After I've Gone book review

“What if you saw your own condolence messages on Facebook?”

After I’ve Gone by Linda Green

You have 18 months left to live . . . On a wet Monday in January, Jess Mount checks Facebook and discovers her timeline appears to have skipped forward 18 months, to a day when shocked family and friends are posting heartbreaking tributes to her following her death in an accident. Jess is left scared and confused: is she the target of a cruel online prank or is this a terrifying glimpse of her true fate?

Amongst the posts are photos of a gorgeous son she has not yet conceived. But when new posts suggest her death was deliberate, Jess realises that if she changes the future to save her own life, the baby boy she has fallen in love with may never exist.

Duffy’s Review Of After I’ve Gone

I haven’t read any of Linda Greens other books but was drawn by the blurb on the book jacket.  Jess Mount is a young, vibrant twenty-something girl who, after seeing these unsettling Facebook entries has to grow up fast and start making some smart decisions to save her own life.

The storyline is an original one. What if you could see what people posted about you after you died? Why do people outpour their grief so publicly for the world to see? Why do we feel a connection through a screen? What is the human condition that makes us stick around to save people that may not want to be saved?

The plot is a gripping one, and even though you work out pretty early in what’s happening, I still raced through the pages to see that Jess was ok. I really liked her character and in particular the relationship she has with her father and best friend Sadie. Set in a working class area of Leeds, I could relate and loved the down to earth characters who are thrown into a not so normal situation. The supporting characters are all very well rounded, you know enough about each of them, some you will love to bits and others will fill you with rage. It’s touching in places, quite dark in others, but compelling all the way through. That’s what a a good character driven book is about!

If you loved Big Little Lies and Back Again, you’ll love After I’ve Gone.

Buy After I’ve Gone from Booktopia for a discounted price!

Copy given to me by Hachette in exchange for an honest review.