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A review by bookishjanna
Afterlove by Tanya Byrne
3.0
The first part of the novel is about how Ash and Poppy get to know each other and fall in love. We learn about her best friend and her little sister and their lives as brown girls living in Brighton.
That was the part I enjoyed the most - and even though I was looking forward to the paranormal theme of this book so much originally - that was the part that disappointed me the most. To me it felt like Ash had next to no agency after she died. Yes, she wants to see Poppy again, but that's it.
I wish there would have been more to her character than that. I get that that's the main plot line, but there needs to be a little bit more to a character than a wish to see their romantic love interest for them to have some kind of depth.
One last thing that I was really disappointed with was a transphobic comment made by Poppy which was left uncriticized.
When Ash tells Poppy she's a lesbian, she responds "Same. I'm strictly clitly".
It's "just" a sentence, but it has a big meaning. There are women who don't have vaginas - and to exclude them from your definition of being a lesbian is and will always be transphobic.
It's really devastating to read these "small" but harmful comments made repeatedly in the books I read. I bet most authors don't even realise what they're writing is transphobic.. which might be one big problem itself: lack of education.
But it's not the task of trans people to educate every single author on this planet. Honestly, if you can do your research on myths or the 17th century or whatever - you can spend a minute to educate yourself about transphobia and how to avoid including it in your writing.
To conclude, I enjoyed the writing style, the setting and found the idea of the plot intriguing - the execution only to some degree, unfortunately.
content warnings: death, racism, queerphobia, harry potter reference, transphobia, knife attack, car accident
That was the part I enjoyed the most - and even though I was looking forward to the paranormal theme of this book so much originally - that was the part that disappointed me the most. To me it felt like Ash had next to no agency after she died. Yes, she wants to see Poppy again, but that's it.
I wish there would have been more to her character than that. I get that that's the main plot line, but there needs to be a little bit more to a character than a wish to see their romantic love interest for them to have some kind of depth.
One last thing that I was really disappointed with was a transphobic comment made by Poppy which was left uncriticized.
When Ash tells Poppy she's a lesbian, she responds "Same. I'm strictly clitly".
It's "just" a sentence, but it has a big meaning. There are women who don't have vaginas - and to exclude them from your definition of being a lesbian is and will always be transphobic.
It's really devastating to read these "small" but harmful comments made repeatedly in the books I read. I bet most authors don't even realise what they're writing is transphobic.. which might be one big problem itself: lack of education.
But it's not the task of trans people to educate every single author on this planet. Honestly, if you can do your research on myths or the 17th century or whatever - you can spend a minute to educate yourself about transphobia and how to avoid including it in your writing.
To conclude, I enjoyed the writing style, the setting and found the idea of the plot intriguing - the execution only to some degree, unfortunately.
content warnings: death, racism, queerphobia, harry potter reference, transphobia, knife attack, car accident