READING: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Publication date: June 7th, 2011
Published by: HarperCollins
Genre: YA Paranormal, Ghosts
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 2/5
Eligible for Debut Author Challenge 2011

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.

Unfortunately, I found myself struggling with this book as much as I'll definitely struggle with its review. Hereafter is about a girl, Amelia, who was killed jumping off a bridge and is now a ghost, wandering around the bridge without any memory of what happened to her. Then, she saves a guy, Joshua, from drowning and he is able to see her when of course no else can. They fall in love (duh) and Josh wants to help her fight off the big bad, Eli (keeper of the ghosts(?) who wants Amelia to be his second in command.
I know that the summary may sound interesting but alas! Hereafter was, and I really really hate to say this, boring. I don't think I'm overreacting by saying that nothing noteworthy happens in this book. Ghosty-angst(a lot of it), lovey-angst(a LOOT of it), threats from the great evil(some) and then at the end we find out what happened to Amelia and that's it. End of story, close the book, put it on shelf, forget all about it.
I am no fan of the instant-love in YA and the whole "I trust you with my life, I want to be with you forever and ever, even though I know you for about...umm...1 day". Sometimes, if the characters have been drawn perfectly by the author and I am so into them, I turn a blind eye to the IL(instant love)situation, although, let's be honest; that rarely happens. Hereafter was no exception, I'm afraid. Amelia and Joshua were colorless and monotonous. I couldn't find a reason why I should care for any of them and wasn't able to connect with them at any point in the book. All I remember about Amelia was the revelation of the way she died(which you pretty much figure out at some point) and that she died in a skunky dress. How convenient.As for Joshua...well, I remember that he was hot.Was there anything else?Eli was a problematic character as well. One minute he was mean and acting like a complete jerk and the other he was all sad and forlorn about the way he died and how he wanted to do such great things in life. Was he a good person who was terribly misguided or just a bonafide creep? I still don't know.What was that about Josh's grandmother and the witch convent? Completely unnecessary. As was the cheerleader stereotype. Ugh.
I can't say for sure if Hereafter does have potential. If the pace was quicker and if he was different and if she was someone else...that's a lot of "if"s. So the only thing I am sure of is that I didn't enjoy Hereafter as much as I was expecting to. Recommended to teens who are into angsty IL and ghosts. If that.
This book has been given to me by NetGalley, free of charge.