THE BEFORELIFE OF ELIZA VALENTINE
Laura Pearson
Boldwood Books
September 20, 2025
293 pages
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I seem to be on a run of strange/different books. I’m not sure whether this one would be classified as sci-fi or fantasy. Neither one of these is a genre I read but somehow I got drawn into this one and a couple of others.
The premise is that “beforelife” is a place where one’s “spirit” (for lack of a better word) or “Almost” exists before conception. The Almost knows what their conception date is and tries to steer fates to make it happen. They watch over their parents-to-be. This is outside the reality of my mind.
The earthly characters are realistic. They are teens and young adults, living in the moment, not always making the right choices. But, there are some lessons learned from the poor decisions. Their part of the story is easy to follow, easy to understand.
The Almosts are very interesting. They have their own distinct personalities. They’re all looking forward to their conception date, which might or might not happen. They have feelings. Such an interesting concept. And, who knows, it might be possible in an alternate universe.
I enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would. I have mentioned before that my mind deals with logic and reality. But, sometimes it’s good to take a detour.
I think this could be also classified as a Young Adult book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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