‘The Afterward’ by E.K. Johnston

I wanted both. I wanted to live and I wanted to keep Olsa. I had no idea how to make that happen, and it was slowly crushing my heart. Or, maybe, it was crushing hers.

‘The Afterward’ by E.K. Johnston might be one of the best YA fantasy books (or maybe even the best one) I have ever read.

A year ago, the heroes of the realm saved the king and all of Cadrium: a group of knights, an apprentice knight, a thief (all female), and a powerful mage, the only male member of the group. Now, each of them lives their own life, some happier than others.

The story is told in episodes, switching between the Before and the After. The After is told from a third-person point of view, and the Before is told from the first-person point of view of Apprentice Knight Kalanthe and Thief Olsa, respectively.

Apart from the story itself, I particularly like this book's intersectionality: representation is broad, with several LGBTIQ+ (doing the acronym justice) and BIPoC characters. We need more of this!

CW: PTSD, classism & inequality, queerphobia (mild), grief & loss, systemic oppression, corruption