| Thriller |
| Romance |
| Suspense |
| Young Adult Fiction |
Summary
Summary
Secrets don't remain hidden for long in this thrilling read from a #1 New York Times bestselling author that's perfect for fans of Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not and Barry Lyga's Bang.
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.
Author Notes
Kelley Armstrong is a Canadian author, primarily of fantasy works.
She has published twelve fantasy novels to date, most set in the world of Women of the Otherworld series, one crime fiction novel, and the Darkest Powers Trilogy. The latest novel in the Women of the Otherworld series is called Waking the Witch.
Her title Thirteen made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. The first book in The Age of Legends Trilogy, Sea of Shadows, made the New York Times bestseller list in April 2014.
(Publisher Provided)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this absorbing, fast-paced thriller, Skye Gilchrist is back at Riverside Collegiate High School, yet her welcome is anything but warm. Three years ago, her brother, Luka, was killed in a school shooting-and he was one of the shooters. Also killed that day was the brother of Skye's crush, Jesse Mandal. Now back at school, Skye discovers that Jesse is not the studious boy she once knew: he's pessimistic, skips class, and was expelled from another school for fighting. But when someone concocts a series of events trying to make it look like Skye is causing mayhem, Jesse comes to her aid. Can they bridge the divide between them and stop another killing? Armstrong sensitively handles the aftermath of a school shooting from multiple perspectives-that of the victims' families and the family of the shooter. She also effectively tackles the topics of bullying and how acting out can be a sign of grief and pain. Skye and Jesse's burgeoning romance sweetens this insightful drama. Ages 12-up. Agent: Sarah Heller, Hellen Heller Agency. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Skye Gilchrist doesn't expect a warm welcome when she moves back home. Not when three years ago her brother, Luka, was one of a group of shooters who opened fire at the high school. Skye's best friend, Jesse, lost his brother in the shooting, and a guilt-ridden Skye hasn't spoken to him since. Now Skye and Jesse are back at the same school, and despite the tragedy that links them, their old connection returns. At school, Skye faces harassment that ranges from schoolyard bullying to vicious threats. As the threats intensify, Skye and Jesse learn that they may not know the truth of what happened the day of the shooting, and that the killing may not be done. Skye's first-person narration alternates somewhat confusingly with Jesse's third-person, but Armstrong (Missing, 2017) deftly works suspense into the narrative. Family dynamics Skye struggles with loving and missing Luka despite what he did, while Jesse navigates life as his Bengali American parents' only child add depth, making this more than just a typical murder mystery.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2018 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-When Skye was 13, her beloved brother was found holding a gun and killed by police during a high school shooting that claimed the lives of four other students. Her grandmother swiftly moved Skye and her mother out of town hoping to avoid the inevitable retribution. Plagued by national headlines, they had to move multiple times. Now, three years later, Skye's grandmother has had her second stroke, and her mother has severe clinical depression. Child services decides to place Skye back in her hometown to live with her aunt. Despite still reeling from grief and unable to grasp that her sibling was a murderer, there's no avoiding former classmates who lost family and friends in the tragedy. Skye dreads having to face her best friend and middle school crush, Jesse, whose own brother was one of the victims. The trauma has drastically changed both of their lives and altered their personalities. But when Skye's life appears threatened by a series of increasingly bizarre incidents, their former relationship reemerges. Jesse becomes one of Skye's only defenders when even her aunt refuses to believe she's become the target of revenge. Armstrong's portrayal of Skye's anguish and confusion is heartbreaking. She takes a pointed look at how people often transfer blame for a shooter's actions onto family members. VERDICT Teens will be drawn to this story and barely notice the lack of credibility in its intense and satisfying climax.