3 out of 4 stars
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Before I Wake by Seven Steps is a romance book which contains two short love stories, The Playthings and The Cottage. Each of them is completely different from the other but after reading both of them, you will definitely wonder: Was it real?
The Playthings revolves around Samantha Patterson. It is a completely ordinary day and Samantha is shopping at the grocery store with her husband when suddenly, people start disappearing, one by one. Samantha starts to question - her husband, her child, her whole life - was it all just her imagination?
In The Cottage, Ashling’s countryside life is perfectly normal. That is, until her sister, Bernadette, discovers an injured man lying next to a haystack on their farm. Ashling devotes most of the time tending to his injuries, and there’s something familiar about him, his face, his coal black eyes – but she just can’t grasp it. When he eventually awakens, her world will never be the same again.
I really loved this book! The author ended off both stories with an unexpected twist, which was one thing that I liked about it. I really did not see the twist for the first story, The Playthings, coming! This really left me wanting for more! Not only that, I found both of the plots intriguing. Both of them shared the same theme, which was telling reality from imagination. In the end, I was still unable to tell whether the whole story was all the character’s imagination, or it was her actual, real world.
However, I felt that the stories were just too short! I understand that the author wanted to end off both stories with a bang and a great twist, but I finished the book in barely 10 minutes. This really disappointed me as I really wanted more from the book, and I’m sure that any reader of the book will be disappointed as well. Besides that, I felt that the endings of each book were a little abrupt. Because of the twist, the stories seemed unfinished and it was as if the author had forgotten to continue the story. There were also a few editing errors, but they were quite minor and did not affect the flow of the story.
To me, The Playthings seemed like a mystery story, while The Cottage was more of a romance story. Out of the two, my personal favourite would be The Cottage. I felt that The Cottage was quite sweet and I loved the romance inside the book. The ending to The Cottage actually melted my heart and I felt that The Cottage was quite a lovely story.
I would rate Before I Wake by Seven Steps 3 out of 4 stars. I really enjoyed reading Before I Wake and I felt that the plots of both short stories in the book were unique and interesting. However, the stories were too short and the endings were abrupt. I certainly hope that the author will release a sequel to this book. I recommend Before I Wake to those who would like a short but delightful romance.
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Before I Wake
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