Before I saw you

Title: Before I saw you

Author: Emily Houghton

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia

Genre: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, General Fiction

Year of release: 2021

Release Date 2^nd February 2021

Rating

Synopsis

Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never seen? Alice has been badly burned. She hasn’t been able to look at herself yet, let alone allow anyone else to see her. All she wants to do is hide away from the world. Alfie might be dealing with his own injury, but he’s also determined to get Alice to talk to him. Slowly he starts to get to know her – all the while never being able to see her, but can Alice ever really let him in?

Review

Alfie Mack and Alice Gunnersley are roommates in St. Francis’s Hospital; Moria Gladstone Rehabilitation ward, unlike most roommates the pair have never seen what the other looks like. Alice is not yet able to face herself and come to terms with her now badly burnt body let alone face the outside world, Alice turns to shutting herself away behind a hospital curtain; no one goes behind that curtain the hospital staff are the only exception to Alice’s rule if only necessary. 

Alfie is now considered a long-term patient and considers himself quite the expert of life on the Moria Gladstone Ward, he goes about his day trying to make the staff and the other patients on the ward smile, becoming a patient after a car accident that left him an amputee and his friends deceased. Turns out learning to live with an acquired disability and ever-present survivors’ guilt is taking longer than Alfie anticipated.

 The day Alice arrives on the ward her determined silence getting more noticeable by the hour, Alfie sets about making it his mission to get Alice chatting. Eventually Alice slowly brings down her walls and the pair become friends. Alice begins to wonder if letting Alfie in is the best decision? She’s not here for anyone’s sympathy and Alfie will take one look at her and run in the other direction as fast as his legs will carry him. Can Alice bring down her walls and keep them that way? 

 Thinking back on it, what drew me to investigate this book was the cover art and the promise of love and friendship without having seen the other person, this appealed to this reader making me feel like this was going to be the perfect Contemporary Fiction read, perfect weekend reading.

Whilst I didn’t enjoy the romantic elements of this book, I can appreciate that others will enjoy this addition to the overall plotline. I believe one of the most memorable aspects of the story for me was that; Before I Saw You also covers issues such as grief/loss, body image, survivors’ guilt, disability, ableism and institutionalisation. These issues were dealt with respectfully, sensitivity and with care. 

“Exactly. You don’t look at that damaged, weathered, worn-out tree and see it flawed, do you? Our scars are simply the marks of our stories. They show we’ve lived a great life, and most of all that we have survived it. Don’t hide your story away in the shadows.”
― Emily Houghton, Before I Saw You

The story is told using the dual perspective technique, this is one of this readers stand-out techniques and something I look out for when reading.

I also think this detail made me feel as if Alice and Alfie and their struggles stand out more which made me care about them as individuals. I found both of their backgrounds interesting; however, when it came to Alfie, I was able to relate and connect more to his physical disability.

I think the author has spent a great deal of time giving Alfie a background and Alice overall felt a little underdeveloped and almost forgotten, which was somewhat of a disappointment as I really wanted to connect with each of the main characters equally.  

I must say if the book didn’t have such enjoyable characters and real-world relatable situations that pull at the heartstrings, I would have probably stopped reading in the conflict chapters as the plotline did slow and felt as if it became repetitive and the ending does feel somewhat rushed. This might not have been as noticeable to the reader had the middle chapters not been so painfully slow, I felt as if it was a race towards the resolution chapters, hence why I give Before I Saw You 4 stars. Even though the ending was predictable it leaves no questions unanswered, I always find this satisfying when it comes to stand-alone reads as I have never been a fan of make up your own mind endings.

 Before I Saw You reminds me of “Me Before You” by JoJo Moyes, if you’re looking for a Contemporary Fiction read with heart that is character based with heartfelt moments then I recommend investigating Emily Houghton’s Before I Saw You.  

I recommend this book to mature readers, Before I Saw You for the most part does tug at the heart strings, but it also teaches you that every moment is precious, as we can never know what is around the corner, it shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.