Kerry Fisher's novel, The Woman I Was Before, follows three neighbors and their journey through life. At first, Sally and Gisela appear to have perfect lives which they frequently document on social media. Newcomer Kate, on the other hand, is clearly hiding something and struggling. Although the woman lead very different lives and live on very different socioeconomic platforms, they do become friends, and Fisher realistically portrays that journey. I also loved how she incorporates social media as a means for how her characters glorify life when they are truly struggling.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a little confusing at the beginning because it jumps between the different characters, so it was a little difficult getting to know them. However, once I got to know each character, it was a great read! It covered many of today's life struggles - depicting perfection on social media and keeping up with your neighbors to name just a few.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this fanatastic book.

Kate Jones moves into a new house on the Parkview Road. It’s another fresh start for her and her teenage daughter Daisy. She lives her life afraid of everything, but especially of being tracked down, this all following a haunting episode that all but destroyed her life. She has even changed both of their birth and surnames this time, hoping she could keep them both safe. She keeps herself to herself because she simply can’t take the risk of being traced. It may cost her the life of her precious daughter, all she has left since it happened. She has kept herself away from social occasions and has sworn off men because one simple slip may result in the loss of her anonymity. Her life has been dormant and full of fear year after year, ever since that one fateful day, one day that changed her life forever and ruined her marriage, and this is the reason for her having descended into a life with just her daughter, keeping each other company. But soon Daisy will be eighteen, a landmark age. She yearns for the normal life of a teenage girl. She cannot even have a smartphone in case her geographical position is inadvertently leaked. She is biding her time until she goes to university, but that is another key worry for Kate. What will happen when she is not there to protect her precious daughter?

Already living in the same street are her neighbours Sally and Gisela who are friendly and welcoming with their new neighbours. Still Kate keeps herself quietly to herself, but when Daisy makes friends with Gisela’s daughter, she encourages her mother to be more outgoing. Daisy has a Facebook page which Kate monitors assiduously. She only agreed to it so that Daisy could keep in touch with her father who has chosen to live in another distant country with his new family. She is so envious of all of her neighbour’s lifestyles. Sally and Chris are a globetrotting, high achievers; a career orientated couple who post about their lavish holidays and wonderful lives. They have money and live lavishly, as do Gisela and Jack. Gisela is a stay-at-home Mum of two; one son and one daughter who has befriended Daisy. She spends money like there is no tomorrow, ordering bespoke items from other countries. There’s nothing but the best for Gisela. She throws fun filled parties, a generous and enthusiastic hostess. Her home is full of high tech gadgets and beautiful furnishings. Sally and Gisela almost seem to compete with each other with gushing hashtag endings to their photographs and beautifully described perfect lives. But posting on Facebook is only showing a snapshot of what they want others to know about their personal and family lives, as Kate finds out when her job as a paramedic takes her to a terrible accident on the nearby dual carriageway. Secrets are spilled and the three women come together to help and support each other through their personal dramas, as the truth is laid bare and they must live with the consequences, just as Kate is already doing: three families, their lives crumbling around them, all friends together.

Wow, what a corker of a novel, as usual with this author! She always hits the nail on the head. The characters spring into life from the very beginning of the novel, keeping you engrossed and finding out about each family’s lives. You cannot help but feel empathy with them. The story is so beautifully told and the pace of the novel is fast and furious. This is exactly the sort of novel that creeps into your life and you don’t want to put down; you cannot force yourself to. Each story thread is absorbing and as exciting as the other, filled with the minutia details of family life, their relationships, triumphs and crushing disappointments, proving that secrets have a way of bouncing back at you. It’s a triumph.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. This novel is an excellent read and will keep you turning the pages, anxiously, excitedly and soon to reach a thrilling conclusion. Highly recommended read and a 4.5* review from me.

I loved this book - I lost my whole Sunday reading - just couldn't put it down! A fabulous story with fantastic characters. Following three very different women and secrets behind closed doors. I loved the chapters starting with FaceBook posts - those ones we all see that grind on your nerves - all the 'blessed's' and perfect lives. Then the real story following telling of not quite the life being show. Very relatable characters with a few exceptionally relatable teenagers! A lot of clever humour which I loved with a really gripping and slightly dark story. Five stars!

