Reviews

The After Party by Anton DiSclafani

hezann73's review against another edition

3.0

Solid 3.5

Kind of odd, and left me feeling....off somehow

alethiologie's review against another edition

I can't rate this book because I spent the entire time reading it with the feeling I'd read this story before. Since it's a recent release I know I haven't.

bookliz's review against another edition

2.0

Disappointing kept reading because I thought there would be some better character development. I wanted a better
Explanation of why joan turned out as she did.

leslie_kent's review against another edition

4.0

I got this as part of the Penguin First to Read program. I'm so glad that I chose it. The writing was lovely and the characters sucked me in. I guess I'd say that it's the story of a friendship between CeCe and Joan. The mystery of Joan and her life is always there in the background and as CeCe struggles to solve it, I found myself wanting to solve it with her.

thchainz's review against another edition

3.0

im from the northeast so it was fun being swept away into a completely different world with this book. the atmosphere was glamorous and interesting, but the general plot was not super exciting. i think i would have liked the book more if it was just about the wealthy women of Houston rather than the protagonist’s obsession with Joan because it gets boring and almost makes no sense towards even the last third of the book. Definitely interesting and fun at times though.

mthomas393's review against another edition

2.0

I loved the time period and setting of this book - 1950s Houston. Plano, TX, where I grew up, was even mentioned. The details regarding the glamorous lifestyle that these men and women lived was entertaining and interesting. However, the dysfunctional relationship between the main characters was too much for me. I just couldn't see it as a "friendship". The only character that I really liked was Ceece's husband as I really felt that he was very patient with her behavior.

jessicaboi's review against another edition

3.0

I'm so disappointed by how much I didn't like this book, since I LOVED DiSclafani's first novel. Is this book the result of a rush to publish after the success of her first? I'm not sure, but this book was so blegh. Boring, disjointed plot. I would have stopped reading but I was curious as to where the plot was going (since it didn't really pick up until 2/3 in, when I was ready to put it down). The prose was simple, but not in a beautiful way. Lots of "I felt this way". Very basic.

Ugh. I'm sad.

Also, the cover art is awful.

erynereads's review against another edition

4.0

I discovered Anton DiSclafani’s first book, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, in a whim a few years back and I couldn’t put it down. When I came across The After Party, I knew I needed to get it on my TBR list. I had a feeling I would enjoy it.

While it had slower moments, I really enjoyed seeing Joan and Cece’s character evolve alongside their friendship. It had a twist I didn’t see coming, and was the moment the entire story finally circled around.

I love a good historical fiction read and this one certainly didn’t disappoint!

maisieshouse's review against another edition

3.0

I couldn't quite finish this book. The narrator's incessant talk of her friend Joan just got to be too much. I realize the story is about their friendship, but it simply became too annoying. I had to put it down about 90 pages before the end.

bookishlyfab's review against another edition

2.0

Well, I ended up forcing myself to finish this today so that's not much of an endorsement. I wish I had read her other novel first as this one fell flat. I disliked both Cece and Joan. Cece just about let her infatuation with a friend (who never gave her anything in return) ruin her family and marriage with what seemed to be an uncharacteristically loving and devoted husband for the time. Reading about her behavior - at times close to that of a stalker - was frustrating. There were times when I didn't blame Joan for keeping her at a safe distance.

But still Joan was quite selfish. Her secret you could see coming from a mile away. It's hard to like a book when neither of the main characters are sympathetic.

I understand how stifling it would have been to be a woman in this era, but really Joan would have been selfish in any era.

Second star for the setting. The writing was good so I'll try her other novel after I have time to get past this one.