Book Review: The Everafter by Amy Huntley

The Everafter by Amy Huntley

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: September 16, 2009

Hardcover, 248 pages

My Review:
The Everafter is another powerful young adult after-death book.  I have just read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and while they deal with a similar subject, each author handles their book very differently.  So don't think just because they are after-death books they are the same.  Definitely not.  And no I promise this review won't compare the two - I wouldn't do that.  Each book should be considered on it's own merits.

From the start Madison is a likeable character, she has awakened and has no idea where she is.  She realizes she's dead and she's unsure how she got there, but there are things, things that she lost while she was alive that are floating in this world.  If she touches these things she is transported back in time to when she lost the item and she sees the scene again and again if she wants.  As Madison drifts through different places in her life, loving some, feeling sorrow at others and completely icked out by others, you get to know Madison.  It's a very interesting way to learn about her life. As she learns about her life and remembers, she starts to wonder about her death and as the end of the book grows near she gets closer and closer to finding out about this. 

The plotting is very well-done, I thought the book was well-paced.  I was never bored.  I found each small aspect of Madison's life to be very interesting and everything moved Madison to the ultimate end of the book.  I also enjoyed the characters, Madison is a great character, likable, caring, she's still a typical teenager and she takes things for granted, but going back to these times she sees that.  I liked seeing her and her best friend, Sandra and also her boyfriend Gabe.  They added to the story and the development of Madison's character.

A very well done young adult novel.  I loved reading every minute and look forward to reading more of Ms. Huntley's books.

My Rating:  4.5/5.0

About the Book:
Madison Stanton doesn't know where she is or how she got there. But she does know this - she is dead. And alone in a vast, dark space. The only company Maddy has in this place are luminescent objects that turn out to be all the things she lost while she was alive. And soon she discovers that, with these artifacts, she can reexperience - and even change - moments from her life.

Her first kiss.

A trip to Disney World.

Her sister's wedding.

A disastrous sleepover.

In reliving these moments, Maddy learns illuminating and frightening truths about her life - and death.

About the Author:
Amy Huntley says that a colleague's musings were the spark that inspired the everafter:

"I've always had a tendency to attach myself to the objects of my life, so when one of my friends said something like, ‘Wouldn't it be funny if all those things you lost turned up after you were dead, just when you didn't need them anymore?' it got me thinking. But I wanted to believe there would be a purpose to their reappearance. As the story evolved, I realized that Madison's quest to make peace with moving on to the Everafter is really the same battle that everyone goes through as they grow and become someone new."

Amy lives with her husband and daughter in Michigan, where she is a teacher of high school English.

FTC Information: I checked this book out from my wonderful library system for my reading pleasure.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.