Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman

Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman

Read by Jennifer Jill Araya

11 hours

Published April 2023 by Penguin Publishing Group 

Publisher's Summary: 

A summer in Greece for three best friends ends in the unthinkable when only two return home. . . .

 
Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer spent in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of having any involvement in their friend Evangeline’s death. But that didn’t stop the media from ripping apart their teenage lives like vultures.
 
While the girls were never convicted, Joni, ever the opportunist, capitalized on her newfound infamy to become a motivational speaker. Bess, on the other hand, resolved to make her life as small and controlled as possible so she wouldn’t risk losing everything all over again. And it almost worked. . . .
 
Except now Joni needs a favor, and when she turns up at her old friend's doorstep asking for an alibi, Bess has no choice but to say yes. She still owes her. But as the two friends try desperately to shake off their past, they have to face reality.

Can you ever be an innocent woman when everyone wants you to be guilty?

My Thoughts: 

Joni drops back into Bess' life after ten years needing a favor and Bess, who has tried to live for the past ten years under the radar, agrees. Why? Because we quickly learn, she owes Joni, or at least both of the women feel like she does. And again, why? 

Ten years ago, Bess, Joni, and Evangeline, three very different girls who would seem to be unlikely friends, but who are inseparable, travel to Greece to stay in one of Evangeline's family's homes. It's the summer after their senior year in high school and they are all headed off in different directions in the fall. This is one last hurrah, one last time for the three of them to be together and to run a little wild. Evangeline has offered to pay for everything, but Bess' parents won't hear of it, insisting on delivering Bess to the airport instead of her traveling in the limousine with the other girls; insisting on paying for her airline ticket, which means that instead of flying first class, in a show of unity, all three fly coach. From that point, fissures begin to appear in the girls' relationships. Weeks stuck in the remote home only serve to make things worse and lead to things that will come back to haunt Joni and Bess later. The arrival of Evangeline's brother amps up the trouble. When the girls decide to travel to another island, things seem to be looking up for a bit...until tragedy strikes. 

The book travels back and forth in time, revealing not only what happened ten years ago, but also the reason Joni needed that favor. A favor that turns out to be much more critical to Joni that it initially appeared to Bess. In traveling back and forth, we gradually learn more about each of the women. The girls they were ten years ago. The women they've become, given what happened to them. The truth as we see it becomes fluid and who did what becomes a bigger and bigger question. 

If you recall the Amanda Know incident, you'll remember the way the authorities and the media treated Knox. You'll immediately understand how Joni and Bess were treated by the Greek authorities and the press, both the Greek and the international press. Think about spending time in a foreign prison as a teenager. Think about the impact that would have on a family and a person's future. When these girls returned, they were different people; people who could no longer be with the people they had been closest to and whose families treated them differently. 

I went back and forth about how I felt about both Bess and Joni and their motives for everything they did from their time in Greece to the present. And about their guilt. Berman kept me guessing right up to the end. The complexity of the relationship between Joni and Bess was interesting - is there anything to hold them together other than the past and is that something that should hold them together or pull them further apart. Berman gives us a good look at the difference between the public image of a person and the reality, especially someone who has died young and those who are accused of crimes. 

I can see why Reese Witherspoon picked novel for her book club - there is a lot to dissect and discuss in this one. Will it make my favorite books of the year list? No. It lacks the warmth, depth, or impact that a book needs to have for it to make that list. And I often wished that it had been edited a bit more; it sometimes felt like it was dragging. But did it make me think? It sure did and that makes it well worth reading. 

Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter

Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter

Read by Callie Dalton and Andrew Biden

8 hours, 27 minutes

Published March 2022 by Penguin Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

Bad luck has always followed Olivia Marshall...or maybe she's just the screw-up her family thinks she is. But when a "What are you wearing?" text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining-albeit anonymous-relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing....

Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend's annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he realizes she's turned into an altogether different and sexier distraction. He's sure he can keep his distance, until the moment he discovers she's the irresistible Miss Misdial he's been sort of sexting for weeks-and now he has to decide whether to turn the heat up or ghost her before things get messy.

