Book Review: After Math


Title: After Math
Author: Denise Grover Swank
Publication Date: March 12th 2013
Publisher: Createspace
Series: Off Subject #1


Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and After.

Before she agreed to tutor Tucker price, college junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety and determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.

After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him.Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.

But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?

"How long have I existed in this nether world? Living in but not part of it? Standing on the sidelines as a bystander? I'm like an alien, exiled to a foreign land in which I never fit, no matter how hard I try. For twenty years I've lived alone, keeping me safely tucked inside, but  it's an illusion. A lie. I thought I could protect myself from the horror of my home life growing up, but all I've done is isolate and ostracize myself from the world. I'd always hoped someone would hold the key to open the door to my prison. Someone I felt safe letting in. Now I've found him."
I'd say (and I'm not proud to admit) the reason I picked this book was because of its gorgeous cover. I fell in love instantly. More so when I read it. If you're a fan of Katie McGarry, then I have no doubt that you'll love this book too.

The story starts with Scarlett Goodwin, who came late for one of her classes and as about to go out when she bumped into Tucker Price. Have you read this scenario somewhere? I bet you had if you're into Charles Sheehan Miles. Are you familiar with Just Remember to Breathe? The story started like that too.

MEET THE CHARACTERS


Scarlett Goodwin, junior at Southern University, math major, coerced into tutoring Tucker

Scarlett Goodwin. The Math Geek who finds solace in solving Math problems. She's a Mathematics major who struggles each day to deal with her anxiety disorder. Part of the reason why she suffers from this is because of her family background in Shelbyville. She had suppressed all her emotions inside that she didn't know if she can be that person again even is she tries.

"But I shut myself off from everyone and everything to survive. I'm hidden somewhere deep inside and sometimes I wonder if I'll stay buried forever. If I'll ever find my way out."

Tucker Price, junior at Southern University, soccer star going to school on full ride scholarship, struggling with his algebra class
Tucker Price. He hides himself by being the cocky bastard everyone know him to be. He's the stereotyped dumb jock who parades himself as a man whore. But deep inside he's just a broken kid who has been through a lot and is unable to find the idea of trusting people enough to share what he truly feels. He came from a foster  house and the last family that took him had accepted him because of he can play soccer.

SCARLETT MEETS TUCKER THE SECOND TIME AROUND.


It turns out that Tucker has a problem with his grades in Math and he needs a tutor to remedy it if he wants to continue playing ball. So he asked Scarlett's help. Though, Scarlett was hesitant at first, she agreed in the end. They began with a rough start but as days go by they both figured out that they have similarities which they find difficult to acknowledge.


They started to fall into a pattern. Tucker felt like he had finally found someone he can trust. Scarlett felt like she wanted to change how she lives and be able to enjoy life.

"But part of me is tired of basing every single decision in my life on reasoned and thought-out choices. Part of me wants to live."
Both of them were aware of the growing tension between them. Somehow, they both fell and they don't know how to deal with it. Tucker is afraid he might hurt her because that's what he always do and Scarlett thought she might do the hurting instead of him. Both have a lot of baggage they can't just unload on one another and both are afraid to take the next step and might lose each other along the way.
"Maybe I'll hurt you," I whisper as my eyes search his. "I'm broken, Tucker. I'm hopelessly broken inside, and I'm not sure there are enough pieces in me to put back together. But when I'm with you, I feel like maybe I can actually be whole."

Scarlett and Tucker are both lucky to finally find each other. I loved how Tucker understood her. - how he was so observant that he knows what she's been going through without asking her and how he thought of ways to help her overcome her condition. I loved how Scarlett understood the real Tucker who was trying to be hidden behind a facade. She gets him by just making an eye contact with him or by observing him. Tucker may have given up on them but their time apart proved that being with Scarlett is better than playing soccer because he realize that his time with Scarlett is better than any championship game he had won.

Overall, the book was really good and I'm sure you're really enjoy it as much as I did. Have fun reading!

Here's another casting for After Math 



"Your major is math. You tutor several days a week. I can't even imagine how many problems you must do. What makes you so anxious that you need that much calming?" I've been so truthful up to this point. Why lie now? "Life."
 

Denise is a single mom who lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri raising five of her six kids. (The oldest has gone off to live on his own.) She loves to embarrass her children whether it be spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen or making her teens’ friends think she’s funny/cool. *gasp* (Even if it’s in her own mind.) On rare occasions, she is known to post stories about her crazy life on her family blog There’s Always Room for One More.She keeps her sanity by creating worlds to escape to and characters to hang out with.



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