Book Review: Afterwards, by Rosamund Lupton

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Afterwards, by Rosamund Lupton
★★★★ 1/2

Synopsis: There is a fire and they are in There. They are in there . . . Black smoke stains a summer blue sky. A school is on fire. And one mother, Grace, sees the smoke and runs. She knows her teenage daughter Jenny is inside. She runs into the burning building to rescue her. Afterwards, Grace must find the identity of the arsonist and protect her family from the person who's still intent on destroying them. Afterwards, she must fight the limits of her physical strength and discover the limitlessness of love.
In A Sentence: A very good and unique mystery

What I Really Had Fun With: First off, I really thought that the narration was interesting. It was told in first and second person. The main character, Grace, was recounting the story to her husband, referring to him in the second person. It was my first time reading a story that did this type of narration, and I found it gave the novel a little something extra, something unique from other novels.
Secondly, I thought it was interesting that Grace was actually in a coma the entire time the mystery is being solved, a ghost who tries to put the pieces together while her friends and family go on with the investigation. It worked really well, as it allowed the reader to follow different characters as they went through their investigations.
Finally, it was a good mystery. It was written well, making you feel for the various characters without having your heart wrenched in two. The plot worked well, with a good pace and no disappointments. You end the novel feeling good overall about the turnout. Very nice.
My One Issue: The only issue I can think of is at the end, when the culprit did one final bad thing, but it doesn't seem to have any actual negative affect on anyone. Admittedly I was in a hurry when I was reading this part (it was in between my private lessons), so maybe I missed the importance, but that little part seemed unnecessary. Otherwise, I can't think of anything important.
In A Nutshell: I really enjoyed this book. I'm not ready to declare it a favorite yet, but only because I want to see if it survives the scrutiny of a second reading. It is definitely worth a look. Strongly recommended!

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