The Beginning of After

My take: I was hesitant to read this book because I am one of the very few people who absolutely hated If I Stay. I hated the story, not the writing. Yet I loved Where She Went which led me to wonder how I would react to this book. Would it feel contrived or would it offer something of substance which is what I thought the first book lacked. I found this story to be substantial and well worth the read.

The protagonist is 16 year old Laurel who bowed out of celebrating Seder dessert. Ever the good girl, she wanted to brush up on her SAT studies. Her antithesis is David who is also a high school student, a former friend turned rebel without a cause. He bowed out to tick his parents off. So Laurel's and David's parents along with Laurel's show more 13 year old brother drive off for ice cream, leaving their teens home to greet the police officer who comes to their doors to inform them of the horrible accident. Laurel's family is wiped out. David's mother died while David's father, the driver, is comatose.

The story details the brutal process of figuring out what comes next. Laurel's grandmother relocates to raise Laurel. Laurel slugs along through her grieving process, tries to return to school but breaks down. She struggles to stay on track while balancing her grieving, her anger, and her own development and dealing with the pity of others. Meanwhile, David's father is placed in long term care and David chooses to disappear. David shows up every so often and he and Laurel forge a relationship that bothered me because it wasn't textbook or storybook. It was real. There is guilt, pain, a shared childhood, rage, love, and a myriad of emotions and then David would disappear again.

Laurel's character is so well developed, as is her grandmother's and her grandmother's grief which is nearly forgotten by Laurel. They deal with the memories, the objects that need to be cleaned out, the clothes, Laurel's senior year, the looks of pity, the relationships formed of pity, the healing and the conclusion.

What I liked best about the book is that it is not neat and pretty. The loss is still a loss. Time is marked by "Before" and "After" but the year following is a different passage of time. It's not quite "after" but the time where the survivors piece together what is left and make as much sense of their life as they can. Laurel slugs through while David runs away. Eventually both characters find equilibrium for themselves in different ways.

Language: mild
Sex: lightly implied but some petting
Dialogue: mild

I'd let my 16 year old read it. show less

Wow. I just finished The Beginning of After after a marathon reading session—only food and bathroom breaks tore me away, and the food was mainly to be polite to my family. (And mostly because I'm with my mother—my kids are fine with me reading at the dinner table when it's just us.) This novel was amazing. When I requested it from NetGalley, I really wasn't a hundred percent sure I wanted to read it, because reading about grief can be tough. If it's done well, it's hard because if you've been in a similar place it might bring you back a little bit closer to it than you wanted to be. If it's not done well, sometimes that's even worse because you just know that whoever wrote those words really doesn't get it. They may think they do, show more they might think it's something that they can just imagine, empathize with, and put into words, but they just don't. Having experienced something "truly crappy" (as Jennifer Castle has Laurel so succinctly describe the event that the rest of the book is "after" in the novel's very first paragraph) myself a few years before, I knew that "ka-pow, shake-you-to-the-core-and-turn-your-bones-to-plastic kind of crappy" that Laurel talks about because I've felt that too. (I read that line and said, "Yes! That's exactly what it feels like!")

Laurel's story is…I know I've already said amazing, but it is. It covers the accident that changes her life and about a year and a half of her "after" afterwards. You see her grief and how she tries to deal (and not deal) with it. You see her struggle between wanting to be normal and wanting that cushion of people knowing that she's not normal and giving her latitude because of it. You see her trying to balance between what her family wanted and expected for her, what those who are still there and care about her want for her, what she wants (and figuring out what she wants), and what she's actually going to do. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time. I cheered for her and cried for her. Sometimes both at the same time.

Read. This. Book. It's truly—wait for it—inspiring. (And amazing. You knew I had to say it again!) show less

I can only describe The Beginning of After as a softly powerful account of how one teenage girl survives a terrible loss. This book is beautifully written and uncomfortably insightful. I felt as if I was listening to the main character, Laurel's private thoughts and feelings as she faced an unimaginable tragedy with the sudden loss of her family. The author paints a vivid and intuitive portrait of a teen trying to cope with this profound loss while also dealing with normal teen situations like prom, SAT's, and relationships.

