The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle, realistic fiction

In the last half of this book, a lot happens. When I say a lot happens, I mean that Laurel really starts to find the part of herself that isn't only 100% focussed on school. She and David start to become real friends, and maybe more. Her Nana, who she ends up living with after her family dies, and her really start to make a true bond after putting their feelings out in the open. Laurel gets a job at a veterinarian's office, which she actually, to her surprise, really enjoys. I know this all doesn't sound like much, but for Laurel, it means she's finally moving on and living life like she should. At the end of the book she and David face their fear of the accident and go to the place it happened. As they drive down the same road their families did, they realize that it's just a road and not something to be afriad of. Laurel even forgives David's father, though it wasn't easy, and David forgives Laurel for blaming his dad. In the end, as cliche as it sounds, everything really does seem to work out for Laurel. Well, as good as it can be for a teenage girl who lost her family, but gained a new one.

Question answer #2
Yes! Laurel really couldn't get any more different by the end of the book. SHe still cares about her future, but she realizes that when something knocks you down you have to get back up and fight again. Not everything comes easily, and for Laurel that was happiness. She found love, family, and a brand new Laurel in the process of leaving her family behind.

Question answer #5
I think the ending is satifying. Of course I think it would be a bit more appealing if there were a twist at the end, but every now and then you need to read a book with a happily ever after. hat I think makes this happily ever after work is that it doesn't start out happy. Infact it starts out with a deep tragity, and then shows that even after a horrible incedent you can't give up hope, because one day you might get the freedom you deserve. For Laurel that freedom was the freedom of disovering erself in a whole new way.