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Jul 26, 2011

Kwesi 章英狮 rated it:

Its Sunday, the warm days are over and trying to cover myself with a piece of blanket while listening to the beautiful sound of the rain and the strong stamping of the wind while reading a book. A baked egg and cheese, and a cup of Jasmine tea are nice combination for a perfect Sunday. Well, who said I can't be somebody who enjoyed chicken in its maximum level? I think most of us does.

Yesterday was the best day of the week because I was doomed by the number of exams I attended last w More...

60 comments like (41 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2011

Joyzi rated it:

I think I’m one of the few fortunate people in Goodreads who actually have been given 3 free books, as of this year 2011 (And I’m talking of real, tangible books not just e-books). First I've won in the Goodreads Giveaways (I’m not confabulating its really true) and I’ve got two books Envy and Chill Factor by Sandra Brown delivered at my doorstep and it was autographed…Oh My Gosh.

And then my luck of receiving free books doesn’t end there. This book that I’m reviewing Before Ever Afte More...

22 comments like (21 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

K.D. rated it:

Today is exactly one month after I bought and started reading Samantha Sotto’s first novel, Before Ever After. For the first 2 days, I read the first 50 pages and I stopped. I did not like it. Had I continued till I finished it, I would not know how to give her my feedback without being dishonest or worse, hurting her feelings.

She was one of the member-guests in the 5th Meet Up of Filipinos group here in Goodreads on July 23, 2011. Few months before that day, she invited us to attend More...

17 comments like (45 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2011

jzhunagev rated it:

Of Chickens, Journeys, and Forever
(A Book Review of Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto)

With its share of joys and aches, Shelley Sullivan’s love story, on its surface, is something we have known and heard before — that is until the day of her husband’s untimely demise in a terror bombing in Lisbon, halting her blissful though short marriage to Max Gallus. As three years of grief and difficulty of moving on have made her painfully realize, sometimes love stories doesn’t always turn o More...

10 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2011

Tintin rated it:

STORY:
Shelley is devastated with grief over her husband Max’s death. Then one day a familiar stranger knocks on her door, and Shelley’s world is turned upside down. There is more to her husband than she realized. Who was Max?

WRITING STYLE:
The prose was a bit bizarre for me— I love it one minute, it grates on me the next. Not because it was horrible, but because for me the writing bears a slightly freakish resemblance to fanfiction. I can't pinpoint it exactly, but it gav More...

4 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Louize rated it:

This is not a review. I’m simply thinking out loud.

I’ve chewed on my thoughts far too long. Yet, all my thoughts were merely reduced to one question: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

No, do not laugh at me. I’m serious. Well, I am, (except) I think that is a less complicated question than “which came first, life or death?” Then, of course, you’ll reply: “It’s the circle of life.” I’ve seen all the Lion King movies too, and I also bow to Mufasa More...

13 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2011

K.askade rated it:

I loved the historical fiction. The transition of timelines is amusing.
I didn't focus much on Max & Shelley's love story. I didn't like Shelley but I loved the other characters. What captured me most is the different identities of Max Gallus. I always loved the story behind the history. Oh, and the baked eggs got me curious. What's the recipe? What could be that secret ingredient? A pinch of ----. Tsk!

8 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2011

Thamy rated it:

You are in love, married and happy and suddenly everything changes. He is gone, and a part of you has gone with him.
If after three years of misery and sadness, you were told your assumed to be dead husband was actually alive, what would you do?

This book is not a YA book but it sure has a feel to it. It's magical, heartbreaking and inspirational. Love makes us believe in silly things, doesn't it? Oh well, I like to think so.

Samatha Sotto has beautifully written thi More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 15, 2011

Isamlq rated it:

3.5/5

There were things I loved, things that had me melting, and moments that just didn't compute. Before Ever After isn't something I'd normally pick having sworn off time travel romances... but the epilogue saved me from days of agonizing over what if's and what could be's. The very same epilogue that's got me craving baked eggs and cheese.

Positives.
The last book of stories in another story that I did read was one I didn't love so much. In it, I kept waiting for th More...

5 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2012

Carina rated it:

A book written by Samantha Sotto. A Filipino writer based in the Philippines who obviously and enviously made her way to the world of writing.

