Name: Afterlove
ISBN: 9781444955965

Tanya Byrne

THE LESBIAN LOVE STORY YOU'VE BEEN DYING TO READ. Ash Persaud is about to become a reaper in the afterlife, but she is determined to see her first love Poppy Morgan again, the only thing that separates them is death. Car headlights.The last thing Ash hears is the snap of breaking glass as the windscreen hits her and breaks into a million pieces like stars. But she made it, she's still here. Or is she? This New Year's Eve, Ash gets an invitation from the afterlife she can't decline: to join a clan of fierce girl reapers who take the souls of the city's dead to await their fate. But Ash can't forget her first love, Poppy, and she will do anything to see her again ... even if it means they only get a few more days together. Dead or alive ... NOT EVEN DEATH CAN TEAR THEM APART. 'Byrne is a talented writer with attitude, and a fresh, original voice' Daily Mail

Afterlove

Alessia (Taylor's version) 

After being so sure that l wasn't made for anyone, just those girls who were fond of playing with matches around my paper heart, I found her. 

🌸 Crybaby 🌸

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. 

I think about what Mr Moreno told us last year, about that guy, astronomer called Carl Sagan, who said that we're all made of star stuff. The nitrogen in our DNA. The calcium in our teeth. The iron in our blood. All of it was made billions of years ago in the interiors of collapsing stars 

You don't need to be better than anyone else, you just need to be better than who you used to be.

People come and go. Some are just cigarette breaks and others are wild fires.

Julia Krauß

You can miss someone, but not want them back

Suze

Maybe we'll burn bright for a few weeks then collaps in on ourselves, but thats how galaxies are made anyway.

Not everyone knows how to say I love you so learn to hear the different ways they tell you. They say it all the time.

She throws her head back and laughs and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.

Margarida Santos

Some people take more than they give. They take it and they never give it back and it doesn't matter how tightly they hold you or how often they kiss you, it will never be enough to replace what they took. 

But never regret something you once wanted. 

Ash Persaud is about to become a grim reaper in the afterlife, but she is determined to see Poppy Morgan, the love of her life again - the only thing that separates them is death. AFTER-LIFE COMES LOVE ... Car headlights. The last thing Ash hears is the shriek of metal and the snap of breaking glass as the windscreen hits her and breaks into a million pieces like stars. But she made it, she's still here. Or is she? This New Year's Eve Ash gets an RSVP from the afterlife she can't decline: to join a clan of fierce girl reapers who take the souls of the city's dead to a boat on the seafront to await their fate ... But Ash can't forget her first love, Poppy Morgan, and she will do anything to see her again ... even if it means they only get a few days together. Dead or alive ...

Elizabeth Denny

Emmm :p

INCREDIBLE OMG. i usually hate perspectives from dead people like the lovely bones but this was just another level of amazing. i finished it within days because i was so intrigued and the author really managed to capture the feelings of a wlw relationship so well. this book is amazing

Hannah Mobbs

its can be confusing but its a very interesting story line and its also a lesbian book so automatically amazing

grace richards

this book is so cute (even though the way it ended pissed me off) and it’s such a nice and easy read

An amazing read, especially for those who Love lgbtqia theme books and also that sence of danger at every turn. Highly recommend.

Effie Ewart

Had struggles to get into it but that may be cause I’m not really into romance but it got definitely better and I even cried a bit

Marsha Evelyn

4.75⭐

Where should I start? When I put this book on my currently reading as my Spooktober reads, I almost hesitate because for Spooktober this was kinda off. But, as the story goes on, I love it already. There was typos in some parts, but that's okay.

Miss Tanya Byrne is brilliant writing a story about loss and grief. I myself cried a lot reading Afterlove. I also love Esen and Dev. And I love the love that Ashana and Poppy had. I don't know but I'm sure they will find each other again; wherever beyond the sea. 

Just like Esen said. Well done!!

Hannah Calverley

um i have no words. it was perfect to finish on valentine’s day annnnnnnd now i need to go update my book character pinterest board to process what i just read.

Yasmin H

This book was very interesting and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. When I had read the first few chapters I realised that I was going to love the book.

I like how much Dev and Esen look out for Ash, even if she does try to break the rules and put herself in danger. Ash always made people happy, which I liked. 

I like Poppy’s character the most because she gives things and places sentimental value - where they had there first kiss, the exact spot on the beach. I like how hard she tries to make the people around her happy. 

I would definitely recommend this book because I couldn’t put it down and I loved the plot.

It was amazing! Made me cry but I don’t have time for a full review rn haha

Eva Haugsted

I really love this book, ❤️❤️❤️

Yunna Ducharme

Viktoria A

vmknmy

** spoiler alert **
           what I liked:
1. Ash and Poppy's relationship was really cute
2. I liked the idea of the reapers
3. The cover ❤️❤️ its so pretty
4. First half of the book/the "before" part.

