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Jess Kitching
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The Girl She Was Before Kindle Edition

by Jess Kitching (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 out of 5 stars 586 ratings

A crime thriller with a brilliant twist you won’t see coming!
Powerful, packed full of gruelling details that will linger with you long after the book has finished.


Nat lives a picture-perfect life, but it wasn’t always this way. A victim of horrific bullying when she was a teenager, Nat will do anything to keep distance between the girl she was before and the woman she is now.

But when her best friend is murdered and people begin to point their finger at her, Nat’s new life quickly unravels.

To Nat, it’s no surprise the crime happened at the same time as the return of her biggest tormentor, Chrissy Summers. A woman with a violent streak who destroyed lives when she was younger and isn’t afraid to do it again.

Face to face with the past she so firmly keeps behind her, Nat’s sanity wavers as her determination to reveal Chrissy as the monster she knows her as rises to dangerous heights.

The question is, can Nat prove Chrissy is a killer, or will Chrissy get to Nat and her family before she has the chance?

You can't outrun the past...

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  1. Print length
    335 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 31, 2021
  4. File size
    3.7 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jess Kitching is the author of The Girl She Was Before and other thrillers. Originally from Bradford, England, she currently lives in Sydney with her fiancé.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0981BSBTD
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kingsley Publishers (October 31, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 31, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.7 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 335 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 586 ratings

About the author

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Jess Kitching

Jess Kitching

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Jess Kitching is a thriller author originally from Bradford, England. She currently lives in Sydney with her fiancé.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
586 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's pacing engaging, with one mentioning it kept them hooked right from the beginning. The mystery content receives positive feedback, with customers noting it kept them guessing throughout.

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9 customers mention "Pacing"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book engaging, with good twists and turns that keep them interested throughout. One customer mentions being hooked from the beginning, while another notes that the ending left them reeling for days.

"...I'm so glad I did. What an incredible debut novel and the perfect travel companion, although my fellow passengers might have wondered what all the..." Read more

"This book had me hooked right from the beginning. The Girl She Was Before is a debut novel by Jess Kitching that didn't disappoint!..." Read more

"Not a bad book. I enjoyed it. Its an easy read and kept me interested. The author has a nice writing style." Read more

"...its psychological aspect with a real mystery with some good twists and turns" Read more

3 customers mention "Mystery content"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the mystery content of the book, noting that it kept them guessing throughout.

"...It combined its psychological aspect with a real mystery with some good twists and turns" Read more

"This book kept me guessing all the way through it. I liked the way it was written in 2 time frames. The ending was perfect. Great book!" Read more

"This is a great read. It kept me guessing the whole way through. A lot to think about both during and after." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Audrey Davis
    5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible debut novel
    Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    On the recommendation of a FB book group I downloaded a copy and – wow! – I'm so glad I did. What an incredible debut novel and the perfect travel companion, although my fellow passengers might have wondered what all the gasps and sighs were about…
    Instagram influencer and artist Nat is back in her home patch of Coral Bay, seemingly leading the perfect life with her doting husband, adorable baby daughter and close circle of friends. But Nat's childhood was a very different story, and the past is about to turn her gilded existence upside down.
    I was utterly gripped by the story, skilfully written and keeping me guessing until the final pages.
    The theme of bullying and its long-lasting impact sits at the heart of the book. People's words don't disappear from memory just because we're no longer kids. When you bully someone, you bully them for life.
    I sincerely hope the author has a new book out soon. I'll be keeping a close eye out for it. Fully deserving of five stars.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Kelly Kendall
    4.0 out of 5 stars Mean girls 2.0
    Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This book had me hooked right from the beginning. The Girl She Was Before is a debut novel by Jess Kitching that didn't disappoint! It's a story about a social influencer that overcame the bullying she received in school. Nat has since created great friendships with the girls that used to bully her. Everything seems perfect for Nat now but when death starts happening around them Nat will learn if people can really change and also how her own behavior can have drastic consequences.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Amanda
    3.0 out of 5 stars It was ok
    Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Not a bad book. I enjoyed it. Its an easy read and kept me interested. The author has a nice writing style.
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  • Old Surf Dog
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good mystery
    Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I don’t usually like psychological crime book and I am a little tired of bullying victims blaming everything on their early. That said from that perspective, I still really liked the book. It combined its psychological aspect with a real mystery with some good twists and turns
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  • Burma Turner
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great thriller
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This book kept me guessing all the way through it. I liked the way it was written in 2 time frames. The ending was perfect. Great book!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Lila W
    2.0 out of 5 stars Utterly predictable
    Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    If you read thrillers you’ll see this “twist” coming a mile away. I added a star because the first half at least went fast even though I knew every single thing that was going on. The second half was like a campy Lifetime movie. Everything that happened was completely unbelievable and I found myself laughing at the plot unraveling.

