This was a beautiful read and extremely moving. I was in tears a few times throughout the story and couldn't help but feel the emotions of the characters. It is definitely a book that touches on a difficult subject and experiences but I felt was sensitive in the way it was written.


I would recommend this but have the tissues ready.

Thanks to the publishers for the chance to read this review copy via Netgalley.
I had been a fan of Claire Mackintosh from her previous psychological style novels and so was expecting more of the same.
I must admit from the storyline I probably wouldn’t have chosen to read this, but I’m so glad that I did.
Unfortunately real life heartbreaking decisions like those “ Pip and Max” have to make appear from time to time in the news.Its all too easy to make judgement on how you think you would act , without considering , once that no win decision is made what happens next ?
So sad to read this was written from experience.I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this to others

I always get excited to hear Clare Mackintosh has a new book out. I have read her other books and loved them. But this is different for her other books. This is not a psychological thriller.
After hearing about the sad loss of Clare’s own child. It has inspired her to write this one. Max and Pip and a son Dylan. He is their world. When Dylan gets Cancer that leaves him brain damaged and the doctor can’t do anything else for him. Max and Pip must make a decision that changes both their lives. But they both want different things for him. When a decision can’t be made it eventually made by the courts, where the courts decide what’s best for him.
This is an emotional and heart-breaking story of when’s one child get terminally ill. What the parents go through and the sacrifices they make and the aftermath and how life goes on. As I have never had a child myself, I can’t imagine what a parent goes through. I enjoyed the first half of this book but sadly I didn’t quite get the gist of the alternative endings and going back and forwards in time I got a bit confused. four stars from me

This book, I have really enjoyed Clare’s other three books and couldn’t wait to read this one, I was in need of a good physio thriller read. However this is not her standard who did it and often why did it, so be warned. This is a heartbreaking tale of a family and a dying child and horrible decisions that have to be made.
It is though her usual excellent standard of characters, from the parents, grandparents, doctors and nurses all were beautifully written and described and you just couldn’t help but be drawn into the tale. The format is also great with the same situations told by characters showing the different points of view.
The compassionate way this is written is explained in the authors footnote and my heart goes out to any parent in similar situations.
My only negative is that the second part so spilt into different timelines and stories and I personally kept needing to re back and double check who, what and why and I found that very difficult with a kindle, I think an actual book would make this easier.





This is an honest review in return for a free advance kindle edition of this book. Thank you Little Brown Group.

I found this a difficult book to read as I hadn’t actually read the blurb before I requested it. It’s beautifully written and full of raw emotion-unfortunately too raw for me so I wasn’t able to finish it.

I picked up this book to read without reading the blurb just before I started it. I have read this authors first 2 books and loved them so I had high hopes for this book. I had no idea it was a different genre to the other books. It hooked me from the start and I struggled to put it down. I loved the second half of the book and how the storylines developed. This book brought out every emotion in me and I had tears reading it on more than one occasion. Clare Mackintosh has done it again. I would highly recommend this book.

The author moves away from her usual mystery/thriller genre in this, her latest book. Despite it being very different to previous books I've read of hers, I was nevertheless drawn into this amazing story and was kept gripped throughout. The main characters, Pip, Max and toddler son Dylan are so well drawn and have great depth and warmth making the reader really care for them. In fact, all of the characters are people you come to care about deeply. The book is incredibly sad as it deals with the subject of a child's terminal illness but throughout the book the overriding emotion is that of love. The parents are equally devoted to their young son and to each other but the book goes on to show that even the strongest and most loving relationships can be torn apart by tragedy and Pip and Max are both such lovely people who get right under your skin and you feel their every pain and sadness as they grapple with the inevitability of their son's condition and their faltering relationship. The emotion that this book drew from me is huge and was at times quite draining but the need and the hope to see how things turned out for Pip and Max kept me hooked to the last page. I applaud the author for the immense amount of research that must have gone into the book and all the more for her own heart breaking experience that is a basis for the story. It must have been an extremely difficult book to write but she does it so beautifully and with words that could not fail to touch any person reading them. My only very slight negative was that I found the chapters in the latter part of the book a little confusing at times with different narrators and timelines and had to keep going back to check facts. All in all though - another fabulous book from this incredibly talented author. My thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Book for the chance to read this copy in return for my honest opinion.

As usual Clare Mackintosh writes a wonderful book. This one is special as she has gone through the heartache of losing a young child herself.

I enjoyed reading until the end of the first half of the book and, while I understand why it then because a 'sliding doors' narrative, I always find these difficult to follow. After The End was no different on that score, hence 4* not 5*. Many thanks to NetGalley and LittleBrown/Sphere for the opportunity to read and review it.