What I didn't really like:
1. THE ENDING!!!! Why did she throw away everything for some girl she dated for a few months??? like there's plenty of fish in the sea, why why why why why why why-
 idk I didn't like the ending, Esen should have been able to leave or Dev since they were reapers for longer, there was so much potential but why did Ash have to get on the boat for some girl that she hadn't seen for 11 months? Why does her whole life suddenly revolve around Poppy? I don't know I just don't get it. It was an unsatisfying ending for me.
2. I liked the idea of reapers...........but the author could have done so much more with it? Like, made the reaper aspect more of of a focus on the story, or have Ash face consequences from Deborah because she met with Poppy, I don't know, they introduced this concept of reapers and then just used it as a plot device to make the relationship between Ash and Poppy have a bit of a roadblock or something. Idk how to phrase it but so much more could have been done with it ;_; like the book was started with a chapter of Ash reaping someone, why introduce the story with it if the whole book with a reaping when it isn't a main focus of the story?
3. There was also in other reviews about a transphobic comment from one of the characters in the book but I can't find it??? maybe it was removed or something (which would be a good thing) but yeah if its still in there that really isn't good

overall 3/5 stars, I was disappointed in the end and still am :(
oh well

Dilayra Verbrugh

Great story and it’s sapphic, but I expected a bit more sadness and a few questions were left unanswered. But still loved it so much and the characters were so lovable!!

Laura Yaneth Martinez

** spoiler alert **
            i literally have no words for what i just read. this was unexpected. if i were to see or hear about this book i probably would never pick it up, but it was gifted to me in a fairyloot box & because those boxes are so expensive, i knew that everything in it and about any abook i would read to cherish this gift that my younger self never could have dreamed would fall into my hands. im so glad i pushed through and read this book. i took my time with it, which i needed to do because this book was hard to get through. heavy breathing, slow out breaths. that was what this book consisted of, oh and tears, many tears of course. this story speaks of death, love, and the unknown, this author did an incredible job creating a story with so much depth. i will cherish this forever. the acknowledgments page broke me, and when I described it to my mom it broke her, because that's how we lost my abuelita, slowly, and painfully. this book requires strength because everyone dies. and you know it from the start. but what's do beautiful is that the entire time you still hold out hope that they'll live, that they'll beat the odds. but that's not our reality. we all die. and this book put that reality right up in your face, and yet, it doesn't leave you scarred, but empowered. loved it, can't say more

vania vela

"We found each other in life.
And we found each other in death." 

The way this book made me feel, it's not normal. 

By this point if you read my reviews, you know that most of the books I read are chosen based on recommendations given by friends, or in any case, the covers. The excitement I had the first time I saw the cover of this book was enormous. The design of the drawing, the color palette, the typography, everything automatically made me add the book to my TBR without reading the synopsis. 

After 4 hours of reading, interrupted by crying sessions, I can say that I don't regret picking this book up. I found the romance of the main characters so cute and it was extremely sad to have to read the scenes together. I would have liked to have been able to get a more in depth look at the friendship and family relationships, especially their reactions to our main character's death. 

Other than that, I cried while reading it, which reaffirms that I am a masochist for reading books that will destroy me emotionally.

- loved the concept
- didn't love the execution
- the relationship was sweet

Sophie Elaina 

This was equal parts delightful and heart-breaking. Afterlove is an emotional ride and a unique tale of love and loss. I found myself quickly enthralled and couldn’t put this book down. Tanya Byrne’s writing is really lovely, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of reading it. And the way the atmosphere is captured through the writing is pure excellence. This is not one to miss! 

Rating: 5 Stars.

--- 
Thank you so much to Hodder children's books for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Lily D

Not sure my rating so this could bump up to a 5


I FORKING LOVED THIS BOOK

Christina 

I loved this book with my whole heart. It was heartwarming but also heartbreaking. I loved the characters and shared their feelings. I cried three times because of this book and still I loved it. 

ffion foulk

love this book so much!! If your looking for a wlw book this is it, if you’ve recently lost someone i think personally it helped me 

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

I don’t really know how I feel about this, tbh. I really enjoyed the first 40% and then… I don’t know, I didn’t really mesh with the rest? Like, it was an interesting a unique story, but maybe just not for me. 
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, with Ash and Poppy falling in love, cute banter, 
But I feel like knowing the twist from the blurb, of Ash dying and turning into a grim reaper, kind of ruined it for me. I definitely would have enjoyed this more if I went into it without knowing that. Plus, the whole "join a clan of fierce girl reapers" didn't really feature that much, to be honest. I would have loved to see more of Dev and Esen, they were fierce, and they were kind of just background characters. I wanted to see more of the actual "fierce girl reapers" doing their jobs and how they "lived" their afterlives. 
Also, the barrage of HP references really didn't sit right with me. Just seems completely unnecessary. 
All in all, a really unique concept, but I feel like the second half could have been expanded upon more. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette for the eARC.

Afterlove

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