After the Party: The page-turning sequel to Ralph’s Party from the bestselling author

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It is a good smile, a smile that has seen him through a ten-year career in B-list television presenting, but not quite a good enough smile to stop his killing that career stone dead after a terrible episode in the Australian jungle last autumn, in front of six million viewers. I love Lisa Jewell and will always read her books, but I can't deny that this book was a struggle to get through at times. It is the unmistakable sound of her firstborn clattering down the stripped floorboarded stairs in her pink Lucite Barbie Princess slippers. A year before, both frustrated with what their lives were like after the birth of their second child, they looked for satisfaction elsewhere, Jem striking up a friendship with a single father and Ralph visiting his best friend--and falling for his best friend's girlfriend. Even though it's been 10-12 years since I read Ralph's Party, I remembered Jem and Ralph's story and was thrilled to catch up with them.

It is clear now that this is a conversation that needs to be had away from small ears, and Jem follows Lulu into the den, which is a small painted concrete box of a room off the kitchen and is where they keep their computer. Before the very neat and well-organized family lived here, a scruffy woman with a deadbeat teenage son and three obese cats had lived here. the funky bunch - ralph is a commitment-phobic father (he's sold on jem, the kid's, not so much), smith is a reiki-spiritualistic weirdo, rosey is a faux-christian rocker with cheap jewelry, lulu is exactly how you'd picture someone named lulu, karl is a cheap sideplot, the kids are tragic casualties in a plot device gone horribly astray, joel is a creepy-addict-stalker, lucas is a hot 24-year-old with some mild stalker habits learned from watching his crack addicted father. When she gets there, she glances down, as she always does, into the basement pit of the house at number thirty-one.In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. They both live in the same postcode and equidistant from Scarlett’s school and Blake’s childminder, and the children barely notice the difference.

I actually do like Lisa Jewell quite a lot, I think in the way that I really like the Whopper with Cheese, or the burgers I get at my local during the lunchtime special. It tells the story of Ralph and Jem and how their relationship develops 'after the party', how they are both struggling to adapt to their new roles as parents and how they start to suffer with self doubt about how much the other one still loves them. There are some sensitive issues that I think are dealt with incredibly well although I'm reluctant to be specific as I don't want any spoilers in my review. Ralph comes back from California determined to help Jem out more with the kids but Jem is pre-occupied with thoughts of Joel and it appears that Jem and Ralph, instead of becoming closer, are moving further and further apart. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted—but maybe it’s not too late to recapture happily ever after.If you are looking for a looking for a psychological thriller that will unfold secrets and truths in a shocking manner, this book is for you. I do think Jewell pushed the boat a little far with some of the plot lines, complicating it needlessly in places. Not really one that I’d recommend but I would def recommend lisa as an author, just perhaps some of her more recent books. She pauses, tries to picture the inside of Ralph’s flat, who might be there listening to her plaintive, slightly pathetic voice. It wasn’t a bad read I just found it lacked any kind of gripping or exciting story line and I found myself loosing interest throughout.

I think Jewell has provided readers with an interesting look at the struggles of maintaining a healthy relationship and the ebb and flow of love. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Jem and Ralph are unique and complex characters whose personalities complement one another, even if they take different paths to reach their goals. Wednesday is handover day, the day that Ralph takes the children for the weekend, or at least until Sunday morning. And in the chaos of family life, Jem feels as if she’s losing herself, while Ralph, stuck on the sidelines, feels as if he’s lost his muse altogether.New readers won’t have much difficulty catching up with Ralph and Jem’s history thanks to Jewell’s ( Roommates Wanted, 2008, etc. Dealing with Joel, his son and wife; Karl Kasparov; Ralph's new spirituality; Rosey and Smith; Jem trying desperately hard to find herself - it just seemed like too much by far.