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abbys's review against another edition
3.5
Afterlove is a beautiful story of love, life, death and grief. It weaves threads of what we do with our lives when we are living, what we believe behind when we die and how we can learn to do more when we are alive to help the world and the people in it. Whether that is so amend for any harm caused, tell somebody that you love them or help your community through charity work or even by just smiling at somebody or chatting to a staff member in a shop or restaurant. The message that Tanya Bryne creates in this book is that life can fly by and you may forget to actually live before death comes for you, that you shouldn't waste time or worrying about what others think or want you to do and instead do what you want to do for yourself. Death is inevitable but you can enjoy your life by doing what you love and surrounding yourself with people who you love and who love your wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Although I wasn't expecting, the ending actually made me tear up, although not in a sad way but in a happy and hopeful way, it was the perfect way to end a thought provoking and sweet novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Homophobia, and Death
Moderate: Blood
null4444's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Death
pey333's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Car accident
Moderate: Grief, Suicide, and Homophobia
Minor: Racism and Murder
bubblyfemme's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Death
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Suicide
aimnorth's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Drug use, and Lesbophobia
The book focuses around a young girl who has died and is now a reaper, so there is a heavy focus on grief, loss of loved ones, and deathashylibrarian's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was an interesting exploration of death, grief, and relationships. I didn't know what to expect going into this one, and I was not disappointed by it. The story is pretty even-paced throughout and doesn't pack a large punch, however, it explores many ways in which people grieve and deal with death with a fantasy aspect that can make readers ponder what may lay beyond life as we know it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Car accident
friendofdorothea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Car accident, Grief, Suicide, Murder, and Homophobia
mxdegroot's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was such a unique read, I simultaneously have so much and absolutely nothing to say. The premise of the story was unique and mysterious and risky. There is a lot that could have gone wrong with this story in its development, especially to the end, and it didn't. Byrne knew exactly what she was doing and where she was going.
Byrne's writing style is distinctive in many ways, all of them positive; we follow the main character, Ash, a teenager, in a first person perspective, and it reads exactly like that.
Generally, I am not the biggest fan of love at first sight stories, but the way Ash and Poppy's relationship developed compensated for that. Ashana has a crush on Poppy from the start, but both the characters and Byrne let it develop naturally so that it doesn't feel forced, something I unfortunately see a lot in (especially YA) books where the story developes around a relationship.
As the story went on, especially from the point that Poppy recognized Ash and it was confirmed that this meant that this meant that she would die , I got quite scared that the story was going to have big plot twist in which Ash could come back to life or Poppy could avoid her fate or was a special case that could see reapers and live . Luckily, this didn't happen and the ending was exactly what I hoped it to be; Ash and Poppy had the chance to say goodbye to each other and the small plot twist/reveal that, on New Years Eve, Ash could possibly get the chance to go with Charon to the afterlife was perfect and just what the story needed.
Something that I feel that needs to be mentioned is the character development of Ashana's mother. She was raised to have a negative opinion against homosexuality and, even when Ash comes out as a lesbian, she finds it hard to accept it, staying mostly (uncomfortably) silent. A few months later, however, when Ash tells her about her relationship with Poppy, we see that she has put effort into changing her views and accepting Ash as she is, and is even willing to help her introduce Poppy to her father and sister . I found this little sidestory beautiful and had to shed a bit of light on it, as I almost never see anyone talk about it in their reviews.
Did this story have a lot of character development in the sense of the characters making mistakes and growing as they learn from them? No. Because it was not necessary. The story is about first (true) love, grief, acceptance, closure and goodbyes. The book is meant to be a cute read that will still leave you in tears when you finish it and that, it did perfectly.
If you are a lover of cute, useless lesbians, books you will need some time to recover from once you've finished it, and/or magic realism? Afterlove is definitely a book you should pick up.
To close off, the clear foreshadowing to Ash dying (which was possible because it is the main event of the book)? Ouch. /pos.
Rep: lesbian MC, MCOC, South-American MC, muslim character.
January 25th, 2023 - February 2nd, 2023.
Byrne's writing style is distinctive in many ways, all of them positive; we follow the main character, Ash, a teenager, in a first person perspective, and it reads exactly like that.
