I’m inclined to give this 2 stars but I’m rounding up to 3 stars because it’s a lovely piece of art with some lovely writing, but overall it’s a bit baffling. I think it’s an allegory . . . ? There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding characters and plot points and not in a good way.

I think there is a disconnect between the content and the target audience. This is marketed as / shelved with middle-grade fiction but I can’t imagine the situation in which I would give this to anyone under the age 12. (And I can’t think of many people over the age of 12 I’d recommend this to.)

8 word review:
Started strong.
Enigmatic middle.
Didn’t stick the landing.

Retain my sad, but with a nuance that lets kids know that the author is an adult who understands that while they are young, their feelings are strong and real.

The Afterwards by AF Harrold is a touching tale of friendship, the power of love, and the pain of loss.

'I am Cat, and I walk alone, and all paths are open to me.'

December and Happiness are the best friends. They do everything together. Then one day, Ember arrives at school and Ness isn't there. She learns at an assembly that Ness has died. A terrible truck by another shows Ember the way to the Afterwards, the place souls go to wait until they are freed of memory. Animals go here too, and each species stays a certain amount of time, some only moments, others days. Humans longest of all. Guided by a mangy alley cat who travels, as all cats do, wherever he pleases, Ember finds Ness in the Afterwards. And she finds someone most unexpected. But the living aren't meant to be in the twilight realm of resting souls, no more than the dead are meant to cross back over.

This was a touching story, dark and sad, yet full of promise. It speaks to love- of family and friendship. I adored the fact it played off my favourite of Kipling's 'Just So Stories'. Scattered throughout are gorgeous pencil sketches. The sidestory with Ember's uncle was kinda f'd up. Like, how did no one notice the dog? I did like how the Afterward was presented. No heaven or hell. It was simply a place of resting that allowed the energy to be returned to the universe. This fit quite well with my own spiritual beliefs.

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Bloomsbury Children's Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Beautiful. Spooky. Heartbreaking. Great illustrations. I really enjoy this one. There is a common theme of death in children's fiction this year, but this has been my favorite one so far.

Ember and Ness are best friends in this grim tale. When Ness dies, Ember learns there is an inbetween place where Ember still exists. She believes she can bring Ness back to the real world. I struggled to finish this one because it was so grim and there were questionable aspects of the story. Ember learns of her friend's death not from her father but from the school principal at an assembly. Then she is basically kidnapped and traded for a dead dog by her uncle. Of course this lets her know about the inbetween place but still uncle should have been punished. The book is just so sad and depressing, not at all what I would want to give a kid to read.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one. It is a very dark read and I do love my children's fiction dark but something about this doesn't hit the mark for me in that respect. It is just sad. I've seen comparison's to Neil Gaiman who is masterful at writing dark kid lit but this is dark in a different way and suffers for it. The illustrations are wonderful but I always love Emily Gravett's work.

This book has that same eerie feeling as The Imaginary, but it takes it a bit farther. It is more for readers who enjoy a scary book than a book to share with a child who is dealing with a loss. It is advertised on one site for students in grades 3-6, but I would lean toward the upper end of that for most children.

DNF at 34%

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

The Afterwards was super disturbing, and definitely not a book I want my children to read. First of all, their names were a little confusing (December and Happiness/Ember and Ness), but that was easy to overlook. I can appreciate when an author tries to be unique and original with words. However, I wish the characters had mentioned why they were given those names.

I didn't get very far into this one, so I can't comment on the book as whole, but I disliked how the characters were portrayed at the start. Her friend dies, and she receives the news from the principal at her school. I thought the information was delivered in strange way, with all the kids sitting on the floor in front of him. Wouldn't you assemble a large group of children in a gym or auditorium? It also felt impersonal and careless, even though the characters were emotional.

After the death of her friend, Ember is approached by an uncle that she doesn't see very often, and he tells her that she's supposed to come with him because her father is busy with his girlfriend. Red flag! Red flag! Ember knew this was an odd request, because her father always tells her when his plans change, so she should have asked to go back inside the school and call him. She should not have left with him just because they were related.

