Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Title: Hereafter

Series: Hereafter #1

Author: Tara Hudson

Genre: YA, paranormal, mystery

Publication date: June 2011

Published by: HarperTeen

Source: The publishers via Netgalley

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon| Book Depository

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.

My rating: ★★★★★
I absolutely loved the book!

Amelia is 18…and dead. She drowned in the river. How, she has doesn’t remember. Now as a ghost she wanders aimlessly, lost. That is, until she meets Joshua. Actually, ‘meets’ isn’t the right word.

You see, after waking up from one of her nightmares (she calls them this because it is a time where she falls into unconsciousness and relives her death, flailing and drowning in the river), she sees that a car fell from High Bridge and into the river. Close by she spots a boy about her age (Joshua). Amelia swims to him and tries to help the drowning boy. But her actions prove to be ineffective; she is a ghost after all.

Joshua was close to death, but miraculously he lives. Amelia was with him while he struggled against the rivers current, until the ambulance took him away safely.

And get this, when Joshua’s eyes fluttered open after nearly drowning in the river, he saw Amelia floating next to him! Joshua saw her…a ghost! And he even talked to her. It was pretty amazing.

As soon as Joshua was let out of the hospital and he was able to escape his parents’ worried stares, he went to look for Amelia. Much to my surprise, he didn’t know that Amelia was a ghost. And when she told him what she was, he didn’t freak out! He’s just cool like that ;)

So, after that, Amelia and Joshua practically spend all the time they can together, mostly trying to find out about Amelia’s life before she died. I really enjoyed getting to know Amelia as she and Joshua dug up her past. And the how and why Amelia died had me wondering until the very end. It was actually very surprising.

But don’t think it’s all about Amelia and Joshua spending all their time together to get to know each other. They have obstacles to overcome. One is Joshua’s grandmother, Ruth. You see, she is a Seer (just like Joshua) which explains why they can see Amelia. Their “job” is to exorcise her, but Joshua is giving Ruth a hard time.

And the other obstacle is Eli. Oh Eli, even though you were a total creeper, I kinda felt sorry for you at the end. Though I hope I won’t have to come across from you again, lol. Eli is also a ghost, and for some irrational reason, he thinks he owns Amelia. He has been trying to get her to join him in the netherworld. And Amelia being the smart girl that she is, refuses every time.

I love ghost stories and this one was just beautiful with just the right amount of romance to make me squeal! I cannot wait for the rest of the series :)

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)