Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Amelia has lost her life and is stuck in the Hereafter.  She has no memory of who she is, or what happened to her the night she died.  The only thing Amelia knows for sure if that she drowned in the raging river.  Amelia is trapped in her own personal nightmare as she relives her death over and over and is drawn into the river.  One fateful night, someone else is in the river, fighting for his life.  For a brief moment, Joshua's heart stops and in that moment of time, Amelia and Joshua connect.  This connection changes both of their lives.

This boy in the river causes a positive reaction in Amelia and she begins to change and piece together the mystery of her life with Joshua's help.  Joshua and Amelia begin a unconventional romance that people in both worlds are trying to destroy.  When they touch, both spheres of their world collide in an electric force. 

Amelia is a powerful heroine who fights for her man and defends her territory.  The transformation of the main character from the beginning of the book to the end is vast.  Amelia starts out as a ghost afraid of her own shadow to a ghost in control of her afterlife.  Once I started reading this book, I couldn't stop as I just had to find out what happens.  The cover art is beautiful and draws the reader to the story, like the characters in the book are drawn to the river and the haunted bridge.

Hereafter is an unconventional ghost story as well as a good mystery, with paranormal romance elements.  I am drawn to ghost stories and enjoy being taken into a unique afterlife and Hereafter was very creative and has a sequel coming out in June called Arise. Hereafter raises interesting questions for me like Does love continue to grow after death?  Are our loved ones nearby, earthbound?  Do we create and envision our own afterlife?  Since the beginning of time, humans have held a curiosity about the circumstances of the afterlife.  Tara Hudson creates a afterlife that leaves a soul in charge of their destiny yet tricked by circumstance.  Scary.

In my afterlife, I want to be in the largest library in Heaven, full of authors to discuss their work and an eternity to read.