Rapid Fire (Book) Review: The Ethan I Was Before.

In Realm Beyond Sight's "Rapid Fire Review" I hit the good, the bad, and try to get out before the review becomes too long winded. In this new review I take a look at the young adult book The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standish.

This is another book that I went into reading with no knowledge of. Again, I was pleasantly surprised at how great this book was. The one thing that surprised me above all else was how powerful this book was. This is a story about about friendship, family, loss, acceptance, and understanding. From the start of the book my attention was caught with a great hook. A hook about a character that had me questioning what happened to them throughout the entire book. The story keeps you guessing even when you think you've figured it out. Overall, this is a fun story that takes the reader through a budding new friendship as you discover what happened to an old one and how the people around our main character are affected by them. The journey is powerful and beautiful.

The story touches on many relationships but three stood out to me. The first was the relationship between Ethan and his brother Roddie which becomes more powerful as the story continues and Roddie's motives and intentions become clear. What starts out as a distant, even seemingly angry, relationship turns out to be loving and quite moving. Then there is the relationship between Ethan and his new best friend Coralee. This relationship has hidden secrets on both sides that eventually come out and bring the friends closer together. The journey of how this occurs is the beautiful part of the friendship showing that friends love each other and can get mad at each other from time to time but in the end they are always there for you when you need them most. Lastly, there is the relationship between Ethan and his old best friend Kacey. This is such a pure relationship that teaches our main character many meaningful and tough life lessons. Through this relationship Ethan experiences as a child what some people may not experience until they are adults. He is thrust into a sense of understanding that many do not comprehend at his age. Once these lessons are delivered within the story the the messages and themes of the story hit the reader hard.

I recommend this book to all readers out there. I had such a fun time reading this book and know that others will as well. Ali Standish does a wonderful job at weaving mystery and emotions into this story and it deserves recognition from readers around the world.

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