I'm not even sure where to start with this review. I just put down the book and my hands are vibrating. I guess I should start by saying that "After the Fire" is not my typical book. I read YA fiction. I picked up this book because the cover looked enticing and it was signed by the author. When I started reading it, it became clear to me that Hill's book is not YA. Despite the fact that it's out of my genre, I absolutely loved it.

I loved his descriptive style. He doesn't treat the reader like they're stupid, which is an amazing concept. He gives us just the right amount of description to form the scene in our mind's eye, but leaves enough room for us to draw our own conclusions.

The plot is twisted and gut-wrenching in the best way possible. It's so dense that I had to take small pauses between chapters to fully understand and make connections between plot points. Speaking of chapters, the way he set up this book is incredible.

Hill has the book divided into "Before" and "After" chapters, but they're not in a row. Time jumps between present and past in an artful way. I usually hate books that jump in this fashion, but he knows what he's doing. He gives you enough information to understand where in the timeline you jumped into.

The majority of this book is set actively inside of a therapy session, with our main character unleashing her traumatic event to a professional. Books like this usually bore me because they're too much talking and not enough showing. His "Before" and "After" chapters retell what happens to her so she doesn't have to say it to us, but she still communicates the events to her therapist while we're living it as readers. It's pure genius.

I absolutely loved this book and I would read others by Will Hill. Definitely recommend it, even if it's outside of your typical genre.