life after you

by Hayley Grace

From the breakout author of save me an orange comes her second book, a collection of poetry focused on letting go and reminding that every ending holds the seed of a new beginning.

In life after you, Hayley Grace describes the highs and lows of love, loss, and what it means to reclaim your life after it’s been broken. In her distinctive poetic style, she takes readers on a journey that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable.

Her words were meant to find you if you have loved deeply and fought to heal.

“sometimes healing feels like
climbing a spiral staircase.
you think you’re moving in
a never-ending circle,
but really
you are just moving upward.”

-- from life after you

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Love, Self Help

122 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2024

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving this book five stars just for the nine lives poem alone.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is like it knows what I've been through. the way the author uses metaphores to describe the love they had made me laugh too. she just knows how it is. i loved how she broke it down in three parts of each life she lived in with him, before him, and after him. all the things she says is so relatable. it describes that situationship you had that might've turned into love for you but not him. and how he wouldn't commit to anything, when you wanted more and he knew but didn't do it with you he did it with the next girl immediately. he didn't greive what you guys where like how you grieve but he will at some point after all the women don't go to him anymore it will hit him.

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I thought Save Me an Orange was 5 stars, this book was a 6 star read for me! I appreciated the emotional depth that these poems had to offer. I felt connected with this book (more so than the last one) because I related to it so much. I enjoyed marking up the pages so I can come back and re-read them when I need a relateable pick-me-up. I'm so glad I read this book, and I know the author's moving words will stick with me for months to come.

[Sen (earwig) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not a poetry fan so take my opinion with that in mind

All of these poems felt the same to me and it was just 110ish pages of the same thing and I was so bored I mean I have read good poetry collections but this just wasn’t it and I felt disconnected it didn’t inspire any intense emotions in me and I was even a little disgusted by some of the words that the author chose to use to express themselves and a lot of phrases were repetitive and over used

Just not for me but I’m going to try this authors other poetry collection just to see if it was just this book or not

[Kiani Margolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book at the start of the year because I saw one of the poems on TikTok and it made me cry. Once I had the physical copy in my hands, I shelved it pretty much immediately because I couldn’t relate to it. 7 months later I’ve never related to anything more and absolutely sobbed as I made my way through it. I know this will be one I’ll be picking up to read multiple times throughout the next few months and I can’t wait until my tears turn to understanding and acceptance.

[𝐄𝐦𝐦𝐚 ☮︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75⭐️

“sometimes healing feels like climbing a spiral staircase.”

“I remained gentle, despite it all.”

“Step 8: Be kind. Who knows, the girl parked next to you at the beach might also be grieving someone who is still alive too.”

[Samantha · Rating 1.5 out of 5]

While I could appreciate the depth and meaning behind some of the poems, I found myself struggling to connect with them on an emotional level. Nothing felt particularly relatable, and despite the heavier themes, the writing never really moved me.

[Nora Marquez-Hilario · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m giving this book a 2 star review. The thing I like about reading/writing poetry is that you feel like someone understands, and if a poem hasn’t ripped you apart inside-out then you haven’t experienced real poetry yet. This book did not do it for me.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Angel Thao · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idk maybe I’m too happy in my relationship to like this book. Felt like very basic thoughts. I love the nine lives poem though, and if there were more like that I would have enjoyed this more. Will probably re-visit when I’m depressed.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,75⭐️

[Autumn Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lowkey boring 🥱

[Angie Botner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy healing! This adorable little piece took me into the depths of the abusive relationship that I survived from from the beginning to the point I’m almost to now. This book is raw, real, and so truthful it’s insane. I was hooked from the first word until the acknowledgements and am already planning to add this to my “re-read” list. I recommend this book for any human who has been through a rough break up and is on their healing journey, and those who have been lucky enough to avoid the cluthces of a toxic or abusive situation in order to relate to those close to you that might be going through the healing journey.

[Jessie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I found this author on TT and I’m so glad I did. The cover I beautiful but the words inside hit home. Can’t wait to read Save Me an Orange!

[L · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made it half way, couldn’t even read all of it. This is the type of book to put you in a reading slump. I’m all for poetry but this author writes like she’s an angsty 16 year old. Neither of her books are relatable unless you are just that;an angsty 16 year old.

[Miliza Andrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s impossible not to relate to something written in this book. For most of the book I was like “Shit where was this when I was 17 and utterly broken by that asshole?” and it really is beautiful to see how people overcome the worst that happens to them. More than being relatable, this book is necessary. It’s beautiful to see in words what I’ve come to realize in real life. Everything heals.

[Hattie Amato · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Sometimes healing feels like climbing a spiral staircase. You think you're moving in a never-ending circle, but really you are just moving upward."

UGH. don't I just LOVE hayley grace. so so so so good.

i love being able to read the poems that I hear on tiktok in an actual book and seeing them all come together.

4 stars

[The Quintessential Quotage · Rating 4 out of 5]

some poems pulled my ribs in a little too tight
and whispered truths I hadn’t named yet.
others felt like echoes
of words i’ve read before
in different fonts,
different heartbreaks.

it’s a diary left open on the floor,
pages stained with ache,
metaphors soft as bruises.

i wanted to feel every line
—but not every one stayed.

still,
she captured something honest
about loving someone
who didn’t know how to hold your softness.

not a masterpiece,
but a mirror.
and sometimes,
that’s enough.

she writes with a harrowing tenderness,
the kind that doesn’t beg to be understood,
just witnessed.

and though not every word landed
as it was intended to,
the ones that did
still haven’t left.

there’s beauty in the trying —
in the way she bares the ache,
lets it breathe.
lets it sit beside you,
bound in the silence of a shared scar,
a reflection of your own

this book won’t save you.
but it will draw stars around your scars,
quietly reminding you that even in the wreckage,
there’s a shape worth finding.

not quite a lifeline,
but close enough to reach for
on the harder nights.

[FollowKund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life After You is built in three parts. During You, Between You, After You; and that structure is what makes it hit so hard. It’s not just a book about heartbreak. It’s a map of what grief actually looks like when you live through it in real time: the part where you’re still in it, the part where you’re suspended between who you were and who you’re becoming, and the part where you finally, quietly, become someone new.

Haley Grace doesn’t rush any of it. This isn’t a book that tells you love and loss are simple, or that healing happens on a schedule. It sits with you in the hard parts.l, the moments you believe you’ll never move on; and then it shows you, gently, that you can. That there’s a version of yourself waiting on the other side, one you couldn’t see yet because you were too deep in it.

By the end, this isn’t really a book about someone else at all. It’s about finding your way back to you… heartbreak and all.

If you’ve ever loved someone so much it broke you, and then had to learn how to put yourself back together anyway, this book will feel less like a story and more like a mirror.

[Keira Delgado · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭐️

I thought her other poetry book, Save Me an Orange, was better than this one.
The biggest issue was the repetition. Not only did many of the poems repeat the same ideas over and over within this book, but some even felt repetitive of themes and lines from “save me an orange”. This book didn’t need to be 119 pages long. 

I can appreciate that the author was trying to write honestly about heartbreak, attachment, and healing, but some of it became genuinely brutal to read. The fixation on her ex felt less reflective and more obsessive as the book went on, to the point where it started feeling overly dramatic and dragged out.

The poems also came across as emotionally immature at times. Also I’m not sure how old the author is but it seems like they were writing about a high school relationship that the author never emotionally moved on from. Because of that, a lot of the emotional weight stopped landing for me.

Overall, I really did not enjoy this book. I found many of the poems poorly written, overly repetitive, and ridiculous.

[♡︎ e l i s e ♡︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ 4.9 stars

i have so many emotions right now after finishing this.

i started reading this after i had just gone through a breakup, and let me just tell you, i was in a completely different place then.
this book has slowly and silently changed me.
i never entirely realized either.

but now? after finishing? wow.
i haven't been able to stop smiling for about an hour now because i've fully realized that first of all; i actually didn't deserve that treatment, second of all; i have a life outside of what i believed was love, and third of all; i'm over him. completely, and utterly over him.

i'm able to recognize that when i'm "missing him," i'm not actually missing him. i'm just lonely.
and being lonely every once in a while, is so much better than being with someone who didn't believe you were worth sticking around for.

[Kristin Masse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hayley Grace is gold. I don’t care what anyone says.
She is wise beyond her years.
I purchased this due to her TikityTok about a quote from what I thought was from this book about the “funny friend” but I MYSELF was mistaken.
Yet this was still a masterpiece in itself!

Hayley is going to go incredibly far. I know she will. Each book (second one that I’ve found now) goes more into her soul & opens up about the hurt she’s been through. Which I can easily relate to (in my early 30’s).

This specific one focused on relationships & being with that one you know is NOT good for you & staying with them. As women and/or men; we’ve been there & done it.
Having a book to read to know you’re not alone, is beautiful in itself.

Xoxo

[Morgan Ashmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, lots to talk about.

Let’s start with the beginning, HOLY CORNBALL, some of the metaphors in this book can be repetitive. Also, i’m sorry, some of the poems (pg 15, pg 21, god, the first section) had me cringing HARD.

but… the book did evolve. It’s clear that this book conceptually was written over 3 different distinct time periods. That much is obvious, of course, but in the technical skill of the writing too.

the final section was PEAK, so good, no corny ass tiktok writing. However, i feel 3 stars is adequate because the first two sections felt like i was being dragged along by my feet.

To Haylee, great job! this book shows the literal timeline of your improvement. I can’t wait to see more works from you, and see more improvement!

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a whole bunch of poems taking you through the process of pain and grieving a person who isn’t dead. It shows how even if you are heartbroken it gets better and you have yourself at the end of the day. Love starts in you and one day will be able to be shared with another (and not the person you sobbed over and begged to treat you right, or the man you gave your all to, for him to just walk away and come back only to twist the knife in your back even more). This book is a beautiful journey of how you will be able to move on and you are not alone with how you feel right now, no matter what stage you are at with moving on.

[Kez Nickless-Mooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started reading this just after my breakup, some of the poems in there really helped me, however, most of the poems were told from a female perspective which made it some times hard to relate to. Also, a lot of the poems were about an abusive ex lover, which is not something that my ex was spot made it hard resonate with them. Overall it still did help and made me cry on multiple occasions and I’m sure that I will revisit if I need it.

[Elizabeth Kelchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I love this author and I knew this book would hit me right in the feels in the best possible way. Also because I got dumped about a month ago, and I knew it was time to heal, and this book helped me do just that.


Some of my favorite lines:
•”I hope she knows how much violence I suffered in order for her to be loved gently”
•”The addiction to loving a man who does not know how to love correctly is substance abuse, and you were f*cking poison”
•”Moving on is hard when you don’t know what comes next but it becomes a lot easier when you realize you shouldn’t be trying to pry back open a door for a person who shut it on you in the first place”
•”I know i’m not bleeding but a part of me wishes I was, so you could see the damage you have caused”
•”I still hope you get everything you’ve ever wanted, I just hope I never hear a thing about it”

[Ketzaly S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so deep and hits very close to home. It's such a beautiful way that Haley Grace writes and I can tell how she meant everything to be read. I didn't know but I relate to her too much and reading this book helped me feel seen and has helped me feel healed and embrace those parts of me. I almost cried about every page and genuinely held back tears in the middle of my English class. I very very much recommend this book to people who have had some issues with relationships and some home/family problems. <3

[Gizell Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book made me cry a lot because It relates to my life and this book is 5 stars everyday even tho I'm in the middle of reading it I love it so much and I want Hayley grace to keep writing more books because they mean something to me and I don't like to read but this book I would read it for eternity.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had very high hopes for this after reading Save Me An Orange, as well as after learning the book’s premise. Perhaps it was meant to be read while in the thick of a certain season. I am sure I will revisit it and hopefully I will find more comfort in these poems. There were several that I loved and connected with, of course.

[McKinlee Kegin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book because it had relatable poetry. I actually follow this author online. It have very good depth with emotion. This book makes me feel like knows exactly what I've been through. The way the author uses metaphores to describe the love they had was good. Some of the poems brought me to tears. Just by reading the poems I can see the passion and hurt and love from the author.