After by Amy Efaw

After by Amy Efaw

Summary: 

This is the tale about a high school freshman with the whole world ahead of her. Devon is fifteen, bright, and athletic. She loves soccer and has a future in the Olympics ahead of her. And then the unthinkable happens. Although it covers pieces of Devon’s past, this is truly the story about what happens after.

From the first few pages, we notice a few things.

1. A baby was left in a dumpster.

2. Devon is bleeding heavily.

Within minutes of the start, Devon is taken into custody. Her world is forever changed.

Opinion:
Efaw doesn’t go out of her way to make Devon a sympathetic character. She doesn’t gloss over the reality of what happened. Devon did this and she is facing the punishment for it. 

There is something about the way that Devon is written, something about her desperation, her being that tugs at the heartstrings despite what she did. You want her to suffer for what she did to the child, but at the same time you want her to be okay.

There is a line in another review that I think exemplifies her pain. It doesn’t excuse her actions, but it does remind me of the impression I got while reading. "She strives to be everything that her mom isn't - strong, independent, reliable, and definitely not a teen mother like her."* 

Devon has issues she needs to work through. She needs to face herself and what she did, but she also needs to see that she is not alone and that she doesn’t have to be a completely different person than her mother to be a better person.

In the majority of reviews about After, they talk about the ending being too sudden. I think it’s better for being the way it is. More human, less fiction.

All in all, I loved this book. Not my usual fare, but it was enjoyable, heartbreaking, and well written. I will be on the lookout for more by Amy Efaw.


READ IT. ^^
*Nely, in a book review from her blog.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