Her uncle was super shady about the details, and very vague when she asked him questions, yet she was willing to follow him in circles despite knowing it wasn't the way to her house. Also, what he did was unforgiveable. She should have said something to someone when it was over, but she chooses not to so she can question him on her own. The guy essentially kidnaps her, and she doesn't tell her father? She didn't have to tell him the unbelievable aspects of what happened to her (her visit to the afterlife or whatever), but she could have told him that her uncle picked her up from school and abandoned her somewhere unfamiliar.

If your child has lost a friend or loved one, please keep them away from this book. The Afterwards will likely terrify them, and make them worry about their own deaths. When Ember finds her friend in the gray place (for lack of a better term), she was alone, confused, and scared. I don't want my children to worry about what's going to happen to them when they die (not at this age), and to even consider the possibility of it looking anything like what's described in this book.

Oh, and there's a talking cat that wasn't explained. Shouldn't she have been more concerned with that? Ember also knows she isn't dead, but she's in a dead place, and she actually wants to stay. Kudos for friendship, but she's also a child and should have been more afraid. Why doesn't she want to live? I'm seriously having a hard time wrapping my head around this one, and cannot think of a single positive aspect to end this review with.

This is a book I was eagerly anticipating, but as its release got closer, reviews were mixed. Some said it was too sad. Some said it would be helpful for grieving readers.
You all know I read a lot of what people call sad books for kids. Stories that tackle tough topics. I believe they are very important.
So yes, this story is a bit dark, and very hard to read in that not every step of the way is happy for Ember. But Harrold’s prose is poetic and his approach is authentic and I found myself grateful to have read this in the end.

I loved super sad books when I was a kid (my mom was apparently a little worried about me, but I just liked reading them because thankfully nothing sad happened in my life so it was my way of releasing those emotions, I think). Anyway, I would have loved this! But, for any child that has gone through the loss of a childhood friend, I do not think this is the book for them.

December (Ember) loses her best friend in a freak playground accident, and - as any child would - would do anything to get her back. When she discovers a way to get into the limbo world where the dead go immediately after death, she hatches a plan to bring her friend back into the world of the living.

I did really enjoy the alternate world, and I thought the authors did a brilliant job at tackling a tough subject (death) through the eyes of a child. However, I found it a bit repetitive as she kept going back, and my heart broke for her throughout as I knew it had to end the way that it did. (I'm concerned that children reading this might root for them to the bitter end and be even more distraught at the outcome!) I liked it, but it definitely needs the right reader, and I'll have a hard time recommending it.

This is an interesting book. I am not sure who I would recommend this book to but I defiunitely think there is an audience for this title. The author's creativity and imagination comes through in the imagery and the illustrations are beautiful. This book tells the story of how a girl deals (or doesn't deal) with the death of her friend. The afterwards is a strange place where the girl is taken by her uncle. She finds her friend again and her long deceased mom. She attempts to help her friend come back to the world of the living. I think the concept is dark but also intriguing and emotional so it keeps the readers attention. I think there are many middle grade students who would enjoy this story. It definitely fits the description given by the publisher. I think we do not see many books of this type written for children. It should not be seen as a book to give to someone who is grieving a loss.

I didn’t enjoy this book and I’m not sure that I’d be able to recommend it to anyone. I do believe books about loss are important, but this didn’t feel like the right book for that topic in my opinion.

This is a really difficult book and I have a hard time imagining myself giving it to one of my patrons. When December's best friend dies in an accident she is deeply saddened. Eventually, her uncle realizing that the girl needs some help and takes December to see her friend in the afterworld. December then hatches a plan to help her friend escape. I think that some parents would be really upset if I shared this with their kids.

A tragic story that everyone needs at some point in their life. Watching December try to figure out life after the loss of her other half was heartbreaking, but, I believe, a necessary lesson for the middle-grade audience.

The imagery was lovely, where the language was simple (perhaps too simple) when moving the reader between the living world and the afterwards. A wonderful blend for much younger readers who are not quite out of elementary school, but not quite squarely in the realm of middle-grade.

