Thursday, June 10, 2010

After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Both Leigh and Maia have issues. For Leigh, he's in love, with no hope of falling out of it with Maia. She on the other hand has too many problems of her own to think about love; after battling anorexia and physically hurting herself, she thinks she can't handle romance or even close friendship in her life. Even with all these factors against them, love quickly blossoms then disappears after Maia’s tragic rape by three prep-school boys. With Maia at her most vulnerable, she needs Leigh to help her, but Leigh discovers that the world such as the case with war can reason everything, especially what the guilty does. After the Moment takes place four years after the last time Leigh and Maia were together and it is a time of remembrance and overall forgiveness for both.

Freymann-Weyr has one of those strong writing styles that brings the reader in with such clarity that it displays the raw emotion of young love and the lasting pain it can cause. Each character was created with their own unique personality that also brings the reader into each character's own personal struggles. Leigh especially was created so deeply to love and protect, that for each movement he made the reader was blindly aware that it was calculated and directed towards Maia. I felt like this book was a little too serious, though there were happy moments the book had an overall melancholy feel that left me questioning if love is worth the pain.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Brewster, N.Y United States