The characters in this book were well developed and extremely relatable; which drew me in as a reader, making it difficult to put down. Kate Hart navigates the many difficult emotional situations in this story beautifully.

Rachel Hart could definitely have written a book I would love. There’s evident talent in the writing, and there are moments where the voice really clicks. Unfortunately, I really don’t like the actual story part of After the Fall. By the time I finally got to the end of this slog, I hated it.

The biggest problem is that After the Fall just is not what I thought I’d signed on for. The blurb had me prepared for some CW style pretty people with sexy drama. A love triangle between brothers sounded like potentially fabulous ship trash. While After the Fall is definitely a dramasaurus, it’s not the sexy kind; it’s the sad, mopey, frustrating, infuriating kind. So yeah, I wanted CW drama and I got Lifetime drama. And, just fyi, this book is not actually a romance. Problem #1.

Stylistically, I had trouble with After the Fall. The book switches between Raychel’s POV and her best friend Matt’s. The voice is well done, so I shouldn’t have had any problem telling whose head I was in, but, since the POV sections last at most about three pages, I was forever losing track of which POV I was reading. The fact that the sections are so short and there were no chapters also contributed to me taking a million years to finish this off, because I put it down whenever I didn’t want to read more at the end of a section, and that was a lot.

Raychel and Matt are literally sleeping together, but they do not have sex, much to Matt’s eternal penis feels disappointment. He thinks of her as “his girl,” but has never made a move. Instead he just mopes around while she hooks up with college guys; he’s afraid to tell her his feelings since she has a rule not to date high school guys because they brag around too much. His brother Andrew makes a move, and Raychel and he strike up a relationship.

There’s a lot here about slut-shaming and sexual assault, though I wouldn’t say I find any of it especially deftly handled. Raychel’s sexually assaulted by classmate Carson twice, and she learns, thanks to Matt and Andrew’s mom, that a boy sticking his dick in your mouth without your consent is assault. Carson doesn’t, within the text, come to understand that what he did was wrong, though he has been signed up for a women’s studies class in college, so maybe he’ll get there.

So far as the slut-shaming goes, After the Fall is one of those books where the heroine has a terrible reputation but turns out to be a virgin. It does make a point, but I don’t know how effective it is, when it always feels like “see, she’s not a slut afterall,” rather than clearly embracing sex positivity.

Andrew and Matt’s parents are another problem. They don’t make any damn sense to me. They love Rachel like a daughter, and they let her sleep in Matt’s bed on the regular. Yet, when they learn that she and Andrew had sex, the mom freaks the fuck out about not in her house and yells at Rachel. There’s no way a mom like this would let a girl sleep in her son’s bed, even if she does dream of them getting married someday. So then the whole Dawson’s Creek bed buddies thing feels like a cheap plot device so the blurb can sell this book to trash like me with the “she’s sleeping with two brothers” half-truth. Also, after that point, I can only find the parents thoroughly hateful.

Speaking of characters, I feel bad for Raychel and Andrew’s kinda okay. Andrew loses points for not asking Raychel what happened with Carson, but he gets points for actually recognizing sexual assault when they do talk. Matt’s the biggest asshole on the planet and Raychel needs to never talk to him again. As I mentioned, his parents are whatever the dramasaurus plot needs them to be at a given time. The fairly large cast of friends is only there to move the plot along and give advice to the MCs. A paragon of character development this book is not.

I’d been sort of enjoying After the Fall in a crack way up until the 2/3 point. Then a thing happens. View Spoiler » This thing completely interrupts the narrative flow and changes the dynamics of the story. Character growth is interrupted, and After the Fall becomes a completely different kind of book. Reading everything that came before, the part I’d liked was suddenly pointless, because now everything was about this.

The resolution does redeem After the Fall a wee bit, View Spoiler », but I was just way too done with this book by that point. The character arcs do finally happen, and I’m glad Matt got called out by literally everyone for being an asshole, but it wasn’t satisfying. I still have the sense that I’m meant to like Matt, in spite of his flaws, but all I want is to dickpunch him. The fact that Raychel apologizes to Matt over and over for wanting someone else’s dick makes me hulk out. Most frustrating of all, I feel like the whole novel is more about Matt than it is Raychel. All so one stupid asshole white boy can learn about sexual assault and what it means to be a real friend. Blergh.

