Arise by Tara Hudson

Arise (Hereafter #2)

Author: Tara Hudson

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 404

Rating: 4.5 Stars!

Amelia—still caught between life and death—must fight for every moment of her relationship with the human boy Joshua. They can hardly even kiss without Amelia accidentally dematerializing. Looking for answers, they go to visit some of Joshua’s Seer relatives in New Orleans. But even in a city so famously steeped in the supernatural, Amelia ends up with more questions than answers…and becomes increasingly convinced that she and Joshua can never have a future together.Wandering through the French Quarter, Amelia meets other in-between ghosts, and begins to seriously consider joining them. And then she meets Gabrielle. Somehow, against impossible odds, Gaby has found a way to live a sort of half-life...a half-life for which Amelia would pay any price. Torn between two worlds, Amelia must choose carefully, before the evil spirits of the netherworld choose for her.~Goodreads

Opening sequence: Amelia. Joshua. Bed. Kissing. *swoon* With an amazing start like that the rest of the book has to be just as good, right? Right! With new characters, sinister spirits and a shocking plot twist there was never a dull moment in this installment!

One thing I really loved about this sequel was all the Joshua/Amelia couple time! They were so adorable and I loved their cute kissie banter moments! But not everything can be snowflakes and kissies all the time, right? Right.

Through-out the book Amelia really struggles with the fact that she’s a ghost and Joshua is...you know....not. And ever since they have been together Joshua has slowly secluded himself from almost everything including friends, school, hobbies, and even his family. This, however, doesn’t bug him in the slightest because he’s completely in love with her. But a life of seclusion isn’t something Amelia wants for him. And since receiving a cryptic message from Eli's spirit at High Bridge, Amelia's been acting a little different herself.

Enter Joshua’s cousins and a couple of their friends. These guys and gals just so happen to be Seers who know about Amelia and can, get this, interact with her! The proclaimed leader of the group, Alex, insists on gaining her trust and is always poppin’ up when she least expects him to. For about three point five pages I was scared this story would develop into a love triangle because Alex was actually super sweet and really considerate at first! But, Amelia loves Joshua WAY too much to even consider anyone else. THANK HEAVENS! *wipes sweat from brow*

However, Amelia is still keeping herself at a distance from Joshua- trying to protect him from what Eli told her. But Joshua doesn't know the reason, so to solve whatever’s bothering her, he takes her to a voodoo expert/priestess lady. He’s hoping this will help, only the voodoo expert/priestess lady kicks them out pretty darn quick and right into the hands of another lost spirit.(But not, like, literally because the spirit, Gaby, can’t catch anything in her hands– a sucky side effect of being a ghost.)

Anyway, Gaby agrees to help Joshua and Amelia sort out their issues by doing a seance of sorts. And she means well, she really does, but she ends up doing the one thing Amelia, Joshua and even myself never saw coming. Dun dun duuuun...

With a relationship on the rocks, dark spirits on the hunt and a crazy plot twist that may just hurt your heart, Arise is sure to blow you away!  An awesome sequel that I’d definitely encourage you to pick up!

"When you had a ghost for a girlfriend, you eventually had to choose between the living and the dead. Between a normal life and a haunted one."