be fun. Everything was funny all the time. He loved dares. He loved adventure. The tragedy has changed him and now it seems the Ethan he was before is gone. But is it? Is his former self truly gone forever?
To help Ethan get a fresh start, his family leaves Boston and moves in with his Grandpa Ike in Palm Knot, Georgia. Ethan feels like an outsider in Palm Knot, but he makes friends with a girl named Coralee. She, along with just about everyone else, seems to be hiding something. Ethan is hiding what happened back in Boston, Grandpa Ike is hiding whatever is in his room, Ethan’s parents are hiding the reason Kacey’s dad keeps calling them. We don’t know why Ethan’s brother won’t talk to him or why Ethan’s mom and grandpa don’t get along, or if Mack, the shop owner, is up to something. And then there’s Coralee, with her “interesting stories.” Is she telling the truth? Can Ethan trust her?
Also thrown into the mix, Coralee accidentally took something from an abandoned house and now a strange woman keeps showing up. Who is this woman and what does she want with Coralee?
I flew through this book. The characters are well-developed, especially Ethan, who I sympathized with immediately because of what he was going through. I haven’t read many MG books that deal with such a terrible tragedy and I thought it was handled with sensitivity. I enjoyed all the small mysteries and rushed to the end to see how each one wrapped up. I’m looking forward to the next book by Ali Standish. I would recommend this one for the more mature sect of young readers, since it does tackle such a heavy issue.
My favorite line: “One real friend is worth more than a hundred fake ones.”
The Ethan I Was Before is told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Ethan Truitt, Kacey’s best friend. Ethan blames himself for what happened to her. Along with his grief, he is filled with guilt. He used to be fun. Everything was funny all the time. He loved dares. He loved adventure. The tragedy has changed him and now it seems the Ethan he was before is gone. But is it? Is his former self truly gone forever?
To help Ethan get a fresh start, his family leaves Boston and moves in with his Grandpa Ike in Palm Knot, Georgia. Ethan feels like an outsider in Palm Knot, but he makes friends with a girl named Coralee. She, along with just about everyone else, seems to be hiding something. Ethan is hiding what happened back in Boston, Grandpa Ike is hiding whatever is in his room, Ethan’s parents are hiding the reason Kacey’s dad keeps calling them. We don’t know why Ethan’s brother won’t talk to him or why Ethan’s mom and grandpa don’t get along, or if Mack, the shop owner, is up to something. And then there’s Coralee, with her “interesting stories.” Is she telling the truth? Can Ethan trust her?
Also thrown into the mix, Coralee accidentally took something from an abandoned house and now a strange woman keeps showing up. Who is this woman and what does she want with Coralee?
I flew through this book. The characters are well-developed, especially Ethan, who I sympathized with immediately because of what he was going through. I haven’t read many MG books that deal with such a terrible tragedy and I thought it was handled with sensitivity. I enjoyed all the small mysteries and rushed to the end to see how each one wrapped up. I’m looking forward to the next book by Ali Standish. I would recommend this one for the more mature sect of young readers, since it does tackle such a heavy issue.
My favorite line: “One real friend is worth more than a hundred fake ones.”
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really just so cute and good. Would recommend to any kid. An especially good read for someone grieving and/or someone with survivor's guilt.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I learned so much from this book. It was so good. Definitely worth a reread.