Before We Were Innocent

By Ella Berman

What it’s about?

Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer spent in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of having any involvement in their friend Evangeline’s death. But that didn’t stop the media from ripping apart their teenage lives like vultures.

While the girls were never convicted, Joni, ever the opportunist, capitalized on her newfound infamy to become a motivational speaker. Bess, on the other hand, resolved to make her life as small and controlled as possible so she wouldn’t risk losing everything all over again. And it almost worked. . . .

Except now Joni is tangled up in a crime eerily similar to that one fateful night in Greece. And when she asks Bess to come back to LA to support her, Bess has a decision to make.

Is it finally time to face up to what happened that night, exposing herself as the young woman she once was and maybe still is? And what happens if she doesn’t like what she finds?

What I think:

Before We Were Innocent has been all over Bookstagram and was a Reese’s Book Club choice for December 2023. It has definitely been a love it or hate it read. And I loved it.

The characters are interesting and complex and there are elements of the story that everyone can relate to. Joni, Bess and Evangeline have complex and mutually dependent friendship. As high school seniors, they are both arrogant and insecure; they are confident in themselves and trying too hard to impress. As they embark in their separate journeys and head off to university there is a sense that this time of their lives is both an ending and a beginning leaving then all excited and scared in equal parts.

The trip to Greece should be a final summer of fun in the sun. But Evangeline’s family villa is on a quiet island and there is little for the girls to do. As Evangeline romanticises her childhood and tries to recreate memories, Joni and Bess become increasingly bored and restless. The fractures between the girls widen. And then Evangeline dies.

The narrative is split between the present, where Bess and Joni are adults living separate lives. They haven’t spoken since the trial where they were found not guilty of Evangeline’s death. While Bess has isolated herself and hides away, while Joni is now a celebrity embroiled in a new drama. When Joni’s girlfriend goes missing, and she comes to Bess for help, the past is brought back to the present.

As well as the mystery of what really happened in Greece and the different stories of the past, the book explores the complex relationships between these women that are forever connected to each other.despite being adults, they fall into the familiar patterns and lies of their teenage friendship and have to examine the impact this has on them.

Bess goes on a real journey of self-discovery as she finds out things that she had not known or had forgotten from the past. The years she has spent avoiding the past and punishing herself have not brought her peace. Joni is charismatic but untrustworthy, she will do anything to protect herself, and I was always willing Bess not to be so trusting.

I found this book utterly compelling. The scenes in Greece were particularly evocative and I felt the restlessness and spitefulness of the girls grow as the summer wore on. The sense of foreboding grows and despite knowing that you are heading to disaster, I was still hoping it could be avoided.

Thank you to NetGalley for my gifted digital copy of Before We Were Innocent. A great read.