Review – The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 24, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0062318503
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

“On Christmas Eve five years ago, seventeen-year-old Holly Chase was visited by three Ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn’t. And then she died.

Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge—as their latest Ghost of Christmas Past. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable. But this year’s Scrooge is different. This year’s Scrooge might change everything…”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I purchased.

Story (4/5): This was a fun story to read during the Christmas season. Holly Chase didn’t care about the ghosts that visited during Christmas to tell her how selfish and self-absorbed she’d become…and then she died. When she woke up, she found out she was stuck working for Project Scrooge as the Ghost of Christmas Past. It’s been a miserable afterlife…but the latest Scrooge she’s working on this year is different. This was a fun and unique story. I liked the idea behind Project Scrooge and thought it was entertaining to think about.

Characters (4/5): Holly is your typical spoiled rich girl…kind of. I like how she grows throughout the story but was a bit sad that her reason for change is triggered because her new Scrooge is really hot. Holly’s fellow employees at Project Scrooge were really well done, they are nicely filled out and fun to get to know.

Setting (4/5): The majority of the story takes place in modern day New York City. The setting doesn’t play a huge role in the story since most of the story takes place in the Project Scrooge building.

Writing (4/5): This book is written in Hand’s standard writing style. It’s very easy to read, flow well and is hard to put down.

Summary (4/5): Overall while I didn’t love this book I did like it. It’s a fun Christmas-time read and it’s a unique idea. Holly is pretty hard to like as a heroine but some of the characters surrounding her were really well done. I do like how she grows and changes throughout the story.