The idea of this book is nothing new, someone close to the main character dies and the character must figure out how to deal with this incredible loss. The difference between this book and those other books is Jennifer Castle. She created these characters and this story and made it all so painfully interesting. You wonder how on earth reading about someones loss and life after is interesting? Well in a sick way it is. But this story is most certainly not sick, and it will definitely play your heartstrings.

Laurel is someone all of us can relate to. She is just your average teenage girl, but because she is so average I think it is how I saw so much of myself in her. She's someone you can't help rooting for. As for David, I really want to just let you create your own opinions about him.

This book was beautifully written and completely breathtaking. Jennifer Castle definitely has created something very special and is incredible enough to share it.



Overall I truly loved this book. It wasn't a fast-paced adventure or a beautiful romance novel, but it was still so wonderful in it's own beautiful way. I dare you to read this book and not enjoy it.

This book definitely exceeded all my expectations for it. In fact, it was one of the most refreshing and realistic novels I've read in a long time! Highly recommended! So we meet Laurel, who, not only her family, but her neighbor's mother, perishes in a terrible car accident. This novel consists of the aftermath of this event (like the title says) and takes us all the way to the end of Laurel's senior year without having her family, living with her grandmother. It deals with the fact that her best friend, Meg, grows apart from her, even though Meg had truly done her best to be there for Laurel, which at times Laurel failed to repay her with. Joe, who was Laurel's longtime crush, suddenly becomes interested and soon spurs a sweet, awkward friendship/casual relationship. We watch as her grandmother deals with the loss of her own son, but does everything in her power to be there for Laurel, and as Laurel herself comes to terms with everything, and struggles with the pain of losing them all and the loss of normality. And then there is David, the son of the neighbors who were driving Laurel's family that night, who lost a mother, and a father in a coma. He struggled seemingly much more openly with his loss then Laurel, but naturally, they both find comfort and normality which each other. I truly liked the pace of everything in the book. With David and Laurel's friendship/romance, it took a long time to build and happen, but perfectly. Never rushed, and beautifully honest. With Joe and Laurel, their relationship (though in the end it never went anywhere) was also delicate, never wanting to step to far. In the end, this is an amazing novel that I believe everyone will truly enjoy.

Big three-minus. I might downgrade it to 2 stars.

The problem with this book is that there are no climaxes or other plot developments that really make this story. Laurel's depression was easy for me to understand - I've felt the same way just last year.

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In her debut novel, Jennifer Castle covers tough subjects: despression, death and dealing with the loss of relatives. Laurel is trying to deal with the fact that her family died in a car crash but is struggeling to pick up the pieces. She could have been in that car, going off to eat dessert with her family after dinner with the Kaufmans, but she decides to go home to study instead.

I'm going to be honest with you and say that I have no idea how to rate this book. The subject of depression is familiar to me and close to my heart. I've went through a really dark period of my life not so long ago and I was hoping that this book would show how difficult it is to battle depression. However, I found it hard to feel with Laurel. Laurel was numb, most of the time. And I get that - it's the shock that the life as you know it is over, and that you have to pick up the pieces and make the most of it. But after the numbness, Laurel got angry. At least, that was what it said in words, but I didn't feel it. The words didn't come across. In her angry moments towards David, she wasn't half as angry as she should have been. I felt like Castle may have hold back in terms of letting out the emotions that come along with dealing with her loss, and that's a shame.

Another thing that bothered me was that there wasn't really a climax that was worked up to during the entire story. Sure, it has a plot and I really appreciate the message that Castle wants to tell us, but there wasn't much more. I was hoping there would be some kind of event that Laurel (or David for that matter) was working towards. But there wasn't and that made it feel like a bit of an anticlimax. The story continued at a rather flat line and didn't have many ups or downs.

BUT don't let my review scare you. I've heard from others that they really like the book and personally, I really liked Castle's writing style. I read this 400+ page book within 24 hours so her writing definitely kept me reading. I would have loved to see more extreme emotions, as I like to call it, like extreme sadness, extreme anger or maybe extreme joy by acting like you're doing fine (but obviously, you aren't).

Writing about depression is a difficult subject and I haven't seen it done that often in YA, so I am really glad to see that Castle touches such a delicate subject. The message is clear: "happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light."

My overall rating: 3/5


Three stars for The Beginning of After. There where was nothing, there is now an After.

(this review is published on my blog, http://lvngbooks.blogspot.com)

Rating: 4.5

Ever since I saw the cover of this book and found out if you liked "If I stay" and "The truth about forever", I wanted to read this.

Stories that deal with the loss of family/family members are always sad but Jennifer Castle did it well. I liked how you follow Laurel through the story but you always find out about what happened to David and how the death of his mother and his dad that is in a coma after the accident deals with loss. I thought you handled everything very well and David just went off the deep end a little bit. I'm glad Laurel had her grandmother to help her out after the accident because she probably wouldn't have acted the way David did.

