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A review by beate251
The One Before The One by Emma Cooper
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.
Liv's boyfriend Kit vanished seven years ago without a trace on a hike. After grieving for years, she is now getting married to James until, the morning of the wedding, everything changes again. She finds a familiar necklace in her groom's suit pocket and is transported back to her old flat with Kit, six days before he disappeared and able to relive that time. Can she change history, and more to the point, does she want to?
There are twists aplenty, far more than I was expecting in a romance - but it wasn't just a simple romance. We get two timelines and POVs in which several mysteries are explored - what happened to Kit and is he still alive, and whatever relevance does hermit Connor McDonald have to the family? The second timeline is so cleverly written that I didn't realise at first who it was about, just that something didn't quite add up.
I liked both Liv who is strong and knows her mind, and kind James, who got a raw deal with his parents and didn't deserve what they, or at least his horrible mother, put him through. Liv's relationship with her mother and how she deals with her mother's agoraphobia was beautifully explored.
This is a story of love, loss, redemption and second chances, with a dash of magical realism, and is far less predictable than I thought it might be, and far superior to recent similar offerings about a woman torn between two men. I read this book in one sitting and highly recommend it. This is a well-written and capitvating emotional rollercoaster of a story that will stay with you. The epilogue was something else!
Liv's boyfriend Kit vanished seven years ago without a trace on a hike. After grieving for years, she is now getting married to James until, the morning of the wedding, everything changes again. She finds a familiar necklace in her groom's suit pocket and is transported back to her old flat with Kit, six days before he disappeared and able to relive that time. Can she change history, and more to the point, does she want to?
There are twists aplenty, far more than I was expecting in a romance - but it wasn't just a simple romance. We get two timelines and POVs in which several mysteries are explored - what happened to Kit and is he still alive, and whatever relevance does hermit Connor McDonald have to the family? The second timeline is so cleverly written that I didn't realise at first who it was about, just that something didn't quite add up.
I liked both Liv who is strong and knows her mind, and kind James, who got a raw deal with his parents and didn't deserve what they, or at least his horrible mother, put him through. Liv's relationship with her mother and how she deals with her mother's agoraphobia was beautifully explored.
This is a story of love, loss, redemption and second chances, with a dash of magical realism, and is far less predictable than I thought it might be, and far superior to recent similar offerings about a woman torn between two men. I read this book in one sitting and highly recommend it. This is a well-written and capitvating emotional rollercoaster of a story that will stay with you. The epilogue was something else!
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment