Book Review - Arise by Tara Hudson (Hereafter # 2)

ARISE, the sequel to Hereafter, is filled with mystery, romance, suspense and the intriguing setting of New Orleans. Hudson has raised the bar revealing the scope and depth that the demons will continue to use in order to chase after Amelia interrupting her romance with her boyfriend Joshua Mayhew and putting everyone around her in danger. She also subtly leads the readers into the final book of the series where everything is riding on Amelia’s choices and decisions.

After Eli projects a dire warning that “they’re coming for you,” Amelia begins to understand that being with Joshua comes with a huge price tag in that she never knows when the darkness is going to show up in an attempt to drag her into the Netherworld. Eli pretty much sways Amelia into breaking off her relationship with Joshua and moving as far away from Wilburton as she can in order to save his life as well as that of her mother. The only question for Amelia is how to break off the relationship with Joshua since he has tied his very being to being with Amelia.

Amelia is also experiencing new feelings, having strange & vivid dreams, and manifesting elsewhere each and every time she tries to be intimate with Joshua. Amelia agrees to travel to New Orleans with the Mayhew family for Christmas where she encounters new characters and finds out the depths that the demons are willing to go through in order to gather Amelia in to their clutches. New characters like Gabrielle and Felix Callioux as well as Alexander Etienne not only leave an impression on Amelia, but changed in very important ways.

I have always wanted to visit New Orleans, and especially Saint Louis Number One Cemetery where lots of famous and not so famous people have been buried over the years. It’s a piece of Louisiana history that can’t be duplicated anywhere else in this country. So, imagine my surprise when a key part of Amelia’s new existence was created right in the middle of the cemetery itself after an encounter with Gabrielle.

I have to say that I was a little worried that ARISE would turn into a 3-way love triangle which I loathe after Hudson introduced a certain dark and broody character. Thankfully, Hudson managed to avoid the quagmire that other authors love to fall into. Instead, she ups the ante to the depth of deceit and the people that the demons are willing to use in order to lure Amelia into the Netherworld. It also puts Amelia’s relationship with Joshua into proper prospective.

Amelia isn’t a shrinking violet or Mary Sue character by any stretch of the imagination. She is forced to make difficult choices because that is her character. She chooses difficult paths in order to keep those around her safe and away from harm. Are they always the best choices? No, but after being dead for 10 years and coming out of the fog to learn that she has strange and beautiful powers that nobody else has, it’s still very much of a learning curve for Amelia.

I am definitely looking forward to reading the conclusion of this series in Elegy releasing June 4, 2013 by HarperTeen.

Author - Tara Hudson
Title - Arise (Hereafter # 2)
Publisher - HarperTeen
Released - June 4, 2013
Genre : Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Ghost, Romance