Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Release Date: June 7th 2011
Pages: 404
Format: E-Book and Audiobook
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Narrator: Emily Eiden
Source: Netgalley and Personal Shelf
Buy It: Book Depository

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.

I'm on the fence about Hereafter- I guess you could say I'm midway between two worlds (okay bad joke, I know). There were aspects of the novel I enjoyed and others that I felt were lacking. Amelia was pretty passive and timid, and I had a hard time believing that it took her so long to become curious about what had happened to her, what her life was, how she died. I just felt like with nothing to do all day she might have started wondering about these questions sooner.

The other problem I had besides the waif of a main character, was the whole relationship between a ghost and a human component, and the fact that the human seems to have so little issue with it. I mean, isn't it just fundamentally creepy to be making out with a dead girl?

What I did appreciate was that for once the girl was the supernatural being (and she saved the boy! even if she spent the rest of the novel afterwards being the one in need of saving) and there was no love triangle at all, both aspects which made Hereafter refreshing compared to many paranormals. I also enjoyed Hudson's writing, this is a debut but she manages to cultivate the creepy and ominous feeling you want out of a ghost story especially since I listened to it on audiobook. Ultimately,  I'm not entirely sure if I'll read the rest of the trilogy, it depends on if the synopsis for the next book catchers my attention. Even though I wanted more backbone from the main character, I did enjoy the mystery component of Hereafter and I would definitely consider reading another novel by Hudson in the future.