Title: What Comes After
Author: Steve Watkins
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: April 12, 2011
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 334
Source: Publisher

After her veterinarian dad dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight must leave her beloved Maine to live on a North Carolina farm with her hardbitten aunt and a cousin she barely knows. Iris, a vegetarian and animal lover, immediately clashes with Aunt Sue, who mistreats the livestock, spends Iris’s small inheritance, and thinks nothing of striking Iris for the smallest offense.

Things come to a head when Iris sets two young goats free to save them from slaughter, and an enraged Aunt Sue orders her brutish son, Book, to beat Iris senseless - a horrific act that lands Book and his mother in jail. Sent to live with an offbeat foster family and their "dooking" ferrets, Iris must find a way to take care of the animals back at the farm, even if it means confronting Aunt Sue. Powerful and deeply moving, this compelling novel affirms the redemptive power of animals and the resilience of the human spirit.

Iris hardly lives the life that every teen wants to live. After a tremendous loss, she's thrust into a world completely foreign to her that turns abusive, painful and emotionally destructive. So when things finally turn around for Iris and she's sent to another place that's quirky, but instills a desire for her to care for those animals she's left behind, no matter what. Is she brave enough to face the horrors she left, and can she do it for more than the animals...can she do it for herself?

I'm an animal nut. It's no lie. I have to cats and a dog, and if I ever won a million dollars, I'd start a cat sanctuary. But I digress. What Comes After combines all of my favourites into one neat little package - animals, the human condition and the desire to be better. With a pretty original premise in YA today that focuses on character development rather than romance, Steve Watkins has created a novel in What Comes After that just might have the power to transform our own agendas and make us thing beyond our own needs.

I have to be honest. What Comes After has all the makings of a great novel. Iris is a great character. She's relatable, caring and kind, and her innocence lends to the character development she faces through the novel. She struggles. She fails, and yet she has a constant desire to get back up again. The pain in this book is very raw and extremely tangible. She loses her father, faces adversity and yet she wants to find her way back to peace at all costs. Aunt Sue was a terrifying counterpart, and her foster parents added a hint of humour and quirk to an otherwise heart-wrenching tale.

What Comes After is not easy to stomach if you're in a feel-good movie. Yes, it has a message and reads extremely well, but it's not for the faint of heart. I cried. A lot. I give it a strong 4 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to fans of YA, especially those who enjoy contemporary fiction.

I received this ARC free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

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It's day 3 of The Long Weekend Blog Tour, and today we're stopping over at Jenny's blog, Supernatural Snark! Be sure to check out her incredibly insightful REVIEW, then stop by for a chance to read Savita's thoughts and enter the international GIVEAWAY!

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Here are the rules: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page, and BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Whatever anger or self-righteousness I'd come in with had vanished. "She shouldn't be allowed to hit me, or steal my dad's money, no matter what," I said weakly. 


What Comes After by Steve Watkins

And now, for my Tuesday Teaser...For those of you who don't know, I do my Tuesday Teasers differently (and yes, I add this disclaimer every time). Each week, I feature two sentences (or more) of something I've written, leave it up all day, then remove it around 11 PM. You're welcome to comment on it, love it, hate it, or simply read it at your leisure...if you'd like, of course. This week's teaser is from my current WIP, RACE.

My legs are sporting bright droplets of scarlet blood, oozing from the cracks in my injured flesh. I smudge the blood with my stinging hands, only to realize I’ve made my legs look worse. I wipe my reddened hands on the remnants of my dress and let my shoulders slump, collapsing my head into my folded arms.

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Today is the first stop for The Long Weekend Blog Tour hosted by yours truly! The all-too-awesome Jamie from The Perpetual Turner has a fabulous review/interview/international giveaway for all of you, so be sure to drop by and check it out!

In My Mailbox is an amazing weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren that features the books we have received during the week. It's so much fun because we get to see what our fellow bloggers stumbled upon this week and add even more to our piles of books! Without further ado, this week I received the following books:

FOR REVIEW

What Comes After by Steve Watkins

(ARC - Thank you, Candlewick)

After her veterinarian dad dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight must leave her beloved Maine to live on a North Carolina farm with her hardbitten aunt and a cousin she barely knows. Iris, a vegetarian and animal lover, immediately clashes with Aunt Sue, who mistreats the livestock, spends Iris’s small inheritance, and thinks nothing of striking Iris for the smallest offense. Things come to a head when Iris sets two young goats free to save them from slaughter, and an enraged Aunt Sue orders her brutish son, Book, to beat Iris senseless.

FOR REVIEW

Wynter Chelsea by Becca Ritchie

(Thank you, Becca)

Four hundred years ago a creature descended upon the Earth. The supernatural hunted innocent lives wanting blood and vengeance. Two families, the Wynters and the Chelseas, knew of the darkness that reigned over the world. For thousands of years they hunted and killed to protect those who knew nothing of the dangers. 

Amanda Chelsea vies to be a part of the Wynter Chelsea legacy, constantly craving the thrill of a lifetime that her older brother, Jack, and the two Wynter boys experience. 

FOR REVIEW

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

(Thank you, Jennifer)

I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. 

Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister.

TRADE FOR REVIEW

Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

(ARC - Thank you, Ivy)

Sixteen-year-old Liz Grayson is photogirl—sharp, focused and ready to take the world by storm with her camera. But Liz's entire life is called into question when her brother is accused of a crime—and the accuser is Liz's own best friend. 

As the aftershocks from that accusation rip through Liz's world, everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself, shifts out of focus. And for the first time in her life, Liz finds herself unable to trust her own point of view.