gorgeous and heartbreaking memoir on grief. I have been reading a lot of books on the topic of grief and this one is one of the most raw and relatable ones.

Such a beautiful, raw and powerful memoir. I’ve loved following Amy on instagram because of how real she is, and true to herself and her feelings, and this is exactly what the book reflects. Apart from obviously being a beautiful writer, she taps into universal feelings that don’t alienate the reader, but rather bring them on the journey. I feel sure her career as a writer is only just beginning. Definitely read with tissues.

This was raw and emotional. One of the realest things I have ever read. Empathy for the writer oozed out of me, not a piece of my soul didn’t ache with her. I read this in one sitting. However, I do NOT recommend doing so. I can still feel the weight of this book heavy on my heart. Here After, is an absolutely uncensored look into a once in a lifetime love, an unimaginable loss and the unbearable grief that follows.

Thank you Netgalley and Zibby Books for my arc of this beautiful memoir

This is a heartbreaking memoir of love, loss, and grief. Amy Lin is married to the love of her life, Kurtis, and a year into their marriage he goes out to run a half marathon and drops dread halfway through the course. He was healthy and no cause of death was ever found. Ten days later Amy finds herself in the hospital with life threatening deep vein thrombosis, unsure if she wants to live or die.

The story shifts from before, their developing relationship and marriage, to the after of Amy's unfathomable grief as she copes with sudden widowhood in her early 30s. She learns that grief is an unpredictable, solitary path that may lead nowhere.

The unconventional stream of consciousness writing style required some adjustments but it made the story very real and even more heartbreaking.

Why am I so drawn to sad books? Ahhh. Have your tissues ready for this one. This memoir confronts a loss so sudden and so huge, my heart just ached the entire time I was reading. Amy Lin's writing is blunt and unapologetic, and I could really sense the emptiness that she feels in every page.

I was surprised by the layout/writing style since I was expecting a more traditional novel-like story, but this was almost like poetry and it worked well and allowed me to binge this book in two days. If you're looking for a raw and emotional story about love and grief, this one is for you.

A memoir of grief that lasts a lifetime. A book that you will definitely need a box of Kleenex to be close. It shows both the past and present and gives you glimpses of how she is coping with the loss of her husband! Almost reads like poetry. If you want a story that really hits your emotions this story is for you.

Amy Lin writes of the first two years after her husband’s sudden death, with flashbacks woven throughout. We move seamlessly between memories and the time before and after. A reflection of the constant presence of the grief.

Absolutely gorgeous writing and the most beautiful gift to those experiencing grief. I am bowled over, speechless. I read this book in one frantic rush, because the writing is so propulsive, even as I felt the pain and love and grief from the page grow heavy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital copy.

An amazing story of unending deep grief. We will all have to experience it at some point. Every chapter was like a long poem; I loved her style of writing. Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Books for the ARC.

Read this in a single sitting and can honestly say it was one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful memoirs I have read in a long time. Lin's writing is honest, raw, and beautiful.

Heartbreakingly beautiful! What a stunning memoir about love and loss. Read it in one sitting. There are heavy themes of grief and loss but the author writes in a way that is raw and real. Highly recommend!

Here After, the debut memoir by Canadian author Amy Lin is a compelling read. The author immediately draws the reader into her memoir of the painful months following the sudden and utterly unexpected death of her husband, just 21 months after their wedding. The reader travels the intensely personal story of illness, grief, depression, and survival with the slightly voyeuristic stance that such memoirs require. The writing is spare and taut and the arrangement of short numbered sections measures out the difficult subject piece by piece -- making it possible to keep reading long into the night. I found I was holding my breath as a I read, a visceral response to the pain of loss told so plainly and beautifully. The most tender and precious fragments are those in which Lin describes her losses, her sense of being unable to navigate the world without Kurtis. This is a story about writing and becoming a writer too. For anyone who has lost a beloved, this memoir shows what it can be to write through grief, word by word, page by page.

