Afterparty
Publication: 31st December 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother -- whose name her dad won't even say out loud. That's why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her...and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she's everything Emma is not.
And it may be more than Emma can handle.
Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It's more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop...
This explosive, sexy, and harrowing follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler's spectacular teen debut, Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.
And it may be more than Emma can handle.
Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It's more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop...
This explosive, sexy, and harrowing follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler's spectacular teen debut, Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.
My Thoughts.
Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler is not your ordinary, average contemporary story, there are quite a lot of resemblances to the movie Mean Girls, which keeps this book interesting.
Emma and her Father have finally settled down in California after constantly being on the road with her Dad's job, on her first day at her new school she makes friends with Siobhan, and it's not long before these two are inseperable, Siobhan soon has Emma lying to her Dad, sneaking out to parties, skipping school, drinking and smoking weed, seeming to become more mentally unstable as time goes on, Siobhan proves what kind of a friend she really is when she hooks up with Dylan, a boy that Emma has had a crush on from her very first day.
Starting to realise how mean and spiteful Siobhan really is, with the more Emma tries to distance herself the worse she becomes especially after Emma starts dating Dylan herself.
It's when against her better judgement she goes to the Afterparty (a yearly huge party), which she and Siobhan had been planning to attend for most of the year, that tragedy strikes.
When Emma finally comes to realise what the pact that she made with Siobhan really meant it will change both their lives and leave them both fighting to live.
While I did enjoy this I found that I couldn't seem to stand most of the characters in this story, and unfortunately that meant that I couldn't really seem to care what happened to quite a few of them.
While I did like the concept, the characters let me down.
I give this 3/5 stars.
Where it Began marks the YA debut of Ann Redisch Stampler. She is the author of several picture books, including The Rooster Prince of Breslov. Her books have been an Aesop Accolade winner, Sydney Taylor notable books and an honor book, a National Jewish Book Awards finalist and winner, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year. Ann has two adult children and lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband.
Website: http://annstampler.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnStampler
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