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A review by nickartrip102
After Rain Falls by CE Ricci
2.0
After finishing Follow the River, I found myself in a bit of a conundrum. I was conflicted over the book, which handled several in an irresponsible manner that really tempered how I felt about the story as a whole. The story, however, ended on a cliffhanger and I can’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy some aspects of it. Plus the feeling of not completing something is a source of anxiety, and since this is something that is within my control, I decided to press on. After the Rain picks up directly after the conclusion of the previous novel. Ciaráin must confront his past and learn to be open with River for the two to make it work.
Spoilers ahead:
First of all, I’m going to keep on referring to Rain as “Ciaráin.” Shortening it to Rain throughout the first book, despite his protests, was a bit problematic and this book is full of R characters: Rivers, Rain, and Roman. I don’t necessarily have any qualms about this decision, but it can make things a bit confusing at times. The first quarter of the novel is full of that delicious angst as Ciaráin and River struggle to cope with their separation. Nothing too distributing happens until Roman gropes an incoherent and drunk River at a party while Ciaráin watches it happen. Roman who is is town helping Ciaráin deal with the threat from his stepfather, the man who molested him when he was a child.
While the first book in this duet had many issues, the story was at the very least captivating. A lot of After the Rain seems to rehash the same issues from Follow the River while introducing a secret society and conspiracy theory seemingly pulled from a Republican extremist’s wet dreams. I think this element of the plot plus the introduction of Roman’s point-of-view was supposed to be tie-in to some books involving Roman (which I will be passing on) but it was honestly pretty jarring. I think Ciaráin’s abuser being a well-connected, man-in-power is enough and the rest only served to detract from my interest in the story. For other readers, this may be a perk, a new level of interest, but to me it felt like National Treasure-ing a serious issue that could have used some narrative redemption.
All in all, this wasn’t necessarily what I expected from the continuation of this story. It certainly took some turns that I can honestly say I wasn’t anticipating. I’m glad to finally wrap up the Ciaráin/River saga and that the pair seem to find some stability and peace. As I mentioned in my review of Follow the River, there are a few too many problematic elements in this story for me to rate it very highly. I wish there had been a more frank discussion about River’s own inappropriate and often predatory behavior in the first novel. Throughout different points in their relationship, both men violate each other sexually, but it seems like only Ciaráin is held to any level of accountability.
Spoilers ahead:
First of all, I’m going to keep on referring to Rain as “Ciaráin.” Shortening it to Rain throughout the first book, despite his protests, was a bit problematic and this book is full of R characters: Rivers, Rain, and Roman. I don’t necessarily have any qualms about this decision, but it can make things a bit confusing at times. The first quarter of the novel is full of that delicious angst as Ciaráin and River struggle to cope with their separation. Nothing too distributing happens until Roman gropes an incoherent and drunk River at a party while Ciaráin watches it happen. Roman who is is town helping Ciaráin deal with the threat from his stepfather, the man who molested him when he was a child.
While the first book in this duet had many issues, the story was at the very least captivating. A lot of After the Rain seems to rehash the same issues from Follow the River while introducing a secret society and conspiracy theory seemingly pulled from a Republican extremist’s wet dreams. I think this element of the plot plus the introduction of Roman’s point-of-view was supposed to be tie-in to some books involving Roman (which I will be passing on) but it was honestly pretty jarring. I think Ciaráin’s abuser being a well-connected, man-in-power is enough and the rest only served to detract from my interest in the story. For other readers, this may be a perk, a new level of interest, but to me it felt like National Treasure-ing a serious issue that could have used some narrative redemption.
All in all, this wasn’t necessarily what I expected from the continuation of this story. It certainly took some turns that I can honestly say I wasn’t anticipating. I’m glad to finally wrap up the Ciaráin/River saga and that the pair seem to find some stability and peace. As I mentioned in my review of Follow the River, there are a few too many problematic elements in this story for me to rate it very highly. I wish there had been a more frank discussion about River’s own inappropriate and often predatory behavior in the first novel. Throughout different points in their relationship, both men violate each other sexually, but it seems like only Ciaráin is held to any level of accountability.