Generally, I am not the biggest fan of love at first sight stories, but the way Ash and Poppy's relationship developed compensated for that.
As the story went on, especially from the point that
Something that I feel that needs to be mentioned is the character development of Ashana's mother. She was raised to have a negative opinion against homosexuality and, even when Ash comes out as a lesbian, she finds it hard to accept it, staying mostly (uncomfortably) silent. A few months later, however, when
Did this story have a lot of character development in the sense of the characters making mistakes and growing as they learn from them? No. Because it was not necessary. The story is about first (true) love, grief, acceptance, closure and goodbyes. The book is meant to be a cute read that will still leave you in tears when you finish it and that, it did perfectly.
If you are a lover of cute, useless lesbians, books you will need some time to recover from once you've finished it, and/or magic realism? Afterlove is definitely a book you should pick up.
To close off, the clear foreshadowing to Ash dying (which was possible because it is the main event of the book)? Ouch. /pos.
Rep: lesbian MC, MCOC, South-American MC, muslim character.
January 25th, 2023 - February 2nd, 2023.
"Maybe we'll burn bright for a few weeks then collapse in on ourselves, but Mr. Moreno says that's how galaxies are made anyways." - Before, chapter 5.
"[...] as we head under the bridge, I know that I'd follow her to the edge of the fucking world." - Before, hapter 6.
"I feel like I've loved you for a really long time, but it still isn't enough." - After, chapter 27.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Body horror, and Murder
mxbluet18's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Trigger warnings for Afterlove include: mention of suicide and overdose, and depiction of grief and loss, and homophobia.
☆
☆
This book is about the story of a teenage girl who dies young, and she is the last person to die on New Year's Eve. This makes her special and different to most other people who die. It makes her a reaper.
~
The whole idea of someone being the last of that year to die and become a reaper is really interesting to me as a book concept. Because it uses the generally accepted idea of the Grim Reaper people know about and adapts it. But it also uses some of the ideas of Greek mythology (though similar things may also be in other myths, I'm just not aware of them) with the ferryman taking souls to their final resting place.
~
It follows Ash's journey from the few months before, and her meeting her girlfriend Poppy, and the love they have for each other, and the time they spend together from meeting on a boat on a school trip with their separate schools.
~
The big thing I took away from this book was that you have to make every day count, because you don't know what might happen every day.
~
If someone is checking up on you, asking if you've eaten, it isn't always for you that they're asking, they're showing you they care, and that may be their way of showing you that and that they love you. The other page said "it's okay not to get married if you don't want to. It's okay not to have kids if you don't want them. It's okay not to know all of this yet." And I think that's a really great message in a book centered around death and in the Case of the MC dying young. Because when you're a teenager, you might not know quite who you are yet, or if you want to get married and have children. And it's okay to not know yet. But it's equally okay if you do know those things.
☆
☆
This book is about the story of a teenage girl who dies young, and she is the last person to die on New Year's Eve. This makes her special and different to most other people who die. It makes her a reaper.
~
The whole idea of someone being the last of that year to die and become a reaper is really interesting to me as a book concept. Because it uses the generally accepted idea of the Grim Reaper people know about and adapts it. But it also uses some of the ideas of Greek mythology (though similar things may also be in other myths, I'm just not aware of them) with the ferryman taking souls to their final resting place.
~
It follows Ash's journey from the few months before, and her meeting her girlfriend Poppy, and the love they have for each other, and the time they spend together from meeting on a boat on a school trip with their separate schools.
~
The big thing I took away from this book was that you have to make every day count, because you don't know what might happen every day.
~
If someone is checking up on you, asking if you've eaten, it isn't always for you that they're asking, they're showing you they care, and that may be their way of showing you that and that they love you. The other page said "it's okay not to get married if you don't want to. It's okay not to have kids if you don't want them. It's okay not to know all of this yet." And I think that's a really great message in a book centered around death and in the Case of the MC dying young. Because when you're a teenager, you might not know quite who you are yet, or if you want to get married and have children. And it's okay to not know yet. But it's equally okay if you do know those things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Suicide, and Drug use
rainbowpridepin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Homophobia, Death, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Suicide and Sexual content