Customer Reviews

Before I Go: A Novel

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

An excellent debut from Riley Weston, telling the story of a mother and daughter brought together by an Olympic ice-skating dream. A sports themed novel with a difference, the story revolves around the two extremely strong female characters, mother and daughter, coach and protégé, both strong willed and ambitious. Annie once had an Olympic dream of her own, but now lives to see her daughter Madison on the podium with the five rings.

Driving both herself and Madison relentlessly, Annie schedules multiple practice sessions every day at the local rink, beginning before daybreak and again into the night. Between her working hours as a nurse and Madison's school curriculum, the stress is telling on them both, but neither even considers giving up. Madison's success is all that matters, and even though this means that Annie's relationship with her husband is strained and the finances of the family are in bad shape, she will stop at nothing to realize their mutual dream.

Because of this schedule, Madison has no time for friends or extra-curricular activities, but she does have one person other than her parents whom she can count on, and that's Jack, her childhood friend and confidante. Things finally start coming together when Madison wins the qualifying tournament for the Olympics, but the celebration is cut short when unforeseen circumstances cause everything to unravel.

Family ties and friendships are sorely tested as Madison faces life without skating, and Annie and Jack bend over backwards to accommodate her every wish, only to be rebuffed and closed out as Madison retreats into herself. Only when Madison finally understands the extent of her mother's sacrifice and the true nature of Jack's feelings for her does she finally realize how lucky she really is.

This tear jerker covers life, love and loss, and especially the special bond that exists between mother and daughter.

Rated: 4.5 stars

Amanda Richards, September 19, 2006

What starts out to be the story of a figure skating champion and her coach on their way to glory, becomes a beautiful and awakening tale of real friendship and love. Before I Go is the account of Maddison Henry. She is a girl with big dreams that are nearly within her reach, but then reality comes crashes in and pulls her out of the clouds. Priorities are rearranged... No more Olympics- how about living to see tomorrow?

Be prepared for many tears... it's a real heart-breaker. This love story is a definite must read for teens and adults alike.

I kind of hated it and as I got through the 400 freaking pages, I hated it even more. (Spoilers Below...)

First of all, this book is long. It takes like 150 pages to set up the characters before Madison gets cancer. Then she has cancer for about 30 pages before we know she's going to die. And then we spend 200 pages watching her die. That's long. It's too long to get invested in a character that isn't even likable and then she dies.

Secondly, it's sad. She dies. For a really long time. Around page 200 or so, I started thinking, "Why am I reading a book who's sole purpose is to make me sad?" I don't have a good answer for that.

Thirdly, the characters aren't even likable. Madison is a snarly little brat, her mother is classic stage mom, her father is f'ing useless and then her best friend/boyfriend may be the most desperate sports star ever written into fiction. So while she's dying, I went back and forth to thinking that I don't care to why the hell can't she hurry up already. I'm pretty sure that's the worst possible thing an author can do. I found the storyline to be a little unbelievable at times, but mostly the characters weren't lovable, they were irritating.

Don't get me wrong. When I was younger, I was Lurlene McDaniels' biggest fan - the more tragic the better. Cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, AIDS - I loved them all the same. A Walk to Remember is by far the best Nick Sparks book because they get married at the end and that's just about the sweetest thing ever. But this book is a sad impostor of those stories. (Oh and the successful actress bit on the book jacket? First there's the age scandal, but I would hardly call a few guest appearances on Felicity, 3rd Rock and Who's the Boss as successes. She hasn't even guested on Law & Order, and just about every would-be actress has. A super-star in her own mind. Fantastic...)

Every once in a while a book comes along that moves you in a way that words simply can't describe. Before I Go is THAT book, the one that reaches into your soul, touches and envelops your heart and soul and has such a strong impact on your emotions that you find yourself truly moved and changed forever. Finally, a book that is real, that deals with real life subject matter, takes you on a wonderful and heartbreaking journey and does not sell out for a happy ending.

