Lauren James

A sharp thriller with a twist of the supernatural from a masterful sci-fi writer. "Lauren James is a genius." SFX Magazine "Lauren James isn't just headed for the stars - she's already there." Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree What if death is only the beginning? When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a world of ghosts with magical powers - shape-shifting, hypnosis, even the ability to possess the living. Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome her into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker

Destiny Marley

Mijs Franssen

This book was so good!! I enjoyed it so much.
In this book we follow Harriet Stoker, who dies after a fatal fall while visiting an abandoned building.
There, other gosts are waiting for her, welcoming her to their world. But Harriet wants power. Even if she has to take it from others, destroying those around her. But the afterlife might not be the best place to make enemies.

What I loved about this book where the multiple POV’s. It made me really get to know all the characters, and watching them develope (which was done very well in this book) was so much fun. I loved the world building, how powers and energy come into play in this book. It was dark, twisty but also very well explained and nice to read. Lauren James did such a great job at the world building, and at making the whole story fall more and more into place while reading. There is also an ‘anonymous’ POV which you’ll find out more and more about during the book. This POV added so much to the story, and made it a lot more exiting and page-turning to read. The whole anti-heroine thing was refreshing to read for me, since I haven’t read a book like that, so that was fun!

The only reason why this isn’t a five star read for me, is because I do feel like some points of the book could have been sped up a little bit. There were just a tiny couple of points where the book was a bit slow going. 

That being said, I highly reccomend this book! It is a bit of a crime/fantasy/thriller/ya book which just makes it so unique and interesting. Defenitly worth it! (And it also has a really pretty cover!!!)

Ruth Parker 

This is so disappointing because I’ve loved Lauren James books before, but this book for me was not good. I hated the main character - although I understand we weren’t meant to like her... but still.. I thought there were to many attempts at twists and turns but I knew where the book was going and I wasn’t that interested. I felt like the friendships are forced and the relationships didn’t make any sense. I enjoyed the lore of the story but there didn’t seem to be much thought into the details. 
I will totally still read Lauren James - The Loneliest Girl In the Universe is amazing and I trust this was just a fluke... I do!

Went in not knowing a lot about the book or the writer and honestly it made it that much better. Read it in one sitting and it was definitely worth it.

Manon van Heumen

This was one of the best surprises of this year! I went in a little blankly, but was pleasantly surprised by how thoroughly I enjoyed it. It has just the perfect balance of spookiness, weirdness and humour for me.

Lisa Beasley

I love Lauren James, her writing is always wonderful and this was no less true in this book. I loved the diversity of characters in this book and the intrigue was top notch. However the ending just left me feeling a bit let down. If this is a standalone then the end is a very weak point and if it isn't then I feel that knowing it was the first in a series would have allowed me to be prepared for the level of cliffhanger. 

However the story is clever and interesting and I am really hoping there will be more because I need answers!

3.5 stars, removed half a star because of the abruptness of the ending.

I was sent this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

EDITED! 

So apparently the publisher accidentally uploaded the wrong file and the last 20% of the book was missing which explains a lot! Having read the ending now I am raising by rating to 4 stars. This was a great read and I definitely appreciated the ending. Lauren has such a great writing style and this was fab!

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker

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