Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

HEREAFTER by Tara Hudson

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Pages: 416

Publication: June 7, 2011
(HarperCollins)

Source: Netgalley


Goodreads Summary: 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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My first impression of this book was that it is beautiful - not only the cover, but also, and more importantly, the writing. Hereafter is a captivating debut novel, by turns sweet, poignant, and touching.

Amelia is dead; of this she is sure. However, she knows little else. She is simply wandering alone, unable to remember anything about her life, unable to touch, feel, or affect anything around her, forced to relive a single nightmare over and over. Her death seems to stretch into one meaningless existence. And then everything changes - while she imagines herself drowning in the river, a boy almost drowns there. For a brief moment there is a connection, but once he survives, she knows that he will no longer see or hear her. Only...he does, and the connection between them is just as strong, if not stronger. But managing a relationship between a living boy and dead girl is more complicated than either of them expected, especially when both the living and the dead are trying to tear them apart. And as Amelia remembers more about her life, she can't be sure that those forces aren't right...perhaps she doesn't deserve this hereafter...

Have I mentioned that this book is beautiful? I was drawn in from the very beginning and regretted the late hour that forced me to put this book down. Tara struck such a good balance between suspense, action, and respite. Furthermore, the way she crafted the story and the vivid descriptions she included made me feel like I was wandering Ohio along with the characters. The developing relationship between Joshua and Amelia was incredibly tender, and I loved that they both had unique defining characteristics. In addition, I enjoyed the flashbacks of Amelia's life that we got to see. I wanted to learn about her as much as she wanted to learn about herself. And then there were the battles with Ruth and Eli. Again, there is more to the story than meets the eye - and I always appreciate a sympathetic villain.

The ghost lore presented in Hereafter is certainly not like a typical ghost story. The world is definitely one where you would want to linger. The ending is satisfactory, but some questions remain. There is certainly much more to learn about this world, however, and I will look forward to seeing what those things are in the next book, Arise.

Hereafter is an enchanting debut novel from Tara Hudson, and one of the better YA paranormal romance books I have read this year. I cannot wait to read the next book in the trilogy!

Rating: 5 stars