The book is about the love of Max and Shelley. They’re a beautiful and happy couple who made everyday a moment to love each other and make endless memories together. The type of couple who knows each other so well to the point that each knows how each other wants their tea made or what kind. Then a drastic and inevitable life changing incident h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 22, 2011

Nina rated it:

Before Ever After is one of those books that will make you think a lot even after you finished reading it.

I liked this book. I totally do. I even forgot that this was written by a Filipino author because the work is so foreign as to say. Also, it's her debut novel so it really amazed me that she has written such great literary piece.

The story goes. A couple is involved. The guy died. A younger-man-resembling his dead husband came up in front of her door saying her dead h More...

0 comments like

Sep 13, 2011

Mo rated it:

From ReadingWithMo: http://www.readingwithmo.com/2011/08/rev...

Three years has done nothing to ease the pain Shelly Gallus feels at the loss of her husband Max. She does not know what to think when Paolo shows up at her door claiming to be the grandson of her Max even though he is the same age as Max when he died. Stranger yet, Paolo claims that her Max is alive and living in the Philippines.

Before Ever After is a heart-warming romance with just a hint of mystery and adventur More...

0 comments like

Sep 13, 2011

Courtney rated it:

This is not normally a book I would read, but for some reason it just jumped out at me today and begged me to read it. I was home sick from work for the day, so I had the luxury of reading all day- and I literally sat and read this book from start to finish.

While I am not usually a fan or romance-type novels or anything in the fantasy genre, this was a phenomenal book (I'm actually not even sure what genre it would fall in, after having read it). I would liken it to a cross betwe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 02, 2011

Heidee rated it:

All in all, I'd say it's a good read and I'll be looking forward to Samantha's next book. :)

- I love the cute alliterations that each chapter is titled with (sample: eggs and endings, daughters and dragons, letters and lies).
- I like the poetic quality of the author's writing style. I found myself musing on more than one occasion that I wished I could write as beautifully as her. My own writing style is a bit straightforward and lackluster (in other words: boring).
- The autho More...

0 comments like

Jun 29, 2011

Suzanne rated it:

I got this as an advance copy at ALA recently, and am glad that I didn't pay for it. I was fascinated by the first half of the book, but by the time I'd read about 2/3s, I was bored. The book alternates between flashbacks, current time, and historical stories. It begins, literally, with Max's death, which is effective in capturing the reader's interest, but also robs much of the book of any tension. There is absolutely no question that he's been blown to smithereens by a bomb on the subway.
More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2011

K.C. rated it:

I loved this book, The first chapter sets the stage with the main characters Shelly & Max. They have only been married 3 years when Max is killed in a viloent bomb blast. It deals with the overwhelming grief Shelly experiences at the loss of Max.
One day a man named Paulo comes knocking at her door claiming Max is his grandfather and he is alive!. How could this be? Shelly is
ready to kick the guy out for being a lunatic when he shows Shelly a picture of Max alive & well. He is living More...

0 comments like

Sep 09, 2011

Angela rated it:

My Thoughts:

Man dies, woman mourns, five years later man who looks like husband shows up on doorstep claiming that he is said man’s grandson and that her once dead husband is thoroughly alive and well making baked eggs in a restaurant in Boracay. Oh, did I forget to mention he NEVER seems to age?

With that being said, after reading that how can you not want to read this book? I wanted answers to questions that the blurb left unanswered. I wanted to know who this mysterious More...

1 comment like

Aug 18, 2011

Serena rated it:

Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto is a debut novel that seemingly asks readers to suspend disbelief as Shelley Gallus discovers that her deceased husband, Max, may not have died three years ago and that he may in fact not ever age. Oh, and he has a grandson, Paolo, from Italy who is now about 30 years old. However, Sotto weaves her story with such beautiful prose that readers are immediately captivated and drawn into Shelley’s grief and her shock. There is no conscious need to suspend disbe More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2011

Nikka rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 04, 2011

Leslie rated it:

I truly hate to condemn a book, especially a first novel, because a work evolves from the writer's soul. I realize how much blood, sweat and tears goes into a project. However, I have no clue as to why Before Ever After could ever muster a following let alone, in all honesty, be published. I know that's harsh and part of me feels bad. Some of Sotto's writing and her way with words throughout the book were admirable, and at the same time vexing. I'd find myself mumbling "what??".

More...