I have read a few books by this author and have found them to be very well written, character driven stories. This book was no exception to that and, after a little while working out who was who in my head, I pretty much read straight through in only a coupe of sittings. My time apart from the book dragging!
Kate and her daughter Daisy (not their real names) are in hiding from something in Kate's past. They move into a new estate and slowly get to meet their neighbours, at the same time, keeping themselves to themselves. Kate envies her neighbours, their apparent freedom and carefree lives but, as we all know, things are never as simple as the face value people show - especially on Facebook! All through the book, scenes are played out that do not in any way, shape or form, correlate to the happy smiley picture/post one of the characters posts on their social media.
The majority of the beginning of the book is concerned with setting up the devastation that follows a nasty accident that Kate is called to attend. An accident that has repercussions for more than one of Kate's neighbours. One that will rock their entire existence. If that wasn't enough, Kate's daughter wants more freedom and Kate herself is caught between letting herself be happy and keeping her past a secret.
On of the things I really love about this author is her characterisation. She really does have the gift to craft the most wonderfully real and flawed characters that I can't fail to connect to / emote with. Here we have three very different households, all with their own secrets. Some known from the start, others to be discovered along the way both by reader and other characters too. It's an awakening and a tough journey for some more than others and they all react in different ways when the chips are down; different but wholly credible ways.
Obviously people's lives are never as wonderful as the side they choose to present to the world but here we have some wonderful juxtapositional Facebook posts following a quite different narrative. I found these to be rather enlightening although not surprising.
All in all a cracking character driven story that enthralled me throughout and left me satisfied at its conclusion. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you Netgalley, Publisher and the Author. Kate Jones is running away with her daughter. The story is about 3 women who have just moved to the estate and their different lives and what they are escaping from. I really enjoyed it 4.5 stars

Kate and her daughter Daisy have moved to a new town. Kate likes to keep her life under the radar; she shuns social media and likes to keep her life private whereas her new neighbours, Gisella, Jack, Sally and her husband Chris like to post constantly on social media. Their lives are full of parties, trips abroad, highflying jobs and seemingly perfect families.

As friendship blossoms between the three woman, it soon becomes obvious that their perfect lives are not what they seem. All three women are keeping secrets which could tear their lives apart.

Another good book by Kerry Fisher. A story of what you see is not necessarily what you get, with a cast of strong female characters. An excellent read.

People can create a perception they want others to see and believe. Social media has given people that' platform. But that's only a small wedge of the truth. People have secrets. Carefully crafted posts online mask many secrets. THe Woman I Was Before is about secrets and fallacies. Three women in one neighborhood all look at each other's lives online with certain envy, but they're hiding. One is on the run from a nebulous past, one is facing her husband going to prison, and the other is lying about her marriage. Ultimately the facade is ripped from all three and they have to face reality.

Absolutely loved this book, i loved how it switched between the three women, it was such an easy read with the layout and the plot and just kept pulling you in until you knew what the story behind each woman was. It was just a feel good story about how tragedy can bring friendship together.

This novel follows three women: Sally, Kate and Gisela shortly after they move into a gated community and befriend one another. Each thinks the others lead perfect lives while theirs is going up in flames but is anyone's life what they show online?

This was a pretty captivating story and each woman drew me in to their storylines in different ways. I think everyone can relate to either seeing or posting the "fake" life online. You know the life I"m talking about. The seemingly amazing vacation (that's really anything but), the perfect children (that never stop screaming), the husband who does all the cooking (but doesn't ever pick up his socks). We're all guilty of it in some aspects yet it still seeps in behind the scenes bringing us down a notch.

I love how each woman handled their own issues and didn't shy away from them. I think of everyone I love most how Sally's life turned out. Each woman was brave and I just LOVED reading about strong and amazing women.

If you want to read a good woman focused story with enough turns to keep you interested I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and Bookouture for the eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! Told from the viewpoint of three different women who have recently moved into a new neighborhood. Although their lives look perfect in their facebook photos, they are each dealing with huge issues. It is a wonderful reminder that lives aren't as perfect as they seem on social media.

