This book is absolutely not my usual genre but I read an excerpt of it in the Buzz Books of 2019: Fall/Winter edition and I was intrigued enough to request the full ARC. The Years After You is a book about two women linked by one man: his wife and the woman he is having an affair with. That is in essence the entire plot and I can't really say much more without giving stuff away. It is told in dual perspectives from both women's POV, though the bulk of the focus is on Lily's POV who is the mistress in this scenario.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this story. Lily as a character was very well-written and I liked and identified with her a lot. Pippa's (the wife) part of the story was less important and while I could see why it was included, her passages almost peter out entirely towards the end. I do think there was a missed opportunity in (highlight for spoilers) not having the two meet and have a conversation about Harry. The ending was poignant but also it would have added a bit more depth if they had been able to share their grief. Instead this moment was done silently which resulted in less of an impact in my opinion.Harry was a bit of an unusual character and I think again, the story would have benefited from Pippa's sections being expanded upon as then we would have got more of a detailed idea of who he was as a person seeing more of him from a different perspective.
Overall, this was a very solid slice of life contemporary story. It has a bit more depth than your usual fluffy contemporary and the pacing and characterisation are all done very well. There could be a little more expansion in certain areas but this is worth checking out if you like more serious contemporary romances.
Overall Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment