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Marylegs (44 KP) rated After Before in Books

Aug 14, 2019  
After Before
After Before
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received After Before, a while ago as a first reads book. I started it a while ago, but have recently re-picked it up and became completely engrossed by it. The pause in reading this book was not based on how engaging I found this book. But rather I was focused on other books I was reading. Once I dedicated my time to this book however, I couldn’t stop. When I wasn’t reading it I was thinking out it, and it was based actually about a point of history I didn’t know about, or at least didn’t know a lot about.

The book focuses on three women, who through chance are pulled into each others lives. There is Vera, newly engaged and newly discovering her faith in god. Her fiancé Luke, a devote Christian is helping her to change her life for the better, to move forward and overcome her past. But there is so much more to her past than she has told Luke and she finds it impossible to move on and become better while she still hold onto these secrets. Luke is Vera’s link to Lynn, his mother, who has found out she has terminal cancer and has to relinquish her control on the life. As she comes to terms with her illness and what will be her untimely death she relives elements of her life that she resents and was unable to achieve because of the choices she made. Vera tries to help care for Lynn, but the two cannot come to terms with each other and so Emily, originally from Rwanda, is brought in to care for Lynn. Emily is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, and has not come to terms with all that she has seen, or what was done to her. She drifts through her life never wanting to remember her past but forever at its whim. The story flits back and forth through the present and the past for each of the three women. All with different stories but all in pain and unable to let go.

I found Emily’s story the most interesting, I could have read a book just about her and how she learns to deal with the horrible event that has overtaken her life. Her flash backs are so well written, graphic in places, but dignified to the history that these people have to live with. We hear a lot about the injustice and the horror of the holocaust, which happened in the Second World War. But learning about the Rwandan Genocide through Emily’s 12 year old eyes really touched me. I could feel the fear building, know what was to happen but having to control over it. Knowing that the people who were yesterday your friends are no longer that.

This is a brilliantly written book about forgiveness. That without forgiveness, whether that is for yourself, through god, or for other people, that you will not be able to move on and truly live. Would highly recommend it is however not a light-hearted or emotionally easy read.
  
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Louise (64 KP) rated Camp Midnight in Books

Jul 2, 2018  
CM
Camp Midnight
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Skye is on her way to her fathers house for the summer, since the seperation of her parents she spends the holidays with him while her doctor mother travels to Rwanda. Skye really hates staying with her father and not because she doesn’t love him, it’s the evil step-mother (Gayle) or in Skye’s terms step-monster! Skye’s father, step -monster and even mother have a suprise in-store, instead of staying with her dad she is to go to Summer Camp! To Skye this is worse than staying with the Step-monster, but to make her father happy she agrees to go. Only when they arrive at the station they are very late and buses are starting to leave, in haste her father sees the bus ‘Camp Midnight’ and informs Skye thats her ride. Upon stepping on the bus Skye soon realises that some of these other kids are not normal and she is clearly on the wrong bus. She befriends Mia and they plan to stick together throughout their time at camp. Camp Midnight is full of witches, werewolves and other monsters of the night, Where the regime is to sleep through the day and wake at midnight. There are all sorts of activities which Skye is set that she is not participating, the group want her to reveal her inner monster but can she?

I enjoyed this book it was an easy quick read and humourous in places even when there were no words the pictures alone were comical (no pun intended) The writing text that was used was sometimes hard to read i.e. Mia looked a lot like Ma because it was so close together. I wasn’t a massive fan of the artwork it had a retro feel to it, the colours were mostly blue, red, orange and green but did complement the story well.

Skye obviously never took her parents separation well and with becoming a teenager, along comes the bitterness and sarcasm which is ineveitable in this stage of life. She is hostile towards her step mother and generally not a nice kid to be around. But true to its form a story like this would’t be worth telling if it didnt have, self discovery, friends, a love interest and also that can people can be different to what they appear to be.

Mia is the timid friend that Skye meets on the bus. Discovering that Mia has been here before and that she has enjoyed it they vow to stick with each other to ride the time out. Mia is very shy, appears to being picked on at the camp for being different and likes to be by herself but will not reveal her true-self to Skye as she believes that she will leave and once again become friendless.

The parents were just vulgar and neglectful, the step-mother was a bitch (sorry had to be said) and the father was easily persuaded by her and backed down and obeyed her demands like a dog…….THIS IS YOUR FRIGGIN KID FOR GOD SAKE!!!. Though I have to say, why is the step mum always evil? I know some great step mums! Annoying trope alert.

This book is not scary whatsoever, yes it has witches, werewolves and other mosters in there but the monster is used as a metaphor for teenagers, with them being confused of who they really are, moodswings etc etc….you get what I am getting at.

I would say this is for middle-grade to teens – it’s not scary but send out an important message.

Overall I rated this 3 stars