After the Fall has a lot of great reviews and buzz. Maybe it will be your thing, but it sure as hell was not mine.

Such an interesting concept. Totally something I'd recommend to my students.

What at first seems like a Simple easy Y A read becomes more deeply intense and painful as the reader progresses. I like that there was not a fake happy ending to a sad circumstance.

First Thought After Finishing: I need one more scene, an epilogue, something!

This book is messy, painful, ever shifting, never quite the way you want it to be…life. It’s trying to stay optimistic through challenges but wanting to stay numb because it’s easier. It’s making questionable choices in the name of coping. It’s unsettling, and I still don’t know how I feel about it.

A senior in high school, Raychel is facing an uncertain future. Her single mother is barely making ends meet, meaning her college options are limited. Many of her friends are off at college, meaning she has to reform her life without them. But at least she has Matt, the boy who has been her best friend for forever, and Matt’s family, who offer the home she’s always wanted. Raychel could have had a good year hiking, partying, and being with Matt and his family. But sexual assault, money problems, and an attraction she never planned on turn her year upside down. And when everything changes, what does she do then?

For a while, Rachel was hard to connect with. Her high school experience was so different from mine—a group of friends, experimenting with marijuana and alcohol, attending college parties—but after a while I could see her life in a small college town. And when life is bad and you don’t see it changing, what can you do other than look for a distraction? There were so many emotions that Raychel had to face, and I wish there had been more time spent exploring all of them. Even still, I certainly felt them—her confusion, her anger over circumstances, wanting something that seemed just beyond her grasp, and the need to be loved without strings attached. In addition to the emotional journey, I loved the fact that there was something different to this story than “best friends discover they’ve really been in love all along.”

The one thing that bothered me about this book was how quickly the POVs changed. I liked having both Raychel and Matt’s perspectives, but I felt like the book constantly bounced back and forth, and occasionally I had a hard time keeping track of which person’s perspective I was reading. However, after thinking about it, I realized that there might be a point to it—when you’re growing up and trying to figure everything out, things can change so quickly. And there are always two sides to every story, sometimes even between best friends.

Most Memorable Aspect: This book has one of those scenes that you read, reread, stare at the page for a while like the words will suddenly change, and then keep reading like the next chapter or the next will change things, even though it’s after 2am and you need sleep. Not many books can have that kind of effect.

Kate Hart’s novel is all the tumultuous emotions of growing up packed into one novel. Tackling tough issues and navigating the rough waters of love, this is one debut you do not want to miss!

I don't know where to begin with this book.

On the one hand, I appreciate what it addresses as far as the rape culture permeating high schools, colleges, and beyond. On the heels of having watched Thirteen Reasons Why, this book felt especially visceral when Kate Hart turned her lens to the sense of entitlement that boys have when it comes to girls and sex. What does it mean to say "No"? Why do guys not understand that "no" does mean "NO"?

But on the other hand, the story is weakened substantially by Raychel, the ostensible heroine. She is as ineffectual as you will find. She's one of those people who thinks, "Well, I got drunk with him, and we got a little high, and we're at this party, and he's such a good kisser, and I'm really upset with what happened, but I guess - I don't know - maybe I want him to feel bad? But is this my fault?" I understand that frequently girls do blame themselves, believing that they either "asked for it" or didn't say no loudly enough. In Raychel's case, she can't figure out if she's a tease or not. She will brag about performing oral sex and how little she cares about her reputation, yet she spins and then despises herself for performing oral sex and for the reputation she has, in large part, earned.

This sounds like I'm blaming the victim, and I am not. I was horrified by what happens to Raychel in this book. It infuriated me on her behalf, and I wanted to reach through and hug her and protect her. The problem is that Raychel isn't sympathetic at all. She's far more aware than she wants you to believe she is, and she's also very mature. She's had to grow up quicker than her classmates because of her family situation. It's sad. Raychel's life is sad. The only bright spots are Andrew and Matt and their parents, four people who have rescued and nurtured her.

