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sarahpreno's review
4.0
I really loved this book...up until the ending. I felt like I still had so many questions when the book ended and while I loved the book anyway, it would have been AMAZING had at least some of those questions been answered in the ending. I was kind of left hanging and somewhat disappointed in an otherwise awesome read.
rmarcin's review against another edition
4.0
Emotional roller coaster for Ellie after she loses her best friend.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books you pick up intending to read only a few pages and then suddenly find you can't put down. If you like authors like Elizabeth Berg and Elin Hilderbrand, I highly recommend this book about friendship, marriage and the healing power of books.
Ellie and Lucy have been best friends since childhood. When Lucy is attacked and murdered while walking her daughter to school, Ellie drops everything - her job, her husband - and flies to the UK. Lucy's 8 year old daughter Sophie, who witnessed the murder, is refusing to speak and Lucy's husband Greg is falling apart. Ellie realises that she is needed, so she stays on - prompting a crisis in her own, already rocky, marriage. As the bond between her and Sophie grows, Ellie finds it increasingly difficult to think about going home.
I truly loved the first half of this book. It drew me in immediately and I could barely put it down. The second half was still okay, but less compelling. It felt like the author had got stuck and struggled to keep the momentum going. There was a not very interesting sub-plot with Ellie's parents that felt like it had been put in to pad the book out (although it does play a part in the conclusion). The male characters are also very sketchy. However the central storyline and female characters kept me interested. Ellie was such an interesting and flawed heroine (in fact I got really annoyed with her and the way she abandoned her husband, refused to say when she was coming back and then played the victim when he felt that was unreasonable of her). The friendship between Ellie and Lucy was also pleasingly complex.
I did felt let down by the ending. I wanted to know what happened next! The characters had become so real to me that I found myself wondering how they are doing now (silly, I know).
Ellie and Lucy have been best friends since childhood. When Lucy is attacked and murdered while walking her daughter to school, Ellie drops everything - her job, her husband - and flies to the UK. Lucy's 8 year old daughter Sophie, who witnessed the murder, is refusing to speak and Lucy's husband Greg is falling apart. Ellie realises that she is needed, so she stays on - prompting a crisis in her own, already rocky, marriage. As the bond between her and Sophie grows, Ellie finds it increasingly difficult to think about going home.
I truly loved the first half of this book. It drew me in immediately and I could barely put it down. The second half was still okay, but less compelling. It felt like the author had got stuck and struggled to keep the momentum going. There was a not very interesting sub-plot with Ellie's parents that felt like it had been put in to pad the book out (although it does play a part in the conclusion). The male characters are also very sketchy. However the central storyline and female characters kept me interested. Ellie was such an interesting and flawed heroine (in fact I got really annoyed with her and the way she abandoned her husband, refused to say when she was coming back and then played the victim when he felt that was unreasonable of her). The friendship between Ellie and Lucy was also pleasingly complex.
I did felt let down by the ending. I wanted to know what happened next! The characters had become so real to me that I found myself wondering how they are doing now (silly, I know).
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
What do you do when the person who knows you best is killed in a random act of violence? How do you cope? How do you help her daughter cope? These are the questions that Buxbaum is attempting to answer in this book.
For the most part I believe that Buxbaum accomplishes what she sets out to do in "After You". Using a book (The Secret Garden) to connect Ellie with her friend Lucy's daughter is a great device. Although I have never experienced the pain this book is addressing - I felt like the story was true and the tale hung together very well.
My only quibble with this book was the description of the book itself in the ARC I received. It claimed that Buxbaum writes in the same style as Jodi Picoult. This does a disservice to Julie Buxbaum. I think she has her own excellent style.
For the most part I believe that Buxbaum accomplishes what she sets out to do in "After You". Using a book (The Secret Garden) to connect Ellie with her friend Lucy's daughter is a great device. Although I have never experienced the pain this book is addressing - I felt like the story was true and the tale hung together very well.
My only quibble with this book was the description of the book itself in the ARC I received. It claimed that Buxbaum writes in the same style as Jodi Picoult. This does a disservice to Julie Buxbaum. I think she has her own excellent style.
marie_gg's review against another edition
3.0
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2011/08/after-you-grief-times-two.html
Ellie Lerner's best friend, Lucy, is murdered in broad daylight--in front of her 8-year-old daughter--in an upscale Notting Hill neighborhood. Ellie flies to London to be with her goddaughter Sophie and help Lucy's husband pick up the pieces of their lives.
While she's grieving the loss of her close childhood friend, she's still mourning her son Oliver, who died in utero at eight months gestation. Ellie's difficulty in moving past her deep-seated grief has put her marriage at risk. While she's escaping her own commitments back in Boston, her husband wants her to return home, but she just can't.
