Author: Virginia Smith
2.5 out of 5 Stars
Plot Background:
Allie Harrod has just had her first baby, a little girl named after her sister Joan (from book one), and Allie is desperate to stay home with her baby. She finds a way to cover her portion of the bills by selling "Varie Cose" (which is sort of like selling Avon). During this time of transition, her mother in law decides to come to town and stay with Allie and her husband Eric, which sends Allie over the edge of insanity. She is losing money, losing patience, losing everything but baby weight. Her sister, Joan, insists that God will be the answer to her problems, and Allie and Eric have to face these big decisions together.
My Thoughts:
There were some good elements to this story, but to me, overall it was not as good as the first book.
One thing I liked about the book was Allie herself. I think the timing of when I read this was sort of hilarious, my sister had a baby on the same birthday of Allie's baby, and Allie and my sister have very similar personalities. So for me, I felt like I have known Allie my whole life. I also really enjoyed how differently her point of view and Eric's point of view were on the same things. For example, Eric might see fixing a co-workers toilet as helpful and gentlemanly, and Allie sees him fixing that same co-workers toilet as shady and she immediately thinks the co-worker has a crush on her husband, where as Eric just thinks the co-worker is just needing someone to fix her toilet so she can use it!
Another thing I liked, that I enjoyed in the first book as well was the use of Point of View. The POV is never first person, but it shifts focus. What I mean by that, is that one chapter you will be mainly following Allie, and although it isnt first person, you get an insight into her thoughts, then the next chapter will be Eric's POV, and so on. I really enjoyed the subtle shift in the tone with each character too.
The things I didn't like as much about this book were similar to book one. The pacing was a bit off and the book felt slow to me. The plot seemed to not really have a big climax and it wasn't a "cant put it down" type of novel, I could put it down, and did a lot. The plot was good, and it was something I know a lot of people will be able to relate to, but the delivery was a little slow. That slowness really took away a lot of the enjoyment for me.
I also had mixed feelings on the delivery of the religious aspect of the story. I liked Joan and Ken from book one, and I know that Allie and Eric were needing to find God, so that would be addressed in this book. I liked that she turns to God like her sister did in book one, but it all felt a little rushed on Eric's end. He really didn't need much persuading even though he had a terrible experience that had previously kept him out of church for years. I was glad he also came to God, but it just felt like someone who went through what Eric went though might need a little more coaxing.
Overall it was not a bad book, but it wasn't as good as book one. This book would be a good standalone book, so if you don't want to read books one or three it would be good still. I also noticed a lot of set up for book three, so you all can expect a review coming on that soon!
Here is a link to the Kindle edition of the book-- and its only $5.38!:
http://www.amazon.com/before-Beauty-Sister---Sister-ebook/dp/B001OW5ZOO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351866982&sr=8-2&keywords=age+before+beauty
Happy Reading!
