This book is very different from Lauran Pearson’s other novels I have read. That doesn’t make it bad but for me it didn’t sit quite right. I am always a bit wary of magic realism in books. It really I think depends on the premise. In this case, a group of ‘almost’ watch over their mother, but not all of them will be born and be a child.

The four ‘almost’ are like siblings themselves, but at various points they will lose each other as one is born and the rest disappear. Becca is the mother of the almost and we see the choices she makes in her life, a young mother who has the support of her own father but not mother, but the father of the children seems to be different person and the almost can perhaps see what way their life is going to go. Can they make a difference?

I found this book quite difficult to like, the characters were not particular loveable and even the ‘almost’ which were harsh in places. This book handles lots of emotions and the story maybe a trigger for some people, so I would approach with care.

That said, this would not put me off picking up another Laura Pearson novel, as each one is so unique.

Thank you to Boldwood books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a very unique and thought provoking book. It took me a bit to get into it. I think this is a book you have to be in the mood for. I did end up enjoying it and recommend.

Eliza Valentine has not been born. She can see her potential mother Becca alongside her other three possible siblings. They are 'Almosts', the potential babies that Becca might have with one of two possible fathers. As Becca's life progresses, her Almosts hit their conception date and they either develop or disappear. As Eliza's conception date nears, she realises that her birth might not be the best thing to happen to Becca.
I was trying to describe the plot of this book to a friend and when I did it sounded preposterous, in reading it works so well. There are a small group of authors who write solid fiction that I love. It's not worthy or highbrow enough to be called literary fiction but to call it romance or chick-lit is to demean it. This writer fits into that group. It's a Sunday afternoon book, curl up, read and enjoy!

This book is so different it is hard to explain without giving away the plot
Safe to say Laura again tugs on the heartstrings with a thought provoking book about love, duty, teen pregnancies and what ifs

“You’ve heard of the afterlife, welcome to the beforelife”
Loved the concept of exploring people “before birth”, the Almosts.
As soon as a female is born these almosts are attached to her, watching her grow up
All they know is the name of their father and the date of their potential conception
The story is of four potential almost siblings - Eliza, Samuel, Lucy & Thomas and Becca navigating her life through the lens of her potential children
You feel all their emotions - so incredibly beautiful and powerful, leaves you with a ‘what if’ kind of feeling
Thanks @laurapauthor @boldwoodbooks & @netgalley for the emotional read

The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eliza Valentine exists in the Beforelife where she is the could be child of Becca Valentine. She has 4 other siblings that may or not be born. The only information Eliza knows is her conception date and who her father is. She watches as 2 men enter her mothers life, one not so great and the other not so available. Her siblings have another father and this means not each of them could be born. I really enjoyed this story of love and sacrifice. Such an interesting concept.

I love Laura Pearsons work. Thank you for the wonerful ARC.

The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine will suck you in, tear you apart while giving you faith in people and make you ask yourself deeply emotional questions that you never considered. Laura Pearson yet again goes above and beyond in this book immersing you in a world where you exist, before physically existing - that is if you even get your chance at all.

What if you got to watch your mother go through her life from the very beginning, see her struggle and grow, watch her make decisions that just "might" bring you into existence with your "possible" siblings. You know from the start the when you will be born, so you have a countdown and you will know when she meets your father. But there are a million chances in life, but not every one of them is taken - will the chance that would lead to you be taken, and if you could change it so that chance happens to the detriment of others would you? This is the predicament that Eliza finds herself in with her potential siblings, Samuel, Lucy and Thomas.

This book! I have read almost everything that Laura Pearson has written, and I do not know how she does it because every single time the plot is so original and she writes in a way that has a lasting affect on you. You will remember her books, you will continue to think about them and the emotions you felt while you were reading them. They pull you in from the very beginning and then spit you out at the end - battered and bruised, but not broken and better for having read it.

The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine is like all of Laura Pearson's books in that they will change you and leave lasting affects on your heart. I cannot praise the author enough or describe how beautiful this book is. I think everyone would benefit from reading this book - you will learn things about yourself and it will make you contemplate life in a completely different way. I will be praising this book and recommending to all readers and nonreaders alike. Thank you to the author for writing this beautiful book, as always, I can't wait to see how you alter my world next.

Wow! What a thought provoking, unusual story. I was hooked immediately to the realism and the magical realism of this book. The struggles of Laura Pearson's characters were so realistic and relatable. I love Pearson's books and this one did not disappoint. Thanks #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks

Wow! I adored this book. The way the Author writes stories is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. The premise of this one grabbed me right away. We get to know “the almosts “ these are future children watching their mother waiting for a chance to be conceived. Like what? This was so interesting and thought provoking while being heartwarming and beautiful. Laura Pearson, please keep writing!! A HUGE thank your Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

A unique story that will tug at your heart strings. I've never read a book like it. Beautifully written with a fresh voice. Highly recommended.

I absolutely adored this book. I’ve never quite read another book like it. … the ‘beforelife’, the way I got my head around it was that Samuel, Lucy, Thomas and Eliza are little orbs, following the people who will hopefully become their mums. Not all will be born though. So sometimes they disappear.
This definitely worth a read!!
5 stars from me! Xx

The BRAND NEW emotional read from the NUMBER ONE bestselling author of The Last List of Mabel Beaumont, that fans of Colleen Hoover, Cecelia Ahern and Gabrielle Zevin will love. What if there is life before we are born?
There are four of us: Samuel, Lucy, Thomas, and me – Eliza. And – if you’ve heard of the afterlife… well, we live in the beforelife.

We came into being the day Becca Valentine was born. We’ve been by her side ever since. What she doesn’t know yet, is that one day she might become our mother.

