After Life: The tear-jerker masterpiece from the bestselling author of If I Stay

After Life: The tear-jerker masterpiece from the bestselling author of If I Stay

By Author / Illustrator

Gayle Forman

Genre

Bereavement

Age range(s)

16+

Publisher

Hot Key Books

ISBN

9781471418310

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

16-01-2025

Synopsis

One spring afternoon after school, Amber arrives home on her bike. It's just another perfectly normal day. But when Amber's mom sees her, she screams. Because Amber died seven years ago, hit by a car while on the very same bicycle she's inexplicably riding now.

This return doesn't only impact Amber. Her sister, Melissa, now seven years older, must be a new kind of sibling to Amber. Amber's estranged parents are battling over her. And the changes ripple farther and farther out: Amber's friends, boyfriend, and even people she met only once have been deeply affected by her life and death. In the midst of everyone's turmoil, Amber is struggling with herself. What kind of person was she? How and why was she given this second chance?

This magnificent tour de force by acclaimed author Gayle Forman brilliantly explores the porous veil between life and death, examines the impact that one person can have on the world, and celebrates life in all its beautiful complexity.


'Gayle Forman reigns as the queen of breaking hearts with a touch of magic.'  Adam Silvera, author of They Both Die at the End

Reviews

Sue

Cycling home after school one day, Amber Crane notices a few things are different; however, nothing prepares her for the shock of her mother screaming in horror when she sees her. Amber should be dead. Victim of a hit-and-run seven years ago. Her death sent shockwaves of grief through her family and friends, impacting even those who barely knew her. So how is it possible that she has returned - and why?


After Life is a very powerful and thought-provoking novel, exploring ideas around grief, love and how one person can affect others in varying ways. Told from differing view points through shifting time frames, the story builds the picture of what happened to Amber, her relationships when alive and the aftermath of her death, exploring the range of ways people respond to and cope with (or not) surviving the death of someone they knew, particularly one so young.


There is much to absorb here. Her parents' relationship - a love-at-first-sight dream match - cannot withstand the loss of their child; nor can the close bond of her mother and aunt. The building of the back story here through the time shifts and differing viewpoints emphasises the weight of what is lost. Similarly, it allows the reader to learn that not all in Amber's life was as she thought it was, meaning her loss is weighted with guilt and regret for others who knew her.


There is so much to this moving story, but one of the most powerful elements for me is how Amber's sister, Melissa, has kept her relationship with her sister alive after death by continuing to have conversations with her, nurturing her love for her and finding comfort in this way.


After Life is a beautiful book - have tissues at the ready!


272 pages / Ages 16+ / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 14+

 

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