Perhaps the only reason I would not suggest The Afterwards is that an adult leads December to find the afterwards. She is led there, quite literally by the hand, which removes her agency and desire to find her friend after her sudden death. I understand the need for some adult interaction but wish that we’d been left to suffer ever so slightly more to just attempt to get to the emotion of the piece before we got to the fantasy of it.

RATING 🌟🌟🌟

I didn't like this book. I wouldn't even know who (age range) to recommend it to. The cat reminded me of the cat in Coraline By Neil Gaimon. I get that she wanted her friend back. But over and over again she was told that wasn't her friend. Happiness didn't want to go and didn't seem to be able to even if she had wanted. The Uncle was creepy and I don't know how her life is going to be after. Also, the Mrs Todd character...who, what, huh?! Why didn't she like the cat? Even worse than the Uncle was the Mother. The cat was pretty much the only thing I liked about this book. I got this book as an ARC from Net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Children's Books and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

3.5 stars.

The true winner of this book are the visual aspects. They're clearly well thought out and add a LOT to set the mood of the story. There was one set of pages that were on a different color scheme that definitely hurt my eyes, but I think this particular section would look better in print than on a computer screen.

As a book, this is DEFINITELY stylistically similar to Gaiman or Dahl (as is stated in the synopsis). Hilariously enough, I decided that and then saw that's how they were marketing it. This is... dark. Like, very dark. And I think I would really have enjoyed it as a kid, so I don't necessarily think dark is bad. However, it's not really something I would give to a kid to be therapeutic. This is not a book to hand to someone who has recently suffered a loss. Additionally, I'm kind of stuck on what ages this would be for. It's pretty short (about 200 pages) and the fact that it is illustrated would deceive people into thinking it should be recommended for younger children than I could imagine generally being able to handle this level of darkness. Amazon says 8-12 yrs old, I'd say more like 10-14 (obviously dependent on the individual kid).

Overall, this is beautifully (and creepily) illustrated and very well written, just very intense.

The Afterwards is about a young girl named December and her best friend, Happiness. Happiness and December are never apart. Whether it’s playing at the park, having a sleepover, or whispering in class, Ness and Ember are together. When Ness suddenly dies, December is all alone. One day, her uncle picks her up from school and Ember learns something that will change her life forever. She finds out that she can go into the afterlife, and she makes a plan to save Ness. When she finds Ness though, Ness acts like she doesn’t want to be saved. Will Ember bring her back, or will Ness turn to dust? 
I was really excited to read this book since I had read another book (The Imaginary) by this author and loved it. I was right to be excited. This story was really great. Right from the beginning, this story really captures your interest. The characters were well developed. By giving us the character’s background, I felt like I knew Ness and Ember. I was able to picture the characters in my mind clearly (even before I looked at the illustrations.) I also felt as if I was a part of the characters emotional journey. I became invested in their story and felt as I if were experiencing what they were going through in some parts. I did feel like the ending wasn’t very satisfactory because it didn’t end how I thought it was going to but overall I really enjoyed the book. If you like this book, I also recommend A.F Harrold’s other book The Imaginary. I look forward to reading the next book this author writes.

Wow this is a heart-wrenching book. I can see how it would be okay for older kids to read to learn about death and how life can still go on after something tragic has happened. But it is still a hard one to get through.

I think the illustrations really help the story a long and show the contrast of the two worlds.
Harrold is an amazing author and this is a great story to have out in the world, just not for the very young.

Spoilers!!

This was a very dark story of how a girl deals with the death of her friend. I saw it as too dark for many kids (even advanced readers) with the uncle trading his living niece for a dead dog and then the mother trying to hold on to her and keep her in the “afterwards”. It was well written, just a little too much.

The Afterwards tackles a hard subject for everyone, especially kids. That subject being the loss of a loved one and what happens when one dies. December is a young girl whose best friend, Happiness, dies suddenly. Happiness' death is hard on December, as December struggles with the grieving process. Determined to bring Happiness back, December travels back and forth between the world of the living and an in between place where people and creatures go upon death. During the back and forth, December finally finds peace and resolution at the end of the story. Emily Gravett's illustrations beautifully enhance this story.