A review by betweentheshelves
Afterglow by Phil Stamper

emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Thanks to Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Afterglow by Phil Stamper to review! This is the sequel to Golden Boys, which came out last year. And yes, you definitely need to read that one first because you will miss a lot of character development that is very important in this one!

I actually enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed Golden Boys. The story goes in a bit of a different direction than I was expecting, and we get to see more of the four friends interacting. We didn't get a lot of that in the first book because they all went different places for the summer. Overall, this book felt like a more cohesive story, even though it still had four different narrators. You'd think you'd get overwhelmed by that, but you don't really in this book.

A lot of teens will relate to the boys' fear that after they all graduate, they're going to lose touch with their high school friends. They'll relate to the anxieties of graduating high school, of feeling like you have to have it all figured out. Stamper hits the tone just right in this book, and with the four strong main characters, you'll be sucked right into each of their lives.

I did think that maybe the book was a tad longer than it needed to be, but other than that, this is a great follow up to the first book. If you enjoy Stamper's writing, you'll want to pick this one up! 

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