Title: Hereafter (Hereafter #1)
Author: Tara Hudson
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: June 2011
Length: 416 pages
Genre: YA, fantasy, mystery
Source: Netgalley
Can there truly be love
after death?
Drifting in the dark waters
of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead.
With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone
in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy,
Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will
him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him
survive.
Amelia and Joshua grow ever
closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the
secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while
they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening
spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound
happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Summary by
Goodreads
Amelia
awakes from one of her numerous nightmares…except it isn’t. The nightmare is
reality, she is dead, a ghost and is just about to meet the love of her…well,
you know afterlife.
Josh is an
ordinary human with a near death experience and when he meets Amelia his entire
life changes…except it doesn’t really.
When he
sees Amelia for the first time he isn’t really frightened, but just gives in to
the things he sees. I absolutely loved the fact that he isn’t scared or thinks
that he is crazy when he sees the ghost of Amelia. Their first meeting is
thrilling and somehow natural and even magical.
They also
experience that they are not supposed to be together when Joshua learns about
his true nature, too. The romance between Amelia and Joshua was still so easy and a
nice change to the chaotic and turbulent relationships of many YA couples.
Characters
of both families are involved, the living boy and the dead girl and a bunch of
otherworldly and ghostly beings. HEREAFTER also offers various enemies to
potentially come between Joshua and Amelia’s love.
Amelia is a
ghost. But not exactly the concept of ghost we are familiar with. She has
almost no memories of her past life and until she meets Joshua only exists
through her nightmares. Hudson reveals an enjoyable concept of the
hereafter, a struggle of powers within the dark realms and the mission to
recruit as many souls as possible.
1) of a
charming concierge
2) of a
ghostly and eerie setting
3) of the mutual playlist of living and dead
4) of chapters with just the right tension
3) of the mutual playlist of living and dead
4) of chapters with just the right tension
5) of a new take on the ghost story
4,5/5
****/* HEREAFTER- Elating, ghostly wonderful and one of 2011’s debuts you
shouldn’t miss!
I was
immediately hooked to the story, the first few chapters felt so exciting and
full of mystery. Tension is perfectly built within chapters and throughout the
whole story. I can definitely name it my favourite ghost story!
* Read an
excerpt of HEREAFTER here.
* Watch the
book trailer here.
* Click
here for the HEREAFTER playlist.
* For
further information visit www.tarahudson.com
* Thanks to
Netgalley and Harper Teen for allowing me access to the e-galley of HEREAFTER!
This sounds absolutely fascinating. I have this on my to-read list, but I think I may need to move it closer to the top! I love stories about ghosts and that explore the afterlife, this one sounds like it focuses on both in a unique way! Wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteI've heard mixed reviews on this one. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteVivien
deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com
I've had this one on my TBR for a while. Glad to hear it's good. I'll need to get reading it soon!
ReplyDeleteanother book you have persuaded me to add to my TBR... I am only worried that it doesn't have a happy ending. does it? thanks for the review.
ReplyDelete