AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER

During a summer at the Jersey shore, a young woman asks questions about loss, love, and music.

At 15, Quinn lost her best friend, Lynn, in a car accident—an accident she thinks is her fault. Now 18, Quinn is staying with her aunt, trying to come up with a life plan at her mother’s insistence. Yet Quinn can’t seem to think beyond the end of the summer. Meeting local musician Malcolm, who became addicted to drugs after a car crash killed two of his band members, makes Quinn start thinking about what she wants. She agrees to play drums on Malcolm’s demo, and they begin a relationship—a dangerous one, since Quinn can’t help wanting to save Malcolm. There are plenty of people in Quinn’s life, such as her aunt, who tell her to put herself first. Now she will have to decide whether to take that advice or live for today by joining Malcolm on tour. All major characters are white. Whether it’s due to the lack of sparks between Quinn and Malcolm or the lack of power in the retrospective view of Quinn’s problems, the individual notes do not fit together to form a harmonious whole.

While the pieces of this novel are all handled competently, they don't quite mesh. (Romance. 14-18)