Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Publisher: HarperCollins
First published: June 7th, 2011
Source: Bought
Pages: 404
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.
/ 5
First thoughts:I have not read many ghost stories, but Hereafter made me want to read more. It's a lovely and heartfelt story about two people who have a unique connection and have to face many obstacles to be together. I loved every moment I spent in this world and I'm looking forward to see what will happen to Amelia and Joshua.
More detailed:
Hereafter is a wonderfully written story that captivated me and constantly made me hope that its characters will find their happy ending. Tara Hudson managed to create a beautiful world with her words and I couldn't get enough of her writing. Just this would be enough to love this novel, but the story itself was just as amazing.
Both, Amelia and Josh are amazing characters. After everything she experienced, Amelia still was a lovely voice to listen to and a relatable character. It was lovely to watch how her existence slowly develops into a life and how she starts to piece the puzzle of her past together and finds out who she is and what happened to her.
Joshua is a very great guy and I loved how his relationship with Amelia grew into something important - slowly. While their feelings for each other develop quite soon, they don't rush things and their connection seems believable. Of course I was thrilled to find out that their relationship is one of the forbidden sort and I'm excited to find out whether they will manage to stay together - which I'm desperately hoping for.
All the other characters we get to meet play important roles as well. Not all of them are likeable and I'm afraid that some will pose a huge problem for Amelia in the future, but Hereafter wouldn't be the same without them. In my opinion it's a great achievement when an author has managed to make the reader interested in finding out what the unlikeable characters have planned.
All in all, Hereafter does not only have a gorgeous cover but is a fantastic story based on a unique idea and I'm sure that many people will fall in love with it like I did. I'm glad that this is part of a trilogy because I'm not yet willing to leave this world and I'm looking forward to find out whether Amelia and Joshua will get their happy ending.
Following books in the series:
2. Arise (June 5th, 2012)
3. Elegy (2013)
Have you read
Hereafter? What did you think about it?
Carina
