The After Girls

The After Girls
Leah Konen
303 pages
Released: April 18, 2013
Publisher: Merit Press
Source: the publisher
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Sydney and Elle are going through a rough time after their best friend, Astrid, commits suicide in their secret cabin.  They're each dealing with the pain differently, but then weird things start to happen and they must come together to figure out what's going on.  How can it be that Astrid is dead, yet Elle is receiving Facebook and text messages from her?

I thought this book was going to be a lot more paranormal than it was, but I still wasn't disappointed because it took on human emotions seriously and honestly.  Not only are Sydney and Elle dealing with the death of a loved one, but as the book goes on we get to learn more and more about Astrid, her psychology, and what led her to commit suicide.  There's also Astrid's mother, a character who is experiencing some dark emotions as well.  In that way, The After Girls is a little bit heartbreaking, but also honest and raw.

The one issue I had with The After Girls was the dynamic between Sydney and Elle.  They're supposed to be best friends, but several times as I was reading I was wishing they would tone down the drama and just be there for each other.  But of course, everyone deals with loss in different ways and they were both experiencing other problems in their lives (read: boys) so perhaps that's why they butted heads so much.

Four stars!  Throughout the novel, The After Girls kept me interested, which is impressive since I've been feeling pretty scatterbrained with my reading recently.  I recommend this one wholeheartedly for those readers who like to read about loss and mystery.