Moving to a new high school sucks. Especially a rich-kid private school. With uniforms. But nothing is worse than finding out the first girl you meet is dead. And a klepto.
No one can see or hear Kimberlee except Jeff, so--in hopes of bringing an end to the snarkiest haunting in history--he agrees to help her complete her "unfinished business." But when the enmity between Kimberlee and Jeff's new crush, Sera, manages to continue posthumously, Jeff wonders if he's made the right choice.
I've always enjoyed Aprilynne Pike's books before but I haven't completely adored them. Life After Theft hasn't changed that, I did enjoy this book since it was cute and quirky but I can't say that I really 'loved' it. I did, however, really like what it brought to the YA paranormal genre.
You'd expect that a book with the synopsis up there would follow a simple formula right? Boy meets ghost, boy and ghost hate each other but then like each other then fall in love, cue angst over the fact that they can never be together! *wail*
Nah, I can happily say that Life After Theft mixes it up a little. Firstly, and this is not a spoiler, Kimberlee and Jeff do not fall in love. Don't worry, there is romance. Jeff hits it off with Sera and the romance there is adorable but doesn't take over the book. Secondly, there is no explanation into where Jeff's ability to see the deceased comes from and usually that's something that I'd complain about but it just didn't seem necessary here.
It's pretty obvious by the cover that this isn't a 'dark' read, this is for people who want to read something light but want to mix it up a little and not read the typical YA contemporary books. It was fun read, Kimberlee is snarky and Jeff is fun to read. There are some slightly angsty bits and the drama when Kim realises the 'error of her ways' and it deals with a dead kleptomaniac, so of course there will be issues but mostly this is just a quick and quirky read.
My main complaint with this book would be the pacing. I felt as though I could put this book down whenever I wanted. I didn't really feel gripped. the ending also seemed a little rushed, like Pike was trying to tie the ends up perfectly in like one chapter.
Overall, I did enjoy Life After Theft but I can't say that I loved it. The pacing was not fantastic. I did really like how it mixed up the genre and because of that I'm going to rate this a little higher than I would have done otherwise.
Book released 30th April 2013 by HarperTeen
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Edelweiss)
Other books by this author:
Wings
Hmmm, I'm a bit torn between reading/skipping. It sounds like a fun book to read once and I like male POV's, but I'm not sure about the pacing. Great review though! :D
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.