Before You Say Yes: Is Love Without Sex Really Enough?

by Amy Griffin

[Leah]

Ellie Foster is still coming to terms with making a huge decision, after calling off her wedding to her fiancé, Adam. However, it seems that life is going to make it impossible for her to forget her decision as her sister, Chrissie, announces that she is getting married...oh and her best friend is the process of getting divorced. Ellie’s Wedding-That-Never-was is the elephant in the room. So why did she call the whole thing off when she was so seemingly happy with the gorgeous Adam, the love of her life and her best friend...?
Rewind two years and you get an idea of where things started to go wrong as sex with Adam quickly becomes a thing of the past. Surely that can’t be right, after all, men always want sex, don’t they? Ellie grows increasingly concerned as the gap between the couple grows in the bedroom and she can’t understand why Adam is so reluctant to even touch her. Realising they’re more like best friends than an engaged couple, Ellie seeks professional help but she still can’t get a straight answer out of Adam over why he’s happy with a sexless relationship. Still, he claims to love Ellie and everything else seems perfect, maybe sex is overrated...?

I was really intrigued by the sound of Before You Say Yes, and the argument that it’s always a given that men want sex and it’s the woman who are the ones which sometimes lose their sexual desires is a very valid point and one in which I had not given much thought to before. However, it did make for a fascinating, funny, sad and sometimes frustrating storyline.
I really enjoyed how the story jumped from present to past and gives you an idea about what exactly went wrong between Ellie and Adam, and indeed her best friend Jen (who is getting divorced) and her doomed relationship with Nick. There’s a perfect blend of humour and sadness to this story which I wasn’t necessarily expecting. You will really feel for these two women and all that they go through as they try their best to make their relationships work.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ellie’s narrative, reading her take on things is just like having a good old gossip with your best friend. She’s hugely funny, entertaining, warm, and often does stupid things just like the rest of us.
The Foster family are brilliant, with each character having their own quirks that you can’t help but love (like Ellie’s Mum’s obsession with her M&S blazer with the anchor buttons...) and I think that this makes the cast all the more realistic and not a million miles away from your own family. I loved Ellie’s co-workers, Jamie and Lauren. They are extremely funny and Jamie gives the best advice!
However, as much as I loved Ellie, I couldn’t understand why she quit her job. I get that she wanted to make a fresh start after leaving Adam, but she clearly enjoyed her job and got on with her work colleagues. She only ended up staying on temporarily anyway, but I didn’t get why she would do that when she had nothing else lined up and had such a lovely boss as Mr Wick. Still, I guess break-ups can make us do crazy things...?
I also would have liked to have found out more about what happened to Adam. You never really know what was going on with him, especially when Ellie discovers some emails which I am still wondering about, but I won’t say too much as I don’t want to give anything away.
All in all a really impressive debut and Amy Griffin is a new author that I am thrilled to have discovered. She has a witty, chatty style of writing that will have you hooting with laughter and also nodding your head in recognition. I’m really looking forward to her second novel, One Particular Thursday, which sounds brilliant. Keep your eyes peeled for that one, next June...

This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read