She Treads Softly: Everything That Follows

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Everything That Follows

Everything That Follows by Meg Little Reilly
MIRA Books: 5/1/18
eBook review copy; 320 pages
ISBN-13: 9780778364146

Everything That Follows by Meg Little Reilly is a recommended character driven novel.

It is finally the off-season in Martha’s Vineyard and Kat Weber, a glass artist, has just sold a large piece of art, so a celebration is in order. Kat, her boyfriend Sean Murphy, and their friends, including Hunter Briggs, head off to the local bar and begin drinking. Around midnight they all leave the bar. Sean heads for home, but as Hunter and Kat do the same, the bartender, Kyle, runs up to join them and wants the party to continue. They don't know him, but the three decide to continue the party out on Hunter's boat.

The drinking continues and, as the weather begins to turn, some altercation happens, resulting in Kyle falling in the water, but the actual events that led up to it are fuzzy due to their inebriated condition. Hunter and Kat head back under the assumption that Kyle will swim to shore. They will report the accident when they get back to shore. And, once they reach the shore they decide they'll do it in the morning, after they have had time to sober up.

But, when the morning comes, things change again. Hunter Briggs is the son of US Senator Briggs and any scandal will not only hurt his Dad’s chance at reelection, but he just got out of rehab four months ago - boating under the influence will also send him to jail. Nothing has been heard from Kyle, but surely he made it to shore, didn't he? Can Kat and Hunter live with their secret?

Once Kat and Hunter decide to not tell anyone about the accident, some other things happen and an annoying, grating character is introduced. We also get to know more about Kat, Hunter, and Sean. Sean is also an annoying grating character. Actually, in-between some very interesting scenes that have little to do with the dilemma, almost all of the characters can be annoying.

Everything That Follows is a novel that will transition nicely for an easy-to-read summer novel. It is not a thriller or full of any heart-stopping action. Now, Reilly did a nice job introducing her moral dilemma and developing her characters, but she had a tough time plotting the story and keeping a smooth flow to the narrative. You do have to accept that the premise of the story, the moral dilemma, would exist in the first place.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.