Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling Book Tour, Review !
Book Details:
Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling
Publisher: DX Varos Publishing (November 8, 2022)
Category: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family Secrets
Tour Dates November 1-23
ISBN: 978-1955065665
Available in Print and ebook, 479 (or less) pages
Book Description:
Indie movie director Sebastian Foster has found his niche making movies based on the award-winning novels written by his estranged mother. However, his latest film, based loosely on the tragic death of his sister as a child, opens up old wounds best left under bandages.
Told in two concurrent timelines, now and when Sebastian was a teen, some twenty years ago in the mid-1990s, this story of learning unknown truths unwinds in the streets of Paris, where Sebastian lived as a teen and where he has returned to make his picture.
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Review By LAWonder10:
Between Before and After is as unique in story form as a Title. However, the Title is very fitting, as is the Book Cover.
This story fluctuates between a family’s life in 1994 and the present time. It is a heartrending tale of a dysfunctional family existence disrupted further by a tragedy that tore the family apart. It is the struggles of a boy and his mother as well as these of the boy’s best friend and his family. In the mix, his new budding relationship with a young girl was also gravely affected.
This is a story of secrets revealed, grieving, romance, and true-to-life dysfunctional home lives. It is also a story of overcoming tragedy and moving on. However, it is also a story of being stuck in time and its damaging effects.
The story was very interesting, although slightly predictable. The writing, at times, left the reader slightly confused about the time frame. Mostly, though, it was well-written and brought the reader “into the story”. The Characters felt very real. The various scenes were easily visualized.
I did not like the weak ending. It was very vague and incomplete. If a “shock effect” was meant, it truly failed.
There were several words of profanity and several “F” bombs” For this reason, I do not recommend it to YA.
I offer a weak Four-Stars rating.
This book was gifted me with no pressure to post a positive review. This is my honest review.
Meet the Author:
Jessica Stilling has written three works of literary fiction, Betwixt and Between, The Beekeeper’s Daughter, and The Weary God of Ancient Travelers. She also wrote poetry and short fiction for various literary journals.
Her articles have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Bust Magazine and she writes extensively for The Writer Magazine. She has taught Creative Writing in both high school and university. She also publishes young adult fantasy under the pen name JM Stephen.
Jessica loves Virginia Woolf, very long walks, and currently lives in southern Vermont where she writes for the very local newspaper, The Deerfield Valley News.
Website: https://www.jessicastilling.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessicaStilling
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.sticklor
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