My review of Arise

Arise (Hereafter #2) by Tara Hudson
Release Date: June 5, 2012 (US), July 5, 2012 (UK)
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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.


Arise is the chilling sequel to Hereafter; a much-loved ghost book that has been enjoyed by many readers and has set the bar high in the paranormal genre.

I really enjoyed Arise's plot; Amelia is trying to deal with her complicated relationship with her boyfriend, Joshua. It isn't a normal relationship, Amelia is a ghost, but Joshua isn't. Amelia can hardly kiss Joshua with out de-materializing to some random place. She is convinced that she is ruining Joshua's chances of ever having a normal life and that their relationship could never work. When she finds out that demons are out to get her and everyone else she loves.....she knows it's time to leave. Leave everything. Leave everyone. Leave Joshua.

Amelia has changed a lot since the first time we met her at the river in Hereafter, she has become more confident and grown stronger inside and out. She's ready to take risks and sacrifice anything to keep her loved ones safe. And the most important point of all, I love her relationship with Joshua! It's so true and it feels so real and, damn, I just love them two! I wouldn't have minded if the whole book was about their ever-so-swoon-worthy relationship.

I don't think I enjoyed Arise as much as Hereafter. The book was very slow paced at times and felt slightly draggy. Apart from that the book was amazing. The reason why I enjoyed Hereafter more was probably because I liked how unique and fresh the story was, I also loved meeting all the characters and reading the mystery scenes. Arise has less of that, we met new characters but they were all pretty predictable. Fortunately, the dialogue and description makes up for that.

I am a big fan of the Hereafter trilogy, it's probably my favourite ghost series. If you have not read Hereafter then I strongly recommend you go to the book shop and buy it right now! The plot will get your heart racing and the characters are just a joy to read about, and on top of all that you get a gorgeous cover!

Overall, Arise is a book that ghost lovers will devour. A sequel that no Hereafter fan should miss and most importantly, a book that everyone should have on their shelves. No reader's ghost experience would be complete with out reading this trilogy. Tara Hudson is a pro at writing scenes that will drive you crazy and leave you wanting more. I can't wait for what book 3 has in store for us!!

Rating

- Thank you HarperTeen for providing me with a review copy!