Raychel blames herself for things that are not her fault yet fails to take responsibility for things that are. To a certain extent, this makes her a typical teen. But she's just so dull and uninspiring. I'm not really sure how to explain it. When the book is told from Matt's perspective, I am all in. He interests me, and I want to know and understand him better. With Raychel, much of her chapters feels repetitive and - again - uninspiring.

So what you have here is half of a pretty good YA book that addresses topics high schoolers (and collegians) need to think about and understand. It's the other half that's a problem.

*** Scheduled for publication on the blog on 5/6

Unfortunately, this book didn't appeal to me once I picked it up. However, I look forward to giving it another try in the future.

Teenagers, high school students especially, should read this book. The setting of the story is similar to theirs. They can easily relate to the characters.

Incredibly predictable - no character and no plot point surprised me. Not sure that will matter to the teens reading this, though.

Raychel ("Raych" to her friends) leads a very working class life, except that she's BFF's and almost a member of Andrew's family. Her reputation is that of a semi-slut who only does college men, while Andrew pines from not-so-afar. And then there's Matthew, Andrew's somewhat annoying not-that-much-younger brother. Fans of love triangles can see where this is going, at least in Part One. Part Two deals with the aftermath (no spoilers) and how lives can change in an instant, while at the same time remaining remarkably the same.

ARC provided by publisher.

Not my kind of book. It's rather emotional and if you like those type of books, it's great for you

This book made me so mad and I wish I could tell you all the reasons why. But I can't because SPOILERS. But I will tell you some of the reasons.

Reason A-- Raychel. As soon as I saw that this Rachel spelled her name with a "Y" I knew she was going to be annoying. And I was right. She was all up in her own head-- trying to make the reader think she "didn't want to stand out", but she was constantly playing the victim and waiting for Matt or Andrew to come save her.

There is a sexual assault part to this book, and I'm certainly not referring to that when I say she wanted to be saved. It was all these other dumb things-- like constantly hurting her ankle and getting too drunk to walk and needing them to carry her and such that IRKed me.

Reason B-- Matt. Oh my god could this boy get any more pathetic? There was nothing I liked about him. Not only was he a uptight goody-goody, but there was a storyline where he was like trying to be better about being respectful to women-- but then he didn't change anything in the end, so I don't really know what the point of all of it was except to make me think he was a bigger DOUCHE than I already thought he was.

Reason C-- UUGHHHHGHGHWKHWOIHFNJNSK!!! The spoilery thing I can't tell you about. I found it so unnecessary and all it did for me was take the only part of the book I liked and set it on fire.

So I guess this looks like I didn't like the book. See, that's where my feelings get COMPLICATED because I kind of did like this book. I liked it enough to not want to stop reading it. I liked it enough to THINK about it long after I stopped reading it. I know for sure this is a book that won't soon leave my mind because UGHHHH the spoilery things that happen are so infuriating!!!

I wasn't super impressed by the writing (like I said the characters talk unnecessarily in their own heads a lot & say things like "nothing much happened on Monday" and "StuCo"), but there was something about the story and the drama that hooked me. I also enjoyed some of the tough conversations that the characters had about consent, treating people with respect, and it being okay to be sex positive but also okay to say no when you want to.

The last 1/3 of the book felt like a very different book. There's an event that takes place and things change so drastically that I'm not sure I wanted so much story after it took place. I did like the ending though because if it would've turned out differently I would have SCREAMED. But I didn't scream, I was calm, and all was well.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend this because I do think it's worth reading. It's not boring, and I can see where some people might like the big "twist".

