Book Review: The Girl Before by JP Delaney

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

5/5 stars

(Finished: 26/3/18)

Mysterious, obsessive, deceiving.

The Girl Before follows the dual perspectives of two women, Jane and Emma: current and previous tenants of One Folgate Street. But One Folgate Street isn’t any ordinary house, it’s a high-tech ultra-minimalist house with a somewhat tragic history. But even stranger is the alluring and enigmatic architect of the building and his obscure rules about how the house should be lived in. For Jane, this opportunity seems perfect following her own tragic experience. But she begins to discover peculiar parallels between herself and Emma, the previous tenant. Jane seeks to find out what happened to Emma before her own life meets an equally tragic fate.

Wow…this book certainly blew me away…I’m not even sure where to start! This book is actually one of the first thrillers I’ve read and, oh my, I will be certainly reading many more! I flew through this one in one sitting. I was never quite sure where things would turn next, but it always somehow took me by surprise and kept my eyes glued to the page with no intention of looking away. The plot was so cleverly crafted that just as you started getting comfortable it’d turn all your assumptions upside down. I promise I won’t discuss any spoilers here, although it will be very difficult not to give anything away! But here are just some of my non-spoilery-thoughts.

I really liked the use of dual-perspective between Jane ‘now’ and Emma ‘then’. It really emphasised the many similarities between the two of them. In fact, so much that, at times, it was actually challenging keeping up with whose half of the story we were following! But in many ways this added to the dizzying narrative that purposefully sought to twist your mind in the best way possible. I really like the sub-plots of both Jane and Emma’s pasts and the aftermath they are faced with trying to deal with what happened to them. This added a lot of depth to the story and interconnected each of their stories but also tied together the overlying plot. It was also very emotionally charged, I sympathised with both women’s stories. Because of this, the twists and turns made it all the more shocking.

I loved the setting of book: One Folgate Street. The concept of a house that tracks your emotional and physical wellbeing and seeks to change how the residents think and act fascinated me. It reminded me of an episode of Black Mirror. It was eerie and creepy but not in your stereotypical haunted house way. Instead, Delaney presents us with a modern and futuristic house that scares us in a completely different light. This is such a new and original setting for a book. In many ways we are so close to this being a reality, with all the latest gadgets, a house (or a town) with some kind of artificial intelligence is entirely possible, but also morally grey. One Folgate Street is such a creative use of setting for a thriller novel, it isn’t just the background for a mystery, it’s the heart and soul of the entire novel.

I found there were just so many layers to this story. This is what made the plot so hard-hitting, Delaney manages to distract your attention frequently enough to confuse you what you should suspect happens next. You think you’re onto something and then that theory crumbles before you in the next chapter. But it isn’t your typical detective-mystery story either, every character has some kind of bias and some kind of weakness and it becomes hard to trust anyone. Jane plays detective as she tries to piece the story together, but we find that even she is easily swayed by her own emotions. The story is just so twisted and unpredictable that it becomes addictive, you won’t be able to stop reading.

Overall, I adored this book. It messed with my mind, it shocked me, it surprised me, it horrified me, it fascinated me. I highly recommend if you’re looking for something slightly creepy and mysterious to read, I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed! I particularly recommend if, like me, you’re not too familiar with reading psychological thrillers as I think this is a really great place to start. It’s easy to read and once you start you probably won’t want to stop! I hear this novel is also set to become a film soon, so you should definitely give it a read and get ahead of all the hype! Go ahead, let your mind be messed with, you won’t regret it.