Before We Were Innocent: Reese's Book Club
- Downloads：5853
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-12-09 17:22:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Ella Berman
- ISBN：0593099559
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Corrine Townsend
，
It's time to celebrate！ Summer is here， High School is done and this trio of besties is ready to explore。 To Greece they head to stay in a family villa and learn all they can about the culture and each other。 As things often manage to do， drama ensues and one girl winds up dead。 With the other two to blame， is this the end of their short bout of independence？ Thankfully， police don't have enough to hold them any longer and the girls are released to spend the rest of their life harboring the trut It's time to celebrate！ Summer is here， High School is done and this trio of besties is ready to explore。 To Greece they head to stay in a family villa and learn all they can about the culture and each other。 As things often manage to do， drama ensues and one girl winds up dead。 With the other two to blame， is this the end of their short bout of independence？ Thankfully， police don't have enough to hold them any longer and the girls are released to spend the rest of their life harboring the truth。 10 years later， the remaining girls have grown apart， but always seem connected to that fateful night and when one is involved in an incident very similar， it's time to reveal what really happened all those years ago。Maybe it's the amount of books I've read or maybe it's just a season I'm in， but the entire time I read this book it felt like I already had。 This book is stereotypical in young girls escape to celebrate and enjoy a summer away from their parents。 In their self discovery someone is murdered and you can guess it's one of them in the group。 It highlights friendships， love and being true to yourself。 Like I said， I feel like I've read this story countless times before。 Parts of it didn't make sense or add up and other parts were slow to keep my attention。 Reese Witherspoon picked this book and I am finding her book selections are less and less something I am into。 It's an easy fast read so if you're curious this would be a good one to pick up， but it definitely wasn't something I would personally recommend。 。。。more
Julie
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“To my own fierce friendships—some of which have lasted， some of which are lost。 I think of you all often。”Can I ask you to someone to please point out to me with part of the novel that made it a "thriller"？ Because I’m still wondering where the "thriller" part of this book came in？Calling this book a thriller is a very big， massive stretch。 Don’t get me wrong， I enjoyed this book and the storyline and the characters keep you invested， but not at any point was I ever really on the edge of my sea “To my own fierce friendships—some of which have lasted， some of which are lost。 I think of you all often。”Can I ask you to someone to please point out to me with part of the novel that made it a "thriller"？ Because I’m still wondering where the "thriller" part of this book came in？Calling this book a thriller is a very big， massive stretch。 Don’t get me wrong， I enjoyed this book and the storyline and the characters keep you invested， but not at any point was I ever really on the edge of my seat like most thrillers are meant to do。 I wanted to know what happened， but I wasn’t desperate to find out。 I was absolutely okay with taking my time。 The characters were talking about dead bodies and it was like they were talking about whether you want a flat white or Americano。 I was constantly wondering when the suspense would kick in but it never really did。 Even int he end when you has all the information you realised it was an anticlimax because you knew what happened but that the little details are different。I did enjoy the focus on teenage/High-School friendship and the inevitable changes that growing up brings to those connections。 This made the characters so realistic and you could easily see yourself getting mixed up in the situation similar to these and the writing is absolutely wonderful and in-depth and beautiful。 I just wish people were going on about how great this was as a thriller。 Even though I enjoyed this， I still found myself getting bored and disconnected and zoning out， because I just wasn’t gripped by the "mystery"/"thriller"。I guess this just left me wanting more and not in the good way but in the way of wishing the surthob just went deeper。 。。。more
Me Alley
，
Super predictable。
Jen Ryland
，
I really loved The Comeback and so was very excited to try this。 But just like it is not helpful to call a book a romance when it isn't， it's not a good idea to call a book a thriller when it isn't。I started BWWI back when it came out in the spring and to me it was compelling。 I think the Goodreads rating is fair。 It is NOT a thriller， not that suspenseful at all。 There are many books with these same themes， such as the ones on this list and， if you prefer the YA version， the books on this lis I really loved The Comeback and so was very excited to try this。 But just like it is not helpful to call a book a romance when it isn't， it's not a good idea to call a book a thriller when it isn't。I started BWWI back when it came out in the spring and to me it was compelling。 I think the Goodreads rating is fair。 It is NOT a thriller， not that suspenseful at all。 There are many books with these same themes， such as the ones on this list and， if you prefer the YA version， the books on this listBecause The Comeback was so good I will definitely try Berman's third book but this one was just not for me。 。。。more
Brianna
，
A really good book that describes the intricacies of friendships and elaborates on the insecurities we hold as women。 I did not guess what was going to happen throughout the book but I really liked how I could understand how meaningful friendships can be even though sometimes they are bumpy at the end there is always love。
Gretchen
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3。5 stars
Barbie Bumpus
，
Oh， how to be 18， free， partying， & spending time with your friends。 We’ve all had those friendships that we’d thought would last forever。 You’d do anything for those friendships…even lie。 I was hoping for this to be more of a thriller， but it was still good。 This is my first book by this author。 I did listen to the audiobook。
Mew
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This was okay for an easy read - I found the characters a little annoying but that's not a big problem！ I liked the flashing back to Greece and the ways that we change from late teens to adulthood。 Not a bad read。 This was okay for an easy read - I found the characters a little annoying but that's not a big problem！ I liked the flashing back to Greece and the ways that we change from late teens to adulthood。 Not a bad read。 。。。more
layla
，
“show me an eighteen-year-old saint， and i’ll show you a liar。”
eryn borland
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4。5！
Mackenzie - PhDiva Books
，
