Katie's Book Blog!!

Starting My Life After Now, I had no clue what to expect. I had read no reviews and I had heard very few things about it. The synopsis, however, really caught my attention and I knew I was going to have to give this one a shot. Now that I've finished it, I'm so glad I did.My Life After Now is so different from any other YA book that's out there at the moment. Sure, it's a very simple contemporary story about a girl going through lots of changes in her life and there's some romance and drama but there is so much more to it. My Life After Now is a story about a girl who makes one stupid mistake and shortly afterwards finds out that she's HIV positive. It's a story that will have you laughing at times and crying at others.Lucy seemed a bit whiny at first but, to be fair, life wasn't being so great to her. Her boyfriend ditched her for her archenemy (who also stole her starring role as Juliet) and her parents followed that up with a bomb that definitely changed Lucy's life. All she wanted to do was go out for a night and be someone else. It's understandable. However, that one night ended up only making things worse for Lucy and that's when I really started to love her. I found Lucy to be an amazingly strong character even through all she was facing. My heart broke for her more than once and there were times when I just wanted to reach into the book and hug her. Although, there were also times I wanted to reach into the book and slap her. Sometimes she was a little clueless.Lucy's friends and family were completely awesome. Her dads were some of the best parents I've read about. Even when they didn't know what exactly was going on with Lucy, they were always there for her and they tried their hardest to figure out what was wrong and what they could do to help. They were funny and loving and they added to my overall love of My Life After Now. As for Lucy's friends, they all had their flaws but that made them seem more real to me. I enjoyed watching them work through their problems and in the end, it was clear how much they really loved Lucy. Also, there's a bit of romance (that's super sweet) but it's not a huge focus of the story and I actually really liked that.Now I do want to mention that obviously this book touches on some more mature subjects; sex, HIV, AIDS, etc. However, every last bit is handled amazingly and I didn't find any of it to be offensive or unnecessary. The story was informative without being boring and it didn't come across as a lecture or anything like that.Overall, My Life After Now is one contemporary novel that I highly recommend. I was highly impressed with Jessica Verdi's debut novel and I will definitely be checking out her future releases!