Is the grass greener on the other side? This book is the tale of 3 families lives as they face challenges & question that very question. The story is relevant, the characters are relatable, and I enjoyed every page.

I really loved this book. Relatable characters & so well written would highly recommend this to anyone.

If we're being honest, we've all wanted what someone else had at least once in our lives. The ubiquitous presence of social media today makes it easy for us to covet the seemingly perfect lives of others. In "The Woman I Was Before," Kerry Fisher explores our tendency to compare our daily messes to the highlight reels carefully and consciously crafted on social media by everyone around us through the lives of three families brought together as neighbors in a new neighborhood. Each woman’s story gave me joy and ripped my heart out at the same time. I got antsy when I found myself over halfway through the book and still not knowing Kate’s backstory, but it made me relate to Kate’s neighbor’s feelings that they couldn’t quite scratch the surface with her. The book was a page turner for me even though I did wish Kate’s story would’ve been revealed sooner, and I still don’t know what the ocean on the cover has to do with anything. I expected a beach town setting based on the cover but that wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, I want to know what’s next for Kate, Sally, Gisele and their families. I would love for Kerry Fisher to continue their stories in another book.

Loved the look at the differences between real life and the life everyone portrays on social media. Timely, realistic, and well-written, with a good couple of twists at the end.

Social media has promoted "The grass is always greener..." with folks posting their picture perfect lives. But what is behind the pretty pictures and hashtags? The Woman I Was Before addresses, very well, the behind the scenes lives of three families living the good life in a gated community. There are parties, designer this and that, recalcitrant children and always the longing to have what your neighbor has. There are secrets galore, some big, some bigger. Very well done!

Is the grass greener on the other side of the fence?

If you believe everything you read on Facebook posted by your ‘friends’, it is! Or so believe Kate, Gisele and Sally, three neighbors who meet in their gated community. Two post constantly, about their so-called perfect lives. The other is at the other end of the spectrum...closed, distant, keeping everyone at arms length. They build slow friendships, eventually confiding their darkest secrets in each other, and becoming the people they always were meant to be.

This is the first book I’ve read by Ms Fisher and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! It sucked me in from the beginning! Written in three voices, you come to know each of the women very well, but not immediately. The author unfolds their stories slowly, so we get to know them at all different points in the story and see the changes in them, their personal relationships and their friendship. All three women are relatable on some level. The trust that is developed between these three women, is beautiful and mature.

Thanks to the Ms. Fisher, Bookouture and Net Galley for this ARC. Opinions are my own!

#perfectmom #perfectlife #lie

Thank you to Net Galley and Bookoutre for an E-Arc of this title in exchange for my honest review. Take an upper class neighborhood where everyone looks curated and perfect on their social media platforms, but real life sometimes tells a messier, and more truthful story. It's interesting to watch each of these families and what they put out to their "friends" versus reality. There's something I love about books that incorporate social media and/or emails into the plot. One characters husband garnered a LOT of anger from me, but I'll say that it is a tribute to the author that she was able to have me feel that way about a fictional character. It was very well done, and I highly recommend this title.

A bit out of my comfort zone but I did thoroughly enjoy this book. It held my interest more or less all the time with characters that you can get on with and relate to.

To be honest I did lose a bit of interest halfway through but it did pick up and I got involved in the storyline again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Wives and mothers have an inexplainable need to use social media to share cozy snapshots and smart hash-tags that give the sense of a bright and shiny life. Kerry Fisher writes an endearing story about what really happens outside of the photo frame for women who are dealing with the challenges life brings.
Three households in the same neighborhood with three distinctly different women. Kate, Gisele and Sally all have one thing in common, they are constantly measuring their own success against the seeming perfection of their neighbors. As the story unfolds these three women face very different struggles. Each comes to understand that the perfect Facebook photos do not always tell the real story. A wonderful read.

I was absolutely smitten with this book! I enjoyed it from the first page to the last. The irony of social media and truth is mind boggling. I give this one 5 stars because the writing is just fantastic.