Saturday, January 6, 2018

The Afterlife of Holly Chase Review


Hello my lovely readers and welcome to Day 6th of Birthday Blog Bash, which is a whole month of me posting everyday. If that sounds interesting to you make sure to stay up to date.




Title: The Afterlife of Holly Chase
Author: Cynthia Hand
Pages 384
Publication Date: October 24th 2017
Publisher: Harper Teen
Synopsis: "On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly 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 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, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change. . . .
 " 



My intentions were to read The Afterlife of Holly Chase on Christmas Eve. I didn't actually read it until after Christmas, but it doesn't matter.  I enjoy everything I read of Cynthia Hand, The Afterlife of Holly Chase is no exception. Despite it keeping many of the same characteristics as Charles Dickens' original work, there were many unique elements that sets it apart from the Christmas Carol. In the Christmas Carol there is no discussion on how a Ebeneezer is chosen out of thousands of people in London.  Hand creates a company called Project Scrooge, which has bases world wide, to explain the picking of the Scrooge.  However, there were some plot holes in the novel that made some of the characters seem suspicious, but it  is never touched on again.  And although I enjoyed the ending it seemed to go at a faster pace than the rest of the novel. It also seemed to contradict some of the things mention early in the book.The ending of the book did surprise me because I expected something totally different to happen than what actually happened. 

The book is centered around Holly and her navigating her fifth Christmas as the Ghost of Christmas Past. I enjoyed Holly's character, but she lacked character development. Through flashbacks we see her act like a horrible person, but it was just a facade in the end. We didn't see her act like in real time, which is why I say there is a lack of character development. I would have enjoyed some backstories to the side characters, and even the main character didn't know these backstories. 

Overall The Afterlife of Holly Chase is 4 star read, and I highly recommend giving it a go during the 2018 Holiday Season. Have you read this book? What are some of your favorite Cynthia Hand novels? Put your answer in the comments below or message me on social media @chey_ouatar; and remember, keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.



2 comments:

  1. Even though it's after the holiday season, I'm still PUMPED to read this book. My friend is letting me borrow it, and I definitely think it's a book I will like. Nice review :)

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    Replies
    1. Awesome, it was very an enjoyable read. I'm glad you like the review. I can't wait to see your thoughts on it.

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