A summer in Greece.
Three best friends.
A tragic secret that will change them forever.

My thanks to Netgalley for this eArc!

I whizzed through this book and really enjoyed the back and forth timelines - the Greece trip and present day. Female friendship is fascinating and this book explored it really well. I would say its more suspenseful than thriller.

Loved it! I was sucked in literally from the first few pages. The writing of each of the girls and their friendship was good and the way the story unfolded throughout the chapters was well done. Definitely recommend.

"Before We Were Innocent" by Ella Berman is a compelling exploration of trauma and memory. A powerful and thought-provoking read.

This is the story of three friends went to Greece but only two came back...

The story is split between 2008 and 2018, we learn a lot about what happened that summer and who is to blame for the death of one of the girls.

Was definitely a great read and I loved the mystery aspect of the story and the complex relationships of the girls.

I will definitely read more from this author.

I read this on holiday and really enjoyed it! An easy read with a good plot and very good writing. Have read similar styled books to this and would look forward to reading more from this author in the future. A 3.5

A literary mystery and coming of age drama, Before We Were Innocent explores toxic friendships and the media and society’s obsession with high-profile deaths of young women.

Bess and Joni’s lives are changed forever when as teenagers, their friend Evangeline dies in tragic circumstances on a Greek holiday and they are implicated in her death. Although they’re cleared of any involvement, her death continues to overshadow their lives for many years. When Joni is involved in a similar event many years later, she turns to Bess for help, forcing Bess to examine the past and what she thought she knew to be true about that fateful summer in Greece. We get Bess’ perspective in a dual timeline of 2008 and 2018.

The book reminded me of several other books I’ve read in recent years (Stargazer by Laurie Petrou and The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop among them). In many ways, this is a genre in and of itself: beautiful, young, rich, white woman dies in tragic circumstances on a summer holiday and those around her struggle to make sense of it in the aftermath.

While it’s well-written and immersive, I couldn’t help but find it a bit bland and there are leaps the reader is expected to make that are far-fetched. Primarily, and without spoilers, would Bess really have agreed to what Joni tells her to say about Evangeline’s death? It felt like a stretch and the whole book hinges on this plot point.

I kept waiting for something to elevate it beyond a mere holiday read but it didn’t quite get there for me. There were elements of a thriller in the story that never fully blossomed into anything exciting. Towards the end of the book, the air went out of the balloon in anticlimactic fashion.

There are parallels between the media treatment of Bess and Joni, and Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, following the death of Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007, and the public’s obsession with true crime (there’s a growing trend towards this in recent books). This was the most interesting aspect of the book for me and I wish it had been delved into more deeply.

3/5⭐️ on the basis that this is a very well-written holiday read, albeit one that didn’t reach its full potential for me. Many thanks to the author, publisher and @netgalley for the arc. As always, this is an honest review.

I loved The Comeback and couldn't wait to read Ella Berman's second novel and I wasn't disappointed. Every sentence is beautifully crafted and Before We Were Innocent was a pleasure to read. The story is about three girls, Joni, Bess and Evangeline who travel to Evangeline's family home on a Greek Island one summer when they are 18. What happens over the course of the summer leads to Joni and Bess becoming notorious in the media after Evangeline dies in shadowy circumstances.

A wonderful and poignant look at female friendship.

I recently had the pleasure of diving into a captivating story with multiple timelines and a rich cast of characters. The intricate narrative brilliantly weaves together different perspectives, leaving me both intrigued and emotionally invested. The mystery surrounding what occurred, the reasons behind it, and the intricate web of relationships had me engrossed from start to finish. As the story unfolded, I found myself constantly torn between different viewpoints, unsure of whom to trust. This immersive experience provided me with a rollercoaster of emotions, keeping me engaged until the very last page. If you're a fan of intricate storytelling that leaves you questioning every twist and turn, this is an absolute must-read.

The plot and characters of this book were really intriguing and well thought out. However, the length of both the book itself and the lack of variety in sentence length made the read seem very cumbersome and long. The long sentences in particular distracted from the great and very interesting content of the novel.

Really liked the premise for this one, sounded like it would be really twisty and intriguing. Although it definitely had elements of this, it did fall a little flat for me.

The pacing was a little up and down, with some sections where it felt like it lagged a little bit.

The relationship dynamics were really well done. That gritty, toxic and all consuming female friendships - especially in your teens. Those aspects kept me really interesting and I was interested to see how everything played out.

It was done over dual timelines and I think the past timeline was my favourite to read. It was gripping and really had me invested. The present day, however, I just felt like I was waiting for something to happen that never did.

Generally the messages about friendship, grief and relationships were really well done. I think those aspects were my favourite parts of the book.

