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A review by dinohakari
Before I Fall by Courtney W. Dixon, Joelle Lynne
4.0
I have to say that, overall, I liked this book. It is full of emotion, Evan's anguish after the loss of his girlfriend, and the fact of now being a single father who has no support, at such a young age, is well described, and once the romance between the dos MCs begins, it's a beautiful thing to read.
However, in some ways, it leaves me somewhat dissatisfied. For example: Both Evan's aunt and Simon, ex uncle and now love interest, say that they always loved and cared about Evan, but in the 8 years since they left the town, they never visited him or it occurred to them to offer him and his girlfriend to move away from a town where they barely managed to survive. And yes, I understand that they left justifiably and were living their lives, but... Another thing is the timeline. Simon comes as soon as Remi dies, stays a few weeks, returns to NY, then Evan talks about him during his stay in NY, telling is only a month since Remi's death, meanwhile Simon begins the process of selling the shop, which takes several weeks... I mean, I try to do the math, but I can't, I think it was more than 1 month since her death, and more than 2 in total until Simon returns from NY. Another thing, I don't understand that Simon has to sell everything to live in a city where he is not well received, and even where Evan has no peace either. I understand Evan's reluctance in wanting to leave the place where he feels closer to the woman he loved, but he also talks about how everything he does he does for his son, so... Why not do it from a beginning what they end up deciding in the end? And lastly, he was deeply "in love" with Remi, which to me, is an idealized love, a first love, her love was the only thing Evan knew, the only support, the only person really cared about him, so I think that's why he idealized his feelings for Remi so much. Otherwise, I don't understand that in a few weeks, or approximately two months, not only he feels, for the first time, attracted to a man (and how refreshing to see that he never questioned whether it was natural or whether it was wrong or not. He simply accepted his attraction) but also he has deep feelings regarding that man. And I think it would have been good to distinguish the difference between these two loves that are so different and so important to him. One of a childhood/adolescence with all the candor of two people who are learning to be adults, and that of two men who have gone through difficult and traumatic situations, where Evan must now face his life as an adult. And another thing that I didn't understand much was Remi's mother's attitude regarding the medical/religious situation. I mean, if my kids are in danger, I wouldn't care at all to save them. But hey, that's me.
Now, having said all that, it was a story that I really enjoyed. I didn't want to highlight the above as something negative, but rather as something that might have made a little more sense. Of course maybe, that way there wouldn't have been a story? After all, there's a reason I'm a reader and not a writer. So as a reader, I can say that, although it may not be a perfect story, it is highly recommended.
I was given an advanced copy and voluntarily wrote a review.
However, in some ways, it leaves me somewhat dissatisfied. For example: Both Evan's aunt and Simon, ex uncle and now love interest, say that they always loved and cared about Evan, but in the 8 years since they left the town, they never visited him or it occurred to them to offer him and his girlfriend to move away from a town where they barely managed to survive. And yes, I understand that they left justifiably and were living their lives, but... Another thing is the timeline. Simon comes as soon as Remi dies, stays a few weeks, returns to NY, then Evan talks about him during his stay in NY, telling is only a month since Remi's death, meanwhile Simon begins the process of selling the shop, which takes several weeks... I mean, I try to do the math, but I can't, I think it was more than 1 month since her death, and more than 2 in total until Simon returns from NY. Another thing, I don't understand that Simon has to sell everything to live in a city where he is not well received, and even where Evan has no peace either. I understand Evan's reluctance in wanting to leave the place where he feels closer to the woman he loved, but he also talks about how everything he does he does for his son, so... Why not do it from a beginning what they end up deciding in the end? And lastly, he was deeply "in love" with Remi, which to me, is an idealized love, a first love, her love was the only thing Evan knew, the only support, the only person really cared about him, so I think that's why he idealized his feelings for Remi so much. Otherwise, I don't understand that in a few weeks, or approximately two months, not only he feels, for the first time, attracted to a man (and how refreshing to see that he never questioned whether it was natural or whether it was wrong or not. He simply accepted his attraction) but also he has deep feelings regarding that man. And I think it would have been good to distinguish the difference between these two loves that are so different and so important to him. One of a childhood/adolescence with all the candor of two people who are learning to be adults, and that of two men who have gone through difficult and traumatic situations, where Evan must now face his life as an adult. And another thing that I didn't understand much was Remi's mother's attitude regarding the medical/religious situation. I mean, if my kids are in danger, I wouldn't care at all to save them. But hey, that's me.
Now, having said all that, it was a story that I really enjoyed. I didn't want to highlight the above as something negative, but rather as something that might have made a little more sense. Of course maybe, that way there wouldn't have been a story? After all, there's a reason I'm a reader and not a writer. So as a reader, I can say that, although it may not be a perfect story, it is highly recommended.
I was given an advanced copy and voluntarily wrote a review.