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Title: Hereafter
Author: Tara Hudson
Year Published: 2011
My Pre-Reading
Synopsis: 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.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss.
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Review: I went into this expecting a fun ghost story, and that's pretty much what I was given. I'm always down for a good ghost story, and I definitely enjoyed this one! It had mystery, romance, a bad guy, teenage angst, and so much more. I did have a hard time getting into it, but once I finally got past all of the introductions I found myself not wanting to put the book down.
Most of this book focuses on the romance between Amelia and Joshua. How they meet, how they start to fall in love, what happens once they do. Although everything happens a little fast for my tastes, I think it's written in a way that doesn't make it seem so fast. I mean, it's pretty much love at first sight, but at least they spent hours talking to each other and getting to know one another. I guess. I also thought Joshua was a little too accepting of the fact that Amelia is dead.
The rest of the plot seemed a little like filler to me though. Amelia finding out who she really is and how she died all came about way too easily. Eli was more of a nuisance than a really bad guy; there was so much potential for his character and he's treated like some small problem that is left for someone else to take care of. The Seers are also something that could have been a huge problem from Amelia and Joshua and then... aren't. I wish there had been more of the bad guys being bad, the Seers being more aggressive, and the mysteries being more mysterious.
While Amelia and Joshua are pretty well developed, I think the minor characters are left too much by the wayside. We learn a little bit about Eli and his background, but I wanted to know more. I don't think enough was explained about why he is the way he is, and I think it should have been. I also wish he would have stayed around for the next book. And Jillian is painted as just an annoying younger sister, when I think she should have been so much more. Don't get me wrong, I loved them and I'm glad they were included (because who DOESN'T love a sexy rocker guy), I just wish they had been more dimensional.
Overall, I think I was looking forward to something more Anna Dressed in Blood with the creepy, spooky, hauntings and malevolent ghosts even though I knew this was a lighter romance. It was a nice spin on a ghost story though, and I think it would appeal to someone looking for a paranormal romance. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything spectacular in my opinion, so I would give this book a 3/5.
--Ashley
