The Astonishing Color of After, Emily X.R. Pan
The Astonishing Color of After, Emily X.R. Pan
5 Rating(s)
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

The Astonishing Color of After

Author: Emily X.R. Pan

Narrator: Stephanie Hsu

Unabridged: 11 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/20/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

A stunning, heartbreaking novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.One of Time magazine's "100 Best YA Books of All Time""Emily X.R. Pan's brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. This is a very special book." —John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life. Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a stunning and heartbreaking novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily May on March 30, 2018

Depression, I opened my mouth to say, but the word refused to take shape. Why was it so hard to talk about this? Why did my mother’s condition feel like this big secret? ... “She’s forgotten how to be happy,” I told him. As you can see from the picture I shared on instagram, this book was so quotable.......more

Goodreads review by Teodora on May 04, 2025

5 ⭐ because I don't have more Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺 I don’t know what exact words to use in order to describe The Astonishing Colour of After. I work feeling to feeling with my books and this one was like a tropical rain of feelings washing over me. What exactly are words c......more

Goodreads review by Hailey on February 20, 2018

TW: suicide, depression Such a beautiful debut! The writing was exquisite, I really cared for the characters, and I loved learning more about Chinese/Taiwanese culture! It was a fully immersive read that was definitely heartbreaking, but beautiful overall. The magical realism/religion element was exc......more

Goodreads review by Emily on July 26, 2019

I guess I should maybe give my own book five stars? NEWS: * New York Times Bestseller * National Indie Bestseller * Winner of the APALA Honor Award * Winner of the Walter Honor Award * Winner of the Freeman Book Award * Winner of the 'Mental Health Matters' Book Shimmy Award * Winner of the Millikin Medal *......more

Goodreads review by jessica on May 03, 2019

can we all just take a moment to appreciate that this is a debut??!!? like, honestly. i am the astonishing colour of impressed. this book definitely doesnt read like its an authors first work. this is pure magic. just the imagery alone is outstanding - it showcases dealing with grief, family relatio......more

Quotes

Praise for The Astonishing Color of After:A New York Times bestsellerAn IndieBound bestsellerBustle Best of YA Books of 2018A Paste Magazine Best Young Adult Novel of 2018Winner of the Walter Honor AwardWinner of the APALA Honor Award

"Emily X.R. Pan's brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. This is a very special book."—John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down

"Magic and mourning, love and loss, secrets kept and secrets revealed all illuminate Emily X.R. Pan's inventive and heart-wrenching debut."—Gayle Forman, bestselling author of If I Stay and I Was Here

"Emily X.R. Pan utterly transported me to a world reminiscent of Isabel Allende. Haunting at every turn, this is a glorious debut."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Renée Ahdieh, bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn

"An extraordinary debut from a fiercely talented writer."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Nova Ren Suma, bestselling author of The Walls Around Us

"This beautiful, magical journey through grief made my heart take flight."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Holly Black, bestselling author of The Cruel Prince and The Darkest Part of the Forest

"The Astonishing Color of After works a delicate magic. Its portrayal of grief is deeply felt, and so too is its deliciously tricky romance. I loved this book."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Marie Rutkoski, bestselling author of The Winner's Curse

"My heart has never been more pleasantly devastated. A raw and brilliant debut."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Roshani Chokshi, bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen

"lyrical and suspenseful"—The New York Times Book Review

"In this dazzling debut, author Emily X.R. Pan has created a spellbinding narrative about love, family, and what it means to grieve."—Bustle

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