Le' Grande Codex

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."

Genre : Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal

Publisher: Harper Collins

My Copy: Publisher and edelweiss

Rate: 3/5 (Liked It)

Monday, 21 May 2012

Hereafter #1 Hereafter

It felt new and it felt unique....see what I have to say about about Hereafter #1 Hereafter by Tara Hudson.

Here is the summary of the book:

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.

Is there something waiting for us on the other side? That is the one question that plagues us all. What happens when we die? Do go to heaven or hell, or the stories about the Underworld in Greek/Roman mythologies or the belief of moksha or the Christen believes actually true...but more importantly can you love after you have died...and this is what the story is based upon.

Amelia is already dead...she is an unclaimed ghost and all she knows of her old life is drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river that seems to be the cause of her death. She has been trapped in there for a long time and the her long and lone wandering and that nightmarish river is all she knows. Her wandering afterlife takes a drastic turn when she saves this local teenager Joshua from drowning in that same river in which she had drowned. Willing him to live, in a moment of connection she saves his life. Now Joshua can see her and somehow this connection between them grows stronger and stronger by the passing minute....they are falling in love but the secrets of the dark and mysterious river and the evil spirit, Eli will do all they can to drag Amelia back to the hereafter...it up to them both to prevent it but do Amelia and Joshua have any future together....they can't stay together sooner or later Josh has to move on....

Hereafter is....a great piece of writing...I know that doesn't say much about the book but don't worry i'm going elaborate. One of the greatest factors about this book is its writing..how Tara Hudson's words make it so much compelling. Then there are the two protagonists, Amelia and Josh. Amelia is a stranded spirit, who had died sometime ago by drowning in the mysterious black river and then there is Josh, he is the human whom Amelia had somehow saved. Josh is the only one who can see her and somehow he is also the only one who can make Amelia feel. There chemistry and their romance is definitely very lovely and like a light in darkness. Being a ghost and a human they somehow make it work. Then there is Eli, the bad guy...he is definitely perfectly suited for this role of a Harbinger of doom and he wants Amelia to join him but she is less that inclined to do it....good for her.

Now lets see the cons of this book. There is only one actually and that the love between Amelia and Josh. I know this is supposed to be a work of fiction but its still a tall order to digest the fact that Josh, a human and Amelia, a ghost are in love with each other and want to stay together. Granted Amelia's story is a sad one, she had no one to guide her in her afterlife and Josh is the only thing she knows but someday or the other she needs to move on. On the whole its a pretty okay read and not too great. Maybe I can give the next book, Arise a try.