So, let's start from the positive things:1. I absolutely love the cover.2. Masher3. NanaBut I still give it 2,5 stars. Why is that?You know, I thought it was a book about grief. How to overcome grief. Instead it was a book about romance. There was even a love triangle among the pages. Laurel gets and invitation for prom from a guy that has never spoken to her before. He talks to her only after her parents and little Brother died in a car accident. He was to shy and timid (and spineless) to ask her about before that. And if someone admits something like that... I don't know... It doesn't bode well for that poor guy.And guy number two is just as pain-stricken as our protagonist. His father caused the car accident and he lost his mother too. After that, while Laurel stays in her city and keeps on going to school, he drops out and start traveling around the country, sending postcards to his dog.I didn't feel connected to the characters. I acutally didn't care about them. And it also seemed that nothing ever happened to them. I mean, OK... Laureal has to see a therapist to cope with what happened but in the end... the accident is something that remains in the background.I don't know. It's an ok reading but it didn't leave me a lot. So, Laurel and David were playmates at one time but as they get older they go their separate ways. She is cramming for SATs to get into her dad's alma mater Yale, and David is part of a clique known as the Railroads. Their families get together for a Passover dinner on a rainy night and decide to go out for ice cream for desert. Laurel passes to go and study for the big test and David decides to go to a friends instead. An hour later there is knocking at Laurel's front door. She opens it to find a police officer... And like it says in the book, that was it. The end of Before, and the beginning of After.The story takes you through the trials and triumphs Laurel goes through in her grieving process during her senior year and sees her off to high school. There is one part of the book that takes place between her and David at an after-prom party. It is just heart wrenching. I had leaky eye syndrome for that one and some others.You also get a taste of what hell David is going through in his post cards, and emails as he takes to the road running from his pain. But at the same time looking for a safe haven that turns out time and again to be found in Laurel.I enjoyed reading this immensely. I think it gives a "realistic" view of the grief process. If you are looking for a good drama this one definitely fits the bill.
