The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 480 

Publisher: Orion's Children's Books 

Released: 22nd of March 2018 

Leigh Chen Sanders is sixteen when her mother dies by suicide, leaving only a scribbled note: 'I want you to remember'. Leigh doesn't know what it means, but when a red bird appears with a message, she finds herself travelling to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time.

Leigh is far away from home and far away from Axel, her best friend, who she stupidly kissed on the night her mother died - leaving her with a swell of guilt that she wasn't home, and a heavy heart, thinking she may have destroyed the one good thing left in her life.

Overwhelmed by grief, Leigh retreats into her art and into her memories, where colours collide and the rules of reality are broken. The only thing Leigh is certain about is that she must find out the truth. She must remember.

What I Have to Say 

A beautiful moving book about family and the past, a vivid picture of Taiwanese culture and at least 50% of the reason I decided to learn Mandarin, this book is something truly, truly special. It showed the grieving process that Leigh goes through and the impact of her mother's suicide in a very real way but without making it overwhelming or triggering for the reader. Painting it with colours and isolation and the magical realism of the bird. 

The way that Leigh's grief is painted turns it to more of an adventure, chasing the bird and exploring her family and Tawainese heritage. It doesn't hide the harsh realities any more than Leigh's grief does, bringing them crashing down on her and her families head, as is always inevitable. 

It's very hard to truly express how very special this book is, but it is definitely on list of books to push on everyone I know. 

My thanks go to Orion Children's Books and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.