Review: You Before Anyone Else by Julie Cross

You Before Anyone Else

By: Julie Cross and Mark Perini

Release Date: August 2, 2016

Description:

Everything she wants. Everything he needs.

The supportive friend, the reliable daughter, the doting big-sister: Finley is used to being the glue that holds everyone together. But while her sweet demeanor makes her the perfect confidant, her wholesome look isn't landing her the high paying modeling jobs, which are what Finley needs if she is going to reopen her mother's dance studio.

Enter Eddie. He's intense and driven, not to mention the life of every party, and he completely charms Finley. The last thing she wants is another commitment to stand in the way of her dreams, but when she’s with Eddie, their chemistry takes over and she can let go of her responsibilities and just be. After all, what’s so wrong about putting herself first once and a while?

Except Eddie is hiding a secret. A big secret. And when it surfaces, he and Finley are going to have to choose between their love for each other and everything else…

Review:

This was a really intriguing story about two people from different worlds on different paths, meeting and discovering who they are or at least starting their journeys into discovering who they will become.  It was endearing and sweet.

We meet Finley who is a goody two shoes and in the modeling world that just will not work as everyone is always looking for someone with an edge.  So to get that edge she tries one night to be daring and this is when she meets Eddie.  He’s trying to lay low and go through the motions until he can figure things out in his life.  The two of them meet and even though it was only supposed to be a one night kind of thing they are drawn to each other and form a relationship.

It’s interesting watching the two of them try and figure out what they are going to do with their lives and what drives them both, very different but paths that coincide with one another.  There are times when you just want to tell them come on you can do it, but they need to figure it out on their own, but together if that makes sense.  They each only want what’s best for the other but Finley being such a good girl can’t help but always put everyone above herself.  This is the lesson she definitely learned that it’s ok to be selfish sometimes and what she becomes is beautiful. 

Eddie on the other hand tries to figure things out and he is so determined throughout the whole book to do one thing and ends up finding out maybe that’s not really what he wanted to begin with but just another variation of that life.  It was great watching him grow throughout the book and take responsibilities for all his actions in the best way he knows how.  I don’t want to say too much about it but Eddie is a good guy and what he decided in the end was the best for everyone involved and that just makes him an even better person then he was in the beginning.

I loved meeting all the characters in the book, especially Fin’s family, they were all so wonderful and I couldn’t help but want to be around them as well.  Something about all that positivity in such a sad situation that makes your heart grow even more for everyone. 

Overall I thought this was a great read, started out one way and went a different direction but either way it kept me interested in what was going to happen next.  Great read.  The cover really lured me in and then reading the description of the book kept me even more interested in seeing what this book was about.

Disclaimer:

I received this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire, so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!