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A sensitive treatment of high school shootings and their impact on families of both perpetrators and victims. Sixteen-year-old Skye Gilchrist is returning to her hometown three years after a deadly shooting. Her brother was one of the perpetrators, killed by police during the incident. In the subsequent fallout, her father abandoned the family, she and her mother left town to live with her grandmother, and her mother spiraled into depression. Moving home to live with her aunt and attend high school with classmates who were affected by her brother's actions is hard, especially since her former best friend and crush, Jesse Mandal, lost his brother, Jamil, in the shooting and isn't quite sure how to deal with Skye's reappearance. Shunned by peers and anonymously bullied online and in cruel pranks, Skye's concerns are dismissed by the grown-ups around her as attention-seeking. Jesse, a Bangladeshi-American Muslim boy, has his own challenges as he also tries to avoid school bullies and overperforms in an attempt to comfort his parents and compensate for Jamil's death. Armstrong paints a refreshingly authentic and touching portrait of Jesse and his family as they deal with their grief. Alternating first-person accounts by Jesse and Skye build a compelling plot and well-developed characters. Skye and her family are white.A powerful thriller that will surprise you at every turn. (Thriller. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Forty-four hours after I heard those words, I was in the backseat of my grandmother's car, with all the belongings I could stuff into a duffel. Anything I'd left behind, I'd never see again. We were running. Running as fast as we could, and the only reason we hadn't left sooner was because my aunt Mae had insisted Mom stand firm. Except my mother was, at that point in her life--as at any point thereafter--barely able to stand at all. That was three years ago. I'm skipping those three years. I have to. The aftermath of that day . . . Even thinking about it makes me feel like I'm back there, caught in the eye of a tornado, hanging on for dear life. My father is long gone. He called my mother that night to say he wasn't coming home. That whatever happened with Luka, it was her fault. Which was exactly what she needed at that moment. Sorry, but this one's yours, babe, I'm outta here. When the divorce went through, he married the business partner who'd been with him on all his trips. What happened with Luka just gave him an excuse to dump us for her, and I'll never forgive him for that. Three years. I can break it down from there, like a prisoner tracking time on her cell wall. I keep everything about that first month confined to its place--don't let it out, even when it pounds at the back of my head, sometimes a dull throb I can ignore, other times a gut-twisting migraine. One nightmare month followed by six of mere hell. A period of shame and guilt, the feeling that I'd failed Luka. Or that I'd failed to stop Luka. There's grief, too, but I bury that even faster. You aren't allowed to grieve for someone like Luka. It doesn't matter if he was an amazing brother. Luka Gilchrist was a monster. Write it on the board a hundred times and don't ever forget it. There's doubt and curiosity, too, which must be doused as quickly as the grief. I want to understand what happened. I want to know how my brother--my kind and thoughtful brother--joined his friends in a school shooting. How my brother killed four kids. Except Luka didn't kill four kids. He didn't kill anyone. No, see, that's an excuse. You aren't allowed to make excuses for him, Skye. He participated in a horrible tragedy, and he would have killed someone, if he hadn't been shot by police. Making excuses for him belittles what he did and belittles the value of the lives lost. Judgment. That's the big one. Being judged. Sister of a school shooter. My early curiosity led me places I shouldn't have gone, into online news articles, where I got just enough details to give me nightmares. Then into the comments sections, which was even worse as I discovered total strangers who thought I should die for my brother's sins and said it so offhandedly, like it was the most obvious thing. Hey, I hear one of those bastards has a sister. Maybe someone should take a gun to her school. Or maybe someone should take her and-- I won't finish that sentence. I see the words, though. Thirteen years old, reading what some troll thinks should be done to me and wondering how that would help anything. Then came anger and resentment and feeling like maybe, just maybe, I didn't deserve the petition that went around my new school saying I shouldn't be allowed to attend, for the safety of others. But on the heels of that anger and resentment I would slingshot back to shame and guilt, thinking about the kids who died and how dare I whine about whispers and snubs and having die, bitch written on my locker and yes, the janitor will paint that over the next time he does repair work and no, I'm sorry, Mrs. Benassi, but there are no other lockers for your granddaughter at this time. Six months of that. Then Gran moved us, and I registered under her surname. That blessed anonymity only lasted a few months before someone found out. Then it was homeschooling and moving again and that time the new surname worked. By then two years had passed, and when kids did find out, I lost a few friends, but otherwise, compared to those first six months, it was fine. Now, three years later, I'm going back. Back to Riverside, where they have definitely not forgotten who I am. Back to Riverside, where I will live two miles from my old house. Back to Riverside, where I will go to school alongside kids I grew up with. I'm returning to the only place I ever truly called home. And there's nothing I can do to stop it. Excerpted from Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
