.jpg)
When Liv’s boyfriend Kit disappeared on a hike, seven years earlier, she thought her life was over. But with the help of their family and friends, she’s pushed her way through the grief, and now, miraculously, she's found a way to love again.
Until the morning of her wedding, when Liv steps through a doorway, and finds herself, somehow, back at the flat she shared with seven years earlier, six days before he left. Now, Liv has a chance to live those six days over, and change everything. If she gets this right, she can find out why Kit leaves and stop him.
But can she save him? And if she does, how will she choose, between the man she loved then, and the one she loves now? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
The One Before The One has a premise that is reminiscent of the movie Sliding Doors, but it goes above and beyond. I was riveted by Liv’s story. One minute, she’s about to marry someone who she knows she wants to spend forever with, and the next, she is catapulted back to the past and her former love. When Kit had originally disappeared, it had taken her several years to move on. And now, she has a chance to reconcile what really happened and find out why Kit left.
There is another storyline that runs concurrently with Liz’s, and I was so sure as to who it was referencing and what it was about–but about ⅔ of the way through the book, I was completely gobsmacked by the truth of it all. It was the perfect set-up and tied in nicely with what Liz is discovering about Kit. It eventually comes down to a very hard choice for Liz: does she want to find her way back to Kit, even though he was her past, or does she want to stay in the relationship she’s in now, because that man represents her present and future?
The anguish and difficulty that Liz felt was reflected well within the writing and the introspective moments between herself and her psyche. Sometimes writing that highlights time travel can be difficult to read, but it was very well done here. I never felt like I was lost in knowing where Liz is at any given time, and the confusion she felt when ultimately having to choose between the two great loves of her life never felt shortsighted. I was invested from page one.
The truth is eventually revealed, and while it helped to answer some questions, more crop up–and that was the most difficult for Liz. The One Before The One was engaging and beautifully written, a definite five-star experience!
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment