TITLE: The Beginning of AfterAUTHOR: Jennifer Castle
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2011
PAGES: 432
MY RATING: 4 Stars
BACK COVER BLURB: Laurel's world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. As she tries to piece together the shards of what remains in the eerie stillness of life after the tragedy, David -- the son of the man responsible -- swoops in and out of her life. Laurel find herself attracted to him against her better judgment, and their connection will change them both in unexpected ways.
Fans of emotionally true and heartfelt stories, such as Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever and If I Stay by Gayle Forman, will fall in love with Jennifer Castle's incandescent debut novel.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: I was hooked on this book from the very first sentence. I could just tell that this was going to be a book that I was going to enjoy immensely, and I was right. I could not put this book down and I flew through it probably faster than any other book I've ever read before. I just wanted to know what was going to happen and how Laurel (the main character) was going to deal with this tragedy, and then how she was going to deal with events that caused her to remember the tragedy all over again. I really enjoyed the ending of this book. It resolved everything, but was left at a point where the author could write a sequel if she wanted too, but it is not necessary if she chooses not to do so. This was an amazing book and I would recommend it to anyone. I really enjoyed the ending of this book. It resolved everything, but was left at a point where the author could write a sequel if she wanted too, but it is not necessary if she chooses not to do so.
CHARACTERS: There was not one character in this book that I did not like. Laurel's character was very inspiring, watching her to overcome this great tragedy in her life. She had her moments of breakdown, but I believe she was strong and I'm not sure I would have been able to handle this situation she was thrown into as well as she did. Megan is another character I enjoyed. She is Laurel's best friend and always there for Laurel. They had their arguments, but they were around for each other when it counted. And of course, there was a little bit of romance in the book between Laurel and two other characters, David and Joe. These two could not be more opposite characters. David is the dangerous bad boy rebel type, while Joe is the sweet safe one. I have to say that I was definitely team David on this one.
COVER: Love the cover of this one. The pose of the girl on the cover is vulnerable and scared, but to me her face looks strong. I also love the way the sun is barely making an appearance in the background as if to say that things will get better.
*I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine.
I agree with you that the book works well as a stand alone. I am really hoping for a sequel though. I would love to read more about where Laurel's life takes her.
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