A heartbreaking and impossible dilemma is handled in a beautiful, sensitive and original way in this emotional novel. This isn’t the kind of book you expect from this Ms MacIntosh but it could be her best yet.

The story opens with a courtroom where parents are awaiting a judge’s ruling on their young son’s fate and then goes back to when two-year-old Dylan Adam lies unconscious in hospital with complications from chemotherapy to treat his brain tumour. When doctors tell his parents Max and Pip they’ve reached the end of the road they ask them to make an impossible choice: further treatment that will prolong Dylan’s life for a while or palliative care. Initially the couple are in no doubt of their agreement of the right choice. But by the time they come to tell the doctors their decision Pip has changed her mind and the couple now find themselves on opposing sides of a battle where both believe they know what is best for their beloved son.

What would you do? How do you know what the right choice is? What if the one you made wasn’t the right one? What would life have been like if we’d taken the other path? These questions and more are explored in this poignant and thought-provoking story.

I don’t want to say too much about what happens once they go to court as it would ruin the story, but after the court case is written in a unique manner that gave the book a lot of it’s charm. It was unexpected and at first I wasn’t sure what I thought. But I quickly loved the direction the author took and the message she was conveying to the reader.

This was one of the most moving, tragic and affecting stories I have ever read. Max and Pip are faced with the choice no parent ever wants to make and you can’t help but have your heart break alongside them.

One last thing- you need to read the author’s notes at the end of the book. In these notes the author shares her motivation for writing this story and my heart broke all over again.

Clare, I have such admiration and respect for your bravery in writing this book. You have touched my heart and soul with this unforgettable story.

I found this to be a very difficult read, partly due to a recent personal experience and partly the general subject matter. It’s very well written by an excellent author just too raw for me. Sorry.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

This is a heartbreaking novel that is both original and clever in the way it is written. Max and Pip are placed into a position which is every parents worst nightmare. When their toddler, Dylan is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour they cannot agree on the best course of action for him. After the courts have decided his fate, the book takes an interesting turn (that I don’t want to spoil for you) making it a truly captivating read.
I have read similar articles in the press regarding impossible situations like this, but the afterword of the book explains that the author herself has to go though this in 2006. When faced with an impossible decision, how can we ever be sure we made the right choice? What would our lives be like if we’d chosen differently?

The first part of the book was heart breaking, emotional and hard hitting. It was hard to read. Such a difficult decision for any parent to make.
But the second half of the book kinda ruined it for me. It became more about the parents dating life afterwards and less about Dylan.

Wow what a roller coaster ride. Heart breaking and thought provoking. Each chapter is written from the perspective of the three main characters, who’s perspective would you relate to! Highly recommend this book but not an easy subject to read about, especially as a parent myself

This is the second of Clare Mackintosh's books that I have read, I read her debut novel for our Book Club and that was very good, but this is very different.

Wow, this is such a powerful novel and also very hard to review without giving anything away. You have to read the Prologue, I know people say they don't bother, but the chances are you miss something.

Make sure you have a box of tissues to hand, because you are surely going to need them.

It is such an emotive subject when the case of a terminally ill child hits the press, and there have been several high profile cases in the UK press in recent years. The thought that money will be the answer, the big bad NHS doesn't want to spend money etc. To write so well about the subject I knew that Clare Mackintosh had some knowledge of the subject and it turns out she did.

The difference in this book was that Max and Pip disagreed on the treatment and ultimately they end up in court.

Be careful of reading too many reviews about this book as some are already saying how the second half plays out. It is different and not what I expected, but for me it worked. Occasionally I had to check back on who was narrating the chapter as it swaps between Pip and Max. It does through the whole book, with Doctor Leila also having a few chapters, I perhaps would have like to hear more about her and her family struggles.

Highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for allowing me to read this pre publication edition.

Before reading this please arm yourself with a box full of Kleenex, you are going to need them.
This story was quite a departure from the authors previous psychological thriller works. This novel is based on real life events that the author has experienced which makes the book all the more emotional. This book follows the story of parents Pip and Max and their young son Dylan. Dylan is an incredibly poorly boy suffering from a brain tumour. The family unit is very strong but as Dylan's health deteriorates the parents have to start thinking about his on going treatment. This is where the cracks form and the marriage takes the full strain of the decisions that need to be made. I'd love to write more about this book but in the same breath I don't want to give anything away. This book is best read without any awareness of what is on the horizon. This is an exquisitely beautiful read, it will touch your soul, as heart breaking as the story is its also life affirming.

