A review by kristineisreading
Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

4.0

This is a twisty-turny book. None of the twists were that surprising, but they were all entertaining. I was a little iffy about Hen's bipolar being a main plot point, but I feel like it was handled appropriately. People do sometimes have psychotic breaks when manic, and it's not unrealistic that people would use that to paint her as an unreliable narrator. I like the contrast between that and knowing that she's actually perfectly reliable. I felt bad for her at times, knowing what she knew and nobody else believing her. I like that she never doubted herself though. She knew what she saw and she knew her meds were working and she wasn't manic and she wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. She's a strong and balanced character overall. Her creepy artwork could have turned her into a caricature of someone obsessed with darkness, but it's just a small part of who she is. Matthew is also a multi-faceted character. He has a darkness inside of him, so many scars from a traumatic childhood, and he coped with them the best way he knew how. I found both of them intriguing. Some of the other characters, not so much. Lloyd is as dull as dish water, and Mira's only personality trait is she travels a lot for work. But they're bit players in the grand scheme of things, so it doesn't really matter. Overall this is a strong showing from an author I've never heard of, and makes me curious to read some of his other books.