After Hours

by Claire Kennedy

Scandals and hook-ups abound in a summertime restaurant drama where four teens are all willing to do whatever it takes to make it through the workday...and hopefully to win the money in the after-hours dare-based game of Tips.

Isa, Xavi, Peter, and Finn know that a job at the high-end Waterside Cafe isn't just about waiting tables. It's about the gossip, the hook-ups, the after-hours parties, and, most of all, it's about Tips.

Tips-the high-stakes game based on dares. Whoever completes the most dares wins the collected money. A sum that could change a wasted summer into a Summer to Remember.

Isa is the new girl with an embarrassing secret, and as long as she stays on top of her game, she sees no reason why anyone could ever find out.

Xavi will do anything for the money...absolutely anything.

Peter, Xavi's stepbrother, has been in love with her for years, and he thinks the game is the perfect time to confess his feelings.

Finn is in the game just for the thrill. He has enough tips coming in to keep him happy...even if those tips come with some conditions.

From seduction to stealing to threats, the dares are a complete free-for-all, and only the best can win.

• ISBN10: 1481430165
• ISBN13: 9781481430166
• Publish Date: 16 June 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon Pulse
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

After Hours has been on my Kindle for ages – way longer than it should have been, but not as long as some books I’ve owned (I am a terrible book hoarder – I get so excited for a book, buy it as soon as it’s out and then don’t read it for fifty years). As soon as I started After Hours, I loved the premise. The simple idea of a bunch of restaurant workers doing secret dares to win a pot of money every fortnight sounded so, so intriguing to me.

Let me be clear – the entire cast of After Hours are pretty unlikeable people, with the exception of Peter. Peter I liked. But Isa, Finn, even Xavi, had their horrible/weird moments. I was so impressed with Xavi to start and then when she did what Rico asked, I kinda lost interest a bit. Peer pressure sucks, and it’s a bummer, but I had way more faith in Xavi than she had in herself. Finn and Isa were just horrific. Like legit bad people. We’re talking about two incredibly manipulative 17 year olds and it was just like wow, are they real? (I know, they’re *not* real but you know what I mean!) But I also kinda wanted to know more about Finn – how did he get into the situation he got in? I wanted more about Isa’s past being a pageant queen. So I didn’t like them, but I was super intrigued.

The whole concept of the Tips – that you buy in, everyone then puts their name in a hat and if you’re picked you do a dare and if you fail the dare, the pot rolls over and if you do the dare you win the money was brilliant. I would have liked more dares, rather than the background stuff, especially since all the background stuff (Finn’s job, Isa’s past, etc) wasn’t really dug into enough – it was there, it just wasn’t filled out enough.

Overall though After Hours was a pretty entertaining read. I really enjoyed it, I raced through it and while I didn’t love the characters, I loved the concept, the plot, the restaurant setting. It was such an easy book to read, with short, sharp chapters. I just really enjoyed the book, and it made me wonder why *my* teen years were so freaking dull. Boy, did I miss out, eh?!

[bookishzelda]

After Hours is one of those books that would probably make a great crazy movie. There are so many things going on it, that kind of have you going...what.

You’ve got a whole host of characters but I think the main ones would be Finn, Isa, Xavi and Peter. The most interesting thing about them is that you might think of them one way but then their true colors come out in the end. It was probably my favorite part about the book, even though we are only really getting snippets of each of them.

Peter is the all around nice guy. The only problem is that he is in love with his step-sister. This reminded me of so many manga/anime’s and it’s always a cute storyline. They are not related by any means but living together in the same house.

Xavi is the step sister that has her own dreams. She wants to be a designer but doesn’t have the funds to make it happen.

Finn might be on the football team but he’s worried about college all the same. He’s got his own little dirty dancing thing going on.

Isa is a lot more elusive until we get further in the story. We know that she doesn’t have the greatest situation with her parents and that she wants more out of life. She plays her cards pretty close to her chest until towards the end though.

The things that go on in the story are crazy town. Especially Rico the creepy, I’m not so sure I would want to work for a guy like him. He seemed a little off from the get go and then he lets the employees participate in the game called Tips that can hold some high stakes.

The romance is very light and really not the focus.

This book is a bit of a crazy ride but a really interesting look at people. I don’t think this could happen in real life, or maybe it could I don’t know. If you’re looking for something different then this would definitely be that. It definitely keeps your interest the entire way through.

[whisperingchapters]

This review was first published on Latte Nights Reviews.

After Hours was a quick and fun read that I really enjoyed. It wasn't the best things I have read but I really liked it and I loved the concept of it. After Hours is about some teenagers that work at a cafe and late at night, at 3:00 AM, they play Tips, a game where they have to put a certain percent of their tips/check for a dare. If they accept and fulfill it, they get the whole money. This game had me thinking the dares would be amazing! The first dare was to kiss someone you didn't like...... That is so middle grade and hell, probably elementary. I mean, it involved making out but I find the idea of it childish... That's just me. Some were fun to read about for sure, especially the one that Finn did. I was smiling so big when I read that dare. The rest were okay. I think the story could have been a whole lot better if the game had been more fun.

This is a story that has multiple points of views but it is not overwhelming. I loved reading about each character and their hidden lives that they don't share about with their coworkers. It gets to a point where the story becomes suspenseful and I really wanted to keep on reading and then all of a sudden...it stops...it just ends. It left me hanging because I don't know if something was supposed to happen, if a second book is going to come out, if it really is the end... I don't know.

The characters: The story didn't wow nor the characters. Yes, their life and secrets were interesting to read about for sure but it didn't fully have an element of surprise. I kept waiting for something big to happen. There's Isa, the girl that has a secret that no one knows about until Finn finds out and uses it to blackmail her. Finn had his motives for using blackmail against her seeing as she blackmailed him first, threatening to expose his secret if she didn't get some money out of it. I really liked Isa in the beginning and then I just despised her a lot. Finn was the one that I loved. He was funny and kind of crazy. There's Peter who has been "in love" with his stepsister for a long time and Xavi who believes that falling for her stepbrother is beyond wrong. These two, I was waiting for something to happen and when it did... It was the usual cliche story that happens with these and I kept rolling my eyes. There are two other characters that pretty much were used to fill in since they didn't give much to the story. Then there's Rico, the guy who owns the cafe. From the beginning I didn't like him. There was something off about him and later on we find out why something feels different with this character. You guys know I love when I can relate to a character. With this story, it was rather difficult to do so. I really tried but couldn't feel a connection to the characters at all. I only liked Finn because he was funny for the most part.

Overall, each character was unique, each one with their own secret that slowly came to light and it is not pretty for them, but very interesting. I do recommend this book if you are looking for a quick, light-suspenseful story about teenagers with secrets and having a game of light dares.

[Rowena]

First things first, what the heck was up with that ending?

My expectations for this book were not that high but I was interested in reading this book because the game Tips sounded like the kind of game that would be dramatic and fun but the actual game gets little page time and the book was more about the characters than the game and...well....I didn't like any of the characters. They were young, immature and just shitty selfish kids. And don't even get me started on Rico. OMG.

This book will probably find fans in the younger reading crowd but nothing worked for me and the ending really sucked. So no. I don't recommend this book at all.