The Afterlife of Holly Chase

You guys! I just finished such a fun read! And I found a good deal on it, so you should totally consider getting this book. Its The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand. Putting a modern, romantic spin on Charles Dickens The Christmas Carol, its full of sweetness and humor and snarkiness. It doesnt seem like something fun could come out of The Christmas Carol, so youll have to trust me on this one.

“What Is The Afterlife of Holly Chase About?
From Goodreads:

On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled shed become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didnt. And then she died. Now shes stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scroogeas the latest Ghost of Christmas Past. Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Hollys afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change. This year, the grouch is the youngest ever besides herand a handsome, rich boy her same age.

Who Would Like The Afterlife of Holly Chase?
Since this book is really a mash-up of The Christmas Carol and the Men In Black movies, anyone who likes either of those will like this book. Its true enough to the Carol that I want to read that book again. Hands book is YA paranormal, like Supernaturally by Kiersten White and Beyond by Catina Haverlock and Angela Larkin, so if you liked either of those books, youll like this one. The romance is done well, but be warned that it might not turn out how you think it will, which is part of the charm of the story.

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: Just wow I just finished this one and I am just so blown away! If you think you know this story you are so wrong and you won’t believe where this ends!

Check out author’s other books? YES
Recommend this book? YES!!!!!

Notes and Opinions: When I started this book I knew I was going to love it. Cynthia Hand has been a fav author of mine since I read her Angel series (which I still need to finish, book two is a killer man! ) This one is about a girl who fails to listen to the ghosts and well she DIES! And she has to play Ghost of Christmas Past. This one I thought was going to be a clean cut story where this girl gets reformed and grows a heart and although some of what I thought did play out it didn’t play out in the way I thought it was going to. This one had a great pace and some surprises that I just didn’t see coming at all! I was happy where the story lead and the ending was mind-blowing and so satisfying! It goes to show you how even little things your life is connected to others around you even strangers on the street. And that the choices you make can have a bigger set of consequences than you could ever imagine.

The characters in this one are ones that I could see popping up in another book. Since this is all about reforming people are in a sense mean and hateful. I could see a full series of them dealing with different people. I think it would be very interesting to see what else this author could do.

If you are still looking for a book to read this holiday (yup its Christmas Eve, See what I did there!!). I would totally check this one out it was stellar and I couldn’t put it down!

Go Into This One Knowing: So much more than a retelling, Twists, No cliffhanger, Romance

This was the cutest Christmas story! I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this book because the synopsis made it seem a bit cheesy but I had a really great reading experience. Especially since I listened to it on audiobook.

The characters were hit or miss for me. Holly, who is an awful person at the beginning of the story but gradually evolves into a better person as the story goes on, has a great character arc. When the story skips in time after Holly’s death I liked that she was still not a great person, but she had improved some from her pre-death personality. Because I knew I wasn’t gong to be able to handle a whole book where the character was that unlikable. I was rooting for Holly, but I didn’t love all of her decisions and she often frustrated me. I didn’t like Stephanie, or really anyone on Project Lamp. Stephanie was supposed to be a 20 year old college student but she acted way too young. However, I am not sure if this is a writing thing or the narrator’s voice for Stephanie. Holly points this out multiple times, so it was purposely, but it drove me a little nuts. Everyone else on Project Lamp were a bit boring for me. Maybe also a bit annoying. I really loved Boz, who was a strict but incredibly soft mentor who I would have loved to be in more scenes. I also would have loved to get to know both Dave and Blackpool more. I found the love interest, Ethan, to be okay but nothing super unique. I liked Holly’s connection towards him because of how much she could relate her own past life to his.

The plot had me the most interested. I am typically more of a fan of character drive plots, and though I didn’t mind the characters overall, I was mostly motivated to keep reading because I needed to know what would happen next. I was hooked from the get go. I loved the unique idea and how the story in A Christmas Carol is used to make this really cool story idea come to life. I didn’t even really mind the romance. It was cute and the dialogue between the two characters Holly and Ethan was witty and often time romantic.

The writing was okay. It didn’t blow me away but I fund it to be digestible and easy to fly though. I think it takes a lo to write a Christmas story and have it not dripping with cheese but I think Cynthia Hand did a good job at making it more heartwarming than cheesy. It had it’s moments where I felt like it was cheesy but it’s a Christmas story so that is to be expected.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun Christmas story to read to hype yourself up for the holidays I highly recommend it. It was so much fun to read and I think anyone could enjoy it.

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol casts a massive shadow over popular culture. Cynthia Hand decides to pose the question what would happen to a Scrooge who does not change their ways? 17 year old Holly Chase is visited by the regulation 3 ghosts and 1 dead person but doesnt accept it. So when she dies a few months later, she is recruited into Protect Scrooge. This is the mysterious organisation that selects a person every year and does research on them for the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to appear on Christmas Eve. Holly has been playing the role of the Ghost of Christmas for the last five years, stuck at age 17. But when this years Scrooge is chosen, Holly starts to become involved in his case a lot more then previous ones
Hand enjoys herself building up the work of Project Scrooge and how it bases its approach around the story of a Christmas Carol with who will fit which role in the story. (Like a benevolent version of the organisation in The Cabin in the Woods.) The narrative finds a good balance with this and the way Hollys storyline progresses, with her regrets leading up to the big climactic night. An entertaining YA spin on a traditional story.

A good book to read for Christmas. with a lot of creative ideas and links well to the original Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. however I do feel that the ending of the book could have been done slightly better. I found it a bit sad at the end.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member