Before We Were Strangers

By Renee Carlino

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Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

Released: August 18, 2015

Pages: 320

Publisher: Atria Books

Overall: 4.5/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Setting & World-building: 2/5

Emotional Investment: 5/5

"Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash"

So I've read one other book by Renee Carlino named 'Blind Kiss', and I've come across a common theme in her books: the slow-burning feeling of your heart being ripped and put back together in 300 pages. She has written another excellent story about falling in love again and the messiness of life.

Quick Summary: So I really, don't want to give a summary because the blurb is a really good starting point going into this book. But basically, Matt and Grace meet the senior year of college and they become fast friends. That friendship evolves into something more, but sadly time and circumstances cause them to be torn apart. Until fifteen years later...

I have to first address the beauty that is Matt because he is just the perfect gentleman in literally every single scenario. Right away Matt is portrayed as a confident, handsome man but that only grows more when he meets Grace. Grace on the other hand is confident but also very innocent and sheltered about some topics. She has a messy home life, but she doesn't let that interfere with her love of music. Clearly, the characters are so very memorable in this book. Tatiana, Grace's best friend, is also an amazing supporting character who provides so much comfort and a solid backbone for her.

Plot-wise this isn't a fast-paced, twisty turny book, but the buildup and climax still have an impactful punch. It's more slow-burn and focused on showing the depth of their relationship, rather than moving it forward with action after action. Which is 100% okay. I would like to congratulate Carlino on the ability to ensure readers fully understand just how messy life is. Every single book I've read of hers has a beautiful love story but there is always that one factor that is bittersweet. The one thing that reminds you that life is just disastrous sometimes and the best thing you can do is accommodate and accept it. It never deters from the quality of the book, it actually makes it more memorable and reminds me that things you may not want to happen will almost always happen, but that is okay.

I really did love this book. There were multiple times where I sort of screamed out loud because I personally hate the miscommunication plot device (not a spoiler because it is in almost every book and can be assumed from the blurb). Also, the characters are so frustratingly human, with their flaws but also their ability to love so largely, that it made me tear up. I would recommend this book if you want a slower, heartfelt book about second-chance love.

Quotes

"the way she could color a black-and-white photo with her magnetism alone"

"You can't re-create the first time you promise to love someone or the first time you feel loved by another. You cannot relive the sensation of fear, admiration, self-consciousness, passion, and desire all mixed into one because it never happens twice. You chase it like the first high for the rest of your life."

"Sex is perfectly selfless and selfish all at once. Hot and cold, yin and yang, black and white, and all of the shades in between"

"We're all gonna die, nobody knows when, nobody knows how, you think. And in that moment, you realize how little control you have over your own destiny. From the time you're born, you have no control you can't choose your parents, and, unless you're suicidal, you can't choose your death. The only thing you can do is choose the person you love, be kind to others, and make your brutally short stint on earth as pleasant as possible."

"The present is our own. The right-this-second, the here-and-now, this moment before the next, is ours for the taking. It's the only free gift the universe has to offer. The past doesn't belong to us anymore, and the future is just a fantasy, never guaranteed. But the present is ours to own. The only way we can realize that fantasy is if we embrace the now."

"time is the currency of life"