My Thoughts: 

I recently read and reviewed Lynn Painter's The Love Wager; and, while it wasn't the book for me, I enjoyed the banter and wit enough to give another of her books a shot. Reviews of that one kept comparing it to this one so I decided that if any of Painter's books could make me a convert, Mr. Wrong Number was probably it. 

It wasn't. 

Half of all reviewers on Goodreads give this book 4 or 5 stars. It's clear that for readers of this particular genre, this book gives them everything they want in a book. If you look at the publisher's summary and think this sounds like something you'd like, you probably will. What's clear to me now is that this type of storytelling just isn't for me.  

I struggled from the beginning when Olivia responded to that first text. Because 1) how does she know the text is from a man; and 2) if any man texted me that, I would be done with him. But I got that I needed to buy into that so I kept going. Then it turns out that Olivia is, and always has been, a total screw up. This is a great disappointment to her family, really annoying for her brother's best friend, and something she seems to just write off about herself, as in "oh well, nothing I can do about it." But still, once again, give it a chance, I told myself. And I did; I listened to the entire book. But I never could find any sympathy for a lead character who, while staying at someone else's house drinks half a bottle of previously unopened liquor and doesn't feel like she did anything wrong with it, not even when confronted with the fact that it cost $400; who lies to an employer to get a job; and who accuses Colin of outing her to said employer even though there is no reason for him to do so. 

The storyline itself had potential for me and I was willing to go along with the premise, but it just felt like it could have been so much more. There was opportunity to explore the relationship between Olivia and her mother, for example. Olivia could have come clean to her employer up front and I felt like they still would have wanted her for what she offered. She and Colin could have had more conversations where they learned about each other and found that their assumptions were wrong (I mean, that might have come up while they were lying in bed together after bonking each other). 

All of that being said, again, I just think that this genre is not for me. Others clearly loved this book and Painter's books in general and I'm glad that there are books out there in the wild for readers of all types. As for me, it's time to move on. Perhaps back to what I know, perhaps to give another genre a shot. 

Life: It Goes On - July 21

Happy Sunday - the first Sunday in weeks that it's not sunny on a Sunday morning. Plus side of its having rained the past two days is that I don't have to go out and water plants. Down side is that I haven't been able to get any projects worked on outside. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place and started Andrew Pham's Twilight Territory. Last week I referenced it as being the One Book, One World selection for 2024 but this week I'm unable to verify that. Can I find it in my emails where I swear I first heard about it? No, no I cannot. I'm about 2 hours in and I'm not sure if it's something I can continue with due to the violence. Might be easier in print, where I could skim over those parts. I know that was the reality of that time and place (as it is with so many other times and places); I just can't handle reading too much of that at this time. 

Watched: We finally started watching The Bear. It's definitely something you have to pay attention to while you're watching it - things move quickly and the dialogue is rapid fire. 

Read: Finished The Last Mrs. Parrish and today will finish Keep The Memories, Lose The Stuff. Next up, Kate Atkinson's Death At The Sign Of The Rook and DeCluttering At The Speed Of Life. 

Made: Today I'm making rice pudding, something I rarely make in the warm months. But it's cooler today and we somehow have ended up with far more milk that we can consume so it was rice pudding or potato soup and it's not cool enough for potato soup. 

Enjoyed: Not cooking all weekend. Friday we picked up Chinese from a new-to-us place. Last night we went out for burgers...which neither of us ended up ordering. Instead The Big Guy got fish and chips and I got mac and cheese. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Mini-him and Miss C move into a new place next weekend so I'm racing to try to get his dresser done by then. Will pretty much consume most of my free time until then as I've barely started. Will try to remember to get "before" pictures (I'm so bad at remembering to do that!) so you can see where I started and where it ends up...assuming I'm proud of it at that point! 

Thinking About: Mini-him and Miss C are moving on his birthday so I'm trying to figure out how to get his favorite bday foods to the new place for dinner without creating too much extra work. 

