Review: After Hello

After Hello - Lisa Mangum

I have this thing where I like to guess what rating I'm going to give a book after I finish it. So after reading about fifty pages, I took a guess. I liked it but I wasn't hooked so three stars easy. But then I kept reading....

After Hello is the most beautiful book I have ever read. Watching Sara and Sam come to terms with their pasts and growing closer was a complete pleasure. The two are so alike yet they look at things differently.

The pacing was spot on - never too slow or too fast. In fact, I'd describe it as flowing. Everything, even when they were pressed for time, felt like an easy flow. Even when Sara and Sam didn't have a lot of time, they still took the time to appreciate each other and the life around them. Following their story was as gentle as following the breeze. I didn't exactly know where it would take me, and neither did they, but it was easy and wonderful to watch their story unfold.

Both Sam and Sara have baggage but neither of them wear it on their sleeves. They spend a whole twenty four hours together but they were talking and getting to know each other during that time. They were helping each other work through the difficulties of life and their current situation. They were their for each other no matter what ugly memory decided to rear its head. Like Sam, I too believe that these characters were kindred spirits.

This wasn't a love story. After Hello is about two people overcoming barriers that kept them from truly being happy. Yes, they eventually kiss, and quite honestly, I wanted that to happen long before the end, but Lisa Mangum can write a love story even when a book isn't about the love story. She held and protected that first kiss until the perfect moment. That moment was beautiful and full of possibilities for both characters. And those possibilities were simply beautiful. 

Source: http://chasmofbooks.blogspot.com