Clare - you have a piece of my heart with this story.

Thank you Netgalley for my advance copy of After The End.

I loved this book from the first page despite it being about such a difficult subject, that of a sick child. It was interesting reading how Max and Pip had differing opinions on what they should do for their son and also seeing how their doctor Leila was feeling about the whole process. However, once we get to the second half of the book how the story is told changes. Alternate chapters focus on what could have happened in a 'What if' scenario and this is where I found the book became quite confusing and hard to follow.

A heartbreaking story but one that is so relevant in today’s society.

Max and Pip are very happily married and are parents to a little boy, Dylan, who has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. The parents have a very difficult choice to make, do they let the Drs turn his life support off, or do they keep treating him in the hope that a cure can be found. But what happens if they cannot agree?

This is their story of what happens after a decision has been reached.

Claire, you got me, I did not expect the way the book unfolded and I loved all the little twists and turns along the way which kept me turning the pages.

I really came to care about what happened to both Max and Pip and your ending kept me awake!

This was a well written book on a very sad su he took. Dylan was so sick that the only thing keeping him alive was tubes, ventilators and pain relief. His parents understandable wanted him to live, but how long can you let your child live like this,
Pip and Max did not agree what should happen to their boy Dylan, and decided to let the courts decide.
What a Terrible decision one man must make.
How will Pip and Max cope with the decision that is going to be made about there son..
Will there marriage survive?

Well this was a surprise, albeit a positive one. Based on Clare Mackintosh’s three previous books I had anticipated this would be another thriller but whilst this is certainly a page turner it is a heart wrencher rather than thriller. A book of two halves this is the sad tale of parents Max & Pip faced with an impossible choice regarding their desperately sick son Dylan, unable to agree on what they believe to be the best course of care for him and so they are left with no option but to let a Judge rule on Dylan’s future. The first half of the book tells of Dylan’s illness and struggles and his parents battle to do what is best for him, the second half of the book tells of life after the Judge makes his ruling.

Told alternately from the perspectives of Max & Pip (and on occasion their doctor Leila) this is a very well thought out story, most especially the second half of the book, and Clare Mackintosh has skilfully woven her way through Max & Pip’s lives dealing with an impossible aftermath. The style of the book reminded me of Jodi Picoult and whilst it’s a huge change from Clare Mackintosh’s usual style it’s a very natural fit for her writing, reading the authors note at the end went a huge way to understanding her motivation behind this story too. Not an easy subject to read about however I don’t thing this feels like a negative book, hard going and emotional yes but certainly not depressing, Not one for a light summer read but very much well worth reading.

This is a brave and difficult story to try to tell, looking at what happens if your child is terminally ill and your doctors advise that treatment should be stopped and you should move to palliative care only. What happens if the child's parents disagree about what should be done? In this story it is Max & Pip who face this unbelievably difficult decision, and who end up going to court for a judge to decide on what the outcome for their son, Dylan, will be.
The start of the book is strong - I particularly liked the doctor, Leila. It's fraught and emotional and you feel very engaged in the story.
Halfway through, the book suddenly diverges - at the judge's decision, it splits into two alternate timelines, where we see what the outcome is depending on whether the judge rules that Dylan should continue with his treatment, or whether he should be allowed to die. This initially felt like a very brave and interesting decision to make for the book, but unfortunately I felt it didn't quite work. The story becomes confusing - it's hard to follow which version of Max & Pip we're seeing, and, to be honest, I struggled with the factors that seemed inevitable in each version of the timeline, so Pip's attraction to Lars, and Max's relationship with his old childhood friend. It felt as if they were both being forced away from each other, and there was no possibility of them working their way back together. But then to make matters even more confusing, there appears to be another, third version at the end, that suddenly came out of nowhere, and saw Max and Pip remarry, or at least, I think that's what happened! I had become so muddled by that point that I'm afraid I'd given up on trying to follow and I was just reading...

I also missed the doctor's timeline, so the second half of the book focuses on Max and Pip, but Dr Leila was an interesting character, and I wondered how she was and what was happening to her. We hear snippets, but it didn't feel enough for what I'd invested in the character.

I think there was a lot of potential here, and it's a very, very difficult issue, made more so because the author unfortunately lost her own child. I had wondered, at the start, which option she would choose to seemingly endorse, so the 2 timelines was an interesting choice, but unfortunately I didn't feel it worked very well.
I would have rated this higher as the writing is good, but I found the end very disappointing so I'm afraid it only hits 'it was ok' on my goodreads scoring.