Ella Berman delivers another raw and complex commentary on the dark side of being in the public spotlight。 Her previous book， The Comeback was gripping and gut-wrenching。 Her follow up book， Before We Were Innocent has a similar stark portrayal of the public’s obsession with young women at the center of a scandal。While her first book centered around an actress who spiraled out of control and struggled to take her power back， Before We Were Innocent focuses on the media frenzy around a salacious Ella Berman delivers another raw and complex commentary on the dark side of being in the public spotlight。 Her previous book， The Comeback was gripping and gut-wrenching。 Her follow up book， Before We Were Innocent has a similar stark portrayal of the public’s obsession with young women at the center of a scandal。While her first book centered around an actress who spiraled out of control and struggled to take her power back， Before We Were Innocent focuses on the media frenzy around a salacious crime。 Echoes of popular true crime cases that have dominated the news cycle lend a haunting realism to this fictional story。Ten years earlier， three friends spend a dream summer vacation in Greece， soaking up the sun and enjoying their youth and freedom before starting university in the fall。 But the death of one of the young women， Evangeline， sends their bliss to a screeching halt。 Joni and Bess are left to return home， unable to escape the public eye in the wake of Evangeline’s murder。Over the next ten years， Joni and Bess take different paths。 Bess wants nothing more than to escape the scrutiny of the media and public， while Joni takes advantage of the spotlight focused on the worst moment of her life and becomes a motivational speaker。 They remain on these paths until Joni becomes involved in another similar situation and goes to Bess， forcing her to confront things she has long kept buried。The book is told exclusively from Bess’s point of view and I appreciated that she was a complex character with both positive and negative characteristics。 Bess has retreated in the wake of the tragedy they experienced， and has made efforts to make her presence and life as small and contained as she is able to。 Joni is the opposite， making social media her life and as a result， she was a character who was hard to parse out what was done for the sake of appearance and who she really is。 The contrast of the two women was effective and kept the story interesting， as the reader （like Bess） can never be sure when Joni is lying to protect herself and when she is telling the truth。 I wondered often if she was a friend to Bess or not？ At the same time， there was something I admired about Joni。 She is a person who refuses to be defined by what the public thinks of her and her past。Through flashbacks the reader also gets glimpses of Evangeline the person， rather than the public image of a victim that she became following her murder。 One element that interested me in regards to Evangeline was the discrepancy between the perfect image of her that formed after losing her life tragically at such a young age compared to who she really was as a person。 This speaks to what happens to victims of real life crimes—they tend to become an idealized form of themselves and lose their depth and flaws they had in life。 Evangeline the victim is innocent， sweet， and impressionable。 Evangeline the person was at times self-absorbed and manipulative， imperfect but human。As Joni says at one point， this is a story of “three perfectly imperfect women” and Berman contrasts the media and public perception of them versus the people who actually lived the tragedy。 Compelling and suspenseful—this is a character-driven mystery that puts the spotlight back on the public who consumes and obsessed over true crime as though it is fiction， forgetting the real people behind the headlines。 。。。more
Holly Kiss
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Soooo fucking boring。 A whole lotta words and nothing being said… why was it so long？？？
Emma Bryant
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3。7 I think the plot was interesting but the ending gave no resolution and a lot was left unanswered
Jordan
，
Mostly enjoyed this but I felt it sort of petered out toward the end。 Not as much as a thrilling mystery as I was anticipating but that’s okay
Jesse Milian
，
3。5 rounded up
Lindsay
，
This didn’t turn out to be what I expected， but I don’t mind。 Rather than a thriller or who done it， this story ended up becoming more about female friendship and being human。 While both Joni and Bess were flawed （and Evangeline）， I liked them。 They felt real。 And maybe it’s my age （being in between the accident and the present）， but I felt for them。 This might be more of a 3。75 rounded up。
Kristin Sanford
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I would say 3。5 stars as it was more of a drama and less of the mystery I had hoped for。 A cool and interesting story that had potential for crazy plot twists but like someone else said， was more of a case study on toxic relationships。 I liked the writing style and moods & ambiance it evoked。 A cool read overall！
Caitie Foster
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This was a bit too drawn out for me。 Unfortunately， I also felt the story was incredibly predictable so there was no big surprise。 I really enjoyed Berman’s style of unlikable narrator in The Comeback， but I found it really hard to empathize with literally any of the characters here。 The book was not bad at all， just not my taste。
Melanie
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Three friends take a summer vacation in Greece， when one of them dies。 The other two are distant， with a cloud of suspicion following them。 When one of them reaches out to the other for an alibi when her girlfriend goes missing， it rekindles memories of what happened years earlier。
Renita D'Silva
，
Wonderful
Renita D'Silva
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Wonderful
Angela
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A gripping tale of friendship， betrayal， lies and a death。 The plot and the characters had me enthralled from the start。 I read this book in two chunks because I just could not put it down。
Jazz Hart
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Bit of murder， bit of romance， bit of deep thinking， 5⭐️ for sure
Amanda Davidson
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3。5 rounded up
Natalya
，
sister likes her brother a little bit too much methinks 2。5/5
Eleanor
，
I like stories about how complex and nuanced female friendship is and it did pull me in a bit towards the end but I didn’t love it love it。
Eleanor
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Honestly liked this book a lot despite having the worst cover and title EVER
Kathy kennedy
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This was a two time line story about 3 wealthy girls from California。 Their exploits and adventures。 They go a small Greek island to spend the summer after nigh school and before college when they will part ways。 Tragedy， decadence， plot twists。 Really not a thriller but rather a character driven plot。 an ok read。
mira
，
sooo long and for what？
Erin Franklin
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