Before I Go is the story of a 16 year old figure skater, Madison, who is coached by her mother, taking her protégé to the Olympics. We see the trials and tribulations of a mother/daughter relationship and the will of the human spirit. We see a young girl fall in love for the first time, learn of sudden tragedy in her life and witness a mother who will sacrifice anything and everything for her young daughter. This book has it all; humor, heart, and moments where you almost find yourself listening to an actual conversation, rather than reading a book. This book reads as though you are watching a great classic movie. One moment I was laughing hysterically, the next moment I was so overcome with emotion, I wanted to reach out and comfort the characters.

For those of you who are looking for a cheap, light summer beach read, this book is not for you. This book deals with serious subject matter, real life scenarios and will surly make you feel as though you have found, then lost a best friend or sibling. I absolutely loved this novel and would highly recommend it to mothers, daughters and is a must read for every book club looking for a book that will inspire great discussions and debate.

Warning: Once you start reading this book you won't be able to stop. And make sure you have a box of kleenex at your side.

Wow. I picked up this book yesterday with the mentality of it begin 300 pages filled with boring ice skating garbage. I was so wrong...this was such a wonderful book. I picked it up at about 7 in the morning and couldn't put it down until I finished that night. I'm sixteen and it was so eye opening to see this girl struggling against a disease she never knew she had. I don't think I can say enough about this...I love love love the ending I cried ab out 3 times throughout. Amazing.

For Madison and her mother, ice skating has been their life. Madison started figure skating when she was three, and now, at sixteen, she is well on her way to her Olympic dream, thanks to coaching from her mother, a former ice star. Their skater-coach, daughter-mother relationship has been through it all, from heated disagreements to tough decisions, but nevertheless they are a winning duo headed for success.

Shine as Madison does on ice, she isn't popular at school and doesn't fit in well with the cliques. Her only friend is Jackson, her lifelong buddy who does fit in very well with the group and is a popular athlete at school. Their friendship is priceless, but Madison doesn't even know the extent of Jackson's feelings for her.

Then when Madison's strange dizzy spells turn into their worse fears, Madison just may have to say goodbye to the ice and to everyone she loves.

Although a little rusty, this is a wonderful debut novel from author/screenwriter Riley Weston. I greatly enjoyed this emotional novel with the complex, loving bonds between the characters and the different struggles they all faced in the end. Overall, it was a heart-touching read in the same style as Lurene McDaniels and Nicholas Sparks's novels.

Reviewed by: Safia Abdul

One of the best books I have read in a long time. Especially great from a brand new author. It will have you crying, laughing, and always wanting more.

Oh man, I really wanted to love this book. A mother/daughter tearjerker about figure skating? I had no qualms about buying this one in hardcover. However, I ended up terribly disappointed in the plot, the characters, and the writing.

Much of the writing sounds like a couple of twelve year olds text messaging. Annie, mother of a 16 year old and presumably at least in her 40s, says things like "Oh my God! Jack asked Maddie out!!!" (multiple exclamation points and all). Even more distracting than the adolescent dialogue is the author's habit of over-explaining nearly every one of her characters' thoughts and actions: "Her mind drifted to Jack again. She wondered what he was doing. She thought he had mentioned soccer practice. Maybe that's what he was doing." Cut out the extraneous description and the book would have been 200 pages instead of 400. There are also numerous grammatical errors: "friend's" where it should have been "friends", "I have to make due" (instead of "do") - very sloppy editing.

Although much of the plot revolves around Madison's skating and her preparations for Olympic trials, the author uses almost no technical jargon. Instead, the only moves Madison does are "jumps", or sometimes "triple - triple combinations". Triple what? Axles? Salchows? I have never been on ice skates in my life, but I know those terms simply from having watched the Olympic games, as I'm sure most people picking up a novel about figure skating do. A little more detail might have brought these scenes to life.

