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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Nope.
This book tried way too hard to be something it’s not. It started off interesting and I was really into it then blah blah blah for the rest. I kept reading hoping it wasn’t going to end how it obviously would but then it did but worse somehow. And why are two characters told in first person and the other in third? Not even in a way that made sense.
The worst is how much all the trauma and mental illness she threw at these characters and then just either glossed over them or treated them poorly/dangerously. Felt more for shock value then anything else which is gross.
I was going to give it 2 stars until the epilogue. I don’t know what the heck that was but ruined it even more for me.
This book tried way too hard to be something it’s not. It started off interesting and I was really into it then blah blah blah for the rest. I kept reading hoping it wasn’t going to end how it obviously would but then it did but worse somehow. And why are two characters told in first person and the other in third? Not even in a way that made sense.
The worst is how much all the trauma and mental illness she threw at these characters and then just either glossed over them or treated them poorly/dangerously. Felt more for shock value then anything else which is gross.
I was going to give it 2 stars until the epilogue. I don’t know what the heck that was but ruined it even more for me.
I am *shocked* I haven’t really heard a hype about this book. It’s been on my shelf for 2.5 years because so many other books are hyped up and I fall to influencers, but I decided to give this one a go and IT WAS PHENOMENAL. I partly listened to the audiobook during my commute, and I highly recommend!
Good looking, athletic, popular, Daniel goes missing. After his best friend, Jonah, is found dead by suicide with a note admitting to Daniel’s murder, the town’s theories and gossip grows. Was a girl involved?
Enter Evangeline, a sixteen-and-pregnant abandoned girl, who winds up being found under a tree on Daniel’s father, Isaac’s, property.
The intricacies of each character, and powerful character development were CHEF’S KISS. I absolutely loved this book!
Good looking, athletic, popular, Daniel goes missing. After his best friend, Jonah, is found dead by suicide with a note admitting to Daniel’s murder, the town’s theories and gossip grows. Was a girl involved?
Enter Evangeline, a sixteen-and-pregnant abandoned girl, who winds up being found under a tree on Daniel’s father, Isaac’s, property.
The intricacies of each character, and powerful character development were CHEF’S KISS. I absolutely loved this book!
Audiobook - this book was just…weird. And a bit boring.
What Comes After is a heart wrenching story about love, loss and family. While you can't decide what family you are born into you can definitely make your own. Love and grief can cloud your life but only you control if it takes over. This book gave me all the feels.
What Comes After was a book that I almost gave up on without giving a chance, but I am really glad I stuck with it. I was concerned this would be all gloom based on the initial chapters, and it is very gloomy but that is not the whole story. After the terrible loss of each of their sons, two families are brought back together by a teen girl with connections to both boys. This book is so sincere, and the characters have all suffered tremendously and are still trying. That’s the best part, that these people haven’t given up in the face of everything they have lost. I saw this called suspenseful-it’s not-and the mystery is so back burner that you won’t really care about the answers to your questions, but you will care about the families involved.
This book was a very tough one to read but I had to keep reading. I had to know what happened. The characters were not very likable and Isaac annoyed me at times. Overall it was a good story about loss and overcoming that loss.
On a roll with reading excellent books. As someone who is Quaker-adjacent, I loved the Quaker aspects of this story. Tompkins not only got the theology right, but also the main Quaker character; I could imagine Isaac fully, because I have known him and worshiped and worked with him. I loved the story-telling, and the weaving together of different narrative strands. Some of it felt a little predictable, but also forgivable, because the story is so well told. I also loved Rufus, who became such an important character in the story; it's clear that Tompkins knows and loves dogs, maybe even pitties. Such a good novel.
A story of grief, shame, forgiveness, and hope as the shocking death of two teen boys forces a community to face their past and future. A true example of “you never know what is going on behind closed doors” as everyone’s secrets come to light. This was so beautifully and powerfully written, with alternating perspectives from genuine, if hard to love, characters.
I do think it should be noted that there is quite a bit of grisly animal violence/suffering, and if you are particularly sensitive to that, it may ruin the book for you.
I do think it should be noted that there is quite a bit of grisly animal violence/suffering, and if you are particularly sensitive to that, it may ruin the book for you.
This book was so well-written and completely swept me up in the story. My heart was aching at points, and I had a hard time putting it down. I am even more impressed with this book knowing it’s a debut novel, and sincerely hope it won’t be Joanne Tompkins’ last.