Feeling: The overcast skies tend to bring headaches for me so I've been feeling very unproductive the past couple of days. Today I'm feeling better so I'm hoping that lasts. 

Looking forward to: Helping with the move. I know that sounds weird but I love helping people getting settled into new places and watching things come together so it feels like home. Luckily, they hired movers so we won't have to do any heavy lifting this time. 

Question of the week: How has your week been? Have you been keeping abreast of the news politically or are you trying to avoid it as much as possible? 

**The link for this week's book reviews is books that were recommended to me by friends.**

Bear by Julia Phillips

Bear by Julia Phillips

304 pages

Published by Random House Publishing Group - Hogarth

Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary: 

They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.

Sam and Elena dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.
Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the desire to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.
A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us—and within us—Bear is a propulsive, mythical, richly imagined novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.

My Thoughts: 
I can't recall where I first saw this book. I was not approached by the publisher, I don't recall reading any other reviews of it. I can only assume that I found it myself on Netgalley. I would have been drawn immediately to that beautiful cover and then, I assume, to a story about sisters. A look at other reviews will show you that responses to this book are all over the place, much as are my thoughts about the book. Here we have one of those books where I wonder if I just didn't "get" something, where I felt like I needed to spend some time with my thoughts before I decided how I felt about it. 
There's a lot to unpack here. There's an element of the fairytale here. In fact, the book opens with a line from the fairytale Snow White and Rose Red: 

“‘Poor bear,’ said the mother, ‘lie down by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat.’”

This line is equally appropriate: 

"The two children were so fond of one another that they always held each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-white said: ‘We will not leave each other,’ Rose-red answered: ‘Never so long as we live,’ and their mother would add: ‘What one has she must share with the other.’"

 At least, it has long been Sam's impression that she and Elena would never be parted, that each of them was the only person the other could trust. It's an impression partly ingrained by the ways life has treated the sisters; but also because of what Elena told Sam years ago, when she told Sam that, when their mother died, the two of them would sell the land and home their grandmother bought and leave San Juan Island. Sam has lived for ten years with the promise that there is hope in her future, that the half million dollar selling price of the land will assure the sisters of a bright future, a chance to put the traumas of their past and a mountain of debt behind them. 

But the bear's arrival begins to expose buried feelings and secrets. Elena finally feels alive and, once again, in touch with the land that fed her soul and helped her survive over the years. In Sam, the bear's arrival raises fear to the surface, not just because of what the threat the bear physically poses but also a because it presents the threat of a rift between Sam and Elena. That fear, coupled with the distrust of authorities so deeply engrained in Sam, causes mounting conflict between the sisters. 

It's hard to find a character in this book that you can attach yourself to, but it's also easy to see how each of them became the person they are now. As the daughters of a woman who works in a nail salon, the wealthier children in town look down on them; as the survivors of an abuser brought into their home by their own mother and whom the system did not protect, they had only each other to turn to; as the caregivers to a dying mother, the sisters are forced to find jobs straight out of high school, jobs that might just pay the bills were it not for their mother's medical bills. 

As the oldest, Elena has always been the one to take charge and she has had to take on not only the care of their mother and a full-time job, but she has also become the person in charge of trying to keep things afloat. Sam moves through life in a bit of a haze, bidding her time for the day she can leave the island and refusing to make any connects with other people who might hurt her. In the end, it's Elena who hurts her; even so, Sam is willing to do whatever it takes to bring Elena back to her with tragic consequences. 

And there, you see, as I thought more about the book, it became clearer to me. Unlike those who either disliked the book or those who loved it, I find myself falling somewhere in between. The Pacific Northwest is vivid and it's hard to imagine wanting to leave it. Phillips has created a unique story, to be sure; it might even be one I'm thinking about long after this.  But I so often wanted to just shake both of the sisters, wanted them to be honest with each other, to stop making stupid mistakes; I struggled with believing that anyone could be so oblivious to the danger as Elena was; and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about the ending.