Hereafter by Kate Brian

In order not to spoil the amazingly awesome ending of book one, this review will be rather short to avoid spoilers. I didn't love book one as much as I was hoping, but it got much better near the end, so I had my fingers crossed for book two. Unfortunately, I didn't think book two was any better for a variety of reasons.

I will admit that this was an incredibly fast read, though. Despite my lack of interest, it was very easy to get through because of the fast writing style and lack of info-dumping. This book pretty much takes place right where book one leaves off. The difference between the two books is that there was quite a number of time indicators in this book. Oddly enough, this served to make me rather mad. This is a trilogy and we are two books in. The first two books take place in less than two weeks. The declarations of love and mad jealousy about being a couple takes place in less than two weeks. This reasonable girl who thought logically and focused on science in school was reduced to an overemotional school girl that's really hard to tolerate in less than two weeks. This book doesn't even span a week. The speed at which everything moved was utterly unbelievable which led to frustration and anger on my part. The insta-love was so saccharine that it aggravated me even more because of the fact that things moved so unbelievably fast. I just couldn't handle it.

I also found our main characters to be rather frustrating. I don't want to explain why, but they're supposed to be rather mature because of the professions that they all have (which is explained in this book). Instead, I often found myself disliking the main character because she's impulsive and overemotional. Some side characters were easily forgettable or were obviously overly-dramatized in order to stand out so that they won't be forgettable. I really only found myself liking Fisher because he was an overall decent individual and Joaquin because he was concerned and he had a good head on his shoulders. Seemed to be the only trustworthy one in the bunch. Also, he opened up in this book, which was very interesting.

Like book one, there's random chapters dispersed throughout this book with a villainous undertone. Also like book one, these chapters are the only thing that kept me reading. In book one, these chapters were obviously told from the serial killer's perspective. That changes in this book. I had absolutely no idea whose voice I was reading and I'm still not entirely sure whose perspective this was because it was never outright clarified. There was a discovery of the bad people and it's clear we were in one of their heads (I have my suspicions about who it is) but we were never told outright. I'm hoping this will be explained in book three instead of being left open to interpretation. Speaking of the evil people, their identities were so obvious that I wanted to scream in the character's faces. If they used their common sense a lot of villainous behavior would have been halted. I hate it when characters are oblivious in comparison to the reader.

All in all, I will probably continue to book three out of sheer curiosity and because I want confirmation about certain characters. It's an interesting story, but the storytelling is flawed and doesn't hold my attention as much as I hoped it would. However, it's a very quick read and it's enough to keep me wanting to continue despite my qualms. I will admit that I think book one was better because Nell's perspective was incredibly creepy and unique. I'm hoping the shivers he induced in me in book one will return in book three so that this series can be salvaged. If you want something unique and creepy and quick to read, I do recommend giving book one a chance. Then again, you may like the entire series. I tend to be one of the few who didn't like this one.

Posted by Tynga at 01:01

 BEA, Disney Hyperion, Hyperion, Kate Brian, Paranormal, Review, Shadowlands, young adult  2 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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