Title: Afterparty
Author: Ann Redisch Stampler
Publication: January 6, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: YA Fiction
Pages: 432
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother — whose name her dad won’t even say out loud. That’s why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her…and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she’s everything Emma is not.
And it may be more than Emma can handle.
Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It’s more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop.
This follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler’s Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.
REVIEW:
Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler takes readers on a journey through the unseen side of California–where the rich are immune and the poor don’t exist. Emma is the transplanted good girl who somehow gets sucked up into Siobhan’s crazy world. The girls are polar opposites yet they’re pulled together by a force that Emma doesn’t understand. She can’t seem to escape Siobahn’s clutches. They make pacts that become increasingly dangerous until one lands them both in the last place they expected.
The action never stops in Afterparty. At first, Siobhan’s craziness is almost exciting but as the story goes on, you find yourself begging Emma to run away–fast. Emma struggles to hold onto the good girl she’s always been as she tries to find her place among the elite at her flashy private school. Teenage girls will be able to relate to Emma’s struggles. What girl doesn’t want to be good yet still fit in? Enter hot rebel Dylan and all bets are off.
At times, the drama in Afterparty became overwhelming. I had to put the book down and give my brain a break. So much is going on at once and the urge to punch Siobahn never quite fades. Still, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for girls over the age of 15. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Pick up your copy of “Afterparty” by Ann Redisch Stampler on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or pick it up at your local bookstore. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads. You can also look at the authors other books on her Amazon.
