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A review by lanaerae
AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler
4.0
How sad that this book has to exist.
It’s the story of a young girl whose parents decide it’s time for a change. They’ve recently lost their son (Theo) and need a change of pace. They end up in a community that had recently gone through a school shooting. This leaves their daughter, Lucy, in a very strange position. Her classmates survived a trauma, she’s the odd girl out. She didn’t know the shooter, the victims, or the survivors before it all happened. And somehow her own trauma of losing her brother feels somehow like less of a trauma and not something she can share with people who suffered so much more.
Lucy ends up befriending the school’s biggest outcast, the sister (Avery) of the shooter. But she cannot really open up to Avery because Avery is struggling enough. And Lucy’s parents haven’t figured out how to talk about Theo, or anything else, with their daughter.
Basically, everyone here - child and adult - are just trying to figure out who they are, how to communicate with others, and how to deal with their traumas and grief without feeling like a burden to others.
It’s a tough read, especially when you realize it’s a middle grade book. Well written. A bit of a tearjerker at times, but there’s hope to be found here too.
The narration of the audiobook was very good and fit the book perfectly.
It’s the story of a young girl whose parents decide it’s time for a change. They’ve recently lost their son (Theo) and need a change of pace. They end up in a community that had recently gone through a school shooting. This leaves their daughter, Lucy, in a very strange position. Her classmates survived a trauma, she’s the odd girl out. She didn’t know the shooter, the victims, or the survivors before it all happened. And somehow her own trauma of losing her brother feels somehow like less of a trauma and not something she can share with people who suffered so much more.
Lucy ends up befriending the school’s biggest outcast, the sister (Avery) of the shooter. But she cannot really open up to Avery because Avery is struggling enough. And Lucy’s parents haven’t figured out how to talk about Theo, or anything else, with their daughter.
Basically, everyone here - child and adult - are just trying to figure out who they are, how to communicate with others, and how to deal with their traumas and grief without feeling like a burden to others.
It’s a tough read, especially when you realize it’s a middle grade book. Well written. A bit of a tearjerker at times, but there’s hope to be found here too.
The narration of the audiobook was very good and fit the book perfectly.