Review: Before We Were Strangers

Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 at 2:34 p.m.

View all my reviews

💗 Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

Downloaded EPUB file

Hoopla Eaudiobook

This is the second book for the Cousin Book Club. We each suggested three books from our own TBR lists and I made a poll and it all came down to Ale to choose. Ale said that she didn’t want to read another Colleen Hoover book, so she suggested this book. I liked that it took place in New York! I am excited for another Cousin Book Club! By the way, this book was in Ale’s recommended books. One of her books won.

Unfortunately, this will be the last Cousin Book Club. We have had too many problems that I don’t see the point in trying this again..

---

* 7/3/2025: Chapters 1-2: Scott talks about really uncomfortable things. That train scene with Grace was straight out of a movie.

* 7/4/2025: Chapters 3-4: I’m kind of feeling like this story is a little like a common trope, but we’ll see. I’ll keep reading. Also, I kind of don’t like the male narrator’s voice from the Eaudiobook.

“‘Okay. Wuv you, Mom,’ I winked at the girl as she stared me down a foot away.

‘Wuv you, too?’ she laughed” (chapter 4).

Lol! I thought that this quote was funny because he was making fun of how that other girl was talking to her boyfriend. Hehe 🤭

* 7/5/2025: Chapter 5: The part where the RA told Grace to keep the noise down with her cello reminded me of when I used to live in dorms. They had quiet hours at certain times, like from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. You had to keep loud noises down. I think the flashback of when Grace and Matt are in college takes place in the 2000s. I thought the whole situation with Matt’s brother was kind of messed up. God I would faint if I donated blood too. I thought it was cute when Matt tucked in Grace when she felt cold while getting her blood out.

* 7/6/2025: Chapter 6: I liked Grace’s Hello Kitty dress when they went to the 50s diner. When Matt gave Grace another CD to listen to I was unsure if I should make a playlist of all the songs that were mentioned in this book.

“It involved a lot of ramen noodles and turnstile-hopping in the subways, but we managed to see the city inside and out.

New York has an energy that takes root inside of you. Even a transplant like me gets to know the different boroughs, like they’re living, breathing organisms. There’s nowhere else like it. The city becomes a character in your life, a love you can’t take out of you. The mysteriously human element about this place can make you fall in love and break your heart at the same time. When you hear her sound, when you breathe in her scent, you share it with all the people walking beside you on the street, in the subway, or gazing from a tall building across Central Park. You know at once that you are alive, and that life is beautiful, precious, and fleeting. I think that’s why people in New York feel so connected to each other; the city harnesses this collective love and admiration. Grace and I were falling in love with her together” (chapter 6).

This long quote is one of the reasons why I love New York and reading passages like this just romanticizes the city even more. I love this quote and how it describes New York as a character in your life.

* 7/7/2025: Chapter 7: I think that Matt overstepped when he followed Grace into the medical study place. But it was kind of him to offer her his help for her cello.

“That’s what I was learning from her: how to have faith in myself and my art” (chapter 7).

I thought that this quote was cute.

* 7/8/2025: Chapter 8: I thought that it was funny when Grace and tati played an Irish jig during class. I also thought that it was weird when her professor wanted to have dinner with her after he bought her a new bow.

* 7/9/2025: Chapter 9: Even though Grace’s professor said he simply liked talking to her I still think that he has nefarious intentions. The photograph scene in this chapter reminded me of that one scene in Titanic.

* 7/10/2025: Chapter 10: Woah.

* 7/11/2025: Chapter 11: BFFs! lolz

* 7/12/2025: Chapter 12: Okay. I wonder why we always choose romantic books with very spicy scenes in them. It’s just awkward. Maybe next time we can leave out the romance drama. I think that I prefer romantic fluff to erotic descriptions when it comes to the Cousin Book Club.

* 7/14/2025: Chapters 13 and 14: Okay. Now I am getting sick of all these graphic sex scenes. I wasn’t expecting Matt’s family to be this pompous.

* 7/15/2025: Chapter 15: I think Grace would be mad if she found out about Matt’s bet with Tati.

* 7/16/2025: Chapter 16: They got married! The aftermath seems like this was the last time Matt saw Grace.

* 7/17/2025: Chapter 17: It’s really sad about Grace’s family life. It must really suck not having your family at your graduation. I thought that it was cute that Matt learned that song just to play it for Grace. That was really sweet of him to do. When Matt said that he would give Grace money from him selling his photo all I could think of was what would Grace do if she didn’t have Matt. He’s such a nice friend.