1 comment like

Sep 26, 2011

Ai-Chi rated it:

So far, Before Ever After is definitely one amazingly depicted novel I’ve read this year. It’s my second time to read works by Philippine authors. First was the experience of Carlos Bulosan’s Bread of Salt, later Samantha Sotto's first novel-Before Ever After. I must say the author has the ability in crafting and sculpting one cheap stone into a glamorous aquamarine gemstone. Since not much romance and intrigue a person could add to in stories, she pulled this one off! The book constantly brings More...

1 comment like

Jul 24, 2011

Sarah rated it:

ARC from the publisher.

Eye-roll inducing and heavy-handed metaphors characterize this novel. Author Sotto took a premise that genuinely piqued my interest (woman's husband dies, husband lookalike claiming to be grandson finds her, tells her husband is still alive...) and over-wrote the crap out of it. I like to think I'm a pretty astute reader, but some of her metaphors were so drawn out that they left me confused - the elephant? I thought it was real at first? What? With a new simil More...

4 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 26, 2011

Cloakndagger rated it:

The last romance novel I read was back in my college days so reviewing this book is going to be a real challenge because I have nothing in recent memory to use for comparison.

The book is written by a young Filipino mother, Samantha Sotto. This is her first novel.

Sotto's writing style while creative was a bit distracting at times and thus I have to give it a ***. Sometimes too many adjectives and metaphors can ruin a reader's focus. Her book was peppered with a more t More...

0 comments like

Aug 29, 2011

Georgina rated it:

http://chicklitaholic.blospot.com

Every once in a blue moon a book comes along that grips hold and of you and never lets go. A book that transports you to another world that you never want to leave, where fairytales might just come true and maybe just maybe you may get your happily ever after. Well that’s just what Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto did for me. I never expected to fall in love with a novel quite as much as I did with this one. Before Ever After is a modern day Romeo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Toni rated it:

I almost did not read this book since I believed it to be a time travel romance of sorts and I seem to be one of only a select few who disliked"The time travelers wife".the strength of this book lies in the ability of the author to not only smoothly weave the various story/ lives into the main story line but to also create within the reader such empathy for each life.There were so many things about this book that I liked yet I still came away with a mixed bag of emotions. There were al More...

0 comments like

Nov 11, 2011

Gioia rated it:

wow what an amazing book!
i just finished it and i am still amazed... i kinda want more of it but the ending made perfect sense.
what can i say, Samantha Sotto not only created a great novel, that has history in it which is always a plus, but she can write so beautifully!
the character of Max is so beautiful i have no words for it.
i think anyone should read this book, because its gripping and it makes you want more of it page after page (especially after page 50)... the only c More...

0 comments like

Jul 23, 2011

Jesse rated it:

The synopsis of this book doesn't nearly do it justice. But then again, how could it? Before Ever After is a highly ambitious novel of history and legend set across centuries. Drenched in magical realism, this novel must be discovered as one reads; to divulge any further information about the plot would be to ruin the sensation of falling into this magical story.

And, yes, there is a sensation of falling when beginning this book. In the beginning, I was so confused about what was going More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Ramsey rated it:

I went into this book totally blind - I bought it entirely because I absolutely loved the premise. Reading it was an up-and-down experience for me; some parts I loved, some parts had me groaning. Part of what I didn't like had nothing to do with the author - my day job is rooted in European travel, and reading this book made me realize how much I *don't* want to spend my leisure hours revisiting the "tour group" dynamic. In any case, a breakdown of my thoughts on Before Ever After:
More...

0 comments like

Feb 20, 2012

Rachel rated it:

Husband and wife are away in Spain on vacation. Husband dies in the bomb blast that takes out the commuter train. Or does he? Three years later, a man claiming to be his grandson shows up on Wife's doorstep, saying Husband is old, who know how old, is apparently living and cooking in Europe, and let's go find him together. Thus begins a journey that flashes across time backward and forward, linking the various identities Husband has had through history (nothing major or famous, just I-was-there More...

0 comments like

Aug 27, 2011

Matt rated it:

Every once in a while there's that debut novel that reads as if the author is not just polished but already has a collection of work under their belt. Samantha is that writer. Not only is Before Ever After a real treat but the story itself is magical. From start to middle to finish the story makes you laugh (I had some major laughing out loud moments complete with awkward stares from nearby people), it makes you cry, but above all it makes you believe not just in love itself but the power it hol More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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