Title:  The Beginning of After [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Jennifer Castle [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre:  Contemporary
Publisher: Harper Teen
Series: None
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher (via BEA)
Parental Advisory: death, language
Teachable Moments: dealing with grief

Describing Venus (from publisher):
Laurel’s world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident.  As she tries to piece together the shards of what remains in the eerie stillness of life after the tragedy, DAvid — the son of the man responsible — swoops in an out of her life.  Laurel finds herself attracted to him against her better judgment, and their connection will change them both in unexpected ways.

How Mars & Venus Don’t Meet:
Oh how I wish I loved this book.  I really wanted to, a lot.  The copy on the back had me hooked months in advance of publication.  I mean, I’m a fan of emotional and angsty stories like this.  Sadly, The Beginning of After fell short on both.

To start, there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of originality to the story.  Though I wasn’t expecting it to be wildly unique I was hopeful that there would be a few twists and turns that made it stand out a bit.  But that didn’t happen.  Furthermore, what would have helped would have been dynamic characters that built strong connections which also were not present.  Laurel and David were bland and their romance lacked the spark or chemistry needed to make it understandable given the circumstances.

With the exception of the last several chapters of the book, where there was some remote emotional connection for me, this book felt flat.  That it took well over 200 pages to get to a place of significance; a place where it wasn’t just completely benign didn’t work for me.  Now, this may have been a conscious choice on the part of the author.  Perhaps she wanted readers to feel as numb to the situation as Laurel was. In that way, I suppose it was successful.  But as a person who likes to feel hopeful and inspired or at the very least have the ability to root for things to get better I was left feeling at a loss.

The Beginning of After wasn’t a book I had to put down completely. It was easy to read and I was interested enough in it to see how it all ended.  It just fell short of my expectations and desires.

Maybe your Mars & Venus Align:
My inability to get into this book should not be the only thing you hear.  I’d much prefer you end on a positive note.  Please visit these reviews to get more information and make a more informed choice:

The Allure of Books
Miss Remmers’ Reviews
Books with Bite
Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf
A Musing Reviews