The Afterlife of Holly Chase

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Title: The Afterlife of Holly Chase
Author: Cynthia Hand
Genre: YA Supernatural Fantasy
Rating: Five Stars!

Seventeen-year-old Holly Chase has it all — a famous father, a million followers, and every luxurious thing her spoiled-rotten heart desires. Life in her Malibu mansion couldn’t be better. Sure her mother died when she was younger, and sadly, her stepmother, who Holly had grown to revere, hadn’t lasted long either, but Holly doesn’t feel alone, or isolated, or even cares, because she has it all — or so she tells herself.

Then one night, on Christmas Eve to be precise, three ghosts arrive to show her how selfish and spoiled she’s become. They assure her that it isn’t a dream; that it’s really a premonition that will come true if she doesn’t mend her ways before it’s too late. Naturally, Holly doesn’t believe them and she’s unimpressed with their spooky, Scrooge-esque themed nightmare. Her life is picture perfect and she doesn’t plan to change a thing. Then she dies.

Fast forward several years and we find Holly, now in a half-dead, oddly sort-of-alive way, and she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge — as their latest Ghost of Christmas Past. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been drearily boring and her living arrangements are dismal; definitely not up to her pristine, snobbish standards. But life as a zombie isn’t half bad considering the alternative, since hell doesn’t seem the least bit appealing, and for the first time ever, this year’s Scrooge gets Holly’s attention. Ethan Winters is a hottie and he’s young and smart and has so much in common with her that she’s instantly drawn to him, and she can’t seem to stop herself from doing all of the wrong things: like research him a bit too much, and then plan a chance encounter that leads to another, and then another, and then one more to make it all spiral out of control. Holly’s afterlife gets pretty exciting from there, and in classic Dickens manner, her ultra-flawed character begins to grow and morph into someone you love to hate; someone you actually start rooting for.

For the record, it’s all rather predictable, but the author does such a spectacular job of creating these damaged, repugnant yet totally redeemable people that you can’t help but become enraptured by the magic of it all. I mean, I actually ugly-girl cried the whole way through the ending, and the moment I was done reading, I tagged the book as my new holiday favorite. I’ll definitely reread it countless times over the years, and I can’t recommend it enough!

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