Would I Recommend It?
Overall: No, I can’t, not really. (But I also don’t have the heart to give it only 2 stars.)

If this is your first time reading Santopolo then, no, absolutely not. Put this book down and grab her book “The Light We Lost” instead.

If you’ve read and were emotionally moved by The Light We Lost then be prepared to not shed a single tear nor feel much emotionally while reading Everything After.

If you love books where women want babies super badly, then yes, read this book.

If you like stories that talk about miscarriages (over and over and over).

If you think it’s going to be amazing like Daisy Jones & The Six, it is absolutely not at all like Daisy Jones & The Six. You will be very, very, very disappointed. I only read about this comparison after finishing the book and I’m like, no, stop it people, not at all. The only thing they share in common is that it has a girl and a guy and they’re in a band and they sing. Like, that’s it for similarities.

Thoughts?
Warning. They are going to be a jumbled mess of randomness. I’m just gonna write them as they come to me.

It’s a super quick read so I didn’t feel tortured at all. I actually was enjoying it for the most part. I just had a lot of, “ugh! That is so annoying!” moments. And zero moments of feeling emotionally distraught for the characters. No tears were shed unlike the tears that came at the ending in The Light We Lost which was my primary motivation to reading this book by Santopolo.

I felt that Emily was quite annoying in her choices. I’m perhaps also annoyed that if you’re going to have the character be a professional psychiatrist then don’t make them be so stupid in their own lives. I know that psychiatrists are flawed human beings like the rest of us, but if you’re going to say they’re good at what they do then let’s give them a bit more benefit of the doubt that they’re aren’t so recklessly stupid with their own life choices.

Way too much talk of miscarriage. To which I could not relate to on so many levels. It’s not that I have no empathy for women who’ve miscarried. But for someone like me who never-ever wanted nor wants kids you have to give me a reeeeally good storyline for me to feel the emotional aspect of it. Emily’s felt just a bit superficial. 

Just so much focus on babies. Again, I just can’t relate. BUT! This isn’t to say that I avoid stories with babies/kids to no end. I’ve read plenty of books where kid-focused stories moved me and I cried. But it has to be very well presented by the author. Santopolo did a fantastic job of that in The Light We Lost. But in Everything After there wasn’t even a light to begin with–it just fell so incredibly short on the emotional aspect.

In the book Emily starts writing her own song and she’s all unhappy with her husband, Ezra, when she starts writing it. I totally liked a verse from the original version of the song:
“And you say he’s kind
And you say he’s good
And I know it’s true
For you, for you”
This, I totally loved. Cause this is so true on how people/friends act when someone breaks up with someone and they basically blame you for it that you’re the moron for leaving him. Well, he ain’t the one for me so, DEAL. (Note, the words have a different meaning in the book. But it works in my context, as well.)
I will give credit here to Santopolo that it’s the first time I’ve seen song lyrics change in mood in the book as the story progresses. This, I thought, was very cool. It was neat to see Emily’s emotions and thoughts come to light through the changing of the words to the lyrics to the song.

There’s a part in the story where Emily and Ezra have an agreement that Rob is just a friend and there is nothing for Ezra to be jealous of. That Emily and Rob would stay in touch only a friend basis. Moment of pause here. Enter extreme laughter. No. No. No. There is no such thing as “just friends” when it comes to two people who had and recently shown feelings for each other. Such connections have to be severed completely in order for your marriage to survive. This is psych 101. Okay, maybe more advanced psychology, but it’s definitely a thing. There are books written about it–I happen to own one Not “Just Friends”: Rebuilding Trust and Recovering Your Sanity After Infidelity. Santopolo squashed most of the silly thought processes in the book, but she didn’t squash this one and it’s a very dangerous one. So. People. Don’t do it. Not unless you’re ready for the consequences. 

Emily’s mom lived by the mantra that the choices we make are the right choices for us. One of those silly inspirational quotes that help no one at all in making sane decisions. It’s just simply a cop out for making excuses that even our bad choices were meant to be. This theme kept repeating throughout the book and THANKFULLY Santopolo did poke a hole in it toward the end. If she hadn’t, I was totally going to call her out on it in this review. But. She did. So. If you’re annoyed by that advice, keep reading, your thoughts will be validated.

SPOILER ALERT

Don’t read the rest if you don’t want to know who Emily picks in the end.

Let’s just say I didn’t like who Emily ended up with. Although. I wasn’t sure if the other guy was any better. Or maybe I have a strong urge/need to project my own story too much onto characters when they try and pick between their current husband and their childhood sweetheart/friend. I chose the latter. (And I’m one damned smart cookie for it.)

Book:

Everything After

Author:

Jill Santopolo

Genre:

Fiction, Drama, Romance – Light, Babies

My Rating:

2.5 Stars