OVERALL: A book I liked despite being so ANGERED that I almost threw a Kindle. It's the story of 2 really annoying friends and a kick-ass brother-- and drama happens and things get COMPLICATED and SAD and UGLY. I think it's worth trying if you like Contemporary.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Raychel (that spelling kept tripping me up) and Matt have been best friends forever, and Matt's younger brother Andrew is more or less always been their third wheel. Matt wants more than friendship with Raychel, but he can't ever work up the courage to broach the subject with her, and his parents treat her as if she were their daughter. Raychel has a somewhat difficult relationship with her mother and they are poor compared to Matt's very well-off family, so the family took her under their wing and provide her with much of what her mother cannot. Raychel seems to question if she has feelings for Matt maybe through much of the book, but it's Andrew who she tiptoes around a relationship with before something tragic turns everything upside down.

A few issues...Raychel has a traumatic experience with being sexually assaulted by a guy from their school, so her life is really rough. A lot of heavy stuff is going on in this book, and I honestly, I feel the author maybe took on writing about too many things in one book. I think the sexual assault is maybe not handled so well because of that. I was a bit bothered by how it was both taken seriously in some ways but then pushed aside in others, with questionable support from an important adult figure in Raychel's life. While what this adult tells her might sadly be true, it bothered me. I feel that part of the story should have either been focused on more and handled better or taken out of the book, because it gets lost in everything else happening and maybe not properly addressed to make room for everything else.

Another issue for me related to the the perspective that switches back and forth between Raychel and Matt throughout the book. Both do have a distinctive voice, so she did well with that. That being said, it is so abrupt at times and flip flops back and forth between them with as short as a paragraph in one's voice back to the other for only a paragraph, etc. It may have been a tool to quicken the pace, but I think that there is likely a better way this could have been handled, such as more dialogue and action between the characters than back and forth in the head of the two main ones.

These issues were significant enough, along with a few other small things, to take the book down to a 3 - 3.5 stars for me. I think this writer has a lot of promise, the writing was strong otherwise, and I expect to read and enjoy more from her in the future. I think she just tried to take on too much in one book, where aspects of this could have been split into two different really strong stories, but all of it in one book is just too much.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Raychel has a lot going on in her life - she has a promiscuous reputation around school, she and her mom struggle financially, and she is sort of part of her best friend Matt's family. Unbeknownst to Raychel, though how I'm unsure since it's obvious to everyone else, Matt is in love with her. The alternating chapters set a nice pace and allow you to experience the emotions and events from both teen perspectives.

The mess of Raychel's life is built up throughout Part I so much that I wondered where the story was going. The backstory, however, is necessary to emphasize the sheer loss experienced during Part II. I wasn't sure what the title meant and was anxious to uncover the mystery, as I imagined several possibilities. Wham! The end of Part I leaves no questions!

Readers will appreciate the honest portrayal of small, college town teens and the desire to fit in - with friends and family. Feeling left behind with friends off in college, animosity between parent and child, sexual assault, sibling rivalry, poverty, and grief are all topics covered.

Ultimately, Raychel learns that secrets don't help your situation, and facing one's fears (even if it is a daily struggle) is the way to move forward.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
I almost put this book down. There was this angsty love triangle that seemed so predictable. I'm glad that I stuck with it. The second half of the book is hard but worth sticking around to read.

This is one of those stories that there is so much to talk about I don’t know where to start. There is romance, friendship, mother/daughter relationships, loyalty, and lots and lots of growing up (the fancy word for that is ‘coming of age’). At its heart, this is a story of friends. Best friends, so inseparable everyone thinks you are dating. You aren’t, even though one of you wants to, but never finds the right time to bring it up until it’s too late. It’s also about friends who grow apart and come back together, realizing that even though you are in different orbits (college vs. high school), it doesn’t mean your worlds can’t collide. It’s about that friendship that is so comfortable; you tend to gloss over the negative because you are used to it until it’s the only thing you see, and that is a problem. It’s about wanting the best for your friend, knowing it can be achieved, but never quite saying it the right way. Instead of your words sounding supportive, you come off as a condescending snob. It’s about friends who know everything about each other but realize maybe they don’t. What do you do when you grow apart but don’t even realize it?

