The Light We Lost mixes with a touch of Daisy Jones and the Six in this novel of first love, passion, and the power of choice–and how we cannot escape the people we are meant to be.Two loves. Two choices. One chance to follow her dreams.Emily has come a long way since she lost her two passions fifteen years ago: music, and Rob. She’s a psychologist at NYU who helps troubled college students like … at NYU who helps troubled college students like the one she once was. Together with her caring doctor husband, Ezra, she has a beautiful life. They’re happy. They hope to start a family. But when a tragic event in Emily’s present too closely echoes her past, and parts of her story that she’d hoped never to share come to light, her perfect life is suddenly upturned. Then Emily hears a song on the radio about the woman who got away. The melody and voice are hauntingly familiar. Could it be? As Emily’s past passions come roaring back into her life, she’ll find herself asking: Who is she meant to be? Who is she meant to love?
more
I’ve heard nothing but great things about Ms. Santopolo’s books, so I decided to start with EVERYTHING AFTER. I hate to say it but I found this one to be lacking. When Emily and Ezra suffer a great loss, it starts bringing up memories from her past. A past that her husband doesn’t know about. I just didn’t feel a connection between the couple and am not sure if that was spurred on by his immature reaction to his wife’s past or not. I felt much more of a connection between her and Rob. The blurb IMO is a but misleading and I truly thought there was going to be a ton more angst and a real push and pull between Ezra and Rob. I wished the entire book would’ve pulled the emotions out of me like the last chapter did.
Possible spoilers ahead:
My least favorite of Jill Santopolo’s books (I LOVED The Light We Lost). I just never felt a strong connection to any of the main characters (Emily, Ezra, or Rob). Maybe it’s because, while I sympathize, I can’t relate to the circumstances they are dealing with throughout the story (Trigger Warning: multiple miscarriages). Or maybe it’s how Emily, a 33-year old therapist, handles the situation. She tells her husband he can’t run away when things get hard, but then she does the very same…with her ex! I also wish the backstory of Emily and Rob had been more developed.
I also had a hard time with how easily Ezra accepts things in the final third of the book. His support, sure, but the circumstances of it all, not really. It just wasn’t believable to me.
I borrowed this book from my library and I’d recommend doing the same if you’re interested in reading it. 2.5 stars
Emily and Rob were once so in love and making beautiful music between them until a miscarriage drove them apart. Now, she is happily married to Ezra but a miscarriage happens again placing a wedge between them just as Rob reappears in her life. With her lost music, she begins to come alive threatening all that she and Ezra have.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Everything After, by Jill Santopolo, is beautifully written with themes of first love, grief, and finding your true self. It was almost impossible to put down and I didn’t want it to end.
From start to finish, Emily Gold was a character that I could relate to on many levels: passionate first love, marriage, career changes, and miscarriage. Filled with grief, Emily shows a lack of awareness as she loses herself to the desire to become the person she thinks she should be, leaving behind those things that were a part of who she was. Her journey felt organic, Emily herself easily reflected in women I’ve known-including myself.
Everything After is told in alternating perspectives: Emily’s (first person) old, college journal entries and the third person present day chapters. I thought these flowed easily, as did the short chapters. I would have loved to know Ezra, Emily’s husband, better. He didn’t feel very fleshed out especially when you look at him compared to Rob, Emily’s college boyfriend who comes to life in Emily’s journal entries.
Most importantly, it’s Santopolo’s depiction of the heart break that follows a miscarriage that called to me. Her portrayal of the agony of miscarriage was honest and raw. Emily’s connection to her child, barely formed in her womb, called out to me as I recognized her grief as mine. I’ve never seen it portrayed better.
It takes a second tragedy for Emily to finally see who she had become and what she had left behind. Her strength to confront this head on was inspirational. When I finished the book, I felt as though I’d made a new friend, one that could understand me with all of my faults and sorrows, one that shows that life does move on and is made into what we want it to be.
Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for honest feedback.
Everything After was published in March 2021 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Emily seems to have a perfect life. Married to Ezra who is a pediatric doctor, it seems life is good. Emily is a psychologist at NYU helping troubled college students that remind her a lot of herself at that age. When Emily and Ezra suffer a great loss, it gets Emily to thinking about her past and what happened years ago. When Emily’s past meets Emily’s present can her marriage survive? This was a beautiful story of love and loss, tragedy and happiness, and all the curve balls life throws in the process. I loved the characters! They were so very real and I felt so many emotions while reading! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.