Hereafter - Tara Hudson

Rating: 5/5

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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I haven't read many ghost stories, but in a world currently being over run by vampires and werewolves, it was refreshing to read something different.

Amelia doesn't know much about herself, but she knows she's dead. However, she doesn't know how. Wandering lost in the hereafter, Amelia keeps having this reoccurring dream where she is drowning in the river under the High Bridge. But one day, she hears the THUD of a heart beat. Obviously it can't be hers, instead, it belongs to Joshua; a boy who appears to be suffering the same fate as Amelia. No matter how she tries, she can't save him. But, in a shocking instant, he opens his eyes and sees her. Amelia can't believe it. All the years she's been wandering the High Bridge, not one human had ever been able to see her. She quickly takes advantage of this and urges him to swim up.

And as you can probably guess, the two fall in love. But, as always, there's a twist. Yeah she's dead, but that's not what I'm talking about. Joshua's family has a hidden talent: they're Seers. Basically, they're ghost hunters. However, Joshua was not intune with his talents until his brush with death. His grandmother, on the other hand, is very serious when it comes to exterminating ghosts and has the intent to exorcise Amelia the moment she lays eyes on her. Joshua, naturally, won't allow any harm to come to his ghostly love, which is kind of hard when you take into account his psycho grandmother and Eli. Oh right, Eli...haven't mentioned him yet have I?

Eli, well he's the dark, moody, evil bad boy and when I say evil, I mean evil. Most fictional bad boys are usually very attractive I suppose, but he is just plain nuts. What role does he play in this story? I could tell you, but then I'd be telling too much. Better to leave you all in suspense :P

Overall, this book was written beautifully. It was very descriptive and most of the time, I felt like I was with Amelia, along for the, beautiful yet terrifying ride. It leaves you with questions you'll want answered, but will unfortunately have to wait for. I also loved Amelia and Joshua together, even if it was a cliched forbidden romance.

I for one am very excited for the next book, Arise, to be released (sometime in 2012).