Book Review: After The Party

Author: Lisa Jewell
Title: After The Party
Publisher: Atria Books
Publish Date: August 16, 2011
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Crazy Book Tours & The Publisher
Book Blurb: Eleven years ago, Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary fell deeply in love. They thought it would be forever, that they’d found their happy ending. As everyone agreed, they were the perfect couple. Then two became four, and an apartment became a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn’t quite so simple anymore. But through it all, Jem and Ralph still loved each other. Of course they did.


Now Jem is back at work part-time as a talent agent. Ralph, a successful painter, is struggling to come up with new, hopefully groundbreaking, work for his upcoming show. But the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart And in the chaos of family life, Jem feels like she’s losing herself, while Ralph, stuck on the sidelines, feels like he’s lost his muse altogether. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted—but maybe it’s not too late to recapture happily ever after…


Review: After the Party is a sequel to Ralph's Party...and for some, the book might be better received if the first book is read...well....first. However, as I read, I found that After the Party could stand alone. Lisa gives enough backstory that you don't really need to have all the details of how they got together.

What will surprise most...well, at least it did me, is that Jem and Ralph aren't married. The way the story read, they felt like a married couple, but only Jem acted like she was part of one...for the most part.

Jem and Ralph are two characters that are really not very likable. It is difficult to believe that these two managed to get together at all, they seem that intensely different in what they want out of life. Both are selfish and stubborn and it was difficult to hope for the best for them as their relationship deteriorates.

This couple is very real, maybe too real for readers looking to escape "real life" when it comes to their reading.

What was most surprising is the "happily ever after", because these two people certainly didn't seem to deserve it.

Rating: 3 flowers

AUTHOR INFO:


Links:

S&S Lisa Jewell Page: http://books.simonandschuster.com/After-the-Party/Lisa-Jewell/9781451609103

Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LisaJewellofficial

Lisa’s official website:  http://www.lisa-jewell.co.uk/index.html

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lisajewelluk

Bio: Lisa Jewell is the international bestselling author of nine novels, including Ralph's Party, Thirtynothing, and One-Hit Wonder. She was born and raised in north London, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at www.facebook.com/LisaJewellofficial or www.twitter.com/lisajewelluk