Arise (Hereafter #2) by Tara Hudson

Arise (Hereafter 2) by Tara Hudson  is published by HarperCollins on June 5, 2012 in 404 eerie yet romantic pages!

 

Amelia—still caught between life and death—must fight for every moment of her relationship with the human boy Joshua. They can hardly even kiss without Amelia accidentally dematerializing. Looking for answers, they go to visit some of Joshua’s Seer relatives in New Orleans. But even in a city so famously steeped in the supernatural, Amelia ends up with more questions than answers…and becomes increasingly convinced that she and Joshua can never have a future together.Wandering through the French Quarter, Amelia meets other in-between ghosts, and begins to seriously consider joining them. And then she meets Gabrielle. Somehow, against impossible odds, Gaby has found a way to live a sort of half-life...a half-life for which Amelia would pay any price. Torn between two worlds, Amelia must choose carefully, before the evil spirits of the netherworld choose for her. [From Goodreads]

THE FAERY'S FEELINGS:

Tara Hudson has done a magnificent job on The Hereafter series. In Hereafter, Amelia rids the demon that ultimately caused her death, remembered who she was and where she’s been the last 10 years and falls in love with the very much alive Joshua, a seer amongst a family of seer’s no less.


In Arise, Amelia is faced with numerous challenges: to begin with, it starts to hit her that Josh is forgoing his time with his friends to spend it all with her until he’s a virtual hermit in the eyes of all those who love him. This brings her to the heart breaking conclusion that she will always remain the same and Josh will grow and mature, eventually wanting a real relationship with a family and friends that can actually see her. In Amelia’s mind, the best thing for them both is for her to disappear so that Josh can move on with his life. Before that can happen, though, there is a series of crisis’s occurring, primarily in New Orleans while Josh is visiting his entire and very large family of seers. Many of the young seer’s can visualize and communicate with Amelia without difficulty and share Josh’s view that not all ghosts should be exorcised immediately-no questions asked.


Tara does an amazing job with the plot; it’s eerie, thrilling, mysterious with a hefty dose of paranormal love all pulled together perfectly to flow into the perfect next installment of The Hereafter series and leaving me anxious for the third and last installment. I don’t think the book would have felt as complete had it not been for Tara’s skill at environment description. I loved her descriptions of New Orleans; right down from the smell of the food to the sound of the jazz music, it was like being there myself. One chocolate beignet, please...errr... make that two or three!


Characters were rockin’ as they did in Hereafter but I loved the addition of the new characters Tara put in. Each characters personality fit perfectly to their role in the book and despite the seriousness and eeriness of Arise, there are moments of levity that are cleverly interspersed throughout the book, giving a little comic relief here and there.- Also, the Romance, let us not forget the soulmate quality between Amelia and Josh that can be delightful and hopeful yet heartbreaking and bittersweet. Part of the books appeal is not knowing exactly where Amelia will fit in Josh's 'Ghost Hunter/Seer' family and just what do some of the younger ones want from her? Along with the previous is the unknown of what will happen as Josh matures and moves on with his life and eventually wants other things: a family, a home, heck-someone he can go out with that his friends can actually see. These are just additional things that Amelia worries about, wondering if this relationship is fair to Josh.


Arise is the perfect ‘middle’ book which is rare, I often find the middle book a bit disappointing-not all the time-but often. Arise is the kind of book that you can settle down with in your ‘comfy spot’ and your drink of choice, mine a Chocolate Caramel Cappuccino and let Arise take you away into a fantastic world you’re sure to get lost in!


THE FAERY SAYS ARISE BY TARA HUDSON ROCKED MY WINGS!

Thank you to ATWT and HarperCollins for allowing me to view this galley in exchange for my honest opinion.