Before She Was Mine - Kate Long
Published: 01/03/12
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 355
I have never read a book by Kate Long before so I went into this one with no expectations. I was quite pleasantly surprised and will probably look out for more of her books in the future.
Freya has two mums. Liv is her foster mum who is sensible and loves nature. Melody is her biological mum who is make-up obsessed and irresponsible. Freya has grown up under the wings of these two very different women and loves them both for different reasons, although Liv and Melody don’t often get along. Liv and Melody soon face challenges in their individual lives and it is now Freya’s turn to look after both of them, but with two mums to look after who both want her attention and with not enough of Freya to go around, can she make everyone happy?
There are sub plots included in this novel mainly to do with Freya’s best friend Nicky and Michael who is Melody’s step brother. They both play quite important roles within Freya’s life.
I love the way that Kate writes. This book was told from Freya’s viewpoint and I loved the snippets of her secret thoughts that we got to share which were often rather hilarious and directed towards Geraint who is Liv’s partner.
My only criticisms are that I didn’t feel the diary and case notes that were present after each chapter were really relevant to the story and I found myself getting slightly bored of them. Even though they gave a little background to two of the characters, I didn’t feel like they enriched the plot at all. Secondly, the chapters were quite long and for anyone that knows me I love a short chapter! I must have some psychological block in my mind that is initiated when there are long chapters in a book, I find them so off-putting! However, I did persevere with this book and finish it relatively quickly.
Worth a read.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 355
I have never read a book by Kate Long before so I went into this one with no expectations. I was quite pleasantly surprised and will probably look out for more of her books in the future.
Freya has two mums. Liv is her foster mum who is sensible and loves nature. Melody is her biological mum who is make-up obsessed and irresponsible. Freya has grown up under the wings of these two very different women and loves them both for different reasons, although Liv and Melody don’t often get along. Liv and Melody soon face challenges in their individual lives and it is now Freya’s turn to look after both of them, but with two mums to look after who both want her attention and with not enough of Freya to go around, can she make everyone happy?
There are sub plots included in this novel mainly to do with Freya’s best friend Nicky and Michael who is Melody’s step brother. They both play quite important roles within Freya’s life.
I love the way that Kate writes. This book was told from Freya’s viewpoint and I loved the snippets of her secret thoughts that we got to share which were often rather hilarious and directed towards Geraint who is Liv’s partner.
My only criticisms are that I didn’t feel the diary and case notes that were present after each chapter were really relevant to the story and I found myself getting slightly bored of them. Even though they gave a little background to two of the characters, I didn’t feel like they enriched the plot at all. Secondly, the chapters were quite long and for anyone that knows me I love a short chapter! I must have some psychological block in my mind that is initiated when there are long chapters in a book, I find them so off-putting! However, I did persevere with this book and finish it relatively quickly.
Worth a read.
Laura