David was suffering from a similar loss as his family was also involved in the crash that killed Laurel's family. The dynamic between Laurel and David was fascinating to witness. Both suffering from rage, guilt, show more sorrow, and unbelievable grief, they were alternately drawn to one another, yet unsure of each other. Watching how David struggled to cope with everything made my heart break for him.

The Beginning of After is a wonderful novel that travels through the lowest points of sorrow and leaves the reader with a feeling of hope. I highly recommend this for all ages. show less

It isn't often that a book makes me cry. The few that have are those that have heartbreaking conclusions. THE BEGINNING OF AFTER had me sobbing right from the start. And not just one time...

Wow. What an intense debut novel. Comparisons have been made between the author and Sarah Dessen and , though I'm a huge fan of Dessen's work, I felt Castle's writing had a slightly different feel... almost like Castle's writing had more emotional depth. Much of this was subtle; one carefully chosen word would make my breath catch and eyes water.

I love a book with a good romantic story line, but I'm not sure I'd say that this is a characteristic that clearly identifies this book. The main character does have romantic counterparts, but they aren't a show more main focus - which makes sense. After all, Laurel has just lost her family... She's got a lot more going on than whether or not a boy likes her. Sure, she still thinks about it, but there are other things that require her attention as well. So, while I usually prefer my novels to have romance, I actually liked the fact that it wasn't a focus in THE BEGINNING OF AFTER... I don't think it would have been fitting at all.

I'll be reading subsequent novels by Jennifer Castle... She's definitely a new contemporary YA voice to watch. show less

In The Beginning of After, Jennifer Castle explores what it means to survive. Though there are many such stories in the young adult genre, this novel stands out. It examines not just the grief, but the process of learning to live again when nothing will ever be the same. Laurel is understandably a mess, and it's impossible not to cry for her as she makes it through each day on trial and error -- going back to school, breaking down at a party, staying in bed for a week, rescuing strays and almost giving up altogether. Castle's portrayal of Laurel's struggle as she figures out how to carry on is heartbreakingly raw and honest. There are ups and downs and setbacks, people who try to help but only make things worse, and those few show more crystallized moments where the light at the end of the tunnel briefly illuminates the darkness.

It is inspiring to see Laurel's remaining family and friends rally around her, even as she pushes them away in her depression. Unlike many YA novels, Laurel's grandmother is a steady and necessary presence in the story. She is an amazing, compassionate woman who drops everything to care for the orphaned granddaughter she fiercely loves, their twin grief making the sense of loss all the more resonant and devastating. Her presence reminds Laurel that she isn't the only one who lost her family that day, and she isn't completely alone in the aftermath. Without each other, I don't believe either of them could have survived.

The relationship between Laurel and her best friend Megan starts off strong. The girls have been best friends forever and Meg is the first one there in the wake of the accident. I was hopeful that she would be a grounding force in the novel, staying at Laurel's side through it all. Unfortunately, Megan lets her own problems make her bitter toward her best friend, whose tragedy she can't even begin to comprehend. She (understandably) doesn't know what to say or do to help Laurel, but trying would have been enough. Instead she seems rather petulant, a poor friend when Laurel needs her the most.

David is an even bigger mess than Laurel, his mother dead and his father in a coma from the accident that killed Laurel's family. He comes and goes, seeming to care for no one but himself. Yet, he's the only one who can even begin to fathom what Laurel's feeling. He doesn't treat her with kid gloves, and, when he bothers to stick around, their heartfelt discussions give Laurel the dose of normalcy she so desperately desires. Still, their relationship is far from healthy. His constant disappearances leave Laurel abandoned and alone, and their frequent fights upset the delicate balance she's managed to achieve. They're both too broken to fix each other in the end, but the ties that bind them are too strong to sever.

The Beginning of After is a powerful tale of tragedy and loss, forgiveness and moving on. Readers will be in tears almost from page one, at both the magnitude of human compassion and the horror of unfathomable loss.

http://thebookishtype.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-beginning-of-after-by-jennifer... show less

I don't want to imagine what it's like to lose your entire family in an accident. To see them laughing and joking around one day and have it taken away from me the next. It's impossible to imagine life without them. Laurel has to go through this last. Scariest of all, she's so relatable. I've stayed home many times (sometimes to study, sometimes to finish a book) while my family went out. Any one of those times, something could have happened, and I would have ended up in Laurel's position, which is one of the many reasons I was so fascinated with her story.