I felt it started strong, lagged in the middle, then ended well. So I did definitely enjoy it, it just didn’t hook or shock me as much as I thought it would.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending an e-arc for review!

I really enjoyed this one - more than I thought I would. It’s a very typical storyline of someone’s past coming back to haunt them type of book but the structure and writing style was compelling and really drew me in.

I loved that the story was told through alternating timelines as it allowed an extremely in depth exploration of their friendship as teens and built a strong foundation to help the reader understand the implications their past had on the present day.

The depiction of the toxic trio friendship really resonated with me. I especially enjoyed how Berman didn’t shy away from a more authentic portrayal of the intensity of young female friendships, acknowledging how they can be simultaneously the best people in your life and the people who can and *will* hurt you the most. It was refreshing to see the darker side of a coming-of-age novel where the girls aren’t portrayed as innocent, flawless individuals.

My only real critique is that the ending felt a little deflated to me as I was expecting a bigger twist, but other than that it was a great read for the summer and would recommend!

A very enjoyable read. I thought that it was well-paced and that the dual timeline really heightened the tension as we discovered what happened to Evangeline and how this changed everything for Bess and Joni. The friendship between the three girls was incredibly toxic and unsettling in parts but what I really found interesting was how the media interpreted their actions after Ev’s death and how this narrative impacted both Bess and Joni (in extremely different ways) as they tried to move on with their lives in the present day.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This was an intriguing and engrossing read, although I do feel that it could have been a little shorter. Bess and Joni have a toxic relationship and they are unreliable narrators so you don't know who to believe or trust throughout the book.
This is not usually the type of book that I would choose, but I was offered an ARC from the Publishers. I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC

What an interesting story with many twists and turns. A story of 3 young ladies and one fateful night

You are made to feel like you are living the story with the girls that are left behind. Bess and Joni, so different but the same, haunted by that night and scared with the lies that were told

Really enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed reading this book, my thanks to the publisher, author and netgalley for the advanced copy. Will be recommending

this one was okay.

joni, bess, and evangeline spend their post-graduation summer lounging in greece. but when their summer turns into tragedy, joni and bess are faced with endless media scrutiny. 10 years later, joni has capitalised on their fame to make a name for herself, while bess has tried to run from her past as much as possible. when the two girls are faced with an eerily similar tragedy to that night 10 years ago, they both have to confront their demons and consider how their past has shaped them into the women they grew up to be.

i feel like, given how potential there was in the blurb of this book, i was really hoping for something a bit more hard-hitting. i’m left feeling a little unfulfilled. i felt that there wasn’t a lot of depth to the individual character development, beyond what was already shown in the blurb.

the concept/themes were interesting, as the characters explored how their teenage selfs have changed over 10 years (or not changed?) and how they carry the weight of their grief so differently. however i was often bored with a lot of the exposition, and just didn’t find it super engaging.

overall, i enjoyed this but wanted moooooore

Didn’t think this brought anything hugely original to the genre of ‘mysterious teenage death coming back to haunt protagonist’, but I thought the writing was strong and compelling.

A perfect summer read.
Split between 2008 and 2018 this is the story of Bess a British teenager transported to the priviledged world of Calabasas when her Mum changes job - in her struggle to fit in she is befriended by Joni and Evangeline and they become a close group but during their end of high school summer holiday in 2008 things start to unravel and a tragedy occurs. 2018 is the present and after a decade of living with the events of that Summer, Joni reappears in Bess's life.
As the 2018 drama unfolds we learn more about the tragic 2008 event.
A gripping story which I loved.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing ne to read Before We Were Innocent

I really loved this book. It’s a stand out book for me this year.
The writing style is unique and intriguing and the characters drew me in.
It’s one that I’ve already recommended as a great summer read.

“We had all assumed that losing Evangeline would be the hardest part, we were all wrong”
Friends, Joni and Bess were cleared of the murder of their, Evangeline in 2008, while on a summer holiday in Greece.
But now Joni is tangled up in something similar in present day Los Angeles and drags Bess back into her life, even though they haven’t spoke to each other since the tragedy.
It’s dual timeline between 2008 and present day and was intrigued in the relationship dynamics back in 2008 between the three teenage girls and why Evangeline was murdered. As they say three’s a crowd and especially three teenage girls, one is always gonna feel the odd one out and be open to toxicity.
Not a thriller as such more a character driven, coming of age novel with thriller elements, showing how the events of 2008 had impacted Bess & Joni’s lives and the part media had to play.
The perfect summer read, especially if holidaying in Greece.
Thanks @ellaberman, @ariafiction & @netgalley for the eARC