A breathtakingly beautiful memoir about a young newlywed trying to move on after the untimely death of her soulmate. With her unique writing style, I felt like Amy was a friend pouring her heart out to me. Be sure to check out this gorgeous debut!

It intertwines a captivating love story with the poignant narrative of grief and loss, offering a beautiful portrayal of true love, commitment, and marriage. I've always been impressed by her skill in seamlessly intertwining past and present storylines, effortlessly transitioning from one idea to the next. Her storytelling is a true gift. I experienced tears, laughter, frustration, fully immersed in her narrative of grief.

This is a raw, deep, gorgeously written memoir about the author's grief after losing her husband. Too, this is an exploration of pain, and it does justice to the complicated emotions of love and loss. It left me full, hopeful, and grateful for a writer who can explore themes of pain with a light but intentional touch. A gift.

I don't think I've ever cried so much reading a book, but it was worth it. Lin's writing is beautiful and honest. Grief is so universal and personal at the same time and this memoir really highlights that.

A heart wrenching memoir a book so raw so intimate it really tore at my heart.The sudden death of Amy Lins husband the shock the grief had me crying as I read this book in one sitting.#netgalley #zibbybooks

Two words: heartbreakingly beautiful. Those were the ones that I whispered to myself after finishing this memoir, while holding my kindle to my chest, and releasing a huge sigh. Here After by Amy Lin is a memoir about a young woman’s grief after her husband dies, and it’s also an epic love story. Lin flawlessly weaves snippets her loss, grief, and people’s reactions to it with memories of her relationship with her late husband. It also acts as an important reminder that grief has no timeline. It’s not cut and dry, black or white, or ever truly goes away. Grief has many shapes and forms, and can rear its ugly head at the most unexpected times. Lin’s writing is absolutely stunning. It’s lyrical, raw, honest, and extremely intimate. At times, it felt like I was reading her personal journal. I was captivated by her words, journey, and strength to share her experience with us all. I have a feeling that this memoir will take the book world by storm in the new year. Here After releases on March 5th, 2024, and it gets 5/5 stars from me.

Wowzer this is a memoir unlike any other! It took a minute to get into the format which is a little stream of thought, but once I figured it out I loved it. It was short and yet I cried almost throughout the entire book. If you want to understand how horrible and unrelenting grief is then this is the book for you. I read this in one day and could not put it down.

Amy Lin's husband was here, and then he went out for a run and was gone: unexpectedly dead at 32. "Here After" chronicles those first fresh waves of grief as she learned to navigate the world—and an unexpected health crisis of her own—as a young widow.

The book moves effortlessly between then and now—then, when they were healthy and in love and thought it would last forever, and now, when Lin came up against, over and over, her new reality.

"When Kurtis has been dead two years, it is still an impossibility. If people ask me how long it has been, I say a year because that is how it feels." (loc. 1099*)

It is, for obvious reasons, not a particularly easy read. Lin had had her eye on a career as a writer even before her husband died, but this was never the book she wanted to write. There's an interesting bit early on regarding someone else's grief—a woman roughly Lin's age whose husband also died young, someone Lin didn't reach out to at the time because she didn't want to intrude on the other woman's grief. "I have yet to realize silence only isolates the bereaved even more than death already has" (loc. 216). A hard lesson to learn, but not a surprising one. (What surprises me is the 'friend', later in the book, who steps away from being supportive because they "have to protect [their] light" (loc. 452)—don't be that friend.)

The thing I like best is probably the fluid back-and-forth structure—I'm not sure if the before and after will be more visibly separated in the final print version (I read a digital ARC), but the fluid shifts from then to now and back again feel very fitting for the immediacy of grief. But be prepared for a read that is fully and fundamentally about grief and how it reshapes your entire existence.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Beautiful and heartbreaking. A well-crafted book about love and loss. Heavy themes of grief and death. However, it is done in a way that is raw and real. I read this book in just a couple of hours. I know it will stay with me much longer. Thanks to NetGalley and Zibby Bookd for the ARC.