I like how art and working at the animal hospital kind of "saved" her and how she really was able to heal slowly but surely.

I like at the end you find out where Laurel decided to go off to college. I hate when some books leave you hanging and don't tell you what happens to the main character that you have grown to like.

The Beginning of After is a moving tale of grief and hope. Laurel's parents and younger brother are killed in a car accident during her junior year of high school. With the help of her only remaining relative, her grandmother, Laurel tries to pick up the pieces of her life, while forging a tentative connection with David, the son of the man responsible for the accident.

Although I found the writing to be a bit clunky in the first couple of chapters, it got much better, and I was so caught up in the story that any minor writing issues didn't bother me. Laurel's grief felt very realistic. There weren't a lot of big, sobbing, grief in all caps sort of moments. Her grief is quiet and very real. She's trying to get on with her life, but sometimes she doesn't know what to do next. Everyone in her life is walking on eggshells around her, and she just wants to feel normal again.

I liked Laurel's growing relationship with David. The two were once childhood friends, but they haven't been close for years. In the aftermath of the accident, David is also an orphan of sorts (his mother is dead and his father is in a coma). In the months after the accident, he drifts in and out of Laurel's life. They're connected by their shared grief and by David's dog, Masher, who Laurel looks after. David isn't an easy person to like, but there's something between them that Laurel can't deny, even when he's frequently gone from town.

I really enjoyed this book. Laurel is a likable, realistic heroine, and I was caught up in her struggle to keep her life together in the face of her terrible grief. Despite the sad topic, the author keeps the story from becoming too depressing, and there's an undercurrent of hope running through the book.

I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.

I didn't expect to like this book so much. Everything about it: the way it handled its content, the characters, the writing, it just worked. I felt choked up sometimes but not overwhelmingly so. I felt like I went through the grieving process with Laurel without drowning in it. I devoured this book in an afternoon, and enjoyed every second.

The only note that drew me out of the story were the text messages. It felt way too trendy to misspell/abbreviate practically every word. It was hard to understand and just looked ridiculous (did the author not realize there isn't a word limit on texts now?). But aside from that, the teenagers felt like teenagers, the adults were two-dimensional, the writing just clean and readable.

I'll have to keep an eye out on this author.

It was a good book but to be honest it was sooo anticlimactic like so predictable

After all of the hype involved with this book that I have seen around the world wide web, I was a little hesitant on reading and reviewing this book. I wanted it to be as great as what I have heard and didn't want to be disappointed. How can you go wrong with tortured teen angst involving death, forbidden love and life changing events that will shape a teen into a young adult?

The first part of the book was slow in pace for me. I kept wanting it to pick up and move on already. I started to lose interest in Laurel almost halfway through the book because of the constant reminders that her life is lonely without her family. I can understand the devastation that can be involved when you lose your entire family at once due to some horrible accident, but I was getting a little tired of reading her sob story every few pages. I wanted to shake her and tell her to get a grip and move on! There is still life out there that she needed to be living.

I also wanted to read more about David but the author kept writing him out of the story over and over again. Maybe having David travel was in the best interest of the character, but it wasn't in the best interest to keep the reader interested in the story. I needed more interaction between Laurel and David to keep me interested and would have loved to have seen them work through this crisis together. Instead, both characters had to work through it alone with the exception of Laurel's Grandmother.

Overall it was just an okay book that might appeal to readers of slowly paced angst. I prefer a little more action and dialogue between the two main characters to keep me interested for a long story.

Full review on Sniff Books, Not Drugs: http://tinyurl.com/44k98q6

To Sum It Up
Sincere story about loss, tragedy, and acceptance. Heartbreaking characters that support one another and the readers as well.

Thanks a bunch, Netgalley!

It took me a while to get into this book. I don't know if it was really that long. I read it in a day. But, the beginning felt dragged out. Maybe it could have been condensed? Laurel is a likeable enough character. So is David. It might have been nice to get some of David's point of view. But, maybe this wasn't the right type of YA book for that. Laurel's parents and brother die in the same accident that kills David's mother. Maybe David's father is to blame. David and Laurel haven't been friends in years since they were much younger. David is now friends with a group of kids that are called The Railroads or something like that. Laurel is an excellent student. Extracurricular activities and all. The thing I did like about the book was the realistic stages of grief. The way Laurel behaved with her Nana and best friend. I am unsure about her and David's relationship. Not unsure. Just... David's way of dealing with the grief was to be gone. Emails, random visits, and a kiss suddenly had Laurel making decisions based on him. Although the ending did seem organic. I would recommend.