There are books that I rush through the first time I read them, eager to find out what happens next. There are books that I read at a slow pace, maybe a chapter or two a day over a show more wide time frame because I'm so (sometimes grossly) fascinated by them that I need time away from the book. Then there are books like The Beginning of After that I stayed up reading because I had to know what was going to happen to Laurel, but I didn't want to rush myself either.

Castle has chosen a difficult subject to write about. There is so much emotion wrought into The Beginning of After that there is a fine line between portraying Laurel's depression with accuracy and alienating the reader. Castle has succeeded in conveying Laurel's grief over her family members' deaths without losing the reader's interest.

Laurel is a good girl. She works hard at her studies and strives to meet her parents' expectations even after their death. It's all she has left besides her grandma, and it's perfectly understandable, so understandable that my heart ached along with Laurel's. I was so happy when Laurel found the Ashland animal hospital. It gives her a place where she could act normal; more than that, it gives her a place where she feels like she is doing something. She is helping animals. I love animals myself and can relate with how Masher and the cats play a role in cheering Laurel in her otherwise bleak life.

The romance was beautifully wrought as well. It took its time playing out: it didn't take place spontaneously; it was real. I understand Laurel's desire for the safe relationship she sees in Joe, the one that her best friend wants her to take. At the same time, we see Laurel's dangerous attraction to David, the one who knows what she's going through. The one that doesn't regard her as a superhero or someone to be pitied.

In The Beginning of After Jennifer Castle delivers a powerful, emotion-charged debut novel on a difficult topic, giving us insight into life after losing one's family. More than a story of loss, The Beginning of After is about picking up the pieces of your life after a tragedy; it is about friendship and love; it is about finding your place in life. I laughed and I cried. There was so much voice and character in this novel. I really enjoyed reading The Beginning of After, and I look forward to more works by Jennifer Castle! show less

As soon as I saw that The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle was available on NetGalley, I requested it. As soon as I got the go-ahead, I downloaded it and read it in one sitting. It was incredible! A very character-driven, emotional and wonderfully written story.

Laurel is a teenage girl who has to deal with the loss of her entire family. Her neighbors were also in the car - her old friend David's father was the driver. Although he lived (in a coma), David's mother also died in the wreck. Laurel struggles with guilt over not being in the car, blame that David's dad might have been drunk and the grief of suddenly finding herself alone. (FYI - don't worry that I just spoiled the entire book for you or anything. Most of this is in the show more synopsis, and it all happens at the very beginning.)

A lot of books that deal with loss are hard to connect to. The author has to be a very gifted writer in order to make emotions feel genuine. Well y'all, I don't think I've ever seen it done better than Jennifer does with this story. Laurel's path, from the initial shock on through, was incredible. I can't even try to count how many times I teared up while reading. All the feelings: anger, betrayal, guilt, grief, are so believable, I felt like I was reading a friend's diary.

One of the best things was Jennifer's ability to portray Laurel's thought process. You guys know how, when you walk into a room, your eyes pick up on something random (like a knick-knack, piece of furniture, whatever it may be) and it makes you think of some story from your past that isn't even necessarily directly related to whatever you're looking at? (Say you look at a random shoe and it reminds you of the time you played basketball with your brother over ten years ago.) This happens to Laurel fairly often - she'll see something that reminds her of a specific memory of her family. Every single time it happened I felt like crying. Incredibly realistic and poignant.

David and Laurel's interactions are also very realistic. Awkward and angry at first...it morphs into a tentative friendship since no one else can relate to them like they can to each other. As they become closer, their chemistry becomes harder to ignore. I know I'm being repetitive here - but I really can't emphasize enough that the characterization in this book is incredible. David and Laurel's personalities are both explored at length and they are both far from perfect. They make a lot of mistakes with each other that make their story seem even more genuine.

I know there are a lot of contemporary young adult books that deal with grief and loss, but I can promise you that this book feels nothing like a tired plot line. This is easily as good as - or better than - others like it. Even if you don't normally enjoy melancholy/tragic reads, I still highly recommend giving this a try. If you are a fan of books like this, prepare to have a new favorite! With only one book, Jennifer Castle has made my must-read-author list. show less