Hereafter #2 Arise

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Hereafter #2 Arise

Presenting Hereafter #2 Arise by Tara Hudson.

Here is the summary of the book:

Amelia—still caught between life and death—must fight for every moment of her relationship with the human boy Joshua. They can hardly even kiss without Amelia accidentally dematerializing. Looking for answers, they go to visit some of Joshua’s Seer relatives in New Orleans. But even in a city so famously steeped in the supernatural, Amelia ends up with more questions than answers…and becomes increasingly convinced that she and Joshua can never have a future together.Wandering through the French Quarter, Amelia meets other in-between ghosts, and begins to seriously consider joining them. And then she meets Gabrielle. Somehow, against impossible odds, Gaby has found a way to live a sort of half-life...a half-life for which Amelia would pay any price. Torn between two worlds, Amelia must choose carefully, before the evil spirits of the netherworld choose for her.

I recently read the first book after hearing so many mixed reviews about it. Sure enough I didn't really it - the ghost and living human romance didn't really agree with me. Arise was also not really the greatest of reads while yes the cover is just gorgeous. It continues sometimes after Hereafter ends. Amelia and Joshua are trying to spend their life. But real life is starting to come to them. Joshua in order to stay with Amelia has started to become a loner, the boy who had a great social life now does not even know how to act in front of his friends/peers.

Amelia on her part is starting to realize what her presence is doing to him. Add to the fact that the creatures of the Hereafter are still after her and would do anything to get her. So when they go to spend Christmas with their family, Amelia tags along, There she meets the other members of the Mayhew family and their strange seers named Alex who seems awfully interested in her. Also encountering some more ghosts just like her. It is now up to Amelia to decide what she wants to do about her feeling for Joshua.

So Arise is definitely not my cup of tea (or sold coffee or whatever you wanna call it). While yes Tara Hudson's work is commendable and the word usages is really great but I still don't like the ghost - human love story... its kinda not really digestible. The inclusion of new ghosts and characters is really a welcome change. They provide a welcome spice into the otherwise sappy life of Amelia and Joshua. But alas it still suffers from the second book syndrome... being the bridge between the first and the third book. But i'll still be checking out what the final book Elegy has to offer.

"A beautiful story but I still can't see myself calling the ghost-human-love story an ideal romance.... one day Joshua will have to move on and marry somebody who is a living human being and Amelia will have to decide to leave Joshua and choose the Hereafter or that other place."