Raychel and Matthew are these inseparable friends. For the last ten years, Raychel has been part of Matt’s family, eating dinner, staying the night, hanging with his younger brother Andrew(by a year), and even working for his father. His parents know nothing is going on between the two of them and they have a certain freedom with this relationship. Raychel’s mom works constantly, so she is okay with her staying with the Richardsons but Raychel’s second family has always been a bit of a sore spot for her. As Matt’s plans for the future look bright, Raychel’s are slipping away. Money is always an issue for her, not so much for Matt and sometimes he just can’t see the difference. Matt’s feelings for Raychel are at a tipping point, but he knows Raychel has a ‘no high school boy rule,’ until she breaks it one night at a party. Just not with him. He’s confused, especially because of the way Raychel is acting after.

As with the other reviewers, I really can’t say much else about the specifics of the plot and what comes “After the Fall.” But, I would like to touch upon the topic of consensual sex in this story. While I would have like a tad bit more on Raychel’s end ( I felt it her closure was a bit too neat and tidy), I loved that it wasn’t a black and white issue. Yes, of course, no means no, I am not disputing that. But more of the way Raychel doesn’t understand it. I think many teenage girls get into positions similar to hers and because they know they want to kiss the boy, maybe go further than kissing, or know they had been drinking, they don’t think that the same rules apply to them. To understand they still do have a say, that it is wrong when their voice isn’t heard regardless of how they got into the position in the first place is important for them to know. Thankfully, she has adults in her life who do know the difference. There is so much more in this book past this topic, and it’s worth the tears when it’s over. Quick read with compelling and real characters.

Kate Hart has undertaken a story about the messy reality of two teens lives. The twist part way through shifts the entire focus of the narrative and complicates both the relationships and the grief. Told in alternating voices, AFTER THE FALL offers glimpses into how two people can view events, others, and themselves so differently. The book challenges rape culture and goes further into asking questions about how boys are taught to relate to girls, even if they believe they love them. This book will speak to so many young women who need to hear that rape culture is real. It may also speak to the many young men who need to hear that, too, and consider how they think about the girls and women they know.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

Not really a fan. Everyone in this book was whiny and they got away with everything. All the characters were either boring or just really annoying. The parents either didn't care or had no clue as to what was going on.

Almost every boy in the entire book was attracted to Rachael (for some weird reason) and wanted to be her white knight. Even when the big "incident" happens I just really didn't care.

An ambitious, intense story that tackles a lot of difficult topics. Raychel and Matt are complicated characters who have a complicated friendship, and the dual point of view structure works well to show Matt's good intentions and shortcomings. The relationships between Raychel, Matt, Andrew, and their parents are compelling and well drawn, and I really appreciate the way Hart depicts Raychel's complex reactions to sexual assault and the way other people respond when she shares with them what has happened. I was especially engaged in the "Before the Fall" part of the book, when these issues of consent are at the forefront. Hart managed to provide enough clues that I had a sense of where the book was going but was still shocked and devastated as I read on. This was a hard one to read, emotionally, but I'm glad that I did and the characters will stick with me.

This was a weird one for me -- I could recognize that the story was emotionally intense, yet I failed to connect with it on a level beyond the intellectual. This was perhaps because of the rapidly switching perspectives: the two main characters share narration duty, and each chapter is short so we shift constantly between their heads, never able to really take root in one or the other. There were also times when the first person narration felt a bit too on the nose for me, with teenages offering deeply unlikely, eloquent, outside analysis of their own emotions or motives.

All of that said? I liked it. Raychel was a complex character with a convincing, interesting arc, Andrew -- the one main character we see only through the eyes of others -- was compelling, and the story featured important discussion of class, gender and consent which, even if they sometimes felt pat, are nevertheless deeply worthwhile.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC!

After the Fall wasn't a winner for me. There were things I liked, namely the important distinctions raised about consent, Andrew as a whole, and Raychel's relationship with her mother. There were also things I couldn't get over. Matt is one of the most obnoxious characters I've come across in a long time. His friendzoned feelings were gross, especially because of what happened to Raychel. Unfortunately he really dragged the story down for me and there was no coming back.