I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

In the beginning, we're introduced to Ash and Poppy's burgeoning relationship, set against the backdrop of their lives in Brighton. The portrayal of their experiences as brown girls, alongside Ash's best friend and little sister, was the highlight for me, offering a rich exploration of identity and connection.

Despite my initial excitement for the book's paranormal elements, they ultimately left me underwhelmed. Following Ash's death, it seemed her character was stripped of autonomy, her motivations narrowed down to a singular desire to reunite with Poppy. This, to me, diminished the complexity and depth her character could have offered, reducing her to her relationship with Poppy rather than expanding on her individuality.

Additionally, the narrative includes a moment of transphobia from Poppy that goes unaddressed, which was particularly disheartening. Poppy's response to Ash's declaration of her sexuality, "Same. I'm strictly clitly," excludes and invalidates the identities of women without vaginas, reinforcing a narrow and exclusionary definition of lesbian identity. This line, though brief, perpetuates harmful stereotypes and overlooks the diversity within the LGBTQ+ community.

Despite these issues, I found the writing style and setting compelling, and the premise of the plot held promise. However, the realization of these elements was only partially successful. Overall, I was left feeling meh.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I an unable to review this title, as it was archived before I had a chance to download and read it. This feedback is only to stop this title from adversely affecting my netgalley feedback rate. If in the future I have the opportunity to read this title, I will post a proper review here.

WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME OF HOW SAD THIS BOOK IS?!?!?!?

THIS BOOK. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD IM ACTUALLY CRYING LIKE WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO NOW???I WILL NEVER KNOW PEACE

The plot is so unique and fast paced I couldn’t stop reading!! AND THE CHARACTERS. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH😭😭😭

Please everyone READ THIS BOOK I don’t know how to cope with anything rn

Simple. Soothing. Heartfelt.

Afterlove is an easy read that promises a fresh outlook on death with strong queer representation. It felt as though it read in three acts. The first deals with identity. The second deals with loss. And the third deals with the process of coping.

It is very hard to give a review without giving anything away. But I will try.

In this book Tanya Byrne clearly made herself vulnerable on the page, exploring grief in many of its facets and providing the reader with a rainbow of emotions. I will admit that I dove in strong, hot with the anticipation of knowing what was going to happen but not when or how. (Had I read the dustjacket, I may not have had the same level of suspense.) During the transition, however, Byrne nearly lost me.

While young love is inherently cringy, I had already rolled my eyes many times over at the way Ash and Poppy's relationship played out on the page. Mind you, I am more of a skeptical romantic than a Hallmark kind of girl, but I still like to be kept guessing.

So when we started to see the structure for Ash's life as a reaper, I could not help but see Dead Like Me.
(Dead Like Me the 2003 series by Bryan Fuller NOT Dead to Me the 2019 show produced by Netflix starring Christina Applegate. If you know, you know.) To the point that my plagiarism bells began wringing. I am glad that I pushed through to the ending, however. It left me content.

I would have liked to see more on the supporting cast, but perhaps there is room for a sequel in the future?

All-in-all, even though the consequences felt null and void in a book about death, and I might have liked to see an alternate ending, I am grateful that I stuck around.

Afterlove was not necessarily profound, but poignant. A book that will resonate deeply with those who need to hear that no matter who they are, how they identify, or how hard life gets there will always be hope. Perfect for teens or preteens struggling to learn who they are in their own skin. The Afterword by the author really tied it all together and reminded me that even as adults it's okay to not have your life together all of the time.

Because it made me feel deeply, serving its purpose, I have decided that Afterlove deserves four instead of three stars. Not something I will revisit, but will definitely stick with me for some time.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Godwin Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. Review based on final copy. All opinions are my own.
Afterlove is a wonderful, original gem of a book. It’s simultaneously a love story and exploration of the impact of grief, written from a very real place, and it ultimately hits hard.
I love the structure of the book, being split into “Before” and “After.” It allows the reader to become invested in the love between Ash and Poppy in the first part, before thrusting the reader along with Ash into the new role of reaper in the afterlife. And once the transition occurs, I loved the grief Ash experiences for her past life, even if it is a bit centered on the lost potential of her romance with Poppy.
I really like the concept of the afterlife and the reapers. It’s fairly easy to follow, and the fact that the reader takes it all in with Ash helps with the learning curve. She spends time learning the rules, and I like how there is some setup with other people she helps, prior to encountering Poppy again.
While this book is a love story, not a genre romance, and it doesn’t have a definitive happy ending, there’s definitely strong romantic elements here. And more open-minded readers may be open to the ending, which leaves things open to a possible reunion, even if it doesn’t ultimately happen on-page.
I really loved this book, and am curious to read more from Tanya Byrne in the future. If you’re into love stories involving spirits and the afterlife and/or narratives with poignant musings on grief, I recommend checking this out!

