After the End

After the End by Clare Mackintosh          Audio Book:  11 hours,  34 minutes
Paperback Book: 512 pages       
A really well done story if heart wrenching due to the topic.   Based on the author's own experience losing her child but fictionalized this story is told with the intensity of a parent who knows from the inside what is felt watching a child suffer while you do your best to care for, love, and provide the best research and medical care available only to run out of viable options.    The story is told from the viewpoints of both parents and the presiding doctor over the case.   Clare Mackintosh describes the ups, downs and the navigation through the surreal world of coping when there is literally nothing more you can do, when continuing to grab at promies seems futile and you come to the point you wonder if struggling forward is better or worse for the child when quality of life is subject to interpretation and you and your spouse are at odds on what to do next.   A compelling story that will grip you to the end.   Dylan and his plight will feel so real you may never forget this one and there are many things to be learned from what the parents go through.   It is watching a family implode.   The love is still there but everything that had been is blown to bits.   There is solace to be found and life goes on whether we want it to or not.   Deeply moving and well told.   Might be hard for teens and middle schoolers to read/listen to so I would recommend this one for adults.