Review: After the End is well written, emotionally draining and MM irrelevant
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2013
After the End was difficult to read and yet I finished it and was glad I did.  The first 20% of the book is about the lead character dealing with grief, or not dealing with grief, I guess. After two years, Quinn seems to be immersed in the tomb with Aaron in a way that is very uncomfortable.  His two BFFs, a lesbian couple, compel him into a blind date with the delectable Brady. Like most of the reviewers imply, Brady was the more engaging character, though Quinn picked up points by half way through the story and was a good and interesting person by the end - a much better and more complete character.  But I can't figure out why Brady bothered.  There is something missing in Brady's character development that would help us understand his growing affection for Quinn.An author who opens with grief and works it into an uplifting story is taking a huge risk.  Nearly half the book is spent getting past Quinn's grief and making him into a functional character.  If we hadn't been introduced and charmed by Brady, I can't imagine this book as anything other than a memorial to the pain of grief.  And that really bothered me.  But Brady is there and he does change the life and energy of the story.  Kidwell put herself out there to deal with a difficult problem and managed to turn the book into something good.The MM aspect didn't work, for me.  This could just as easily have been the story of a het couple and I think male readers will be disappointed.  Few women writers seem to get the rawer aspects of male relationships - Eden Winters and RJ Scott come to mind.I'm left feeling ambivalent about the book: the writing style is excellent, the story moves quite well even if depressingly through the first 1/4 of the book, the character development of the leads has gaps.  I recommend it but hesitate to give it high marks because of the beginning and the MM relationship. If you have dealt with the loss of someone very close to you, getting through the first (large) section is going to be difficult.  If you're looking for a satisfying MM romantic and sexual read, this book misses.