    Note: we shouldn’t be laughing at thriller plots :/
    2 people found this helpful
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  • i_read_and_rec
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Riveting Debut
    Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The media could not be loaded.
    I read “How to Destroy Your Husband”, her second novel before reading “The Girl She was Before”
    I was expecting it to be good but was surprised as it was a riveting debut.
    It was Mean Girls on steroids!
    On tenterhooks throughout this entire book and thunderstruck by the ending, I have to give her a concrete 5-star rating.
    Kitchings was able to effectively portray how bullying can psychologically impact a victim's life perpetually even when one appears to have overcome it. Her writing in both of her novels was engaging, original in concept and impressive.

    Review by: i_read_and_rec & AnOpen Book 04/09/2023
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars So good!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This is a great read. It kept me guessing the whole way through. A lot to think about both during and after.
    Helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Carol R. Martin
    5.0 out of 5 stars A surprise
    Reviewed in Canada on September 21, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    After reading reviews i found on fb I immediately downloaded the book. No spoilers here but just saying what a sucker punch. That this is ms kitchings debut is mindblowing! If you love psychological thrillers you wont be disappointed. I would give it 10*s if i could.
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  • Mr. S. E. Johnson
    5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't be happier about having loved this book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I must admit right now that I can't say that in this review of Jess Kitching's debut novel. Because Thanks to Jess Kitching's Facebook and Instagram pages - she has even been kind enough to explain to me that a video post on Instagram is called a 'reel' - I've watched some of her journey into becoming a published author. The trailer, produced by her publisher (which is brilliant, by the way). The cover reveal. Her first review. Her featuring as a guest author on a live chat hosted by 'The Fiction Cafe Book Club' Facebook group - which she described as "wild". The joy that Jess has felt on each occasion has been clear to see, and it's been wonderful to feel a part of it.

    The only trouble here is that when I came to reading her book, I wondered how I could possibly leave an unbiased review. Because the author is no longer anonymous, but someone who I feel I've already begun to appreciate as a gifted author and to know as a lovely and humble young woman. And yet I have to be honest, and critical where the need arises, because how can my review mean anything otherwise?

    I was going to joke at this point. I was going to heap exaggerated praise on the cover - which I understand that Jess also influenced the design of - in order that even if I then criticised the rest of the book, at least the author would have something to feel good about. But I'm not going to, because no joking is necessary. 'The Girl She Was Before' is - honestly, and with all personal feelings towards the author swept aside - fantastic. I (insert Simon Cowell-style pause for dramatic effect) loved it.

    The first three chapters set the scene just perfectly. The car in which two women are travelling is forced off the road at speed, leaving one of the women dead and the second in a coma. Then we meet Nat, who is living a seemingly picture-perfect life as an artist and social influencer, happily married and mother to a beautiful young daughter. But we also learn that, as a teenager in the same town, she was severely bullied at school whilst her own mother was dying. It's just impossible not to feel sympathy for who she used to be, and admiration for who she has become.

    So, that's the psychological hook? Tick. A bond to the main character? Tick. Added tension? Mystery? Intrigue? Tick. Tick. Tick.

    And the rest of the book just doesn't let up. We quickly learn that the two women from the first chapter are part of Nat's circle of friends. Then Chrissie, the leader of the gang of bullies, re-enters her life, and she seems every bit as unpleasant as she ever was. We are transported back into the past and to some more instances of bullying, which are powerful enough to be able to visualise and to almost physically feel the pain and humiliation. Then, in the present, another friend is murdered. Is Chrissie really behind it? Is Nat's own life in danger? Her other friends'? Her husband's? Her daughter's?

