The Horn Book Guide

OLDER FICTION

Pan, Emily X. R.

The Astonishing Color of After

472 pp. | Little | March, 2018 | Trade ISBN 978-0-316-46399-7 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-316-46400-0

(2) YA Half–Taiwanese American teen Leigh travels to Taipei on a grief-stricken odyssey after her mother's suicide, piecing together her past by lighting magical incense to witness fragments of others' memories. Pan tells Leigh's story with a vividness punctuated by highly specific hues (e.g., "viridian spiraling" thoughts). The abundant imagery--along with threads of Taiwanese mysticism and the mingling of ghosts with the living--creates a hypnotic narrative.

Reviewer: Roxanne Hsu Feldman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018