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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This was 5 stars for me with I rarely give. I loved these main characters so much and was so invested in them, what happened to them, what would become of them. There were twists that I only loosely suspected and it pulled at me emotionally in ways I really didn’t expect. I was in it for a fun little breezy read after a reading dud and this book over delivered. Readers should know there are 3-4 explicit scenes. Normally this many in a short book takes my star reviews down because it feels like the author is relying on racy scenes to carry the plot. I did not feel this way in this book and just skipped over them because that’s my preference. There was some adult language but I didn’t find it overkill aside from one very obnoxious and largely unlikeable side character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A quick, easy read that I read in one sitting. Told in dual POV'S, Matt and Grace. Friends turned lovers. Matt goes away for a job for a year, and during that time, there are a lot of misunderstandings and other people getting involved. I was frustrated with the main characters.
emotional
fast-paced
Before We Were Strangers? I Wish We Still Were.
This book is a masterclass in how to take a decent premise and turn it into one of the worst book in history. The starting 20pgs were so interesting the premise was cool but thats it.
About 60-70% of the book they are either talking about sex, talking about sex or talking about how virgin grace is. Extremely immature, bad, and cringeworthy characters. The story is so bad even I can write it in a month.
Let’s start with Matt, our sad boy turned photographer, who spent 15 years moping harder than a Tumblr poet in 2012. This man sees his college ex for two seconds in a subway and instantly has a midlife emotional seizure. Bro, maybe text her before writing an entire Craigslist ad that sounds like a rejected movie pitch?
And Grace. Sweet Grace. A manic pixie cellist dream virgin girl whose main personality trait is... playing the cello. That’s it. That’s the whole resume. I’ve seen furniture instructions with more depth than these characters.
The pacing is uneven, the dialogue sounds like it was lifted from a Wattpad draft, and the big "twist"? About as surprising as finding out water is wet. Every conflict could’ve been resolved with one text message, but nope we suffer through 300 pages of “what ifs” and “maybe souls.”
Before We Were Strangers tries so hard to be deep that it ends up sounding like a sad Instagram caption wearing a turtleneck.
Final verdict: I’d rather get ghosted in real life than read this again.
This book is a masterclass in how to take a decent premise and turn it into one of the worst book in history. The starting 20pgs were so interesting the premise was cool but thats it.
About 60-70% of the book they are either talking about sex, talking about sex or talking about how virgin grace is. Extremely immature, bad, and cringeworthy characters. The story is so bad even I can write it in a month.
Let’s start with Matt, our sad boy turned photographer, who spent 15 years moping harder than a Tumblr poet in 2012. This man sees his college ex for two seconds in a subway and instantly has a midlife emotional seizure. Bro, maybe text her before writing an entire Craigslist ad that sounds like a rejected movie pitch?
And Grace. Sweet Grace. A manic pixie cellist dream virgin girl whose main personality trait is... playing the cello. That’s it. That’s the whole resume. I’ve seen furniture instructions with more depth than these characters.
The pacing is uneven, the dialogue sounds like it was lifted from a Wattpad draft, and the big "twist"? About as surprising as finding out water is wet. Every conflict could’ve been resolved with one text message, but nope we suffer through 300 pages of “what ifs” and “maybe souls.”
Before We Were Strangers tries so hard to be deep that it ends up sounding like a sad Instagram caption wearing a turtleneck.
Final verdict: I’d rather get ghosted in real life than read this again.