Review: Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler

Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: 31st December 2013.
My rating: 3.5 stars

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...

Afterparty was a read which was an uphill sort of struggle read, there were aspects which were fantastic and I found myself really caught up in the lives of these characters and concerned about what could happen to them. But then there were parts which left me with a bewildered look on my face or parts which were just put in which seemed to me for no reason. But the mind funks and slower scenes in the end were worth it, as Afterparty was a really dark and gritty read than I was expecting it to be.

Emma’s the new girl at school she quickly makes friends in Siobhan and Dylan, but feels as if she’s missing out on a lot because her social life is really limited to her dad’s restrictions. Once you read further into the story, you kind of begin to understand the way he is, but at first you kind of find yourself rooting for Emma to go out and have a good time. And that she does. It was interesting seeing the inner struggles that Emma has in her head about what she’s doing and what she shouldn’t be. And only because Siobhan is the only person who wants to hang with her, she agrees to everything she says.

Emma was really a good friend to Siobhan, probably too much of a good friend, early on it did seem that both girls were investing a lot into their friendship. Siobhan was helping Emma come out of her shell more and Emma was there for Siobhan when her life at home wasn’t too great or when she was missing friends. But at points I did get frustrated with Emma’s character for not being straight up with Siobhan, it could have saved her a lot of heartache. But this frustration does not compare to what Siobhan put me through, she kind of had me and Emma fooled for most of the book. This girl was seriously a piece of work, the devious plans she came up with just made me rage. But despite relentless damage inflicted upon Emma’s relationship with her boyfriend Dylan by Siobhan, Emma would still try to look out for Siobhan. I know she was totally losing it as the book progressed, but I just wanted Emma to let her go.        

And then there was Emma’s relationship with Dylan, from the beginning I knew they would make a great couple. Yes there was a particular person who tried to ruin this several times and of course and both Dylan and Emma had kept their own secrets from one another. This was actually something I didn’t like. We’re told of all the things Emma is keeping from Dylan, but of course Emma just can’t bring herself to tell him the truth *rage* and of course everything later blows up *sigh*. But Dylan isn’t an innocent party either; some of his secrets were hugely surprising too. But I always appreciate when a couple who were both put through their fair amount of crap, still find themselves there for each other no matter what. And of course Dylan did provide some really dreamy scenes.

Afterparty is a great read, once you are able to get through the initial sluggish start and get used to the different narrative. The narrative sometimes still didn’t flow well with me in later parts, but Stampler provided a really dark novel in Afterparty which dealt with a lot of issues really well, that I was able to overlook some of the earlier issues I had and find a decent read in this book.