Contemporary story that keeps one's attention. Insightful and crafty use of social media references intertwined with the narratives of very modern day characters.

A great psychological thriller that grips you from the word go. I really enjoyed this book with its various twists and turns that keep on coming

I really enjoyed this book. I like the way each chapter was told by  One of the many interesting characters in the book. It really help me keep everyone straight. Characters were well developed, likable in spite of being flawed. The storyline was great .  Lesson learned, no one has a perfect life, especially on Facebook or Instagram. I enjoyed when all involved came clean with each other, and formed a great community of friends. Imperfect  as they all may be. Thank you so much for my advanced copy. I would certainly recommend this to friends and family and I will continue to follow this author.

Kate is running from her past. She has moved into a new house with her teenage daughter, Daisy, and all she wants is to hide away from the world.. and keep her daughter safe.

Gisella, a neighbour of Kate's is a stay at home mum, has the perfect family on paper (and social media). 

Sally, a jet setting, professional, living a child-free, stress-free life with her husband. 

Thrown into each others lives by accident, it is a matter of time when things come to a head and each forced to open up. 

An interesting story of lives hidden, and on display, of hpw things are seldom as they seem or what people want others to believe, of friendships and trust.. 

A book, I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the review copy of this book.

This was a very good story about Sally, Kate and Gisela and their families. They all live in a new development and life seems good. After all, it always is on Facebook and Instagram, right? Kate is holding onto a long time secret, Gisela is struggling with her family dynamics and Sally and her husband, Chris can't agree on major decisions in life. You would never know it from their social media posts. Actually in Kate's situation, her LACK of social media presence raises flags and as the story progressed, the reader is shown that she is hiding from something. 

The book was very creative in how it would describe Gisela's and Sally's photos on social media. It also shows how people try to show a happy perfect life online. It made me wonder is it because we feel we have to, or are we jealous of the other posts we see?  Next time you may feel bad about someone's perfect looking life, just remember things aren't always as they seem. Everyone has issues. 

I finished the book very quickly as I really wanted to know what was happening with each woman and how their respective situations would turn out. I thought the book was very well written and creative in the way it was told. However, I wish publishers would stop using the word "twist." I  get excited thinking something is going to jump out at me - something I didn't expect.  Did the women have secrets? Yep. Was it interesting? Absolutely. But, there was no "twist." 

I have read one of the author's other books and I enjoyed that a lot as well. In my opinion , she writes in a very engaging manner. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I enjoyed it!

This was a great book that really held my interest from start to finish.  It was also a great reminder that as we scroll through social media looking at everyone’s “picture perfect” lives we often forget that it is just a moment in time and who really knows what happened before or after that moment.  I thoroughly enjoyed the way Kerry wove together the complicated lives of the gated community residents.  I especially loved the way she described the social media posts and hashtags and some actually made me laugh (out loud).  This was my first book of Kerry’s, I can’t wait to read her other books! 

Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book about a mother picking up and moving to a new place along with her daughter. She is jealous of the lives of her fellow neighbors, which to her seem absolutely perfect in every way. At first, the novel was a little hard to follow when the characters were being introduced. Once I was familiar with everyone, it really got interesting! I received this advanced copy in exchange for my complete and honest review.

Kerry Fisher's novel, The Woman I Was Before, follows three neighbors and their journey through life.  At first, Sally and Gisela  appear to have perfect lives which they frequently document on social media.  Newcomer Kate, on the other hand, is clearly hiding something and struggling.  Although the woman lead very different lives and live on very different socioeconomic platforms, they do become friends, and Fisher realistically portrays that journey.  I also loved how she incorporates social media as a means for how her characters glorify life when they are truly struggling.  

I really enjoyed reading this book.  It is a little confusing at the beginning because it jumps between the different characters, so it was a little difficult getting to know them.  However, once I got to know each character, it was a great read!  It covered many of today's life struggles - depicting perfection on social media and keeping up with your neighbors to name just a few.  

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this fanatastic book.

