This is a fantastic book and I think it will become one of the must-reads of 2021! It is beautifully written with characters that have such great depth. This story will stay with me for a long time.

I really enjoyed this book - it was a lovely romance novel showing people in some of their darkest moments. I couldn't put it down once I started, leading to a very long night! I look forward to reading more books from Emily Houghton.

I am obsessed with this book. It’s brilliant and I don’t think I will ever be the same again after reading Alice and Alfie. I adored these two characters and the support they gave each other behind the curtain. I thought the hand holding was beautiful and the puzzle books too. I now want to chant ‘film, film, film!’ Can someone please turn this into a film?

I have tried to get into this book twice and both times I found Alice’ distress (she is a severe burns victim) too difficult to read about. I have no life experience in this area, it’s just so distressing and unpleasant to read. Not for me. I will not be finishing reading this book and do not recommend it.

What a beautifully written book! My heart was full of emotion. The characters were so believable and I was completely absorbed in the plot. Never did I think I would love a book about two people in a rehab ward of a hospital. A totally different type of love story that is so worth reading.

The story of Alice and Alfie. They meet in hospital, but never face to face. Both are struggling with what has happened to them and trying to deal with it in their own ways.
An emotional read.

I would have like an epilogue and to find out what happened next.

Alfie and Alice meet under the most exceptional circumstances, but never come face to face. The pair sleep next to one another every night in a recovery unit of a hospital / treatment centre. Alfie, the boisterous personality on the ward, aims to befriend Alice who is silent and spends her time behind her bed curtains refusing to be seen. There are disagreements, heartfelt moments and support shared between the two despite the barriers between them.

This book is compassionate and really delves into the emotional and physical aspects of recovery, but also looks at the feelings of grief, longing and acceptance. There is a menagerie of eclectic people surrounding the protagonists, and I enjoyed that the story switched between the perspective of the two main characters to really give you a look into how they were both thinking and feeling.

I do feel as though the ending was a little abrupt, and predictable, and I would’ve liked to see an epilogue just to round things up a little more.

Before I Saw You is a really intense and original romance, that is so well crafted and paced that it leaves you yearning for more. The characters by the end of the book feel like your friends, and because of Emily Hougton's talent as writer you feel like you know the characters and really care for them.

My heart is so full. This book handles so many difficult concepts with such compassion and grace. If there is one thing I have learnt from working in healthcare it is that everyone's journey through the system is different. I think Emily Houghton beautifully tells a range of journeys and explores so many of the emotions we see in patients. The cast of this book is eclectic and unique, with some particularly brilliant side characters. Every single one of them has depth, flaws and quirks. So many of the characters have stories that would be equally as interesting as the main plot. But Alfie and Alice are so good, they're like two halves of the same coin - opposite in so many ways but below the surface cut from the same cloth. I would give anything to read this book for the first time again. Emily Houghton is incredibly talented and I look forward to the rest of her career as an author.

This was a lovely surprise of a book! I usually don't pick up books within this genre, but I read the summary of this one and it intrigued me right away. The plot of the book was set at a good pace with certain scenes leaving me desperate for more information. I found myself unable to put this book down and finishing it all in a day. The characters were loveable, especially the two main characters. Their disagreements, flaws and moments of love were all wonderfully worded and created a complex but real relationship. The way the author was able to handle difficult and deep topics is admirable, nothing felt overdone or made a mockery of. Overall, this was a lovely book with a heartwarming story.

I have just seen a previous reviewer liken this to Beach Read by Emily Henry and I completely agree - full of dark, deep topics that really hit harder than you expect. Set almost entirely in a hospital ward, I loved meeting all the different characters that came in and out. Although the language it is written in is pretty simplistic, it was still a pretty good read. I only wish there was one more Alfie chapter at the end! It was missing just two extra pages or so and I didn't realise I was even on the last page until I finished it. A quick read, 3.5 stars.

In the same vain as beach read. This book looks like a light and fluffy rom com but instead deals with some intense topics. As someone that has had an extended stay in hospital, I really liked it. The story was sweet and not too unrealistic. Well worth reading.