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After Before
They’re telling me that I murdered my sister.
That can’t be true.
I was in a horrible accident, and my memory is gone. All of it. I don’t remember my sister, my family, or anything about myself. My name. Where I live. Who I love.
Whether I killed her.
But they have evidence. And as my memories slowly return, they’re… not good.
I’m an addict. I did things that were not nice. I definitely hurt people.
I just don’t think I could’ve murdered anyone.
Or did I?
***
Fans of Freida McFadden, Jeneva Rose, Karin Slaughter, and John Marrs will love AFTER BEFORE, a chilling psychological thriller with absolutely heart-stopping twists.
That can’t be true.
I was in a horrible accident, and my memory is gone. All of it. I don’t remember my sister, my family, or anything about myself. My name. Where I live. Who I love.
Whether I killed her.
But they have evidence. And as my memories slowly return, they’re… not good.
I’m an addict. I did things that were not nice. I definitely hurt people.
I just don’t think I could’ve murdered anyone.
Or did I?
***
Fans of Freida McFadden, Jeneva Rose, Karin Slaughter, and John Marrs will love AFTER BEFORE, a chilling psychological thriller with absolutely heart-stopping twists.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2025
329 people are currently reading
277 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 12, 2025
This was a fun story with a unique storyline. I really enjoyed it! My only complaint is that the timelines were confusing. The chapters that was “after” had a heading at the beginning. But then, the next chapter had no heading. It made me think that I was continuing an “after” chapter when really it was a “before” chapter. The author should have put a heading on every chapter denoting the correct timeline. This became a problem mainly in the first chapters, but I still felt this housekeeping item would have alleviated the confusion. I really like this author. She has good plots especially since I’m sick of domestic thrillers.
June 29, 2025
Charlie
This one got difficult keeping people straight. I think that was the idea. There were so many turns. Lottery money makes people do stupid stuff, no matter what.
This one got difficult keeping people straight. I think that was the idea. There were so many turns. Lottery money makes people do stupid stuff, no matter what.
May 20, 2025
First book of Sonya’s I’ve read and what a way to start with a banger! This book was amazing! Great twists!
September 12, 2025
✨ 4.5 Stars ✨
Wow… just WOW! 🤯 This book absolutely floored me. Sonya Bateman crafted such an immersive, detailed story that I felt like I was living inside the pages 📖. The writing is rich, layered, and full of atmosphere—every scene felt alive.
And then that twist! 😱 I had to stop, reread, and make sure I actually understood what I had just read. Once you hit it, you’ll go absolutely insane trying to wrap your head around it. It’s that shocking, that brilliant.
What really impressed me was how seamlessly Bateman builds tension while weaving in character depth and world-building. It’s not just about the shock—it’s the slow, careful unraveling that makes the payoff so wild. 👏
I gave it 4.5⭐️ instead of 5 because the ending felt a little rushed 🏃♀️—I wanted just a bit more time to breathe after such an intense build-up.
Tropes you’ll love:
🔮 Unreliable Narrator
🌀 Past vs. Present Collide
💥 Shocking Twist You’ll Never See Coming
🌑 Dark Secrets Revealed
If you’re looking for a mind-bending, twisty read that keeps you glued to the pages, After Before delivers in every way. Highly recommend! 🙌
Wow… just WOW! 🤯 This book absolutely floored me. Sonya Bateman crafted such an immersive, detailed story that I felt like I was living inside the pages 📖. The writing is rich, layered, and full of atmosphere—every scene felt alive.
And then that twist! 😱 I had to stop, reread, and make sure I actually understood what I had just read. Once you hit it, you’ll go absolutely insane trying to wrap your head around it. It’s that shocking, that brilliant.
What really impressed me was how seamlessly Bateman builds tension while weaving in character depth and world-building. It’s not just about the shock—it’s the slow, careful unraveling that makes the payoff so wild. 👏
I gave it 4.5⭐️ instead of 5 because the ending felt a little rushed 🏃♀️—I wanted just a bit more time to breathe after such an intense build-up.
Tropes you’ll love:
🔮 Unreliable Narrator
🌀 Past vs. Present Collide
💥 Shocking Twist You’ll Never See Coming
🌑 Dark Secrets Revealed
If you’re looking for a mind-bending, twisty read that keeps you glued to the pages, After Before delivers in every way. Highly recommend! 🙌
June 2, 2025
Just when I was getting tired of going back and forth (between before and after) a major major twist was thrown in that grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. I simply had to finish reading the story in the sitting. That twist made the whole book. My rating would have been very different if that twist had been omitted.