This is another book that is not my usual go to genre but something about it pulled me and I read it in less than a day! From the first sentence I was drawn in by this unique story. It is really thought provoking and is a beautiful story, that I didn’t want to end but knew it had to.

When a baby girl is born so are her potential future babies. They know who they are and when they could be conceived. They get one chance to help make it happen and if they don’t they disappear forever to an unknown. This book follows Eliza Valentine in her beforelife as she watches her mother Becca Valentine. Becca’s journey into motherhood isn’t straight forward and neither is her love story. Becca has 4 maybe babies to 2 potential fathers, will she follow her heart or do what she thinks she has to, to get the family her heart aches for!

This is a beautiful story and I really wish that this could be real! I will definitely be looking to read more of Laura Pearson’s books.

And the best bit is this is a FREE kindle read with Amazon Prime and is definitely worth a read!

#TheBeforelifeOfElizaValentine #LauraPearson #arc #NetGalley #arc #bookstagramuk #bookstagram #ilovetoread #bookworm #newbooks #goodreads #goodreadschallenge#KindleChallenges #kindleChallenges2024 #GoodReads




#NetGalley #arc #bookstagramuk #bookstagram #ilovetoread #bookworm #newbooks #goodreads #goodreadschallenge#KindleChallenges #kindleChallenges2024 #GoodReads

In this unique romance and fantasy fiction novel, Laura Pearson explores the idea of life before birth through four beings -- Samuel, Lucy, Thomas, and Eliza -- attached to Becca Valentine, a young woman with a complicated love life ahead of her. As the four of them might be Becca’s children, they are united until they realize that, of the two men in Becca’s life, not all of them can be born because Lucy and Thomas share a father and Eliza and Samuel share another. All wanting the chance to live and have Becca as their mother, they realize that they can change Fate one time, and how they manipulate it will affect their chances at being born. Told from Eliza and Becca’s perspectives, the alternating chapters explore Becca’s life as she lives it and as her possible children see it happen, a fascinating combination of perspectives and moments that really brings the unique nature of this novel to life. With a powerful emotional core and a fascinating narrative premise, this novel is unique and moving though readers should be warned for an abusive relationship throughout the novel. For readers interested in unique romance novels with powerful narrators, Laura Pearson’s new novel is perfect for this audience.

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish! I could not put it down, to the point that I resented having to go to sleep and waiting until morning to read again. The narrator did such an amazing job with the way she portrayed all the characters and I loved her voice. The story itself was so unique and it was not what I expected. I feel like it is both a HEA but not a HEA, but I wasn’t disappointed. It was so interesting to follow along and see the different possibilities for kids and timelines. This has many topics that might be heavy for some readers but I feel like they helped give more feeling to the story.

I loved this story! It was sweet and sad and I hope everyone else will enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

A thoughtful and unique look at family, love and fate that will make you consider how our lives play out and the ripple effect of our deicisons.

What an intriguing and amazing storyline. I was drawn to the idea of ‘the almosts’ who are before life children living in the spirit world and awaiting a possible birth depending on fate. I have never read anything like this book before and Pearson’s idea is quite unique. Initially getting my head around the ‘almosts’ and how they can watch over their possible parents in real life was strange but then I was drawn in as we followed how the almosts watched over and waited for a chance to be born to Mother Becca Valentine.
A fascinating story and well worth a read.

The premise of this story is like nothing I’ve ever read or even thought of. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a day. Laura Pearson is a masterful storyteller. She creates incredibly relatable characters that you can’t help but connect with. Loved, loved, loved this book. Did I mention I loved it ❤️

The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine is the story of an 'Almost' called Eliza Valentine. An 'Almost' is a child in spirit who comes into being the day a female child is born. Any number of 'Almosts' are attached to the new-born who might one day become their mother and it is down to chance whether any or all of them are born. The only piece of information these 'Almosts' have is their date of conception. They can see other 'Almosts' attached to other mothers. However, they can only 'know' their father and see him when the father is near the mother. Just reading the blurb, my interest was piqued by the idea of a beforelife and what happens to souls who don't make it into this world.

I was immediately hooked by the Prologue to this original and fascinating story. It made me quite emotional at times and stop to consider how decisions we make affect along the way the journey we are taking.

A beautiful story, and one I would highly recommend.

The concept of this book is so intriguing! I haven't ever heard of a book similar to this and I was eager to give it a read. I know from having read a few of Laura Pearson's books that it would be beautiful yet steeped in reality. More realistic than fairy tale and more hard hitting than truly magical. Yet it would be inspiring, intriguing and most of all, it will make you think.

It did live up to all of the above. The book is set from the point of view of a soul who is an 'almost' being. Someone with the chance at life but no certainty of getting the chance to be born. This idea fascinated me and in equal parts made me emotional due to my personal circumstances.

It highlighted the differences in so many relationships between the characters and highlighted the fact that one single occurrence, be it a word, conversation or interference, could change everything.

I knew how the ending would play out about halfway through the book. I guessed at what Eliza's 'chance' would involve and her intention. It was a beautifully written and thought provoking read.
All I will say about the very last paragraph is that it made me immediately burst into slightly hysterical tears.

Thank you to Laura Pearson, Boldwood Books and Netgalley for allowing me the chance to read the book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Books that are this special don't come along that often.
I have loved every Laura Pearson book I have read, but this one really deserves to elevate Pearson onto a bestseller list immediately.
The premise is so unique, and is hard to categorize, and review, and it reminds me of something Cecelia Ahern might have written. I had never considered the idea of the 'beforelife' of children, those possible conceptions throughout a woman's life. That is fascinating to me, but the wonderful Pearson has shed light on the idea, with some incredible characters to evoke maximum emotional impact.
This is a stunning novel, and will stay with me for some time.
Highly recommended.