After Obsession ~ Carrie Jones & Steven E Wedel (ARC) review

After Obsession
Bloomsbury USA
September 13, 2011
320 pages
Goodreads/Amazon

Both Aimee and Alan have things they might not want everyone to know about them. But when they meet each other after Alan moves to Aimee's Maine town, they can't keep their secrets hidden.

And both believe that the strange things that have been happening in the town are related to something that's haunting them.

They're both wrong, though. It's Courtney, Alan's cousin and Aimee's best friend whose father recently died, who's truly haunted. Alan and Aimee are going to have to work together - and fast - if they want to save Courtney . . . and maybe even the whole town, including themselves.


Carrie Jones is known for her strong female characters that are anything but damsels in distress and rather than needing a male character to save them, often end up saving (or at least aiding) the male characters instead. In After Obsession Aimee, the female lead is definitely no damsel, but the male lead Alan is able to help her without being chauvinistic or thinking she's some sort of helpless female, either. Alan and Aimee really work together as a team (the even chapters are from his point of view, the odd from hers) and it's great  to see (read).

The events of the novel all take place over a pretty short period short period of time, but neither the novel nor the characters' relationships feel rushed. This is likely because so much (all important) is shown. As a reader it feels like we're seeing just about everything happening to Aimee and Alan. Novels that take place over weeks or months have to be more sparing with what they show so that things develop slower.

As we do see so much (from the characters' family life, to their school experiences, to the abilities/secrets and the Big Bad) it's easy to understand how things develop as quickly as they do. And, of course, there's the conflict, which can always speed things along and/or intensify things.

Once again I love Carrie Jones' writing for it's realness (even when some not so real things are involved!) and how easy it is to connect to her characters . . . and now I'm a fan Steven E Wedel's first YA, too.

9/10

huge thank you to Kate at Bloomsbury for letting me participate in this tour :)