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A review by katyanaish
Aftermath by Ann Aguirre
5.0
This book, this whole series, is so incredibly hard to read. And I mean that in the very best of ways. I just finished Aftermath moments ago, and I am crying my eyes out.
There are so many things to say about this book. This is the book where Jax ties up loose ends. All of the dangling bits from the reckless, selfish person that she used to be, all the promises she made to herself and others, all the things weighting down her soul... that is what is handled here. It feels like.... a ritual cleansing. A step-by-step cleansing, an unbinding of all the things that kept her from being free.
And it is an unbinding of people, too. It hurts to a shocking degree to see the cast of secondary characters come to a fork in the road and go a different direction. Like in the book previous, this one continues with the unmaking of Jax, ... and that necessarily includes the unmaking of her team. And what is illuminated, the person she is when the rest of it is stripped away... it is truly beautiful. The real depth of emotion here is magnificent, and it sets this series apart.
I don't know how to begin talking about the relationship between Jax and Vel, or the relationship between Jax and March. The one is her companion, and the other is her lover. Vel's love for Jax may be the most beautiful, and breathtaking, love I have ever read. And for so much of the book, it occurred to me over and over how right the two of them are together. Whereas nothing about March and Jax feels right.
But then the last 2 chapters... I cried the whole way through. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, just completely devastating.
I can't see how this will end happily, and so I am terrified of Endgame, but I am too entwined in this story to give it up. I better just make sure to have a fresh carton of kleenex on-hand when it comes out next year.
There are so many things to say about this book. This is the book where Jax ties up loose ends. All of the dangling bits from the reckless, selfish person that she used to be, all the promises she made to herself and others, all the things weighting down her soul... that is what is handled here. It feels like.... a ritual cleansing. A step-by-step cleansing, an unbinding of all the things that kept her from being free.
And it is an unbinding of people, too. It hurts to a shocking degree to see the cast of secondary characters come to a fork in the road and go a different direction. Like in the book previous, this one continues with the unmaking of Jax, ... and that necessarily includes the unmaking of her team. And what is illuminated, the person she is when the rest of it is stripped away... it is truly beautiful. The real depth of emotion here is magnificent, and it sets this series apart.
I don't know how to begin talking about the relationship between Jax and Vel, or the relationship between Jax and March. The one is her companion, and the other is her lover. Vel's love for Jax may be the most beautiful, and breathtaking, love I have ever read. And for so much of the book, it occurred to me over and over how right the two of them are together. Whereas nothing about March and Jax feels right.
But then the last 2 chapters... I cried the whole way through. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, just completely devastating.
I can't see how this will end happily, and so I am terrified of Endgame, but I am too entwined in this story to give it up. I better just make sure to have a fresh carton of kleenex on-hand when it comes out next year.