* 7/18/2025: Chapter 18: Dan bought Matt’s photo. I didn’t see that coming. He’s always helping out. The tattoo thing might have been too much. I think Matt was a bit too aggressive with Grace that it made me a bit scared for her. During the part where she kept asking him if he would stay. During the part where Grace was saying goodbye to Matt at the airport was a bit too lovey-dovey for me. Where the writing was kind of bad.

* 7/19/2025: Chapter 19: The Elizabeth in this chapter must be Matt’s ex-wife from the first chapter. I think that Matt is starting to put Grace on the back burner since he’s been in South America. It only seems fitting that Grace go with Tati on the tour.

* 7/20/2025: Chapter 20: Since this book was published in 2015 that means that Matt and Grace met in 2000. I’m guessing that Grace went on the tour with Tati and then got her master’s degree, then decided to teach high school kids. I thought that it was weird that a high school kid used Missed Connections because I only imagine middle aged men using that site. When Matt first posted his message I thought that Grace was never going to read it. I’m more excited about the present than the flashbacks.

“The present is our own. The right-this-second, the here-and-now, this moment before the next, is ours for the taking. It’s the only free gift the universe has to offer. The past doesn’t belong to us anymore, and the future is just a fantasy, never guaranteed. But the present is ours to own. The only way we can realize that fantasy is if we embrace the now” (chapter 20).

“But Orvin once told me that time is the currency of life” (chapter 20).

I liked this quote because it is very true I feel.

* 7/21/2025: Half of Chapter 21: It must be awkward having to work alongside your ex-wife. I can’t believe Elizabeth wrote Grace a letter back when they were in South America. That was really messed up.

“I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. ‘No, I’m not seeing her. That was the first time I’ve talked to her in fifteen years, and you just ruined it.’

‘This is your job, Matt. This is a workplace.’

‘Is that what you said to Brad before you fucked him in the copy room?’ I shot back, flatly” (chapter 21).

Oooooo! That was a good one, Matt! XD

“I remembered that I had set the camera down, gone up to her, and traced the indentations above her cute little ass” (chapter 21).

The way the male narrator said the “ass” part of this quote made me cringe lol XD

“‘I guess that makes sense since you never wanted children.’ Her tone was inscrutable.

I always wanted children, just not with you” (chapter 21).

God damn! 😯

“It was better to let her think I was lonely and pining for her than to fuel the fiery resentment she had always had toward me because I never got over Grace” (chapter 21).

This really says a lot about Elizabeth’s ego.

* 7/23/2025: Rest of Chapter 21 and Half of Chapter 22: The rest of this conversation is like a whole information dump. I don’t like how Elizabeth butted into Matt and Grace’s relationship. I can’t believe Grace married her music professor. Then he died. I don’t think that Elizabeth should use her pregnancy as an excuse for every little thing! That made me a bit mad really.

* 7/25/2025: Rest of Chapter 22: I don’t have much to say for this chapter except that it was kind of awkward reading this while I was on break at work.

* 7/28/2025: Chapter 23: I wasn’t expecting for there to be a child in the mix! So Ash, Matt and Grace’s daughter, was born in 2000. She reminds me of Clary from The Mortal Instruments. Her strong nature makes me feel happy for some reason. I thought that it was nice of Dan to take over as a dad to Ash. I love that Matt took Ash to the pajama restaurant that he and Grace used to go to in college. It was almost like a full circle moment. I also think that it would be cute if they went to a Radiohead concert together.

“We both cried together, surrendering to the reality that we had to accept” (chapter 23).

This quote reminds me of a song that has the lyrics, “do you have a tear in your eye, surrender”. The song is called “Surrender” by Above & Beyond.

* 7/30/2025: Chapters 24, 25, 26 and 27: I thought that it was sad when Grace was telling Matt about her childbirth. He missed so much. I love how Ash played her parent’s love song for them. I was listening to Radiohead and I think that their music is perfect for this love story. It sounds like it would play during the end credits. I also really loved the gallery scene with all of Matt’s photos. It was perfect when they got married with Ash as their witness. I also loved what Ash had to say in the last chapter.

* Overall, I liked the book. It was a tragic love story, but then there was a happy ending. At first, I didn’t like the male narrator for the Eaudiobook. The female narrator was way better in my opinion. I really didn’t like all the graphic sex scenes. But I started to like the book more towards the end when Ash entered the story.