Hereafter

Hereafter
by Tara Hudson

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. (description taken from Amazon.com)

Tara Hudson wrote everything I like my ghost stories to be...this left me with a similar feeling to the one I had after I read A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb.

Hereafter is part chilling ghost story, part Romeo and Juliet and altogether fantastic. Hudson did a great job writing truly heartfelt, devoted romantic moments. She developed a fascinating and multi-dimensional afterlife. She gave me the full-on creeps. It was a fun reading experience and I could not keep myself from flipping the pages long after I should have gone to bed.

I cannot wait to see what Tara Hudson writes next...I will definitely be reading it!

Full disclosure: ARC received to review for VOYA