This book was like a gut-wrenching breath of fresh air. Absolutely packed a punch and hurt my feelings but allowed me to process some of my own trauma with our characters. I loved it so much that I had to go out and buy a copy for my personal shelves!

I have very conflicted feelings about this one. Overall, it's a beautifully written book and is a good read. But the "before" part is just so much better than the "after" that it really made me struggle reading the after.

I loved watching Ash and Poppy fall in love, but it felt like that was all there was to it. In the after section it felt like Poppy was Ash's only motivation and she didn't have anything else about her anymore. She'd felt like so much more of a fleshed out character in the before section.

The ending felt like it lacked the emotion I wanted to be there. Like there was all this buildup in the before section, after fell flat, and then the end was even flatter. This led to me not caring much about the characters and not feeling invested.

I wanted sad, beautiful, and tragic. I got beautiful in the writing and the ending was sad but none of the emotion felt super strong. I'd wanted so much to love this book and it just didn't work for me

Such a perfect sapphic romance. This is one of those stories you pick up and can't put down until it's over. You'll laugh, love and cry with these characters as you watch them fall in love.

Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #afterlove

Cover Story: Purple Rain
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Talky Talk: Before/After
Bonus Factor: Dead Like Me
Anti-Bonus Factor: Harry Potter
Relationship Status: Insta-love

Cover Story: Purple Rain

I never meant to cause you sorrow… This cover is gay and I love it. Two girls kissing among a plethora of purple moths, bathed in purple light—it’s gorgeous!

The Deal:
Ashana Persuad is tired of being the girl that other girls “experiment” with. She wants to find her One—someone who is out and wants to be with her publicly. When Ash meets Poppy on a school field trip, they fall instantly in love. Only a few months into their relationship, however, Ash is hit by a car and killed. As the last person to die on New Year’s Eve, Ash becomes a grim reaper, and is destined to walk among the living, ferrying souls to Charon. What happens, then, when Poppy recognizes Ash after her death? What does this mean for Poppy? Ash is determined to find out.

BFF Charm: Big Sister

I could feel Ashana’s hope when she first meets Poppy, and the love that comes with their relationship is palpable. When they are separated by death, I wanted to give Ash a big hug, and tell her everything is going to be okay – even though it’s not. I mean, she’s dead! But when they meet again after Ash becomes a grim reaper, I wanted to believe that things will work out.

Swoonworthy Scale: 7

This is a romantic story, y’all, even with the sad theme. Poppy and Ash’s relationship is electric. You could easily imagine them living for years together, marriage, babies, the works. They are that in love. And the book shows us their highest highs, which makes for a swoontastic read.

Talky Talk: Before/After

Ash and Poppy live in England, so their language is spotted with all sorts of fun Britishism stuff such as trains and mini-marts and rubbish. It was cool to rewire my brain to acclimate to the accented voice. I could sense the sea spray of Ash’s small town near the shore, and hear the clanking of the train when Ash and Poppy go to London to visit the Tate Modern.

The book is laid out as before and after Ash’s death: Ash and Poppy’s beginnings, and then Ash’s new identity as a grim reaper. But we know that Ash is a grim reaper from the prologue, so I was waiting for half the book for her to die, as her and Poppy’s relationship surged forward. It was hard not to feel bad for the two, destined to be separated by death.

Bonus Factor: Dead Like Me

Did anyone else love this Bryan Fuller show about a girl named George who dies and becomes a grim reaper? I can’t help but suspect that it influenced this book, especially with Deborah, the head grim reaper of her group, using Post-It notes to deliver reaps. The parallel to the show is what drew me into this book in the first place and on that count it didn’t disappoint.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Harry Potter

I get that Harry Potter is a huge influence on readers and authors alike, but in the year 2022 do we really need to have multiple mentions of HP in young adult books, especially after YEARS of JK Rowling’s transphobia on her social media? Like, don’t give Jo any more publicity! We can make Rosh, Ash’s little sister, nerdy-cool in some other way. Maybe she could be a Neil Gaiman fan.

Relationship Status: Insta-love

From the moment I started this book, I felt that I would love it: and I did! Though there are a few slower spots to wade through, my overall impression of the book was very favorable and I would read more by this author.