To comfort themselves, Ellie and Lucy escape into Francis Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. Sophie is an unusually bright, too-blunt-for-her-peer-group child, and she has endured more than any child should. I had to chuckle while reading her father's response to Ellie's suggestion that Sophie go to a therapist (because of bed wetting and nightmares)...reflecting the prevailing opinion that therapy is too American and completely unnecessary for the stiff-upper-lip British. Sophie returns to school a scant few days after watching her mother be murdered, because the headmistress convinces her father that "she should get right back into the swing of things. Routine, structure, and all that. Good for kids. She said that breaking from that will shake Sophie up even more."
Through the process of mourning Lucy (and discovering that Lucy was keeping at least a few deep dark secrets from her and she didn't know her as well as she thought), Ellie realizes that she hasn't fully mourned for Oliver. Instead she's been trying to escape her own feelings of loss.
Buxbaum effectively and sensitively handled the issues of grief, including the different ways people grieve (and not to assume that someone is not grieving just because they grieve in a different way from you). One thing I realized about the characters, though: I would not have liked Lucy. She came across as shallow, unfeeling, and snobby. The most egregious thing she did was after Ellie lost her baby: her first response was to tell Ellie she could always have another one. Perhaps she was stunned and didn't know how to react. But after the losses I have experienced in my own pregnancies, I cannot imagine being able to move beyond that kind of completely insensitive comment. Although Ellie was upset about the comment, she didn't seem to think it was quite as horrible as I did.
I'm always attracted to stories about Americans in England or vice versa, so I enjoyed this book overall. Buxbaum lives in London and has done an excellent job representing the British culture through American eyes.
Ellie Lerner's best friend, Lucy, is murdered in broad daylight--in front of her 8-year-old daughter--in an upscale Notting Hill neighborhood. Ellie flies to London to be with her goddaughter Sophie and help Lucy's husband pick up the pieces of their lives.
While she's grieving the loss of her close childhood friend, she's still mourning her son Oliver, who died in utero at eight months gestation. Ellie's difficulty in moving past her deep-seated grief has put her marriage at risk. While she's escaping her own commitments back in Boston, her husband wants her to return home, but she just can't.
To comfort themselves, Ellie and Lucy escape into Francis Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. Sophie is an unusually bright, too-blunt-for-her-peer-group child, and she has endured more than any child should. I had to chuckle while reading her father's response to Ellie's suggestion that Sophie go to a therapist (because of bed wetting and nightmares)...reflecting the prevailing opinion that therapy is too American and completely unnecessary for the stiff-upper-lip British. Sophie returns to school a scant few days after watching her mother be murdered, because the headmistress convinces her father that "she should get right back into the swing of things. Routine, structure, and all that. Good for kids. She said that breaking from that will shake Sophie up even more."
Through the process of mourning Lucy (and discovering that Lucy was keeping at least a few deep dark secrets from her and she didn't know her as well as she thought), Ellie realizes that she hasn't fully mourned for Oliver. Instead she's been trying to escape her own feelings of loss.
Buxbaum effectively and sensitively handled the issues of grief, including the different ways people grieve (and not to assume that someone is not grieving just because they grieve in a different way from you). One thing I realized about the characters, though: I would not have liked Lucy. She came across as shallow, unfeeling, and snobby. The most egregious thing she did was after Ellie lost her baby: her first response was to tell Ellie she could always have another one. Perhaps she was stunned and didn't know how to react. But after the losses I have experienced in my own pregnancies, I cannot imagine being able to move beyond that kind of completely insensitive comment. Although Ellie was upset about the comment, she didn't seem to think it was quite as horrible as I did.
I'm always attracted to stories about Americans in England or vice versa, so I enjoyed this book overall. Buxbaum lives in London and has done an excellent job representing the British culture through American eyes.
waclements7's review
4.0
Life is really messy
I’m not sure what to say about this book right now—it’s well written, the characters are relatable and real. It’s _so_ real I had to stop reading at points, read something cheerful, and come back to it. But I think it’s a really good book—life is just really complicated and difficult sometimes.
I’m not sure what to say about this book right now—it’s well written, the characters are relatable and real. It’s _so_ real I had to stop reading at points, read something cheerful, and come back to it. But I think it’s a really good book—life is just really complicated and difficult sometimes.
hiltzmoore's review against another edition
4.0
I probably liked this book more because of the theme than the actual writing. I liked the exploration of the different ways that we grieve. The loss of a child vs. loss of a parent vs. even the loss of a relationship. The writing wasn't always great, but I appreciated the theme.
mrs_george's review against another edition
3.0
The emotions expressed throughout the story really helped to carry the book. The plot is nothing really new, the characters are all familiar but the way the emotions were expressed was handled in such a real and raw way.
rtate29's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
bheadley's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn’t put this down… seriously read in a day! I loved the complicated lives of all involved and the difficulties finding resolution. My heart went out to all of the characters in this book. I have such tender feelings for the whole cast!