Afterwhile:
A True Crime Memoir

This book should be in the spiritual section of the bookstore. I related to the pain and struggles of trying to heal yourself after bad things happen. Love surely is the most important experience on Earth we can have. Thank you for sharing your love for God and your sister with me.

This book is excellent and will minister to many people. As the mom of a former addict, my prayer is that your family will continue to heal, but also that Stephen will come to faith, receiving the kind of incredible deliverance that my daughter did.

This story gave me chills, filled my eyes with tears & made me angry all at once. I am not a book reader, but this one was worth the read. As someone who has family members who were addicts, it is eye opening to the harsh reality of what addiction does, not just to the user or their families, but sometimes to complete strangers.

This book had me feeling emotions of sadness, anger, and finally, happiness as it resolved into a conclusion that showed how you can flourish after suffering the loss of someone close to you. The book was an easy read but was extremely deep and made you reflect on the process of grieving and loss. I loved how it included diary entries and court documents throughout the book to show you the effects this accident caused. Not only did it just lead to significant legislation, but it also created emotional growth and reflection for those who personally knew Angelica. One of the quotes I highlighted while reading that I felt summarized the book best was “We do not have to become the product of who or what happened to us. If we draw breath, the power to choose light or darkness remains” (Page 43). Overall, this book expressed how losing a loved one at such a young age can impact your future and emotions and that there is always a way to grow from the experience and not let it only be negative. Just like the Nappi family did after Angelica’s unfortunate passing, there is a way to turn a grieving process into a positive change. You have the choice of how you move forward after such a tragedy.

From the first page to the last I was glued to this book. I read the whole book in 3 hours, between dinner, putting my daughter to bed, and working my overtime shift. I was drawn to each chapter to find out what happened next and to get answers that I built up in my head. I felt as if I was not just reading the book, but watching it on screen. Highly recommend the read if you or someone you know has experience a loss of a loved one due to unforeseen circumstances.

I am grateful to have read this book during a very difficult time in my life. It seems as though it came at just the perfect time. I’ve been very depressed and hopeless and feeling like there’s just this darkness surrounding me.

I used to pray a lot—the apostles creed, the our father, the rosary, you name it. I was praying them at home, at work or any waking moment that I had to spare I was doing them in my head. But none of my prayers were answered, and my life just has not been going as planned in any aspect of my life. It made me resentful toward God and wonder whether I was worthy of good things, so I stopped praying altogether. I can’t even remember the last time I went to church.

After reading this book and hearing about the spiritual signs, dreams and encounters Nicolette experienced, it gave me so much hope. It made me cry and smile in wonder- all at the same time. I received the book and read it on October 23rd. When I finally got to the last page I saw the page dedicated to Angelica where it shows her photo, her birth date and the day she passed. I cried and smiled again at the fact that I read it on October 23rd, Angelica’s birthday. I took it as a sign from her that I haven’t been forgotten by God and hopefully soon one day my prayers will be answered.

I started praying again that day.