Ethan had been many things. He was always ready for adventure and always willing to accept a dare, especially from his best friend, Kacey. But that was before. Before the accident that took Kacey from him. Before his family moved from the city he loves to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.
Ethan's new home feels like the place for second chances. It's also home to Coralee, a girl with a big personality and even bigger stories. Coralee may be just the friend Ethan needs, except Ethan isn't the only one with secrets. Coralee's are catching up with her, and what she's hiding might be putting both their lives at risk.
The Ethan I Was Before is a story of love and loss, wonder and adventure, and ultimately of hope.
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[Kacey's window has been dark for fifty nine days]***
(Orchard Books, 29 June 2017, first published 24 January 2017, 400 pages, paperback, copy from @AmazonUK via #AmazonVine)
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This book made me sob like a broken wreck of a person. This is the kind of book that taps into every emotion and becomes so real you almost forget you're reading. I loved the fact the author chooses to delay revealing important information so there is more of an impact. For example, there are small hints about what happened to Kacey throughout the book, hints that led me to believe she'd had some kind of accident and died. This is not quite the truth and when this is revealed more than three quarters of the way through the book it stunned me. Another example of this is how Coralee's secrets are not revealed until towards the end of the book. Ethan is a great character. He blames himself for what happened to Kacey. I didn't like Ethan's parents at all. They are secretive and seem oblivious to the pain their son is in. This book made me feel so much.
