Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong – a Review

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / Book Depository / iBooks

Description:
Three years after losing her brother Luka in a school shooting, Skye Gilchrist is moving home. But there’s no sympathy for Skye and her family because Luka wasn’t a victim; he was a shooter.

Jesse Mandal knows all too well that the scars of the past don’t heal easily. The shooting cost Jesse his brother and his best friend–Skye.

Ripped apart by tragedy, Jesse and Skye can’t resist reopening the mysteries of their past. But old wounds hide darker secrets. And the closer Skye and Jesse get to the truth of what happened that day, the closer they get to a new killer.

Review:

Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong is a standalone YA thriller.  Aftermath focuses on the fallout after a shooting at the local high school, and the affect it has on those closely related to the tragedy. 

Skye Gilchrist, our heroine, is 13 years old when we meet her.  She is at school, having a conversation with her friend (maybe soon to be boyfriend), Jesse.  They are called to the principal’s office, and hear news that will change both of their lives; a school shooting with both of their family members tragically killed.  Jesse’s brother was shot and killed, but Skye’s brother was one of the shooters, killed by the cops.

Jesse Mandal, our hero, and Skye’s friend tried to talk to Skye to tell her that he does not blame her, but she was grieving for her brother Luka, and never allowed Jesse to talk to her.  Skye and her family left town shortly thereafter, and with her mother ill, she returns three years later to stay with her aunt.  She dreads going back to school, rightfully so as everyone treats her like a pariah; and when she sees Jesse, she is surprised that he too would not acknowledge her.

Soon Skye will get threatening notes, videos sent to her phone, and horrible treatment from the students.  Jesse never blamed Skye, as she was not at fault, and regretted how he ignored her the first day; since he was hurt that she never called or wrote to him. Jesse keeps his distance early on, but quietly follows her, as he sees her being harassed, and when she is stuck in a room at school which is set on fire, Jesse will begin to help Skye to find out who is threatening her.  Their friendship and eventually romance (background only) will bring them together again. 

What follows is a very tense last half of the book, as the stakes rise when Skye finds herself in dangerous harmful situations a few times.  Everyone at school, including the officials blame all the threats, notes, fire  as Skye being behind them, trying to get attention.  Jesse and Skye try to find the clues as to who wants to harm her, and why.  This was a wonderful intense mystery, and as we get closer to the end, becomes a real thriller.

I really liked both Skye and Jesse, as they were very good together.  I found it a bit heart wrenching to see her being treated that way by almost everyone, especially since she had nothing to do with the shooting.  I also loved Jesse’s mom who was a respected Doctor, and stood up for Skye.  Armstrong touches a number of issues along the way, such as grief, anger, bullying.

The tension became even creepier as we raced to the exciting climax, with Armstrong throwing us so many curves and surprises.  The mystery was so good, I was surprised to discover who and why.  Aftermath was a great read, with a subject very much real in today’s world, but Armstrong made this into an exciting intense thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.  I suggest you read Aftermath, which was so well written by Kelley Armstrong.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher