After by Amy Efaw

Gut Instinct Rating - 3.5

Story Line - 4

Writing Style - 3

Characters - 4

Excitement Factor - 1

Believability for type and topics - 5

Similarity to other books - 5

Cover art -

Dust Jacket Art - 3

Title Relevance - 5

Goodreads users gave this book a 3.73. I think it was more deserving of a 3.72.

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Referred by: @thecrookedshelves

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Published in 2009.

Pages: 350.

Number of books by author: 2.

Genre: YA Fiction.

Gut Instinct Rating - I would've probably given this fewer stars, but I think it was a "half-way day" type of book. The book felt really incomplete and beyond repetitive. The story itself could've been great, but overall, I just felt like I was missing a lot of things I needed. This will be going to the donate box.

Characters were fairly well done. I found Devon to be completely annoying (which is basically the only character we really hear from), so that was pretty much the reason this area didn't get 5 stars. The remaining/supporting characters were all really well defined and they had a specific personality. Devon, who is supposed to be someone who is strong-willed, knows who they are, is confident in themselves, basically felt like the person with more self-pity than everyone else in the world combined. It was very much, "Poor me, boo-hoo."

Belivability was on point. This actually happened just down the street from me with a senior in high school. The story was very well researched and the author knew where she was going.

Uniqueness was also a bonus. I've not read another book with this specific story line, and I'm glad I hadn't. I don't know that I could read multiple books with this specific story line.

Writing Style felt very immature. It would be easier for a 5th grade-read. The writing style specifically felt catered towards young readers, when this is really intended for an audience between 14-18.

Story line was good. I really didn't care for the ending or the missing "it-factor." I'm not sure what that is, but the book felt incomplete for sure.

Title relevance was there. It was a good matching title, although, there are hundreds of other titles and I probably wouldn't have picked "After" if this were my book.

Dust Jacket Artwork was bland. A girl against a wall, which I don't think was a great representation. It would've been kind of cool to see Devon looking into the mirror and on one side, she sees the un-pregnant soccer star and the other could see a scared, pregnant teenager.