A review by nzmerchant
Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino

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

1.0

Already knew from the second chapter that this book would not be up my alley. Wanted to give it a fair chance but the characters really irritated me - only liked Matt’s mom and Ash. I think the characters were portrayed a bit too idealistically and there were a lot of things in their characters that I would have liked to see further developed - like Matt’s relationship with his family and how that affects his romantic relationships, and why Matt trivialised some of Grace’s valid concerns. Idk felt like everything was very surface level and mopey even in their internal dialogues. Similar miscommunication/wrong timing plot as Normal People but without the character’s self awareness and reflection lmao. I also really dislike Grace’s arc
- why did she marry Pornsake and have a kid with Matt? Surely there would have been better ways of developing the plot rather than perpetuating creepy student-teacher relationships. And I hate that Matt got to be the career guy and have a great career but Grace didn’t?
Overall, not a fan.
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