10/10
WARNING: SPOILERS
In The Days Before by Renée Shantel is now available for pre-order.
Unputdownable is not a word I use lightly. But I’m using it for this book. The book tells the story of Audrey, an earnest, wholesome girl who makes videos about missing people. When her best friend goes missing and she becomes a suspect, her work suddenly takes on even greater importance.
What I loved…
What makes In The Days Before shine is its pitch-perfect descriptions. Renée is gifted at creating a vivid picture in just a few words. I very rarely highlight in my Kindle, and yet I’ve highlighted hundreds of her amazing descriptions simply because they’re brilliant and I want to read them again. I also particularly loved the description of the formal dance, where Audrey expected a movie-esque scenario and it turned out to be much more low-budget. It’s clear the author has a brilliant sense of humour, since I found myself laughing quite a few times.
The characters. There’s a cast of great characters, each really well developed. Audrey’s motivation for creating these videos is fleshed out nicely, without turning into a cliché. The author has done a brilliant job at balancing this.
The twists. I like to think I’m fairly good at figuring out mysteries, but I only saw the truth right at the very end… The plot. I love twisty mysteries and this did a great job at keeping me hooked all the way through. I was torn between wanting to race through the book and also not wanting it to end!
What I didn’t love so much…
Absolutely nothing. If I could give more than five stars, I would. Do yourself a favour and pre-order it now.
The fact that there’s no sequel out yet. (Seriously, I think there’s scope for another book. I’d absolutely love to see Audrey solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance. And maybe Matt could move closer to hers so he ends up going to her school, as I really liked him as a character and it would be great to see their relationship play out.)
I received this book as an ARC and this review is my own, honest opinion. Thank you so much for the ARC copy, Renée.