Stunning and raw and unapologetically, wholly, heartbreakingly human. Wow. I knew the outlines of what to expect, but this book still took me by surprise. I feel privileged to have a window into Amy's world - the utter devastation of grief and what becomes of those of use who remain here, after. I'm so sorry for what she's gone through - and so grateful that she created and shared this book with the world. She's a powerful writer and these fragmented, brutally concise chapters will stay with me for a long, long time. Thanks to NetGalley and Zibby Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

HERE AFTER by Amy Lin is a memoir written so vividly and compellingly that I felt like a privileged companion on Lin's journey through grief and living after the unthinkable has destroyed your world. Exquisite writing, so immediate I felt a part of this love story, picturing the moments and then the aftermath when the love story is forever changed. Painful and marvelous to read, feeling privileged by an extraordinary storyteller sharing the most intimate and excruciating journey that never ends, much as you might want it to while dreading letting go of the most beautiful unexpected joy of such a relationship. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

Amy Lin experienced every new bride’s worst nightmare: the unexpected loss of her young and otherwise healthy husband. With deep vulnerability and a poetic touch, Amy recounts the aftermath of her husband’s unexplained loss and her own medical crisis a mere 10 days later. This memoir is a powerful rumination on grief and also confronts commonly held notions and misconceptions about navigating the grieving process. HERE AFTER is a poignant examination of loss, treading the murky waters of grief, and the story of one great love.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-are in awe of the strength and bravery it takes to share honest truths
=are drawn to captivating love stories and lyrical writing
-have experienced grief or want to be a better support to those who have

Here After is among the most touching and heartbreaking books about grief I’ve ever read. It’s a vulnerable account of the ups and downs accompanying the nonlinear grieving process and the void left by a sudden death.

In her memoir, Amy Lin relives the day her husband Kurtis decided to participate in a half marathon with her family, never to finish this run. And as if that’s not enough, only days after Kurtis’s death, Amy finds herself in a hospital, facing a medical diagnosis and life-or-death decisions she needs to make for herself.

Amy’s pain is tangible through her words. The rawness of her loss is interspersed with memories from her relationship with Kurtis. She describes the helplessness and despair she can’t outrun, the process of doing progressively worse instead of better, and the ongoing struggle with finding a way forward.

All I can say is that I hope the love and feelings Amy poured into this book gave her a tiny bit of relief from the ache of her loss.

You might find yourself putting this down for a moment- a moment to take a breath. This is a relatable, poignant, emotional tale of the grief of a young widow dealing with her own challenges. It moves back and forth in time and is told in short chapters that are spare but poetic. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's all about heartbreak and resilience.

This memoir is incredibly sad, deeply heartbreaking. and profoundly moving. Amy has a gift as a true storyteller, with a phenomenal ability to make you feel her intense grief, sadness and numbness on every page. Highlights of her relationship with Kurtis, and all the moments he has demonstrated his unwavering love are threaded beautifully between moments of exorbitant loss. Predominantly, this memoir is focused on the pain and true grief following his death, and how the world reacts around her. It was entirely captivating and harrowing. I have no doubt this will be a one of the best memoirs the world has ever read.

Thank you Zibby books for the review copy of Here After, a strong, creative and insightful examination of grief and loss. I admire Amy Lin's voice, her approach to expressing the intense grief of losing her husband and to do it in a way that, for me, really captured the range of personal feelings that emerge following loss: the snapshots of memories that linger and become a new way of talking about your life story, how events following loss can feel random, disconnected, and yet all with a forward feeling that life continues to move on, even when feelings and memories can be overwhelming. I applaud the work, the voice, and the emotions that this work evoked.

I received an ARC of this memoir from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Amy Lin's memoir honors her late husband. She writes about their meeting, relationship, his untimely death, and the aftermath.

Here After
Amy Lin

We all know that our lives will end, that death will come for us all, and yet, the concept of grief is something we often don’t think about. The topic makes people uncomfortable and yet, it’s one human experience we all will experience multiple times in our life. Grief is universal yet personal.

Amy Lin became a widow at age 31 after the unexpected and sudden loss of her husband. In this memoir, she shares her journey, the struggles, the surprises and what helped her find the courage to choose life at a time when she questioned her own strength and desire to keep moving forward.

Thanks to Zibby Books for the ARC and to the author for summoning the strength and courage to tell your story.

I devoured this one, reading it in less than two days.

A little over a year into their marriage and just days before their move to Vancouver, Amy Lin's husband, Kurtis, dies unexpectedly during a half-marathon run. Ten days later, Amy faces her own health struggles—making life-or-death decisions about her treatment. HERE AFTER is Amy Lin's heartbreakingly beautiful and exceptionally honest memoir of grief that will last a lifetime.

Written in concise vignettes, Amy seamlessly flows between the past and present. She shares about the beautiful love they cultivated—how he pulled her to joy, adventure and greater self-acceptance. How, with him, she experienced a love that was safe, reassuring and steady. Now, Amy vulnerably writes of the inescapable grief and painful reality she has to live with. She doesn't hold back in sharing her darkest, innermost thoughts; revealing the realities of living with grief—the loss of friendships, the inadequate responses to grief from others, and the nonlinear process of grieving while trying to balance her health battles amidst a pandemic no less.

Amy's memoir is one of the most real and raw books I've ever read. My heart ached the entire time, able to feel every bit of her pain and sadness through the pages. It is heartbreaking and emotional but also laced with warmth and hope. I am speechless by this book and don't have the words to convey how remarkable it is. It is a powerful read that I believe will be a comfort to those grieving, and help us to be better witnesses to the people around us.