August 27, 2025
Wow!
I was definitely lost, for a while, reading this book.Charlotte and Charlie’s story going back and forth definitely confused me.. I thought I got it straight about which one did what. But then the switch was flipped. This was a good read with back and forth happenings between these two gals.
I was definitely lost, for a while, reading this book.Charlotte and Charlie’s story going back and forth definitely confused me.. I thought I got it straight about which one did what. But then the switch was flipped. This was a good read with back and forth happenings between these two gals.
May 10, 2025
This was soooo good!! You think you know? NOPE! Bendy, twisty - so crazy good!!
February 19, 2026
I was really enjoying this but then it got everso baffling and even the author appears to have lost her thread in the confusion. More of that to come.....I ended up pretty much tied in knots flicking back 'n' forth trying to make sense of the whole tale. Don't get me wrong, I ripped through it as I WAS really liking it but you really need to pay attention !!
The author lost one star by dint of the fact she managed to spell one of HER OWN character's names wrong, and not only once, either....this is always a massive transgression for me. The housekeeper was originally introduced to us as Berta, then Charlie calls her Martha BUT she corrects her and tells her it's Marta (whereupon Charlie states she'll try and remember this, so I made a note that "I wish someone would") because further in she is back to being Berta ! So it's highly confusing and someone really ought to have spotted this massive howler.....if she needs a proofreader BEFORE she hits the publish button next time I'll happily do it because someone should've noticed this if I managed to.
The version I downloaded has a lovely cover, which usually means publishers change it at some point but since this appears to be self-published I hope she has the good sense to retain it. I always love the amnesiac type tale. I find that all very fascinating, and this was. Did she do it, how and when did she manage to and will she get her memories back ? Delicious stuff. I wasn't too impressed with Charlie's behaviour, though. I thought she was shallow, and greedy, to boot.
We'd only got 10 pages in before I spotted a big old continuity mistake. We're told someone hasn't spoken to her sister in a decade but only a few pages later it's morphed into only five years !! I also spotted missed speechmarks more than once and Ecstasy and Valium ought to be capitalised. She wrote Vivan and I think she meant Vivian there.
She says "on accident" which always sounds backward to me but a lot of authors Stateside seem to do this instead of "by accident" and I have heard podcasters saying it as well. Then somebody is asked, "She didn't tell me about you ?" Ooops......then right near the end I was totally baffled when Rowan met up with Charlie and her sister but addressed her by name !! As it was, I was struggling to knit everything together and this really didn't assist me !! Plus there were a couple of little points I still found a little 'unfinished' after I was done, especially how one person managed to have the career she had. Most odd but no spoiling here.......
One line near the end made me highlight it and I wrote, "Snap, darlin'".......
"My head is so messed up that I'm not sure what's real anymore" !!! Enough said, really.....
I will definitely try another by her sometime but I just hope it has way fewer mistakes and is a little easier on the old brain cells !!
The author lost one star by dint of the fact she managed to spell one of HER OWN character's names wrong, and not only once, either....this is always a massive transgression for me. The housekeeper was originally introduced to us as Berta, then Charlie calls her Martha BUT she corrects her and tells her it's Marta (whereupon Charlie states she'll try and remember this, so I made a note that "I wish someone would") because further in she is back to being Berta ! So it's highly confusing and someone really ought to have spotted this massive howler.....if she needs a proofreader BEFORE she hits the publish button next time I'll happily do it because someone should've noticed this if I managed to.
The version I downloaded has a lovely cover, which usually means publishers change it at some point but since this appears to be self-published I hope she has the good sense to retain it. I always love the amnesiac type tale. I find that all very fascinating, and this was. Did she do it, how and when did she manage to and will she get her memories back ? Delicious stuff. I wasn't too impressed with Charlie's behaviour, though. I thought she was shallow, and greedy, to boot.
We'd only got 10 pages in before I spotted a big old continuity mistake. We're told someone hasn't spoken to her sister in a decade but only a few pages later it's morphed into only five years !! I also spotted missed speechmarks more than once and Ecstasy and Valium ought to be capitalised. She wrote Vivan and I think she meant Vivian there.
She says "on accident" which always sounds backward to me but a lot of authors Stateside seem to do this instead of "by accident" and I have heard podcasters saying it as well. Then somebody is asked, "She didn't tell me about you ?" Ooops......then right near the end I was totally baffled when Rowan met up with Charlie and her sister but addressed her by name !! As it was, I was struggling to knit everything together and this really didn't assist me !! Plus there were a couple of little points I still found a little 'unfinished' after I was done, especially how one person managed to have the career she had. Most odd but no spoiling here.......
