Before We Were Wicked book review

Hindsight is always 20/20, but do you remember what you wanted to do five years ago? Maybe ten years ago?

Think back to who you were before life started changing your plans.

This book is number two in the Ken Swift series. The first book is Bad Men and Wicked Women.

One of my favorite things about Before We Were Wicked is that you really get to see how men can be hurt just as deeply as women.

Ken Swift falls for Jimmy Lee, this really sweet Ethiopian college girl, and Eric Jerome Dickey did such a great job with the Ethiopian dialect and slang in the book. You can tell he did the research.

At first, their relationship feels really cute.

Ken Swift is in school. Jimmy Lee is about to go to school. They fall in love, they get married, and he takes care of her.

And then everything changes.

Jimmy Lee becomes heartbroken over a series of events, and she just cannot move past it. She refuses to forgive Ken. A lot of the time, she refuses to even respect him.

She steps out on the marriage. She steps out on being a parent. She steps out on a lot of things.

And while reading it, I kept thinking: “Girl…”

But honestly? I also remember being 19, and I probably would have burned bridges too if my entire life plan had fallen apart.

“Jimmy Lee had a path, a plan, and when the plan didn’t happen, she was going to burn every bridge to remind people of it.”

That is what makes this story so interesting to me.

You do not hear a lot of stories about women being emotionally careless or destructive in relationships. Usually those stories are centered around men. But Jimmy Lee absolutely takes every opportunity to break Ken Swift’s heart.

And Ken Swift stays for a long time.

That part was really hard to read, but it also felt important because you are watching somebody love a person who is actively hurting them.

There are also so many good side characters in the book. Jake Ellis is hilarious. Then you have both families involved, the in-law dynamics, all the tension that comes with marriage and expectations.

It all adds so much depth to the story.

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I really think it is important to read the prequel because now you understand what happened before they became “bad men” and “wicked women.”

Would I reread Before We Were Wicked?

Absolutely yes.

Eric Jerome Dickey was such an important writer to me. I hope other fans of his can relate because his books really stayed with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8su4cVWkxbY

Until the next book review, 

Kyla