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A review by kirstengrier
Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu
4.0
**I received an advanced edition of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
An unlikely friendship is formed between Caroline and Ethan when an unspeakable tragedy brings them together.
One afternoon when she is supposed to be keeping an eye on him, Caroline's younger brother Dylan is kidnapped. When he is found a few days later, police discover Ethan, a second kidnapped boy who has been missing for 4 years. The boys are returned to their families and to try to adjust back to "normalcy".
Although Dylan wasn't missing as long as Ethan was, what he went through is still heartbreaking and his family immediately starts to fall apart. Dylan has autism and is withdrawn as it is and this only makes it worse. He and Caroline are very close and it bothers her that she doesn't know what happened to Dylan during his captivity. He has started saying new things and she wants to be able to help him calm down like she used to do. Their parents seem to be arguing more and more and their father is always leaving the house for hours at a time. They never discuss what happened and keep everything bottled up inside. Caroline helps her mother as much as she can but feels overwhelmed at times and sometimes turns to drinking and boys as an escape.
Ethan's family is very different than Caroline's. Ethan is an only child and his parents are very overprotective when he gets back. His mother is constantly checking on him and won't let him out of her sight. The whole family is signed up for individual and family therapy, they eat dinner together every night, and try to spend as much time together as possible. Ethan isn't comfortable talking about things with his parents, especially his mother, because he doesn't like to upset them. His therapist Dr. Greenberg is fantastic and was my favorite character in the book. He was patient with Ethan and knew exactly what to say, when to lay off, and when to push a little to get him to open up. He even brought his dog Groovy to the sessions because he knew it would relax Ethan.
One night when Ethan is playing his new drum set in his garage Caroline rides up his driveway on her bike. They slowly start a friendship that not everyone is comfortable with. They rarely talk about the kidnapping, but it sometimes scratches the surface.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so well developed I felt like I was in the story. I didn't want to put the book down, because I wanted to see what would happen with each family and with Caroline and Ethan's friendship. I loved how Ethan's family was able to start to overcome their obstacles, and it saddened me how Caroline's family started to fall apart. The book referenced how Ethan's family was able to afford fancy therapist sessions, and a nice new expensive drum set for Ethan, while Dylan's family didn't seem to have a lot of money. I thought this was an important subject that could have been discussed further but since this is a YA book, it was good that the subject was mentioned at all. It's important for people to start to understand that not only the wealthy deserve help in these types of situations.
The story never went into specific details about what happened to the boys during their captivity but there were certain parts where you could infer sexual abuse that happened, which might be a trigger point for some readers. I would recommend this book!
An unlikely friendship is formed between Caroline and Ethan when an unspeakable tragedy brings them together.
One afternoon when she is supposed to be keeping an eye on him, Caroline's younger brother Dylan is kidnapped. When he is found a few days later, police discover Ethan, a second kidnapped boy who has been missing for 4 years. The boys are returned to their families and to try to adjust back to "normalcy".
Although Dylan wasn't missing as long as Ethan was, what he went through is still heartbreaking and his family immediately starts to fall apart. Dylan has autism and is withdrawn as it is and this only makes it worse. He and Caroline are very close and it bothers her that she doesn't know what happened to Dylan during his captivity. He has started saying new things and she wants to be able to help him calm down like she used to do. Their parents seem to be arguing more and more and their father is always leaving the house for hours at a time. They never discuss what happened and keep everything bottled up inside. Caroline helps her mother as much as she can but feels overwhelmed at times and sometimes turns to drinking and boys as an escape.
Ethan's family is very different than Caroline's. Ethan is an only child and his parents are very overprotective when he gets back. His mother is constantly checking on him and won't let him out of her sight. The whole family is signed up for individual and family therapy, they eat dinner together every night, and try to spend as much time together as possible. Ethan isn't comfortable talking about things with his parents, especially his mother, because he doesn't like to upset them. His therapist Dr. Greenberg is fantastic and was my favorite character in the book. He was patient with Ethan and knew exactly what to say, when to lay off, and when to push a little to get him to open up. He even brought his dog Groovy to the sessions because he knew it would relax Ethan.
One night when Ethan is playing his new drum set in his garage Caroline rides up his driveway on her bike. They slowly start a friendship that not everyone is comfortable with. They rarely talk about the kidnapping, but it sometimes scratches the surface.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so well developed I felt like I was in the story. I didn't want to put the book down, because I wanted to see what would happen with each family and with Caroline and Ethan's friendship. I loved how Ethan's family was able to start to overcome their obstacles, and it saddened me how Caroline's family started to fall apart. The book referenced how Ethan's family was able to afford fancy therapist sessions, and a nice new expensive drum set for Ethan, while Dylan's family didn't seem to have a lot of money. I thought this was an important subject that could have been discussed further but since this is a YA book, it was good that the subject was mentioned at all. It's important for people to start to understand that not only the wealthy deserve help in these types of situations.
The story never went into specific details about what happened to the boys during their captivity but there were certain parts where you could infer sexual abuse that happened, which might be a trigger point for some readers. I would recommend this book!