Thank you Amy for inviting us into your grief and sharing your beloved Kurtis with the world. 🤍

I was blown away while reading Here After, a debut memoir by Amy Lin. Amy’s memoir delves into the story of her tragic loss: her husband passed away shortly after their marriage leaving her widowed at age 31. In the aftermath of this unexpected event, she is not only hit with immense grief, but mere days after she is dealt another blow, a serious medical diagnosis herself. The unimaginable nature of this tragedy draws the reader in, but it is the powerful writing and unique style of the book that keeps readers captivated.

Amy effectively uses a vignette style of writing to capture her grief. Structured as short chapters, she alternates between feelings, events and memories from this intense period. Devastating sorrow, fond memories of her husband, a challenging medical procedure, a scene from her courtship. We are brought along on her journey of grief and we experience its unpredictable and nonlinear trajectory. While heart-rending, this tale is ultimately a beautiful love story and a touching tribute to a lost love.

This debut about loss is extremely heartwarming, profound and heartbreaking. Amy’s memoir about loosing her husband Kurtis shows us her journey of their love, loss and trying to move forward. Thank you Zibby books for this memoir.

Raw, heartbreaking, honest, stunning. The narrative style of short chapters, the back and forth timelines, the asides, the interludes - all of this served to create a sensitive, haunting, and nuanced portrayal of grief and young widowhood. A longer review to come closer to pub day.

This is such a raw & heartbreaking look at grief, but so beautifully written that I could not put it down. Written in short chapters, Lin introduces us to her late husband after sharing the details of his sudden death. She captures the painful daily routine of grief and of how she managed minute by minute in the most spare prose, but it spoke right to the heart.

In achingly beautiful vignettes, the author takes us through the abyss of her grief and tender young love, a still new marriage, putting into words the challenges of reentering a life without the person who knew her so well, loved her so hard, the daily pain of going on without him while simultaneously struggling with the world around her, this world, in which we live, that is not so well-versed in coping with grief, that expects us to move on, get over, as if mourning has an alarm clock that says “time’s up” go back to your everyday routine, enough is enough.

In the early days of the pandemic, Amy’s devoted, adventurous, healthy husband Kurtis embarks on a run when he suddenly died. What unfolds following the shocking tragedy, Amy describes how she tries to absorb the immense pain for the loss of a man with whom she found her first love. A funny, kind, thoughtful, reassuring person who “got her” from day one and within whose presence she felt comfort, love, acceptance, many feelings for the first time, outside of her family. Following his death, her emotions upended, a young widow, she approaches life gingerly. Fortunately, Amy has a loving and supportive family and good friends but nobody can take her pain away or reshape her future, each new step is unknown and brings with it fresh aches she must experience solo. Even with helping hands, the presence of loved ones, kindnesses, therapy, Amy faces setbacks that leave her feeling so unmoored that the idea of going on without Kurtis feels impossible. It’s her writing that gives her a voice. Strength.

If you’ve ever known grief and even if you haven’t, or know someone who is suffering, let Amy’s words in, this is not a self-help book nor is she preaching the answers. It’s more than that. It’s a love story. Simple yet profound. In sparse, lyrical prose, she reflects on this thing called love and when a life ends, love lives on. Be patient with those who are hurting. If you don’t understand their pain, try, do something rather than nothing. Keep trying. Don’t internalize their troubles as your own or offer empty platitudes. Heed her advice about what not to say. The world would be a much kinder place if we grasped how to approach the bereaved even if we don’t have first-hand experience. Easier said than done. HERE AFTER offers a gentle springboard. Trust this gifted debut author, she’s one to watch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

"When he dies, I fall out of time." (all the press for this book uses this line, but THIS line...my poor heart)

"Here After" details Amy Lin's navigation of grief after the sudden death of her husband Keith. The hole his death leaves in her life is further deepened by her own struggles with her health. "Here After" is a memoir that does not shy away from how all encompassing grief is and how the pain stays much longer than one would like to admit.

This book completely wrecked me. I often sobbed while reading this because of how raw and poignant Lin's writing and detailing of her own grief were. Even as I'm writing this review, my eyes are watering because I'm remembering moments from this that hit way too close to home for me. This isn't written as a traditional memoir. I would say it's closer to poetic prose with each chapter being one to two pages. But each page is packed with the emotional punch of a novella. Maybe that's being overdramatic but it feels true to me. This is a book that I think most people should read because it will stay with you and come to you in moments of quiet.

Amy Lin has done something beautiful and haunting with this memoir but I also appreciated the way that the memoir ended. It was hopeful, still sad, but hopeful for a future after not hoping for a future.

I highly recommend picking this one up once it's out on March 5th because it is that good. Buy yourself extra boxes of kleenex and comfort food to have while reading. You'll need it.

Heartbreaking memoir of the experience of going through unspeakable grief and still having to live everyday life. Tough read at times but the author is amazingly brave to share her story.

Thank you Netgalley and Zibby Books for the chance to read and review this beautiful story.

I knew some of this material from her substack but it made it no less powerful. My heart cries out to Amy for having to go through all of that. She is such a strong soul to be here with us and sharing her story with the world. I don't hav the words but I'll be recommending this book to everyone who can handle it.

Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early release. This book grips you by the heart and just doesn’t let go. Even after finishing, it will live rent free within you.

Here After is a heartbreaking tale of grief, and the ultimate love story, all in one. The fact it is a memoir makes it hurt that much more.

Hang onto your hearts with this book. Here After is a beautiful, raw and gut-wrenching memoir of love and loss. Amy’s husband Kurtis dies unexpectedly and she’s tangled between her deep love for him and the horrific pain of losing him. The format is unlike anything I’ve ever read, bouncing between then and now in small snippets and with little warning, immersing readers in the state of Amy’s mind. This book was an intimate look at love and sudden loss and the words have stayed with me long after I finished the last page.