One line near the end made me highlight it and I wrote, "Snap, darlin'".......
"My head is so messed up that I'm not sure what's real anymore" !!! Enough said, really.....
I will definitely try another by her sometime but I just hope it has way fewer mistakes and is a little easier on the old brain cells !!
September 26, 2025
The first 75% was incredible. I went to bed last night, ready for the big reveal this morning.
Then I read the ending.
The former therapist shares the name and her ex-boyfriend is the antagonist? It felt convoluted and just sort of pulled out of left field.
I know that big twist endings are all the rage. But, at the same time, there needs to be clues peppered throughout. Passing mentions of the therapist as an annoyance dont really help.
It felt very formulaic and almost like the characters could be easily interchangeable with others.
Maybe I'm just cynical about it, though.
Then I read the ending.
The former therapist shares the name and her ex-boyfriend is the antagonist? It felt convoluted and just sort of pulled out of left field.
I know that big twist endings are all the rage. But, at the same time, there needs to be clues peppered throughout. Passing mentions of the therapist as an annoyance dont really help.
It felt very formulaic and almost like the characters could be easily interchangeable with others.
Maybe I'm just cynical about it, though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2025
Charlotte...
has a lot going on in her life. This is discovered when she wakes up in a hospital after being in a bad car accident, not even remembering her own name. Enter a therapist named Charlie, who has also had a wild past life, and things become even more crazy. Finally, throw in a winning lotto ticket, and the story develops more twists and turns than the scariest rollercoaster.
has a lot going on in her life. This is discovered when she wakes up in a hospital after being in a bad car accident, not even remembering her own name. Enter a therapist named Charlie, who has also had a wild past life, and things become even more crazy. Finally, throw in a winning lotto ticket, and the story develops more twists and turns than the scariest rollercoaster.
August 27, 2025
I was definitely lost, for a while, reading this book.Charlotte and Charlie’s story going back and forth definitely confused me.. I thought I got it straight about which one did what. But then the switch was flipped. This was a good read with back and forth happenings between these two gals.
September 4, 2025
My Review
I had a difficult time putting this one down. It is a page turner. I was guessing through it all. I haven't read an ebook this good in a long time. I really enjoyed reading it. I am going to read more from this author. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I had a difficult time putting this one down. It is a page turner. I was guessing through it all. I haven't read an ebook this good in a long time. I really enjoyed reading it. I am going to read more from this author. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
September 16, 2025
I had read reviews before I read this saying how the time jumps could be confusing since it didn’t always call out when it was but since I knew that, I didn’t find it confusing.
The book took a bit to get into but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.
The book took a bit to get into but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.
May 12, 2025
This felt a lot like Freida McFadden. 🤔 Is she writing under a pseudonym?? That’s a love/hate/hate/hate relationship for me. 🙄Thankfully this was a quick read. ..⭐️ for that.
May 14, 2025
This was a twisty thriller that kept me guessing. Would definitely recommend
May 17, 2025
So good! I thought I predicted the ending pretty early on, but the more I read the more I wasnt sure. Loved the twists and turns!
May 20, 2025
Another thriller with a great twist.
May 31, 2025
Twists and turns and a possibly unreliable narrator. I could literally picture this playing out as a movie.
July 4, 2025
4.5 stars
July 23, 2025
Kept me guessing, a bit confusing at the end. Charlie is in an accident and gets amnesia…accused of killing hdr sister.
August 7, 2025
interesting, thriller with twists. and a couple of Charlies
August 28, 2025
I REALLY enjoyed this book!!! Especially once you get to the twists and turns, at one point it had me questioning who was who. Highly recommend!!
September 20, 2025
great read
I read this in one day, couldn’t put it down. It’s a great twisty story….keeps you guessing, would definitely recommend!
I read this in one day, couldn’t put it down. It’s a great twisty story….keeps you guessing, would definitely recommend!
October 9, 2025
I really enjoyed, it was hard to put down but then the ending was disappointing for me. Otherwise a good read.
November 26, 2025
Puzzling
I really like the book. For a while there when it Was all coming together, I was very confused. Quite the twist that I enjoy in a book
I really like the book. For a while there when it Was all coming together, I was very confused. Quite the twist that I enjoy in a book
January 19, 2026
Great read!
February 1, 2026
Good book
I like this story . the twisted events kept me from putting it down. I was definitely surprised at the ending
I like this story . the twisted events kept me from putting it down. I was definitely surprised at the ending
February 11, 2026
Brilliant book so many twists and turns right up to the end
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews