22377721

After Life – Shelbi Wescott

4 Star Review

I was lucky enough to receive this book as a giveaway from Goodreads. The cover looked great – very haunting but after reading the blurb I wasn’t sure that I’d enjoy this book. It ended up heading in a very different direction to what was expected.

Positives – After life is very intellectually written for the directed age group and I found that a big positive whilst reading. The storyline moves along at a steady pace and I for the most part didn’t find any part of it that I wanted to skim past. I was drawn into Mara’s character and absolutely rapt up in the storyline by the end of the second chapter. The story went along without any kind of thoughts of a romance within its page but without giving too much away I was glad there was some love tangled in all that anger and fear. Mara was a strange character who seemed to be a mixture of determination, stubbornness, strength yet she was also overdramatic, reckless and even bordering on cowardly sometimes so ultimately a walking contradiction. Despite all of that you couldn’t help but love her and her wild decisions. I loved the twists and turns the story took and was definitely surprised by a few revelations.

Negatives

I found the first chapter lacking and predictable. I knew this book was along the lines of a horror story but it seemed like it was trying too hard. Unexpectedly, the second chapter start to flow and entice me to read more. The first chapter felt disjointed from the rest of the book but once through that I was hooked. There were a few ‘groan-worthy’ moments (as I refer to them) but they were short and easily dismissed. Some of those were almost justifiable but I felt they could’ve been written a bit better. I was also annoyed at the behaviour of her friends multiple times and felt Mara was fairly gullible. I’m not a huge fan of over the top moments and there were some in this book. In saying that though, it certainly wasn’t enough for me to be put off finishing it.

Overall – I found this book a rollercoaster of twists and turns and was excited to finish it. The storyline was interesting and unexpected despite the feeling that it may be very predictable at the start. It’s great for not only horror lovers but anyone likes a bit of a mystery or something paranormal. I loved that this book really sparked intrigued about past lives and peaked my curiosity about the ‘After Life.” For me this book warranted a rating of 4 stars (or 3.75 but I’m rounding up).

Well Done Shelbi Wescott 4 Stars!