The Everafter by Amy Huntley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 248 pages
Published October 1st 2009 by HarperCollins (first published September 16th 2009)
purchashed hardcoverBook Blurb from Goodreads: Madison Stanton doesn't know where she is or how she got there. But she does know this - she is dead. And alone in a vast, dark space. The only company Maddy has in this place are luminescent objects that turn out to be all the things she lost while she was alive. And soon she discovers that, with these artifacts, she can reexperience - and even change - moments from her life. Her first kiss. A trip to Disney World. Her sister's wedding. A disastrous sleepover. In reliving these moments, Maddy learns illuminating and frightening truths about her life - and death.
My Review: This book kept me thinking through the whole book how did she die? What did each object mean to her and how did she lose them? I must say that this idea is pretty unique, connecting objects to going back to spots in your life where you lost them. The learning about each thing to help you understand who you are and how you lived. It was really thought provoking to me since I have lost my mom and brother to cancer. Now each object is not given it's own chapter but over all that is how the chapters are set up which helps you understand what is coming and to not get lost in the story. However there was a few times when there were multiple jumps between objects and time periods (from very young then to teenage) which was a little jaring at first. One jump I didn't care for was the baby one it was a little weird even though it was there to show how much she remembers her mom and associates her to safety and love. The underlying love story between her and her boyfriend and the love of/and for her friend was heart wrenching because you know something bad happened. There were a few clues about what happened to Maddy. I thought about 2 ways her death could happen and the way it did was one of my ways I had thought. The actual event doesn't happen until the very last chapter of the book and I thought that was appropriate because while the reason for her death was all Maddy wanted she actually learned things about herself she didn't know before dying and became ready to let go with what happened. I was sad that the story ended and I want to know more about what happened to her friend even though we get the epilogue. Since Maddy didn't meet her family or her friend in the "Am"/"Is" we don't really know. But I think that Maddy's death really helped her friend in the long run. The one thing I didn't like was that she only sees/talks with 2 people in the "Am/Is". I would think there would be more people but maybe that is the Everafter and not there. Maybe they are alone so they can learn why they are there. Again makes me think. I am still thinking about this book the next day. A very thing for a book to do~ For parents there is some cursing, slight mature subject matter appropriate for teens only (kissing, making out, drugs, alcohol, physical abuse). I think these topics were handled with a light hand and not very graphic as some teen books I have read.
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