Aftermath
Unfortunately, this novel deals with a subject matter that that has become all too familiar lately. That subject matter is a school shooting. It’s a sensitive topic and therefore, I feel this novel should be read by individuals that are mature enough to handle this issue. This novel briefly flashes back to the past to witness the event as it unfolds but the majority of the events in this novel occur three years after the incident, when Skye reappears in town.
Skye and her brother went to the same school. Skye would do anything for her brother. The day of the shooting, her brother was killed and soon after, Skye left town to live with other relatives. Her family thought it was best. The deal is, Skye’s brother was also one of the shooters, supposedly. Skye doesn’t want to believe it but when he was shot, he had a gun in his possession, or so they say. Skye has come back home now and she’s happy to be back but not everyone is happy to see her.
One of the other shooters was Jesse’s brother. Jesse didn’t get a long with his brother but he didn’t want him dead either.
Jesse and Skye were friends, but on the day of the shooting, something changed between the two of them. It is now three years later, Skye has arrived back on the scene and Jesse is not the person she left behind. Skye tries to walk back into school unnoticed but her peers immediately notice her and the comments come quickly. Walking tall, the voices and the messages soon become disturbing and Skye decides she needs to take action.
It was interesting reading how each of the families dealt with the aftermath of the shooting. Each of their sons were shooters in the incident and I liked reading how they moved forward and how they handled the situation. Jesse and Skye had a relationship that needed to be mended if they were going to move forward but I wondered as I read, how much Skye would address Jesse. Skye still didn’t believe that her brother was a part of the plan that day yet Jesse’s brother was. Would Jesse be able to help her get to the bottom of this? When Skye started to hear the voices, I wondered at first if she might be losing her mind but then when she started to receive the messages, I started running a couple different scenarios in my head of what was happening.
It was an interesting and engaging novel, a novel that I couldn’t put it down. I had to know exactly what happened that day three years ago when the unthinkable happened and I also needed to know what was happening now with Skye.