As for the characters, the only fully developed one is Annie, and she is utterly unlikeable. She's more interested in Madison's career than in her well being, making her train for hours every day on only a few hours' sleep, and not allowing her any kind of social life. Hours after Madison is hospitalized when she collapses on the ice, Annie is arguing with the doctor to have her released so she can go back to her gruelling practice schedule. "I'm her coach, I know, but I'm her mother first," she insists to the doctor. Really? Not according to anything we've previously seen.

Madison, too, is unlikeable. She's often obnoxious to her mother and Jack, the only people she interacts with much. While her attitude is looked upon by Jack and Annie as sarcastic wit, she actually just comes off as a nasty little brat. A kid like Madison wouldn't have had any friends in my high school either - but it wouldn't have been because of her training schedule.

Annie's husband David is a wimp who will not stand up to her even when she has their daughter going to school and skating during her chemotherapy (against doctor's orders). And the relationship between Madison and Jack, supposedly so touching, just had me wondering how they managed to maintain this close friendship throughout their childhood and teens, when they barely see each other. Jack is one of the most popular kids at school, while Madison is an outcast. Realistically, they would have drifted apart years earlier.

It's apparent from the beginning how the story will end. There would be nothing wrong with that, if I'd had any emotional investment in these people for the duration of the book. Unfortunately, by the final pages, I simply didn't care.

Madison Henry is sixteen but has no social life at all. All she does is skate, skate, skate. It is her life and it's what she loves to do. She doesn't feel like she is missing out on other things, except for the soccer games of her one and only best friend Jackson. Annie, Madison's mother, used to be a skater herself and is now coaching Madison every day for hours and hours. Just like her mother once, Madison is preparing for the Olympics. Unfortunately Madison can't handle the early mornings and late nights anymore and they soon find out that Madison's career could be at an end right there and then.

Before I Go is by far the best book I've read this year, if not these past years. If I had to summarize it in one word I'd just say: Brilliant! The conversations made me laugh from the very first pages and even when it was so sad sometimes still the main character remained funny in her very unique way. Ever since I heard about the ice skating plot of this novel I kept being curious if writing down the skating moves would be just as beautiful to read as it is to watch it on television or in real life. And it is! Even though it are just words I could see everything happening in front of my eyes. Riley Weston is a very talented and unique author and she showed us all she has an amazing talent to write a humorous yet very touching and deep story for what is only her debut novel. I not only loved Madison and Jackson but also Annie and David, Madison's parents, as they were portrayed with so much love for their daughter that you can't refuse but love them all.

I received an advance copy of this book a couple of months ago. It was one of a hundred sitting on my desk that I had to sift through in order to write a review. One evening, I looked at the cover of Before I Go and decided to pick it up and start this book. At 7am the next morning, I found myself in awe, overwhelmed with emotion and silently thanking the author for penning this story. Let me start by saying I'm not the book's intended target audience. I'm a father of three living in a small town in Ohio. My profession is a part-time book reviewer and finally this day, I was proud to write a review. This book is by far the best book I've read since laying my eyes upon the beautifully written The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I found myself instantly drawn to Before I Go with the captivating writing of an incredibly talented author who has the rare knack of immediately grabbing the reader's full attention. As I turned the pages, I was instantly reminded of how my daughters spoke and how my wife would respond back to them. The dialogue was real, the descriptions were amazing and the plot was heartbreaking. It is a wonderful story of a mother and daughter and a teenage girl's first love. If you are a daughter, if you are a mother, a sister, or even a father, I recommend you read this book. It's a story of life, love and the interaction of relationships, all of which celebrate this extraordinary novel.

I read quite a few books, epecially the "best sellers" that are often times over-hyped novels. For anyone who wants to read a book that is destined to be a best seller and sure to be the must read of every book club across America, I suggest you read Before I Go. I was so moved that I bought copies as gifts for Christmas. I am getting thank you's from everyone!

I'm the one that needs to say thank you to this author for allowing me to read this book and reminding me of what is truly important in life.