This is Mathieu's best book so far. I thought Devoted was real and insightful, but Afterward is even more so. I am looking forward to being able to recommend this to others, and perhaps students, who have suffered through trauma so they know they are not alone, that there is hope, and that healing will happen.

Originally Posted At
www.thebookishloner.com

Afterward is the amazing story of two families that are given a second chance with loved ones they feared were lost for good. It’s the dream ending for families who have had to experience their own abduction story. And while the return of Ethan and Dylan seems like the perfect ending, it’s just the beginning for this story. The road Ethan and Caroline travel, each with their own trials, is not a smooth one. Yet, they are quite lucky to have each other, even if it seems like their pairing would cause more problems than good.

Mathieu does an excellent job weaving the before and afters together. We don’t spend a lot of time in the past, aside from watching as Ethan heals through vivid flashbacks, but it’s enough to paint an unhappy picture of what the two boys had to go through before their rescue. Mathieu keeps the subject matter PG for the most part but the story itself could serve as a trigger for some so use your own judgement before reading.

I was sucked into the story and invested in Ethan’s healing and for the most part as the story drew to an end I felt the satisfaction in knowing that our characters would be okay. I do wish that we could have had a more definitive answer for Dylan but I know that the book was too short to really dive in deep with his healing journey. This is definitely the type of book that has me holding my babies a little tighter as I tuck them in at night.

Mathieu, Jennifer. Afterward. Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, 2016.

Dylan, an 11-year old boy with autism, is kidnapped, but when he is found only days later, it is discovered that the man who kidnapped Dylan had also kidnapped another boy, who has been living with the kidnapper for years less than an hour from his parents' home. Dylan's and Ethan's families are glad to get them back, especially Caroline, Dylan's older sister. Caroline has helped to care for Dylan since he was very young, and now she wants to know how to help him recover from his trauma. Should she reach out to Ethan to find out about Dylan's captivity? Does she really want to know what went on in that house?

This story is told in alternating chapters, with Ethan and Caroline narrating the first year after Dylan and Ethan's rescue. Ethan's family has the means to send him to an exclusive therapist and bring tutors to the house so he can catch up on his schooling; meanwhile, Dylan's family struggles to make ends meet, and Dylan's parents in particular are not handling his capture and return well at all. Caroline does befriend Ethan, much to Ethan's hovering mother's dismay.

As a childhood rape survivor, I can attest to the accuracy of the scenes between Ethan and his therapist, including the difficulty Ethan has with the drive to the therapist's office, the flashbacks, the counting technique, the memories that are just gone because Ethan's brain is not ready to process them yet. I can sympathize with his frustration at his Swiss cheese-like memory.

This book captures the reader's attention and keeps it; it will be very popular with my teen patrons who are always clamoring for "books about kids who deal with really hard stuff," and it would be an easy recommend to abuse survivors because Ethan's reactions are well-portrayed but there aren't many details about what exactly went on during the years he was gone. Recommended.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: both Dylan and Ethan are kidnapped; Ethan struggles with flashbacks, which may be triggering to trauma survivors
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: [b:The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly|17185496|The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly|Stephanie Oakes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412065594s/17185496.jpg|23634541], [b:Reality Boy|17332968|Reality Boy|A.S. King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362502869s/17332968.jpg|24046581], [b:Eleanor & Park|15745753|Eleanor & Park|Rainbow Rowell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1341952742s/15745753.jpg|17225055]

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purposes of review.

I tried to like this book, but everything was so disconnected. Ethan disappears when he is 11 yrs old and then Dylan goes missing. Ethan had a lot of freedom with his kidnapping but never took off, we are never told any backstory on this time period that settled any questions on what happened, why or the actual freeing of the boys.

Second story Dylan is has nonverbal autism and when he returns home no outside help is given to him. His mom tries to fix him and pretend all is normal. This causes the parents discord.

and the third story, Caroline decides to find Ethan to fix her brother. None of this is realistic and nothing connects and then the story just ends.

Tough read, but very worth it.

I appreciate the risk of tackling such a tough subject matter but the story just moved too slow for me to really get into it. I liked Ethan and Dr. Greenberg but Caroline and both sets of parents annoyed me. I had high expectations for this and feel let down.

I was drawn to this book because it is loosely based on a real news story that dominated headlines in the St. Louis area approximately 10 years ago.

This book follows two characters, Ethan and Caroline, both affected by separate kidnappings. At age 12, Ethan was abducted by Marty, a child predator, while Ethan rode his bicycle to his friend's house. Locked in a closet for part of his ordeal, Ethan was sexually abused for four years before Marty abducted Dylan, a severely autistic boy, and also Caroline's younger brother.

Caroline realizes Ethan may have the only clues to why her brother has come home so traumatized. As her family falls apart around her, she reaches out to Ethan to ask for help. Ethan's own demons, however, prevent him from remembering many specific details of his traumatic experience, and he isn't sure he can help Caroline or Dylan when he can't even open up to his expensive Harvard-educated therapist.

I saw glimpses of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, the real kidnapped boys, in both Ethan and Dylan's characters, and Shawn was held by his abductor for four years, too. I wish the author would have specifically mentioned this case and how it inspired her writing in her acknowledgements. She does provide information about missing children, but I feel like the St. Louis story deserved some credit.

I didn't rate this book higher because I felt like the characters weren't fully developed. While Ethan and Caroline bond over music, their relationship still feels forced, and I could never fully embrace either one of them as believable. The story's topic is so captivating, but the book felt flat.

Another Firstread win for me. An excellent story about the aftermath of 2 boys that were kidnapped and returned to their families. It shows the trauma that results from such an event for the victim and the sibling of a victim. Trauma, and what it looks like, is portrayed very accurately. This is an excellent YA realistic fiction novel.

This book was a lot deeper than I was expecting/prepared for.

This was well-written and approached a sensitive topic with respect and grace. It feels strange to say that I liked this, as it tells the story of two kidnapped boys returning home. One boy was held for a week and one for 5 years.

I remember when the two boys in Missouri were found in a very similar situation. It's hard to think about what these kids have to go through, including the tumultuous journey after they've returned home.

If this is a topic you are interested in, it is a good book and I would recommend it.