Publication Date: February 18, 2014
Source: NetGalley
Summary: Laura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding—in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.
Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?
Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.
If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.
Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again? (Source of Summary and Book Cover: Goodreads)
Rating: 2 Stars
Review: This book is sad. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good, eh is was OK.
The book explores the concept of grief and how everyone deals with it differently. It introduces readers to the ripple effect and pretty much encourages people to think about the consequences of their actions. I liked that the book was realistic in the sense that it didn’t sugarcoat grieving and it truly demonstrated the amount of time it takes to even begin to heal.
I guess part of my problem is that I never felt connected to the characters. I know I should have been drowning in emotions, but for some reason I felt detached from the characters.
The writing was good, so I would give the author another chance, but I’m not sure I would recommend this book.
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