Afterwards
Just finished Afterwards, by Rosamund Lupton. I thought I'd do a little review on it, to get it out of my system. Its so nice to write things out after reading a book, it sort of gives me closure, something I often struggle with once I'm thrown out of the world of a book. Do you ever get a bit startled? Like suddenly ending up in real life again is a little disconcerting? It really gets me when I have to put down a book that I've put my heart and soul into, like the Hunger Games, but even in just random reads like this.
It was a wonderful book, just really emotional and sweet, with kind of stinging bits about death and cruelty and regret. But the thing is, it never felt gritty or depressing; it was very optimistic and explored all kinds of love, especially that between a man and woman who have been married for many, many years, and the love between a mother and daughter. And, I guess, just family relationships in general. I was really pleased with it, although I do think there were some major flaws.
First off, it was extremely wordy and repetitive; I think it could have been about fifty pages shorter. She'd sometimes state some philosophical bit about love or life, and then, three chapters later, say "I know I said this, but I guess it's not really true." And then, later, "It actually is true, because blah blah...." and then continue to contradict herself (or her contradictions.) The thing is, it wasn't just one thought or idea she did this with, but so. Many. I had no idea what she was getting at by the end.
And also, she did something that I guess was supposed to be a part of the mystery, which was giving you at least seven "realizations" about who committed the crime. It was enough to give me whip lash. One or two good "oohhh" surprising "lead you to the wrong conclusion then stun you," moments are fantastic in a mystery, but oh my gosh there were so many.
Oh, and she wrote something about Mormons that was ridiculous, in that it wasn't at all true. I find that very unprofessional. Some people feel the need to take jabs at the LDS church in any form possible, but for heavens sake, at least use an actual fact that you disagree with, instead of some hokey rumor, otherwise you look like an idiot. It was so unnecessary, had nothing to do with anything she was writing, and offended a lot of potential readers.
Her characters, though, were unbelievably real, and she was amazing at describing complex relationships in refreshingly new ways. Her metaphors were really effective. And her description of motherly love, gah, heartbreaking! And the idea of death in it was treated really well.
Anyway. There's my review. I don't really know what my overall thought is... I don't think I'd go around recommending it to people, but it was a great summer read.
It was a wonderful book, just really emotional and sweet, with kind of stinging bits about death and cruelty and regret. But the thing is, it never felt gritty or depressing; it was very optimistic and explored all kinds of love, especially that between a man and woman who have been married for many, many years, and the love between a mother and daughter. And, I guess, just family relationships in general. I was really pleased with it, although I do think there were some major flaws.
First off, it was extremely wordy and repetitive; I think it could have been about fifty pages shorter. She'd sometimes state some philosophical bit about love or life, and then, three chapters later, say "I know I said this, but I guess it's not really true." And then, later, "It actually is true, because blah blah...." and then continue to contradict herself (or her contradictions.) The thing is, it wasn't just one thought or idea she did this with, but so. Many. I had no idea what she was getting at by the end.
And also, she did something that I guess was supposed to be a part of the mystery, which was giving you at least seven "realizations" about who committed the crime. It was enough to give me whip lash. One or two good "oohhh" surprising "lead you to the wrong conclusion then stun you," moments are fantastic in a mystery, but oh my gosh there were so many.
Oh, and she wrote something about Mormons that was ridiculous, in that it wasn't at all true. I find that very unprofessional. Some people feel the need to take jabs at the LDS church in any form possible, but for heavens sake, at least use an actual fact that you disagree with, instead of some hokey rumor, otherwise you look like an idiot. It was so unnecessary, had nothing to do with anything she was writing, and offended a lot of potential readers.
Her characters, though, were unbelievably real, and she was amazing at describing complex relationships in refreshingly new ways. Her metaphors were really effective. And her description of motherly love, gah, heartbreaking! And the idea of death in it was treated really well.
Anyway. There's my review. I don't really know what my overall thought is... I don't think I'd go around recommending it to people, but it was a great summer read.
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