Reviews tagging 'Death'

Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell

4 reviews

erinmg's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I’ve read quite a few of Lisa Jewell’s books, but I didn’t realize this was a historical fiction novel until I started listening to the audiobook. Honestly, it had potential early on but I ended up greatly disliking it for a variety of reasons. Most of the characters made poor choices and unrealistically faced unequal consequences, which made the outcomes highly unbelievable. Also, the descriptions of many characters were grossly fetishizing, especially for POC characters. I also took issue with the narrator (a white woman) doing certain voices for characters with accents. This is partially to do with how Jewell wrote the characters, but still felt ick. With historical fiction, there is often has a very thin line between accurate and insensitive. I struggled with this one on the time jumps back to the 1920s, but the current day storyline’s descriptions were just poorly done, both in regards to specific characters and the poverty of urban spaces/who lives in them. Finally, the romance aspects of this book just drove me up a wall. I try to be open minded with historical fiction as there is often a romance arc within them, but all of the characters treat their romantic interests so poorly and still are somehow forgiven and taken back with little question. It’s just so infuriating to me. This one was definitely not for me.
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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really liked this one, and I learned a lot about the 1920s in London. I was really into the story, and I liked the flipping between the time periods. This book kind of cemented a feeling through - I feel like Lisa Jewell only writes negative Asian characters? It might be that the books' narrators also make them sound not great, but it also seems like the Asian characters are always written as unintelligent and immoral.
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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 Something I appreciate about Lisa Jewell as an author is the variety in her early work. A good deal of her recent works falls into the thriller/mystery genre, but some of her older stuff is more varied. I've read some of her other family drama books and wasn't a huge fan, but I found this one well-written and interesting. The plot moved quickly and Jewell managed to pull off the dual plotlines effectively, with both getting the time and attention they needed without becoming overbearing.

I don't know if I can make a blanket statement and say that if you like Jewell, you'll like this, but if you like her style and her ability to write people, this is a great example of her work that isn't entirely a thriller. 
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lillyrose97's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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