Emily Houghton

Alfie Mack lleva meses en el hospital recuperándose de un accidente. Ver una cara nueva es lo más emocionante que puede sucederle ahora mismo, así que cuando alguien ocupa la cama contigua, está deseoso por hacer nuevas amistades. Pero pronto comprende que no será tan fácil verle la cara a su compañera de habitación.
Alice Gunnersley ha sufrido quemaduras graves y todavía no es capaz de mirarse al espejo. y mucho menos dejar que alguien la vea. Mantiene la cortina que rodea su cama firmemente cerrada, pero eso no impide que Alfie intente conocerla. Él, encantador, hablador y extrovertido; ella, reservada, eficiente y adicta al trabajo: no podrían ser más diferentes. Pero, poco a poco, Alfie consigue que Alice se vaya desprendiendo de su coraza.
La conexión entre ellos crece día tras día, pero ¿es posible enamorarse de alguien a quien nunca has visto?… (mehr)

Before I Saw You by Emily Houghton is a 2021 Gallery Books publication.

Alice and Alfie are in the hospital recovering from traumatic injuries, separated by a curtain. Although Alice is not ready for anyone to see her, she and Alfie strikes up a cautious acquaintance, which quickly develops into a deep bond. Though their physical injuries were emotional on different levels, in different ways, a time will come when they must face a future outside the hospital- in more ways than one…

I hesitated to grab this book, then hesitated to read it for a while, based on the comparisons in the blurb. My books can end any number of ways, but I don’t do ‘bad endings’, if you know what I mean. But I got the impression, based on the reviews, that the book was quite emotional, it was not a tearjerker. So, here we are…

I ended up liking the book more than I thought I would. Alice’s story is harrowing, not that I’m making light of Alfie’s journey, by any means. While the slow burn romance can feel frustrating at times, I thought the relationship development was realistic, especially considering the circumstances. One surely wouldn’t expect it to jump from 0 to 100 while suffering through the agonizing emotional life altering challenges this couple faced. That said, at times, the pacing does become a little monotonous, and I didn’t always understand the character’s logic at times. The time spent on the characters journey through their painful ordeals, and slowly falling in love is well-done, the courage to grab hope and love is our reward.

I only had one little quibble with the epilogue- I would have liked to hear a firmer update on Alice’s recovery progress and I was confused by Alfie’s avoidance of a question posed to him. If nothing else, it could have been a teaching moment, and his non-answer was puzzling considering the theme of the book.

Otherwise, this story is heartwarming and uplifting- not really a ‘romance’ in the traditional sense, but is definitely a love story in every sense.

3 stars… (mehr)

Interesting Premise. Perfect Execution. Apparently I'm a bit different than the smattering of the current 300 Goodreads reviews I've read of this book so far (just over a month prior to publication, so kudos to the Gallery Books/ Simon and Schuster marketing team - which is where I got my own copy from).

Why?

Because I thought this was a challenging premise for *any* author to work from, much less a debut author... and yet Houghton *nails* it, to my thinking.

The entire central conceit here is that you've got two people who are badly broken and trying to heal, who happen to randomly find themselves forced to be next to each other in a rehabilitation ward for weeks on end, and somehow fall in love - despite one of them insisting on keeping their curtain closed, thus precluding both from ever seeing the other's face.

This was a great tale that had light and heart where it needed to, forced the tears to come pouring out of your eyes in others, told convincing tales of the disparate injuries and recoveries, and wrapped all of this up in a standard Hallmarkie type finish. (Yes, this *is* billed as a romance, so noting that the couple does end up together is no spoiler here. :D)

If this is what we can expect from Houghton, this reader for one is very much looking forward to seeing what else she has. Very much recommended.… (mehr)

‘Our scars are simply the marks of our stories. They show we've lived our life, and most of all that we have survived it.'- this is one quote which I would love to remember from this book.

Alfie Mack has been in hospital for months recovering from an accident. So when a new patient is put in the bed beside him, he's eager for someone different to talk to. A new face on the ward is about as exciting as life gets for him right now.

Alice has been badly burned and can't bear to look at herself yet, let alone allow anyone else see her. She insists on keeping the curtain around her bed firmly closed at all times.

But that doesn't stop Alfie trying to be friends. And gradually, as he slowly brings Alice slowly out of her shell, there might even be potential for something more?

I actually liked and enjoyed this book even though it kind of unreal at times.

It was fun to read the interactions between all the characters especially it was lovely to see their friendship and bonding. Nurse Angles a.k.a Mother Angel was amazing but for me, Alfie is the star of this book. His personality was so likable and positive, I feel I might have to learn a few things from him about how to stay positive and happy while going through a tough time. His conversations with Mr Peterson were so enjoyable.

Initially when I read the book, I didn’t like Alice much and I found her grumpy and was annoyed at how she was behaving. But then as I thought more about it, I felt that I was being slightly harsh and that it’s not that easy to go through what she was facing. Being a burn victim and seeing your entire life change is definitely not an easy experience.

The ending was on expected lines but it happened just a bit too fast. I wish there was epilogue to know a bit more and obtain a sense of completion to the story.

Nevertheless, an enjoyable read.

Thank You to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for this ARC!… (mehr)