Afterwards

By: Rosamund Lupton

Narrated by: Finty Williams

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

There is a fire and they are in There. They are in there.... Black smoke stains a summer blue sky. A school is on fire. And one mother, Grace, sees the smoke and runs. She knows her teenage daughter Jenny is inside. She runs into the burning building to rescue her. Afterwards, Grace must find the identity of the arsonist and protect her family from the person who's still intent on destroying them. Afterwards, she must fight the limits of her physical strength and discover the limitlessness of love.

©2011 Rosamund Lupton (P)2011 Hachette Digital

Captivating!

I bought this because I loved Finty Williams narration of The Girl with All The Gifts and I wanted more! This did not disappoint. The story was emotional and wonderful and the narration was perfect!

Formulaic Emotionalizing...Boring, boring...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Narrator is fine, but the text is mediocre, at best.

What was most disappointing about Rosamund Lupton’s story?

Long, long overwrought, sometimes hysterical mother-love speeches, over and over again-- which may move many readers, but increasingly irritated me. I hung in there for a while, until I couldn't bear any more. So disappointed because the reviews were so positive.

Have you listened to any of Finty Williams’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Finty Williams is a very talented narrator...no question. She kept me listening for as long as I did.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Great set-up: the fire, the out-of-body experiences. Clearly great potential for a suspenseful plot.

Any additional comments?

I found it hard to believe that the characters who find themselves experiencing an out-of-body existence would have so little to say to themselves or to each other about it--unbelievable. Of course, I did stop listening about a third of the way in...

Definitely not as strong as "Sister"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. I found Grace to be whiny and clingy and suddenly realized that I was in the land of schmaltzy maternal love. If the narration had been stronger, I might've slogged through this book, because I enjoyed "Sister," Lupton's previous outing. As it was, I couldn't handle both a lackluster narration with monotonous dialogue alongside the however-understandable desperation of a mother whose child is very badly hurt and who herself is hurt and cannot reach out to her family.

What aspect of Finty Williams’s performance would you have changed?

Dialogue, by far. some jokes were meant to be funny and she delivered them flatly, and her narration did not differentiate the characters well at all.

Could you see Afterwards being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Probably a movie... it might actually work as a drama piece.

Any additional comments?

reading this one in print, thanks. Others compare this book either favorably or unfavorably to "Sister," and I have to say I found it wanting, both due to the narration and the endless descriptions of longing for one's family.

Wonderful

Great story, wonderful narration, completely enjoyed Afterwards. Lupton and Williams, what a fantastic pair. Thanks

Couldn't listen any more

I'm English, so it's not the accent, it's the constant high-pitch hysteria that never ends, like someone crying and complaining for HOURS on end. I couldn't take it any more, my life is stressful enough and whilst I enjoy drama, there needs to be a break in the whining. It felt slow too, I'm so bored of them walking around the hospital. Granted, I didn't listen to the whole thing and I may have got further if I had read it, but as an audible it was almost physically painful for me.

Absolutely Gorgeous

This is an exquisite piece of literature. Her descriptions of marital and maternal love have no match. Very well done. I loved it.

Meh

No surprises no twists. Just the internal dialog of an unconscious woman. I found it hard to continue to listen and I guessed the perpetrator a third of the way in. Just too boring for me. I enjoyed Michael Robathan's The Ferry Crossing and The Secrets She Keeps. this book doesn't have much of a plot. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

One of the BEST books I've ever heard.

This book broke my heart & made it swell with pride! The story is so unique. Finnty is the BEST narrator.

Riveting

Loved this original thriller! Not only was the story captivating but the narrator was superb.

PAGE TURNER

For the lack of a better term this was a real page turner. Every time you think you have the answers you don't.

Good but very similar to Sister

While this is a good book I wouldn't suggest reading it in proximity to Lupton's other work Sister. The narrative voice and style are virtually identical as are the themes of love, tragedy and death. While both are good the are so indistinguishable I feel I have ruined both by reading them side by side.

Disappointing

Even now I can feel the enjoyment of Sister, which I really enjoyed. Afterwards is nothing in comparison with Sister. I kept wishing the book to end. I found the whole concept without giving the game away a joke. The story kept going around and around in circles. Certain situations I realized the outcome, half way through the book. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Spellbinding

I was completely gripped by this book which was beautifully read. I was completely caught up in the trauma of the fire and the results of it. The two main characters are left as spirits - not alive and not quite dead - who wander the hospital watching their family and friends and their behaviour after the catastrophe. Will they live or will they die and who caused the fire in the first place? Excellent.

Good story, nice twist, well written.

I loved the different angle this book came from. It could so easily have been another "who dunnit", (and I do read a lot of them) but this is far more personal and had me involved at every step.

Excellent

I very much enjoyed listening to this. I had semi-expected that it was going to be similar to 'Sister', her first novel, but it was really quite different. Written from the point of view of the mother, it's about the relationships within the family, but with a strong element of the detective novel. It's a very interesting premise, and could be unbelievable, but isn't. It really lives up to the promise of her first novel. Very well narrated, it's an excellent listen.

Good mystery novel

Well read by Finty Williams. A detective story with a novel twist. Enjoyable, but I lost a bit of interest after I guessed who dun it.

Evocative,

I found this book immensely intense, with believable and compelling characters. Well written, beautifully narrated by Finty Williams. Loved it.

not what I expected

Well, we certainy know how the main character feels about her family right from the start of the book, and through, and through, and through and all the way through it. Even with the unpredictable end, we still know. Kind of lost the story in all the emotion and explanation of feelings all the way through, found it difficult to endure.

WOW

Knocks the socks off 'Sister'.

Made me write my first ever audiobook review, and I've listened to hundreds!

Considering I am an athiest and don't believe in spirits, ghosts... whatever... this book did not annoy me like The Lovely Bones.

I became hooked almost immediately. Maybe because I am a mother of an 8 year old boy?

I was gripped by the exciting storyline, but also by wanting to know the emotional impacts on the various characters.

I will definitely be watching out for any future Rosamund Lupton. Thank you.

Afterwards

I really enjoyed this book. An amazing insight into possible life after death. I loved the way she discribed angels. A mother's love is never ending and I loved the way she understood each of her children and how she summed up the love she had for her husband after 19 years. A good read.