Three years after losing her brother Luka in a school shooting, Skye Gilchrist is moving home. But there’s no sympathy for Skye and her family because Luka wasn’t a victim; he was a shooter.
Jesse Mandal knows all too well that the scars of the past don’t heal easily. The shooting cost Jesse his brother and his best friend – Skye.
Ripped apart by tragedy, Jesse and Skye can’t resist reopening the mysteries of their past. But old wounds hide darker secrets. And the closer Skye and Jesse get to the truth of what happened that day, the closer they get to a new killer.
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So this book was new territory for me, not because it is YA, I read a lot of YA, but because of the subject matter. Living in the UK a school shooting isn’t something which ever crossed my mind. So growing up and seeing news of shootings in other countries it isn’t that surprising that I haven’t read a book dealing with subject matter, let alone a young adult book which can focus on less serious issues (but not all, there are plenty of authors out there writing good, much needed YA books dealing with serious and real life issues).
Also, it’s not a subject matter which can just be written about as and when. And by this I mean it needs the respect it deserves because this is something which affects so many people, it’s uncomfortable but when done right it has the power to open new doors to new ways of thinking and acceptance in this case.
Armstrong does just that. She handles the subject matter of the shooting and the other sub plots with ease and sympathy, allowing the characters to really find their own two feet in this messy situation. I’ve read Armstrong’s other YA books so I knew what to expect from her writing, but she seems to have upped her game with Aftermath with her characters drawing you in from the beginning. I couldn’t put the book down. Her character development is always something which stands out and this book is no different. Her characters are relatable for all to read, not just young adults.
While I may say ‘the shooting and other sub plots’ there is so much going on it is difficult to call them simply ‘sub plots’ as they all have their place within this novel and work and come together simultaneously for the ending.
Skye and Jesse’s friendship is just one of the narrative driving forces, and shows us how friendship and love overcome most odds. They are teens and are relatable as teens while still being whole characters. I think some YA feels stilted as the authors try to write as teenagers and use worn out tropes and cliches, but that isn’t the case here and isn’t in most of Armstrong’s other YA books.
For anyone looking for a YA book which appeals to readers off all ages while dealing with and exploring difficult subject matters this is the book for you. Armstrong handles these topics with the grace and respect they deserve, while maintaining the thriller aspect it wants to deliver.
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