Words Upon Words

“Before Ever After” by Samantha Sotto

Before I start talking about this book, I’d just like to say to my one reader (that being myself), Hello! I’m back! It has taken me awhile to come up with a review after Something Borrowed, not because of the lack of books read—God knows that’ll never be a problem with me—but more due to my polygamous relationship with the smorgasbord of blogging platforms made available to me, thanks to globalization. Well, anyway, reading this next book has given me cause to finally do some renovating and get back into appreciating the written word. I’d like to think that this time, it’s for real. Wish me luck!

I initially hadn’t wanted to purchase this book, because I’m one of those people who actually judges a book by its cover and this was pretty hideous. I don’t claim to be a graphic design wunderkind but I can tell a shoddy Photoshop job when I see one. #Pretentious But really, the disappointing emboss work on the title and byline, the obvious photo manipulation of the locket…ugh, just ugh.

It was, in essence, the kind of book that I would prefer to wait for in eBook form. The plot intrigued me well enough, and I was partly proud (and partly jealous) that the author is a Filipina who was published internationally. This is her first novel. And she has two kids, and a husband, and quite possibly, a mortgage. I don’t know, and I don’t care to know, but the point is, it did something to my funny little head and so my annual Christmas stash of National Bookstore GCs went to buying this book instead of the Nina Garcia style book I was planning to get.

You know that feeling when you encounter a book you love so much and you feel legitimately sad about the diminishing number of unread pages? No? I guess I’m a freak, then. But really! This book was just amazing. I can’t tell you how or why without revealing the end of a wonderful story, but just, oh my god. Blew me away.

“Before Ever After” is a delicious cocktail of romance, mystery, magic, history, and suspense. At first I thought that I wouldn’t have a profound appreciation for it, because I didn’t really understand the grief that came with losing a spouse. But it was’t so much about that as it was about discovering a lot of things about one’s self and all that shiny bullshit. (Good bullshit, though.) This particular lined mentioned by Shelley struck a chord:

“Children know when they’re loved. It’s when you grow up that you’re more easily fooled.”

Pardon the emo, thanks.

Every page kept me guessing, for serious. I really admired how Sotto was able to put so much thought into a plot that I believe seems intimidating to expand. I haven’t been able to confirm its historical accuracy, but all the smaller story arcs were engineered to work well together. I love how she wrote about Europe without so much as a whisper of the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben. It really made me want to fly back and see it for what it is—dirty and divine, gorgeous and gritty, soiled and sacred.

My favorite aspect of this book, which I think is a salute to Sotto’s writing method, is her ability to conjure a thread and consistently keep it present in the story. What is it? Well, I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it does involve some fowl play, heh. (Please laugh. Please.) Perhaps what I would’ve wanted to know is how Max—the male protagonist—developed a fondness for this winged-creature, something that Sotto wasn’t able to fully articulate.

I even forgive Sotto for naming her protagonist Shelley (although it sort of made sense, sort of). But the thing is, despite Shelley being described as totally caucasian with blue eyes, I kept picturing the author in my mind. That’s the crux, I think, of putting author photos on books. Like how Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park looked so much like Michael Crichton in my mind while I was reading the book—which isn’t really something to complain about, because Michael Crichton was a total babe. Aside from the mental-visual issues I was having, Shelley was my least favorite character in the story. She didn’t inspire the same passion I had for let’s say, Rachel in “Something Borrowed”. She just bland. I honestly couldn’t believe what the hell it is about her that made Max go nuts. I just…couldn’t see the appeal.

I fairly liked all the other characters, though. It was quite an ensemble, but they flew off the pages and did not fade into the background. I really hate how sometimes, supporting characters are made into furniture, but I don’t think that happened with this book. Simon and Brad were probably my favorites, though I think that’s my secret fag hag talking.

The ending was kind of Wilde-esque in its deus ex machina climax, which may have worked well for “The Importance of Being Earnest”, but disappointed me a little bit with this. It was as though all that guessing heightened my expectations to a level so high that anything would fall short. Still, it did nothing to deter the amount of love I have for this book. So read it, and read it now.