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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
5 ⭐️ i'm in disbelief. how has it taken me this long to read? i cannot even describe how much i loved this entire book. grace and matt are PERFECT in every way and that plot twist could not have surprised me more. wow. i will be thinking about this for MONTHS.
i never thought a book could even compare to archer's voice, but this got pretty dang close.
i never thought a book could even compare to archer's voice, but this got pretty dang close.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Complicated
Once there was a you and me
We were lovers
We were friends
Before life changed
Before we were strangers
Do you still think of me?
I always had a thing for vintage and ancient things especially the love stories of 90s. Before We Were Strangers teleported me right in the New York in 90s and made me live that era through Grace and Matt's perspective. It was beautiful, nostalgic, raw and emotional. Renee's writing is exquisitely beautiful and her narrative has a poetical quality that kept me hooked and in present with Grace and Matt's story. I loved the love story of two artists living, learning, exploring New York and falling in love in with the city together and with each other.
The story was realistic and raw but it was also sweet and steamy. I loved every second of it and really wished I were born in that era where humans simply just existed and enjoyed each other's company and loved the very essence of human existence and beauty of art and nature. Reading about New York in 90s was like experiencing a city that existed once in a past but can be revisited through someone's love and memories of that time.
“That’s why my mother always said we memorialize our past. Everything seems better in a memory.”
Garce was a Cellist and a girl who was in love with music. She loves it enough to do anything for her passion and she is really hardworking and selfless. I loved her funny and clumsy personality and how she sees the world and beauty in everything. Matt was a sweetheart. He was a photography student. I loved him more in 90s because he was this adorable and charming guy who fell in love first and harder. He was so patient with Grace and paid attention to every small detail about her and it was good to see that Grace had someone who loved her for who she was.
“You’re my first muse, Grace.”
“You were always with me, Grace. I never found a way to let you go.”
Grace and Matt's love is timeless. Their story is a first love and second chance story. It is told in two different timelines — in 90s when they shared college dorm in New York as seniors and were 21 years old and after 15 years of their college graduation. The way they fell in love with each other was so mesmerisingly beautiful. I couldn't get enough of them learning about each other and exploring their newfound frienship and blooming love between them. They liked each other as humans before they fell in love and that's what I loved about them. It was the real representation of what first and young love feels like, why it's scary but also exciting and delightful because they found their own favourite person.
“You can’t re-create the first time you promise to love someone or the first time you feel loved by another. You cannot relive the sensation of fear, admiration, self-consciousness, passion, and desire all mixed into one because it never happens twice. You chase it like the first high for the rest of your life.”
Their first meet after 15 years left them with this yearning to find to find each other and find out what happened to them. I wasn't expected to be torn apart by their present but I was, because of all the what ifs scenarios that kept coming. It was heartbreaking to see them realise how much time they lost because of some selfish people in their life. Matt and Grace fell in love together and found the meaning of it in New York in 90s but they had individual character growth for years and seeing them grow together as humans, lovers and parent after 15 years was refreshing. I also loved Ash and Matt together and how they bonded together as dad and daughter. Ash was chill and funny and that little surprise she planned for her parents in the end was so thoughtful and romantic.
“Three seconds doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you’re gazing into someone’s eyes, it’s long enough to make a silent promise.”
Reading about Grace and Matt's fast friendship and love story made me realise that love exists in various forms and that even if you find the right person, it all depends on the right time. That sometimes ambitions and dreams and love clash together and only one of them wins but life always has a way of surprising people. That losing something or someone meaningful to you in the past will come back to you one way or another and you will have it again in your life and it will be much better second time around. That true friendships and missed connections and love oportunities don't just vanish if love and trust was the foundation of it, and Renee expertly and masterfully captured it all in this evocative story.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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:
No
I’m sad because this book was so highly recommended to me and I WANTED to like it. But it fell so short and I’m kind of irritated by the plot line. Disappointing. :(((
Picked this up and didn’t have many expectations. But this book kind of destroyed me in a way? I am sucker for two friends falling in love senior year of college; throw in the NYC setting and you got me lol. Yes, I was frustrated at times, and I cringed at other times (they are NYU Tisch School of the Arts students in the late ‘90s after all), but all-in-all this story was a second chance romance done well and brought me so much nostalgia.
My favorite quote: “When I thought about what we had, it didn't matter that it was just friendship. I loved her.” (Tell your friends you love them, y’all.)
And, because this one was a shot to the heart: “I was crying because the thought of [him] leaving, even just for a few months, killed me... He'd be a world away, and I would be left behind, crying over being too young to give it all up or to ask him to give it all up.”
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 ⭐️
i loved this book! i finished it in 2 nights and cried 2
or 3 times while reading…
what i enjoyed:
• the plot and the second chance romance trope felt like a bit of a refreshing change compared to a lot of other romance novels, at least the ones i’ve read, which i appreciated. i also found that the third-act conflict, which usually tends to annoy me, was written in a way that wasn’t insanely absurd or just plain dumb.
• i also found myself really enjoying the whole daughter-father dynamic, even though i typically really don’t like romance stories that feature pregnancy. the way that matt wanted so badly to be make up for lost time was heart-warming to me.
• the music mentioned! stories can sometimes feel like parallel universes so when i see things mentioned from real life that i love it always stands out to me. i just enjoyed seeing the MCs top tier music taste and how it was ingrained throughout the book.
what i didn’t:
• i found that the pacing was just a little off, not so much that it disrupted the story or the reading experience, but just a minor detail that i’m picking up on, now reflecting back.
• the story felt somewhat shallow at times - as if characters had nothing going for them except their plot - but nothing too crazy. there was still a fair bit outside the main love story, which is essential to me.
i loved this book! i finished it in 2 nights and cried 2
or 3 times while reading…
what i enjoyed:
• the plot and the second chance romance trope felt like a bit of a refreshing change compared to a lot of other romance novels, at least the ones i’ve read, which i appreciated. i also found that the third-act conflict, which usually tends to annoy me, was written in a way that wasn’t insanely absurd or just plain dumb.
• i also found myself really enjoying the whole daughter-father dynamic, even though i typically really don’t like romance stories that feature pregnancy. the way that matt wanted so badly to be make up for lost time was heart-warming to me.
• the music mentioned! stories can sometimes feel like parallel universes so when i see things mentioned from real life that i love it always stands out to me. i just enjoyed seeing the MCs top tier music taste and how it was ingrained throughout the book.
what i didn’t:
• i found that the pacing was just a little off, not so much that it disrupted the story or the reading experience, but just a minor detail that i’m picking up on, now reflecting back.
• the story felt somewhat shallow at times - as if characters had nothing going for them except their plot - but nothing too crazy. there was still a fair bit outside the main love story, which is essential to me.