An emotional romance which will leave you wanting more, meet Before I Saw You by Emily Houghton.
The plot:
Alice and Alfie are strangers. But they sleep next to each other every night.
Alfie Mack has been in hospital for months recovering from an accident. A new face on the ward is about as exciting as life gets for him right now, so when someone moves into the bed next to him he’s eager to make friends. But it quickly becomes clear that seeing his neighbour’s face won’t happen any time soon.
Alice Gunnersley has been badly burned and can’t even look at herself yet, let alone allow anyone else to see her. She keeps the curtain around her bed firmly closed, but it doesn’t stop Alfie trying to get to know her. And gradually, as he slowly brings Alice out of her shell, might there even be potential for more?
A romance that will definitely stay with you
This book is fairly upsetting – I cried unexpectedly a lot during random points, and I never cry at books. It’s a worthwhile journey to go on but prepare yourself for a lot of heartbreaking moments.
I devoured this book and got so wrapped up in the character’s lives that I didn’t realise I’d been reading late into the night, not wanting to put it down. I was also in a small reading slump, and this got me right out of it!
Houghton has very much made me feel like a fly on the ward, feeling all of the ups and downs alongside the characters.
Oh these characters!! I have a special place in my heart for fictional characters and move aside everyone else, Alfie and Alice are in town. Brought together in horrible circumstances, they provide both laugh-out-loud moments and also heartbreaking truths and pasts – they’re like your best friends from day one. Even the smaller characters play a huge part. Unlikely friendships and moments you’ll treasure – it definitely gave me some hope and a feeling of connection.
Chapters are short and sweet, with lots of conversation making it extremely quick to read – especially with the intrigue of finding out what’s going to happen (although fairly predictable due to its genre). You follow both Alfie and Alice’s story and I loved the deeper insight you got with them both.
There was one aspect which broke my heart – literally, I’m still not ok with how it crept up on me. You really got an insight into trauma and how different personalities deal with this, but you still (gradually) got the loveliness which makes your heart grow in size.
It’s a five-star because I can’t think of anything wrong with it. It was just such an easy and charming reading. I maybe would’ve liked a bit more from the ending but am I just being greedy? Absolutely.
What’s not to love – two characters who can’t/won’t see each other for very valid reasons, and a romance that will definitely stay with you.
Before I Saw You, Emily Houghton, RRP £12.99 (hardback); Book Depository
Pages: 371
Publisher: Bantam Press
Genre: Romance
Topics include: depression & mental health, trauma, families and death.
