Wow, what an excellent family drama this was. If you want a heartwrenching, tear jerker with all of the emotions in a drama, please read this. I was so impressed with Tompkins' writing style. There are some trigger warnings including animal cruelty. It is hard to believe this was a debut! I cannot wait for more by this author!

This book is a deep look at grief portrayed in a way I'm not sure I've seen in any other book. At first, it almost comes off as a thriller/mystery, and then turns into more of a family novel.

This is a heartbreaking story about loss, grief, and forgiveness. A small, close-knit community in Washington is grieving when two of the local teenage boys die in an apparent murder/suicide. The families of the boys are still processing the loss when a young, clearly pregnant girl appears in their midst. Her name is Evangeline, and she quickly and quietly moves into their lives. Each character carries a burden, and only through trusting the fragile connections will they begin to heal. What Comes After is unforgettable!

Overall, this novel was entertaining and I loved unraveling Red's involvement between the two boys and seeing how she and Isaac create this makeshift family through the strain and difficulties of the not knowing who the father is and how Isaac has trouble coping with his son's death, unable to process his grief. I wish we would have gotten more Lorrie because I found her character resilient and strong as well as getting Daniel's perspective.

This is a beautiful book exploring grief with secondary themes of family and abuse. The characters are all well developed and believable with depth and flaws. I don't normally like alternating point of views as I find it distracting but in this story it worked. I would have enjoyed it even more without the addition of the prologue.

In a small town in Washington state, a popular teen is murdered and his best friend commits suicide, confessing to the murder in his suicide note. A single father and a single mother are left grieving the deaths of their sons. When a homeless pregnant teenager shows up in the neighborhood, all the secrets will be revealed and all the sorrow, grief, and loneliness will come to the surface.

I loved this book. It's not an easy read at times. The emotions are strong and every character does something that will leave you shaking your head in disbelief, but ultimately it's a story of resilience, humanity, faith, and empathy. The story is steeped in beliefs and practices of the Quaker religion, but it never descends into either proselytizing or denigration. Yes, this could be called "Christian fiction" or a faith-based story, but this is not a "feel good" story with a happily-ever-after ending. This is real life. I felt attached to each character and cried and cheered along with them.

NOTE: Although the town is called Port Furlong, the setting is clearly Port Townsend, WA and it's obvious that the author lives there. The descriptions are spot-on, and locals are sure to recognize many locales. Quite fun!

What Comes After, at first, reads like a mystery. In the end it turns into a heartfelt story of finding a family and redemption. I would recommend this one.

"What Comes After" by JoAnne Tompkins is an excellent story of grief, loss, hope, forgiveness and a mystery all wrapped into one novel. The story was compelling and it was very well-written.

I have to preface my review by saying my purpose for reading it--I am always looking for adult titles with youth appeal for the older side of my high school library (Juniors and Seniors). I thought this might fit the bill, because of its plot focused on teens and also the mystery element, which is a popular genre among my students. What Comes After was a book I enjoyed very much. I thought the exploration of grief and the moral ambiguity of both Jonah and Daniel were well done. I also appreciated the exploration of Isaac's Quaker faith. It was a good read for an adult...just not a good fit for even my sophisticated YA crew.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great mystery novel. Highly recommend.

this was a good story. though i expected a thriller there was a good mystery in the background. covers topics of grief, loss, forgiveness.

Great suspense novel and read alike for We Begin At the End (last year’s hot suspense read). Should be on all mystery suspense lovers’ lists and may possibly be one of the best of 2022. Recommended for mature teens and up- teen readers will empathize with the voices of the teen protagonists as their story unfolds. 5/5 stars. Recommended.

3.5 stars!

I wasn’t sure what to expect before reading, because I only briefly skimmed the synopsis. However, the story ended up taking on a much darker and heavier tone.

Told from multiple POVs, WHAT COMES AFTER tells the story of a tragedy as two teen boys are dead and a pregnant teen girl who appears in their community.

It covers themes of grief and loss of a loved one, to found family, love and secrets.

*many thanks to Riverhead and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Wonderful book - I enjoyed the characters, the writing and the plot. I would definitely recommend this book!

I wanted to like this book, but I found it to be bit tedious. It wan an interesting concept, but I could not begin to care about any of the characters.

After the death of two teen boys, Daniel and Jonah, and the appearance of a pregnant teen girl, Evangaline, a community is rocked by the secrets death and life bring. Isaac, alone in his grief, tries to fill the space and find closure over Daniel's death. Lorrie, a working single mother, widowed by her abusive husband, tries to cope while also grieving Jonah. The two families are brought together by an unsuspecting Evangaline.
Told from the POV of Evangaline, Isaac, and a deceased Jonah, this book covers the love, secrets, and loss of a community in Washington state. Though a "mystery" novel, the mystery of the boys' deaths is revealed early on in the book so this was more of a novel of the "mystery" of...what comes after...death.

I was not expecting this book to be as dark and heavy as it ended up to be. From the premise you know that there are two murders that happen before the story starts and it mentions the boys' parents coping with the tragedy. I don't know why I thought this was going to be more of a hard hitting contemporary story about grief and acceptance through the people that connected the two boys.

I was WAY wrong. It was more of a really dark mystery with undertones of a lot of physical and mental abuse. Some content warnings include death of a child, suicide, child abandonment and neglect, sexual assault, and . homelessness. I usually don't seek stories with heavy content like this one and I was definitely not the intended audience for this book.

The characters were extremely unlikable and failed to make me care for them. I really did not enjoy it and it pains me because I thought I was really going to love it. I think I can see why people like it, but this is not the content that I enjoy reading. Nonetheless, I think the writing was really good and this being a debut novel shows promise for this author's career.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Riverhead and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

What Comes After is an unfortunate tale of the way all of our lives are connected whether we realize it or not. The story focuses on the challenging path to forgiveness and overcoming grief. It definitely pulls at your heart strings and makes you feel all of the feelings.

Read through this rather quickly. It is quite fast-paced an engaging. Tompkins definitely provided an entertaining story with this work.