Review by Dythu -- Like My Mother Before Me
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Dythu
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- Latest Review: Like My Mother Before Me by Naley Gonzalez
Review by Dythu -- Like My Mother Before Me
[Following is a volunteer review of "Like My Mother Before Me" by Naley Gonzalez.]
Alizé Salvas is a normal sixteen year old high school student with a passion for volleyball, spending all her time texting more than studying and just trying to get through school with as little drama as possible. Normality becomes a dream once she starts seeing a ghostly skeletal woman among other strange occurrences she cannot comprehend. Alizé is starting to think she is going crazy, but the appearance of a family secret may hold the answers she needs.
Naley Gonzalez’s Like My Mother Before Me is a paranormal fantasy with a good chunk of suspense tied in with difficult topics we see in everyday life. The mixture of paranormal and real life tension made this book an entertaining and heart pumping read. Getting frustrated on Alizé’s behalf because her Dad wouldn’t listen to her or feeling her anger because of something nasty a peer said. When a book can make you feel their character’s emotions, it’s like you are along for the ride.
There is a sudden explosion of events for Alizé after she has a heated conversation and subsequent altercation with a teammate which leads into, what I consider, the best parts of the novel where she is just trying to figure out what is happening to her. You can almost feel her emotions burning through the pages causing you to want to find out what is happening to her, too!
The representation of Alizé’s age is excellent; she spends a lot of time later in the novel battling with her thoughts and handling tough situations which can feel impossible as a teenager and this is shown brilliantly in her inner monologue and reminds me, perhaps not too fondly, of when I was a teenager.
It’s not just Alizé’s story that gets the focus in this novel: her best friend, new friend, brother, father and god-mother all have solid stories throughout the novel which really adds to the reading experience as you are constantly surprised by these new revelations concerning those connected to Alizé.
The only negative for me was that the book started off quite slow and took some time for me to really connect with it. There was a lot of set up in the first few chapters to do with the characters behaviours and manners that was a little mundane for the type of book I was expecting. In retrospect I value that extra time spent introducing me to the characters as I was really able to enjoy the story with them once the ball got rolling on the spooky stuff.
I give the rating of 4 out of 4 stars to Like My Mother Before Me. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys suspense, mystery and a solid story for all of the main characters. There are some very serious topics handled in this novel such as alcohol abuse, rape and neglect so I would only recommend it for mature readers.
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Like My Mother Before Me
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Alizé Salvas is a normal sixteen year old high school student with a passion for volleyball, spending all her time texting more than studying and just trying to get through school with as little drama as possible. Normality becomes a dream once she starts seeing a ghostly skeletal woman among other strange occurrences she cannot comprehend. Alizé is starting to think she is going crazy, but the appearance of a family secret may hold the answers she needs.
Naley Gonzalez’s Like My Mother Before Me is a paranormal fantasy with a good chunk of suspense tied in with difficult topics we see in everyday life. The mixture of paranormal and real life tension made this book an entertaining and heart pumping read. Getting frustrated on Alizé’s behalf because her Dad wouldn’t listen to her or feeling her anger because of something nasty a peer said. When a book can make you feel their character’s emotions, it’s like you are along for the ride.
There is a sudden explosion of events for Alizé after she has a heated conversation and subsequent altercation with a teammate which leads into, what I consider, the best parts of the novel where she is just trying to figure out what is happening to her. You can almost feel her emotions burning through the pages causing you to want to find out what is happening to her, too!
The representation of Alizé’s age is excellent; she spends a lot of time later in the novel battling with her thoughts and handling tough situations which can feel impossible as a teenager and this is shown brilliantly in her inner monologue and reminds me, perhaps not too fondly, of when I was a teenager.
It’s not just Alizé’s story that gets the focus in this novel: her best friend, new friend, brother, father and god-mother all have solid stories throughout the novel which really adds to the reading experience as you are constantly surprised by these new revelations concerning those connected to Alizé.
The only negative for me was that the book started off quite slow and took some time for me to really connect with it. There was a lot of set up in the first few chapters to do with the characters behaviours and manners that was a little mundane for the type of book I was expecting. In retrospect I value that extra time spent introducing me to the characters as I was really able to enjoy the story with them once the ball got rolling on the spooky stuff.
I give the rating of 4 out of 4 stars to Like My Mother Before Me. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys suspense, mystery and a solid story for all of the main characters. There are some very serious topics handled in this novel such as alcohol abuse, rape and neglect so I would only recommend it for mature readers.
******
Like My Mother Before Me
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Like My Mother Before Me by Naley Gonzalez
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John Owen
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The cover makes it scary, almost like a horror story. I love that you've made it clear it's about finding out a hidden secret, or rather, a mystery. Nice review
Harmony in chaos. It's all a matter of perspective.
