My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi

Nook Book, 219 pages
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Stand-alone
For fans of: Miranda Kenneally, Chick-lit, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, GLBT, Sparkly Covers

Lucy just had the worst week ever. Seriously, mega bad. And suddenly, it’s all too much—she wants out. Out of her house, out of her head, out of her life. She wants to be a whole new Lucy. So she does something the old Lucy would never dream of.


And now her life will never be the same. Now, how will she be able to have a boyfriend? What will she tell her friends? How will she face her family?


Now her life is completely different…every moment is a gift. Because now she might not have many moments left. (From Goodreads) 

*MY THOUGHTS*
     As soon as I heard what this book was about I knew that I HAD to read it. Any book that can serve two purposes by being entertaining and giving a lesson at the same time is a winner with me. Before I even read the book I had no doubt in my mind that this would be a 4-5 star read for me. And that’s exactly what it was.
     Lucy is a 16 year old girl who loves theater, her two best friends, and her boyfriend Ty. But then a week of misfortune brings her to letting all her inhibitions go and getting reckless. Her entire world comes crashing down when she finds out she’s contracted HIV.
     What I like most about this book is the fact that it serves as a real eye opener for its readers. There are so many factors that could have been the cause of Lucy catching the disease that it makes you think a little harder about all the contributing factors and what could be the cause. Not only in Lucy’s case but in real life as well. I also enjoyed the lesson in this because it is so well written out, I think teens would rejoice in reading this novel versus sitting through 90 minutes or so listening to a Coach throwing stats at them from a book.
     This book was extremely well written and I applaud Verdi on tackling such a tough issue. Not only was I learning things (there were facts in there I didn’t even know!) but I was fully entertained. I loved all the characters and the incorporation of theater. I like how although this was such a huge topic it wasn’t super harsh and serious but still made you think.
     As for the characters, they all were amazing. The only thing I didn’t like was Lucy’s poor choices involving them. For example, when she finally chose to confide in someone she chose the person she barely had gotten to know and not her friends of 12 years. To think that she didn’t immediately trust them baffled me. Especially when they were characters like Max and Courtney. Max was hilarious. But, I must admit, Evan was pretty amazing himself. Even with his little hiccup he had when he first found out. And finally, there was Lisa. I really hated her. I remember thinking the entire story that it was her fault. I wanted it to be so bad. And only because I couldn’t stand the way she treated Lucy or her dads. Yes I said dads. Another really unique thing about this story. Verdi did not go along with the norm at all. 
          This book is a fast paced read that will hook you as soon as you crack the spine. I admire Verdi for branching out and tackling this disease when no one else would. This engaging read is fast paced and will leave you with a new found knowledge about a difficult subject.