This was such a fun read! It was very reminiscent of "They Both Die At The End" but with more relationship development. I really enjoyed learning about the characters and promptly being heartbroken. Overall it had a pretty hopeful tone though which I admired. The relationship was pretty Insta love which overall isn't my favorite but worked well here. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A good concept with a good execution.

Ash was a wonderfully developed -- I really enjoyed her character, especially in the first half or so of the book. She could sometimes be very single minded but that was the entire point, so. Poppy was a good love interest too, complex enough to be interesting but to not overshadow our protagonist.

The side characters were largely good enough. Some of them I found mildly annoying -- I felt as though the whole found family thing was a little rushed. But, they all served their purposes. Ash's family relationships were very well developed and it made me wonder about why that was abandoned in the second half of the book.

The world building was passable; nothing intricate or exceptional, just enough to fuel Ash's journey, which I quite liked. Nothing felt overly forced within this book: everything served a purpose.

The writing was what stood out to me: a lot of the book was written in a descriptive but relatable way and I enjoyed the final message. The plot was a little bit more tragic than what I am used to, but the writing made it worth it.

Overall, a heart twisting, beautiful love story that I definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder Children's Books, the FierceReads team, and Tanya Byrne,

Trigger and Content Warnings: discussion and descriptions of death, homophobia, car accident and stabbing scenes,

AFTERLOVE by TANYA BYRNE is a young adult romance following two girls, Poppy and Ash, as they are navigating their love before and after death. Randomly during a field trip, Poppy and Ash meet, having an instant connection. They continue meeting up, quickly and heavily falling for each other. Just as they start making plans for a future together, their future is whisked away when Ash dies in a car accident. However, she doesn't just die, she comes back as the next year's grim reaper. She's unable to talk to anyone that she previously knew unless they are nearing their death... that is until she sees and speaks with Poppy. Now with limited time together, Poppy and Ash are forced to grapple with what their new future could look like. The story is told in two labeled sections: before and after Ash's death. I didn't notice this until later into reading when I was checking the percent read. Formatting the story this way allowed for readers to spend time falling in love with Poppy and Ash while they fell in love with each other. It also felt natural to the story to show the progression of the beginning to the relationship up until their current point. I found myself rooting for Ash and wanting things to work out in the end for her, even if it meant being happy and at peace without Poppy. It was emotional, tense, exciting, and heartbreaking all at the same time.

I would have loved to learn more about the grim reaper system. How does it work? What are the loop holes? Why are all the grim reapers women? Why did the reapers keep so many secrets and keep changing what could happen to the reapers in their future? Also, I would have liked to see more grief of Ash's family. Her family played a massive part in the first chunk of the story, it felt a little odd to me that she basically forgot about them in the second half. In fact, Ash seemed a little flat in terms of emotion, or at least lacking some of her emotions, in the second half. I felt like she was more passionate in the "before" than she was in the "after."

Overall, I enjoyed the premise of the book and watching the main characters fall so deeply in love (it was giving uhaul lesbians), being messy, questioning and figuring out their relationship. I am giving this 4 stars and highly recommend to others that are interested. However, please look into trigger warnings and be prepared for the continuous discussion of death through the book.

I thought the world was very cool and spooky. Also, the cover art is just gorgeous. My main issue was with the plot structure. The book was hard to get into because of how much backstory we get in the beginning.

Who doesn’t love a cute queer love story? It might not be cute and the conventional ways but man did I love it. I did not want it to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Godwin Books for allowing me to read this book. This was hard to read but in the most beautiful way. I didn’t love the ending and I don’t want to give anything away, but it just didn’t satisfy me. Which is why it gets 4 stars. Still a solid, beautiful, sad, tragic, lovely read.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book. I really enjoyed the characterizations and depth of emotion. I think this would be a great addition to any library collection.

"The lesbian love story you've been dying to read" is so very true! I loved watching Ash and Poppy's romance grow. The paranormal and grief aspects where what I really needed to read right now. Instalove isn't a trope I typically go for, but it worked well here.

My only criticism is the mildly transphobic comment. Wouldn't say it was the worst thing ever or intended to be harmful as it's a common yet kind of shitty thing said within lesbian communities. Basically vagina > woman > cis women = lesbian. It was a quicky sentence that could have easily been removed.

YA Supernatural queer romance:

Ash has spent years having her heart broken by girls, until she meets Poppy. Cue the montage of young love. On New Years Eve, Ash loses Poppy; she dies suddenly and becomes one of three Grim Reapers. Ash won't give on on Poppy though.

Will recommend for acquisition for school library.