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A review by chronicreader96
Afterwards by Charlotte Leonard
5.0
Rounded up from roughly 4.5 stars ⭐️
Afterwards follows Emma on her journey after finding that her husband has taken this own life. She finds 5 photographs that her husband has taken and tries to find out what they mean and where they were taken. Could this journey lead her to a life she never expected?
I read this book when I was experiencing grief due to the loss of a dear loved one. At times, it felt like a sucker punch to the heart. But by the end I was left in tears because Charlotte was able to perfectly capture exactly the sentiment of what I felt towards my loved one. I was nervous going into this that it would break me, but I actually found this book to be really healing for me. Just like Emma’s journey after her loss, I wonder what my journey may contain. I loved some of the quirky and fun characters in this book, particularly Jane. My only issue was that some of the characters had very similar names (like Jane/Jude, Claire/Carol). It’s very possible that this was done on purpose, but it did confuse me at times.
This book covers some very dark topics that some may struggle to read, so please approach it with caution. Sometimes the book flashes back to a memory, I found this added a lot of depth but it also took me a while to be able to focus back on the present timeline. Charlotte’s writing is beautiful and vivid, I just wanted to soak it all up. But this can be overwhelming when difficult topics are discussed. Overall this is a story of pure love. Not just romantic love, but love in all its forms. I also adored the Cornish setting of this book, and was giddy when I saw my home town mentioned! I felt like I was being cuddled by my home county, and it made me further appreciate the beauty of where I live. I also loved the super short chapters! I always love how this helps me feel like flying through the book!
I recommend this book to fans of contemporary fiction but please be considerate of possible triggers. I want to thank Tandem Collective, Simon & Schuster and Charlotte Leonard for allowing me to read this book and give my personal thoughts.
Afterwards follows Emma on her journey after finding that her husband has taken this own life. She finds 5 photographs that her husband has taken and tries to find out what they mean and where they were taken. Could this journey lead her to a life she never expected?
I read this book when I was experiencing grief due to the loss of a dear loved one. At times, it felt like a sucker punch to the heart. But by the end I was left in tears because Charlotte was able to perfectly capture exactly the sentiment of what I felt towards my loved one. I was nervous going into this that it would break me, but I actually found this book to be really healing for me. Just like Emma’s journey after her loss, I wonder what my journey may contain. I loved some of the quirky and fun characters in this book, particularly Jane. My only issue was that some of the characters had very similar names (like Jane/Jude, Claire/Carol). It’s very possible that this was done on purpose, but it did confuse me at times.
This book covers some very dark topics that some may struggle to read, so please approach it with caution. Sometimes the book flashes back to a memory, I found this added a lot of depth but it also took me a while to be able to focus back on the present timeline. Charlotte’s writing is beautiful and vivid, I just wanted to soak it all up. But this can be overwhelming when difficult topics are discussed. Overall this is a story of pure love. Not just romantic love, but love in all its forms. I also adored the Cornish setting of this book, and was giddy when I saw my home town mentioned! I felt like I was being cuddled by my home county, and it made me further appreciate the beauty of where I live. I also loved the super short chapters! I always love how this helps me feel like flying through the book!
I recommend this book to fans of contemporary fiction but please be considerate of possible triggers. I want to thank Tandem Collective, Simon & Schuster and Charlotte Leonard for allowing me to read this book and give my personal thoughts.