A review for Hereafter (Hereafter #1) by Tara Hudson

Posted by Donna

Published Date: June 7th, 2011
Read Date: March 21st, 2011
The Blurb: 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.

The Review: Hereafter is the first book by debut author Tara Hudson, and its everything I could of wanted from a book. A forbidden romance, mystery & excitement. I said this last week with Die for Me by Amy Plum but let me say it again - "this is one of the BEST ghost stories i've ever read" 


Amelia is a ghost, who doesn't remember anything about herself, other than her name and parts of her death. She doesn't know when she died, who she was before or how she ended up in the river that night. She believes her afterlife has no purpose, that's until she saves Joshua, a stunning and handsome boy from drowning in the river after his car accidentally drives over the bridge. 

After saving Joshua, Amelia and him become fast friends and their relationship takes a fast turn. When they decide to try and find out who Amelia really was, they see things are not as they once seemed. They run into a few obstacles along the way, lending Joshua finding out what his destiny is and they realise their relationship is a forbidden one. 

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the story line, the romance, the characters, everything! Mostly I loved Amelia's journey and how we only found out bits about her at a time, keeping me on the edge of my seat through out. As her story unfolds, she goes through emotions that she never thought she would feel again and its really beautiful to read about. Not only does the author write beautifully but you can't help being sucked into their world and hope these two characters stay together. 

Joshua's story is one that completely shocked me. To be honest, I never saw it coming and I think it really fits well within the story. I'm hoping we get to see more of that in the future as it will be interesting to read about. 

And lastly, I'm so glad there wasn't any major cliffhangers at the end. Yes, there is a small one and few unanswered questions but I'm glad that it was nicely finished up and it made me enjoy the story that much more. 
Overall, this is a fantastic start to a new series. One, I am eager to continue reading about. Lets hope the next released date comes around fast. 


Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to reading and reviewing this book.