Review: NOT AFTER EVERYTHING by Michelle Levy

NOT AFTER EVERYTHING

by Michelle Levy

Publication Date: August 4, 2015

Published by Dial Books

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher via Netgalley

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Tyler has a football scholarship to Stanford, a hot girlfriend, and a reliable army of friends to party with. Then his mom kills herself. And Tyler lets it all go. Now he needs to dodge what his dad is offering (verbal tirades and abuse) and earn what his dad isn’t (money). Tyler finds a job that crashes him into Jordyn, his former childhood friend turned angry-loner goth-girl. She brings Tyler an unexpected reprieve from the never-ending pity party his life has become. How could he not fall for her? But with his dad more brutally unpredictable than ever, Tyler knows he can’t risk bringing Jordyn too deeply into the chaos. So when violence rocks his world again, will it be Jordyn who shows him the way to a hopeful future? Or after everything, will Tyler have to find that future for himself?

My Thoughts

I should have been better prepared for the heartache captured within the pages of this book. Not After Everything involves suicide, verbal and physical abuse, and bullying, and even knowing these things prior to starting the book, I still wasn't prepared for all of the emotions I would experience. Once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop because I had to know that Tyler was going to make it out okay. 

Not After Everything shows that we all deal with grief in different ways. When you top that off with fear and guilt and shame, you can get a confused, lost, sad, person who acts out like Tyler did. What he experienced was too much to handle on his own and it overwhelmed him. It was overwhelming to read. The scenes with Tyler and his father were the hardest to read. They were unimaginable and devastating, but quite often they are someone's reality. I found myself fighting back tears. Other times, I just let them flow. 

Throughout the story, there are people who enter Tyler's life who show him compassion and want to help him. They offer him some hope. Once he begins to be more honest with all that his is experiencing, he becomes vulnerable is able to embrace the generosity and sincere concern. 

I loved Jordyn's character. There was such an honesty to her in the way she interacted with Tyler. Knowing his reputation and their shared history, she was guarded in offering him her friendship. She has her own story to tell and we get to know it as she begins to grow closer to Tyler. As they became closer and their friendship started to become more, it's apparent that their love story wasn't going to be simple, but I was enthralled reading every page of it.

From this review, one would think that this is the saddest book that I'd ever read and one might question why would anyone want to pick up such a sad book. To that I would say, I like sad books. I like books that make me feel vulnerable and emotional and overwhelmed. And I would also say that Not After Everything isn't just sad. There is humor and hope, and SO MUCH LOVE that it is also overwhelming. And maybe, just maybe, I couldn't find the correct words to express that here.  It's a book that I'm glad to have read and hope it finds its way into the hand of readers just when they need it. It is definitely a recommended read!

Disclaimer:  I received this e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the e-ARC provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: Blaze (Or Love in the Time of Supervillains) by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Blaze (Or Love in the Time of Supervillains)
by Laurie Boyle Crompton
Published by Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 1, 2013
Pages: 309
Source: ARC provided by Author and 
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(from Goodreads)

Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines, drawing comics and feeling invisible. She's desperate for soccer star Mark to notice her. And when her BFF texts Mark a photo of Blaze in sexy lingerie, it definitely gets his attention. After a hot date in the back of her minivan, Blaze is flying high, but suddenly Mark's feelings seem to have been blasted by a freeze-ray gun, and he dumps her. Blaze gets her revenge by posting a comic strip featuring uber-villain Mark the Shark. Mark then retaliates by posting her "sext" photo, and, overnight, Blaze goes from Super Virgin Girl to Super Slut. That life on the sidelines is looking pretty good right about now...

My Thoughts

I've been excited about reading this book since I first found out about in February 2012 when it was originally titled Fangirl. I had to wait almost a year for it, but it was definitely worth the wait and totally met and exceeded any expectations that I had. I am a complete and total fangirl of Blaze the book and Blaze the character, pun intended!

Blaze is the seemingly average girl who spends her days toting around her younger brother, playing soccer mom, wishing she spent more time with her friends, and trying to catch the eye of her latest crush. She has a passion for comics and drawing - creating her own superheroes with powers.  

What I love most about Blaze is how funny and sarcastic she is. She gives her younger brother and his friends a run for their money. The scenes of her driving them around in the minivan, not so lovingly nicknamed Superturd, are some of the most hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments of the book. 

Blaze does eventually catch the eye of her crush, Mark, and then things go farther than she ever imagined. In the middle of their make-out session, Mark asks her if she wants to stop and she says no. Blaze thinks to herself,

"Except that I don't think I entirely understand what answering no means. Or, more to the point, I don't know what I've said yes to . . ." (pg. 132)

I thought it was pretty realistic how Crompton dealt with Blaze's first sexual experience - sometimes it sort of does just happen. It wasn't unwanted or aggressive, instead just rushed, and awkward, and not what she imagined it was supposed to be like.

When Mark isn't the dream boy who Blaze thought he was and finds out that she is just one of the many girls in a long line of love-them and leave-them, she gets revenge in the best way she knows how - through comics. She creates her own comic - The Blazing Goddess vs. Mark the Shark which she posts online. While this seems like a great idea because she's telling her story and getting her aggression out, you just know it's going to end badly. As I read it, I kept thinking -have you forgotten about the half-naked photo Mark has if you?! It's moments like this - when I am talking to the characters - that made me love this story and the character so much.

I cannot praise this book enough. It was fun and entertaining and while Crompton does address issues like gossip and bullying and the repercussions of "harmless" (as if there is such a thing) sexting, she doesn't beat you over the head with it. She weaves her ideas into a character you want to cheer for and gives us a story of how that character deals with it, learns from it, grows from it, and moves on. I can already tell this is a book that I will be recommending for some time, will read again and again, and share from my bookshelves as often as possible. I LOVED IT!!!!!

OH AND THE ART WORK - how could I forget to mention it?! Throughout the book, you get to see what Blaze is drawing and can see her story of The Blazing Goddess getting the best of Mark the Shark. The artwork wasn't included in the ARC, so I went and purchased a finished copy the weekend that it came out. It is FANTASTIC!!!!!
  
Disclaimer:  I received this ARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the book provided. Quotes were taken from the Advanced Reading Copy and may differ from the final published version. Thoughts and opinions are my own.