WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK

In an act of unprecedented first-glance-book-cover-judging, I took one look at this book when it showed up in my inbox and decided it wasn’t for me. For some crazy reason, my brain instantly slotted it on the Nonfiction-Prepare-For-Marriage-Advice shelf and I didn’t give it a second thought. Therefore, I missed out on the chance of requesting a physical copy for my bookshelves. (Which I’m now sad about.)

Fast forward a few days and I was browsing NetGalley (an e-book review site) and this book popped up again. I took the time to actually look at it this time and not only is the cover simple and beautiful, but the premise is intriguing. A book about a single lady wanting to adopt? I instantly downloaded the book and started reading.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK

It was in the evening when I began reading the book and I seriously didn’t want to put it down. The rollercoaster of emotions that I went through as I read the first two-thirds of the book makes me want to read more by this author.

As a single person myself – just a few years younger than Lauren, the main character, – I found that sometimes half of my brain was engaged with what I was reading, while the other half zoomed around trying to figure out if I ever could do what Lauren was doing. What would it look like if I, too, adopted? Although I’ve never felt strongly that I will adopt, it’s always been something I’ve considered a possibility, and this book felt like a scarily realistic view of what the process would look like. The details and emotions were so clear and well-written that I wasn’t at all surprised in the author’s note to discover that the author has an adopted child.

There are so many things I want to discuss about this book and I was going to include a spoiler section until I remembered that the book isn’t even published yet (it releases next month). So, I’ll just keep my spoilers to myself since I can’t discuss them with people who have already read the book. (If you buy the book, you should message me so we can talk together.)

Lauren was frustratingly unlike me. Except for her emotions surrounding adoption I couldn’t relate to her at all. Partway through the book she makes some choices that really annoyed me – keep in mind, she was totally staying in character and I think the author did a fantastic job writing her. Just, she made me want to clap my hands in front of her face and be like “No!” It was also about this time that I had to put the book down (after hours of reading) so I could go to sleep.

My annoyance at Lauren and a time-hop the book took (one of my least favorite things in fiction) made me kinda dreading finishing the book, so I didn’t pick it back up for a couple of weeks. And that, in turn, lowered my rating from 4 stars to 3.5, but this is purely subjective and something that probably won’t bother most readers.

All in all the story is packed full of emotions, has a worthy storyline, and has interesting and unique characters.

CONCLUSION

The first two-thirds of the book was magic. I just wanted to read for forever and was completely immersed in the story. The last third wasn’t my favorite, but I don’t think that’s any reflection on the story or the writing, it’s just a preference thing.

All in all the book is clean (it has a few kisses, but nothing inappropriate that I remember), void of violence, and doesn’t use bad language.

RATING

I’m giving Before I Called You Mine 3.5 out of 5 stars. I’m thankful for the generosity of the publishers for giving me an e-copy of this book so I could review it for y’all. This is a fantastic read for anyone who is considering (or knows anyone considering) adoption, or if you’re looking for a heart-tugging and beautiful read.