After Math by Denise Grover Swank

After Math (Off the Subject, #1)

by Denise Grover Swank

Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and After.

Before she agreed to tutor Tucker Price, college junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety disorder and determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.

After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him. Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.

But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?

Reviewed by Berls on

4 of 5 stars

Share
Review first appeared at Fantasy is More Fun.

3.5 stars.
I’ve had After Math for a while – I’m pretty sure I picked it up for free as a kindle deal because it seemed like it could be one of the better New Adult books. I actually decided to read it as part of a challenge requiring me to read a book where math figured prominently, and I ended up enjoying it for the most part.

The thing about After Math is that its your standard formula for a New Adult book – boy and girl meet in college. Boy and girl are both broken, in their own ways. Girl gets stuck with boy and despite being so wrong for each other -because she’s responsible and reserved and he’s a partier headed for academic disaster – he morphs into a different person (who he REALLY is) around her and she’s inexplicably able to open up around him. Suddenly they both begin to heal. Did I miss anything?

So yes, After Math is incredibly predictable. But that doesn’t make it bad – I liked the characters and the story was a quick, enjoyable read.

Scarlett has a bit of social anxiety and is very introverted. She likes to lose herself in math problems and avoid people. So getting stuck tutoring Tucker Price – party boy, loud, rude, and obnoxious – makes her cringe and her anxiety spirals, until she starts to really get to know him.

I think what I liked most about After Math was that their relationship wasn’t easy. Scarlett doesn’t want anything to do with Tucker at first and after that she is very wary of him. He keeps secrets. They fight. So basically – its most definitely not insta-love, their relationship makes sense, and it takes work.

If you don’t like the predictable story line and are tired of broken characters fixing each other through love, I’d skip it. But if you like New Adult I definitely recommend After Math – the characters are well written and the story is a quick, fun read.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 15 September, 2014: Finished reading
  • 15 September, 2014: Reviewed