Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino on August 18, 2015
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / General, Fiction / Romance / New Adult, Fiction / Women
Pages: 320
Format: eBook, Paperback
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To the Green-eyed Lovebird:
We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.
You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.
We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.
Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…
I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.
After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?
-M
This is a novel is a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City. I do not say this lightly… This is one of the best contemporary books I’ve ever read. If you know me, then you know contemporary is my least favorite genre. There are some thing I’d like to clear up right away though. This isn’t an action packed book with a massive slap you plot twist, and for some reason it is classified in the YA section of the book store. This novel is simply what it says it is, a sweet feel good read, which is one of it’s best qualities. Was easily one of the best books I would recommend. They’re relationship y’all, is perfection. It feels so real. You will really feel like you’re going through everything with them. They’re ups and downs will feel like yours. You will be experiencing all the emotions and pain right along with them, and it’s flipping fantastic. The way these two feed off each other is amazing.
Five wonderful starts for this novel. I definitely under estimated how much this book was going to effect me. A book I simply thought would be a fill-in read till I figured out what I wanted to really dive into next. Turned out to be a huge punch to my heart. Anything that might be considered a “flaw” is wiped away by the pure beauty of Carlino’s writing and by the way she will pull you into this love story.