Official Review: After by Barbara Ehrentreu

sphillips44 · Post by **sphillips44** » 05 Sep 2015, 20:01

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "After" by Barbara Ehrentreu.]

3 out of 4 stars

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After is a young adult novel that depicts the life of fifteen year-old Lauren. Lauren is a softball fanatic with a love for the Mets. One night while she is watching the Mets game, her mother receives a phone call that will change the way their lives in ways they never thought possible. Dad has had a heart attack.

To begin, readers are brought through the range of emotions a family must go through as they learn a loved one is in bad health. From anger and frustration of dealing with multiple doctors and not receiving any answers to pain, sadness and fear for the worst case scenario.

Naturally, teenage girls tend to turn to their best friend in a time of crisis. For Lauren, that person is Joey, her best friend since kindergarten. As she dials his phone number, she is relieved to hear his voice on the other side of the phone and is surprised when she feels comfort in hearing his voice on the other end.

With a little faith, love and understanding Lauren is able to find ways to cope with her father’s illness and figure out exactly how she is feeling for her best friend, even if he is dating another girl. As readers follow the journey of Lauren and her dad’s health, they are also brought into a parallel story of friendship and first love coming together.

The story bounces back and forth from hospital life to everyday high school dramas, but the author, Barbara Ehrentreu, was able to keep this story flowing without confusing the reader. Being written in first-person narrative gave this story a more personal feeling, while the use of metaphors helps readers to better understand the experiences the characters are going through.

The characters are realistic and relatable which makes this story even more enjoyable. I especially liked the use of foreshadowing throughout the opening chapters, allowing readers a glimpse of what may or may not happen in the pages to come between Lauren and her relationships with her father and Joey.

Readers embark on the emotional roller coaster that comes with the trauma of a parent having a sudden heart attack, to the confusion of falling in love. This book is easily relatable for the targeted young adult audience, especially for girls just entering high school and for this reason I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars.

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After
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Kappy · Post by **Kappy** » 07 Sep 2015, 10:56

Good review. What would the book need to get that fourth star?

bluemel4 · Post by **bluemel4** » 07 Sep 2015, 12:17

Good Job pointing out that the author uses first person POV as a narrative style and keeps the story flowing and fluid. This sounds like a wonderful coming of age novel.

sphillips44 · Post by **sphillips44** » 08 Sep 2015, 11:18

Kappy wrote:Good review. What would the book need to get that fourth star?

To get the fourth star, I would recommend the author adds a little more detail to the story. The main reason I didn't give four stars was because it does jump from being happy to sad so much from chapter to chapter along with the setting (from hospital to school). Had the transitions been a little smoother, I would have easily rated this story 4 out of 4.