A review by bbsbooks
The Girl Before by JP Delaney

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I couldn’t put it down. I’m not usually a fast reader but I read this within a week. I enjoyed the mystery, the twists and turns and I definitely didn’t expect the ending. 
I really enjoyed how this book explored psychology and why certain characters were driven to do the things they did. It made me question the intentions of other characters as well.
However, there were elements to this book that made me really uncomfortable and probably not in the way the author intended. First of all the sexual scenes were really cringey, as was a lot of the writing. “Yes daddy yes” made me want to throw up in my mouth. I’m not trying to kink shame at all but something about that really didn’t sit well with me, maybe because I knew it was written by a man? I also hated when they wrote “so he’s like” before a character’s dialogue, it just didn’t work for me.
Another thing that made me really uncomfortable was the opinions on abortion and disabled children portrayed through this book. I think it is Jane who refers to abortion as “cowardly” but later decides to terminate if her baby is diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. I know this book came out a few years ago now but those opinions just felt outdated and unnecessary.   
Emma’s character really grated on me, especially as she started to unravel and I was put off reading the book a couple of times by the thought of having to read more about her. 
I wish they had ended the book with Emma’s letter, that last chapter from Jane just felt unbelievable and fell flat. 
Overall a good mystery book that will keep you guessing until the end, if you can put up with the annoying characters throughout. 


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