    As Nat's current life threatens to implode, we realise just how fragile she still is underneath all of her outward happiness and success. Never mind that one of her Instagram posts has been liked 20,000 times, it takes only one negative comment and 133 endorsements of it for her to begin to doubt her abilities as a wife and mother. And as her behaviour becomes increasingly irrational, and as she starts to behave cruelly to her surviving friends, her young work colleague and even her daughter, the reader's sympathy stays with her. Right up until the final twist, which turns almost the entire story on its head and paints everything in a different light.

    I still haven't got to the ending, which ... wow. I can't go into any detail for fear of revealing spoilers, so I'll say only that it's original and brilliant.

    I hope this demonstrates just how unimportant a few small flaws are. But that said, they are there. The blurb - for once - tells the absolute truth when it says that the book contains "a brilliant twist you won't see coming", but the trouble is that there's a reason for that. We aren't really given any clues. Jess Kitching apparently hasn't yet - and this is hardly a criticism because hardly any other authors have - developed Agatha Christie's level of ability to plant a clue to the true solution right under the reader's nose, only for them to fail to notice because it doesn't scream as loudly as the pile of red herrings.

    Also, whilst most of the main story is tied up nicely, there are a couple of loose ends. The reason for Chrissie's reappearance seems to be left unexplained, and I was left wondering just why Detective Baldie seemed to dislike Nat so much from the moment he set eyes on her.

    So, to summarise and conclude. 'The Girl She Was Before' isn't quite perfect. The main twist, even though it's brilliant, is a little bit of a cheat and there are a few loose threads left hanging. But who really cares, when it's written this well, tells a story that gripping and kept me reading until well into the night, to the point where my wife wondered why on earth I still had the bedside light on at 1.20am?

    As I said at the beginning, this book - by any standards - is fantastic. For a debut, it's sensational. Congratulations Jess.
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  • Hannah Evans
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent writing, great twist and super engaging
    Reviewed in Australia on November 2, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Absolutely devoured this book after having been in a non-reading funk for months! Such a well-written, well thought through plot that I just wanted to read more and more even as I was rushing to get to the end and see what would happen.

    This was an enjoyable read from start to finish - I'd read some of the early reviews so I knew to expect a twist and I kept trying to figure it out as I read - suffice to say I didn't manage to get all the way there! It was an unexpected but also completely plausible twist (hard to achieve both I think!)

    The characters were great - some of them very flawed but that just makes for a more interesting read (no one is perfect all the time). The writing style was great too, and I will definitely be waiting for more from Jess in the future!
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  • Tracy CompulsiveReaders
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Girl She Was Before
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This is the debut novel by Jess Kitching and for a first book, it’s really good!

    The Girl She Was Before centres around Nat, now a successful artist with a huge following on Instagram, a handsome and wealthy husband and a gorgeous little baby girl, Nat appears to “have it all”. However, have suffered from extreme bullying in her childhood, Nat may seem to be in control of her life, but underneath her shiny, glamorous exterior lies a deeply insecure individual still reliving the damage the school bullies inflicted on her.

    The story is told through dual timeframes – THEN – narrated by a young girl cruelly nicknamed “Fish Sticks” who is the victim of the worst kind of bullying at school. Shunned by everyone, ridiculed, physically and verbally abused, teased, attacked and made to feel worthless, this narrator describes her torment in a raw and brutal voice, leaving the reader shocked to the core. At the centre of the bullying is Chrissy Summers, a young girl with a violent and sadistic side who rules the school with her 5 best friends tormenting other pupils and inflicting pain and fear everywhere.

    The chapters narrated by Nat, titled NOW are set years later when these schoolgirls are now adults and still the best of friends.

    One night two of the group have a car accident leaving one dead and the other in a coma. Upon closer inspection the police discover this isn’t an accident and the car was forced off the road, putting the rest of the group in fear for their lives as it appears someone from their past is looking for revenge.

    This story is fast-paced and the short chapters kept me reading eager to find out what had happened. I, personally, wasn’t able to relate to any of the characters and didn’t particularly like any of them either, which did stop me from giving this book 5 stars, plus I had worked out who was behind the attacks quite early on in the book, which is probably because I read too many psychological thrillers and I am a very suspicious reader.

    Overall, I enjoyed this debut and will definitely be reading more from this author.
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  • mavery
    5.0 out of 5 stars highly recommend
    Reviewed in Canada on November 27, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Jess Kitching is an exquisite storyteller. Some of the parts gutted me as I read them which is a testament to the talent she has for good writing. I’m looking forward to reading more books by her.
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