Kate Jones moves into a new house on the Parkview Road. It’s another fresh start for her and her teenage daughter Daisy. She lives her life afraid of everything, but especially of being tracked down, this all following a haunting episode that all but destroyed her life. She has even changed both of their birth and surnames this time, hoping she could keep them both safe. She keeps herself to herself because she simply can’t take the risk of being traced. It may cost her the life of her precious daughter, all she has left since it happened. She has kept herself away from social occasions and has sworn off men because one simple slip may result in the loss of her anonymity. Her life has been dormant and full of fear year after year, ever since that one fateful day, one day that changed her life forever and ruined her marriage, and this is the reason for her having descended into a life with just her daughter, keeping each other company. But soon Daisy will be eighteen, a landmark age. She yearns for the normal life of a teenage girl. She cannot even have a smartphone in case her geographical position is inadvertently leaked. She is biding her time until she goes to university, but that is another key worry for Kate. What will happen when she is not there to protect her precious daughter?

Already living in the same street are her neighbours Sally and Gisela who are friendly and welcoming with their new neighbours. Still Kate keeps herself quietly to herself, but when Daisy makes friends with Gisela’s daughter, she encourages her mother to be more outgoing. Daisy has a Facebook page which Kate monitors assiduously. She only agreed to it so that Daisy could keep in touch with her father who has chosen to live in another distant country with his new family. She is so envious of all of her neighbour’s lifestyles. Sally and Chris are a globetrotting, high achievers; a career orientated couple who post about their lavish holidays and wonderful lives. They have money and live lavishly, as do Gisela and Jack. Gisela is a stay-at-home Mum of two; one son and one daughter who has befriended Daisy. She spends money like there is no tomorrow, ordering bespoke items from other countries. There’s nothing but the best for Gisela. She throws fun filled parties, a generous and enthusiastic hostess. Her home is full of high tech gadgets and beautiful furnishings. Sally and Gisela almost seem to compete with each other with gushing hashtag endings to their photographs and beautifully described perfect lives. But posting on Facebook is only showing a snapshot of what they want others to know about their personal and family lives, as Kate finds out when her job as a paramedic takes her to a terrible accident on the nearby dual carriageway. Secrets are spilled and the three women come together to help and support each other through their personal dramas, as the truth is laid bare and they must live with the consequences, just as Kate is already doing: three families, their lives crumbling around them, all friends together.

Wow, what a corker of a novel, as usual with this author! She always hits the nail on the head. The characters spring into life from the very beginning of the novel, keeping you engrossed and finding out about each family’s lives. You cannot help but feel empathy with them. The story is so beautifully told and the pace of the novel is fast and furious. This is exactly the sort of novel that creeps into your life and you don’t want to put down; you cannot force yourself to. Each story thread is absorbing and as exciting as the other, filled with the minutia details of family life, their relationships, triumphs and crushing disappointments, proving that secrets have a way of bouncing back at you. It’s a triumph. 

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. This novel is an excellent read and will keep you turning the pages, anxiously, excitedly and soon to reach a thrilling conclusion. Highly recommended read and a 4.5* review from me.

I loved this book - I lost my whole Sunday reading - just couldn't put it down!  A fabulous story with fantastic characters.  Following three very different women and secrets behind closed doors.  I loved the chapters starting with FaceBook posts - those ones we all see that grind on your nerves - all the 'blessed's' and perfect lives.  Then the real story following telling of not quite the life being show.  Very relatable characters with a few exceptionally relatable teenagers!  A lot of clever humour which I loved with a really gripping and slightly dark story.  Five stars!

I have read a few books by this author and have found them to be very well written, character driven stories. This book was no exception to that and, after a little while working out who was who in my head, I pretty much read straight through in only a coupe of sittings. My time apart from the book dragging!
Kate and her daughter Daisy (not their real names) are in hiding from something in Kate's past. They move into a new estate and slowly get to meet their neighbours, at the same time, keeping themselves to themselves. Kate envies her neighbours, their apparent freedom and carefree lives but, as we all know, things are never as simple as the face value people show - especially on Facebook! All through the book, scenes are played out that do not in any way, shape or form, correlate to the happy smiley picture/post one of the characters posts on their social media. 
The majority of the beginning of the book is concerned with setting up the devastation that follows a nasty accident that Kate is called to attend. An accident that has repercussions for more than one of Kate's neighbours. One that will rock their entire existence. If that wasn't enough, Kate's daughter wants more freedom and Kate herself is caught between letting herself be happy and keeping her past a secret.
On of the things I really love about this author is her characterisation. She really does have the gift to craft the most wonderfully real and flawed characters that I can't fail to connect to / emote with. Here we have three very different households, all with their own secrets. Some known from the start, others to be discovered along the way both by reader and other characters too. It's an awakening and a tough journey for some more than others and they all react in different ways when the chips are down; different but wholly credible ways. 
Obviously people's lives are never as wonderful as the side they choose to present to the world but here we have some wonderful juxtapositional Facebook posts following a quite different narrative. I found these to be rather enlightening although not surprising. 
All in all a cracking character driven story that enthralled me throughout and left me satisfied at its conclusion. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

5 stars! Kerry Fisher has once again nailed it with this fantastic book about how our lives may not really be as wonderful as we like to present them on social media. 

In The Woman I was Before, we meet 3 women and their families who live in the same street of a new estate. Gisela is the happy, life of the party who always has the trendiest homewares and the perfect family life. Sally is the jet setting career woman who has no children and enjoys her freedom. And finally Kate who likes to keep herself to herself and will go to great lengths to keep her past from catching up with her. Before too long the women become friends. With the exception of Kate (who views rather than posts online) they form impressions of one another from the social media sites they use to show off their #wonderful lives. But is the grass really greener? Do we only ever present the highlights of our life rather than tell the whole story? 

I’ve loved every one of Kerry Fishers books and once again her observations of life have been spot on. Not only with the social media aspect but the general day to day lives of normal people. She cleverly articulates emotions and family situations we are all familiar with on some level. I always seem to relate to most of the characters in her books and can empathise with their thoughts. It’s clear that she is a very authentic and thoughtful person/author. 

Highly recommend this book and her previous ones and I can’t wait for her next book! 

Thanks kindly to Netgalley, Kerry Fisher and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book. I enjoyed it so much.

Thank you Netgalley, Publisher and the Author.  Kate Jones is running away with her daughter.  The story is about 3 women who have just moved to the estate and their different lives and what they are escaping from.  I really enjoyed it 4.5 stars

Kate and her daughter Daisy have moved to a new town. Kate likes to keep her life under the radar; she shuns social media and likes to keep her life private whereas her new neighbours, Gisella, Jack, Sally and her husband Chris like to post constantly on social media. Their lives are full of parties, trips abroad, highflying jobs and seemingly perfect families.

As friendship blossoms between the three woman, it soon becomes obvious that their perfect lives are not what they seem. All three women are keeping secrets which could tear their lives apart.

Another good book by Kerry Fisher. A story of what you see is not necessarily what you get, with a cast of strong female characters. An excellent read.

People can create a perception they want others to see and believe. Social media has given people that' platform. But that's only a small wedge of the truth. People have secrets. Carefully crafted posts online mask many secrets. THe Woman I Was Before is about secrets and fallacies. Three women in one neighborhood all look at each other's lives online with certain envy, but they're hiding. One is on the run from a nebulous past, one is facing her husband going to prison, and the other is lying about her marriage. Ultimately the facade is ripped from all three and they have to face reality.

Absolutely loved this book, i loved how it switched between the three women, it was such an easy read with the layout and the plot and just kept pulling you in until you knew what the story behind each woman was. It was just a feel good story about how tragedy can bring friendship together.

This novel follows three women: Sally, Kate and Gisela shortly after they move into a gated community and befriend one another.  Each thinks the others lead perfect lives while theirs is going up in flames but is anyone's life what they show online?  

This was a pretty captivating story and each woman drew me in to their storylines in different ways.  I think everyone can relate to either seeing or posting the "fake" life online.  You know the life I"m talking about.  The seemingly amazing vacation (that's really anything but), the perfect children (that never stop screaming), the husband who does all the cooking (but doesn't ever pick up his socks).  We're all guilty of it in some aspects yet it still seeps in behind the scenes bringing us down a notch.  

I love how each woman handled their own issues and didn't shy away from them.  I think of everyone I love most how Sally's life turned out.  Each woman was brave and I just LOVED reading about strong and amazing women.

If you want to read a good woman focused story with enough turns to keep you interested I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and Bookouture for the eARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! Told from the viewpoint of three different women who have recently moved into a new neighborhood. Although their lives look perfect in their facebook photos, they are each dealing with huge issues. It is a wonderful reminder that lives aren't as perfect as they seem on social media.

Is the grass greener on the other side? This book is the tale of 3 families lives as they face challenges & question that very question. The story is relevant, the characters are relatable, and I enjoyed every page.

I really loved this book.  Relatable characters & so well written would highly recommend this to anyone.