Author: Aprilynne Pike
Publication: April 30th 2013 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult
Format: e-Arc
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 3/5
Copy received from publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Moving to a new high school sucks. Especially a rich-kid private school. With uniforms. But nothing is worse than finding out the first girl you meet is dead. And a klepto.
No one can see or hear Kimberlee except Jeff, so--in hopes of bringing an end to the snarkiest haunting in history--he agrees to help her complete her "unfinished business." But when the enmity between Kimberlee and Jeff's new crush, Sera, manages to continue posthumously, Jeff wonders if he's made the right choice.
Clash meets sass in this uproarious modern-day retelling of Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel.
~My thoughts:
I've been a big fan of Aprilynne Pike's Wings series. It's one of my favorite series because it's about faeries and it's one of the first books that really got me into reading again. So thank you, Aprilynne. Now, Life After Theft isn't anything like Wings. It's more of a light contemporary, fun read with a klepto ghost. I thought it sounded like real fun and was so glad that I received a copy from Edelweiss.
This cover is really deceiving actually. You'd expect the book to be about a girl but it's about a guy named Jeff (gotta love that name).
Jeff moved to a new place with his family so naturally he had to start a new school. And not just any school. A private school for rich kids with uniforms and all that. On his first day Jeff meets Kimberlee. On problem is, nobody seems to be able to see her except himself. Turns out that Kimberlee is a ghost. Kimberlee realizes Jeff is her only hope for redemption and moving on, so she gets him to help her with her unifinished business which really is bringing back the stuff she stole when she was still alive. And, man, is it a lot of stuff!
I was pretty into this book right from the start because of Jeff's point of view. I love reading male povs. And reading about Jeff was definitely something. He's such a guy! Yeah, I really liked him. I felt bad for him that Kimberlee kept showing up and nagging about everything. But he's such a good guy, helping her trying to find clossure.
Kimberlee was something else entirely. To put it rudely; she's a bitch. Though I think she wasn't a truly bad person. She did some awful things, yes, but in the end I think she really learned something. And I like how she and Jeff did became friends. Sort of.
The other characters in this book were nice to read about also. They all had their own secrets and you wonder what is it they're hiding and if they're meaning is good or not.
My favorite part was the beginning where Jeff first meets Kimberlee. He isn't all like, 'oh yeah I believe you're a ghost'. It took him a little bit to get used to having a ghost girl who's able to follow him everywhere. Even in the shower! I liked how he didn't believe it right away. I wouldn't either and that made it all the more realistic. More bonus point to Aprilynne!
There's also some romance in this book. Jeff was so cute when he first met Sera. I loved seeing him struggle a bit (muhahaha). But it felt all very real in the end and that's even better than the silly instant-love. Jeff and Sera's relationship did grew, and after all the secrets (pretty much) were out in the open you can really see how good they are together.
Up until about the last quarter of this book I thought it flowed well enough but then I kind of got stuck. I don't really know what happened but I was ready for it to end already. Let's say, just like Kimberlee, I was ready to move on (but in different ways of course). So that's probably the main reason why I onlygave it 3 stars. Though 3 stars is also really good and I did like this book but I'm just not that much into stories like this I'm afraid.
Life After Theft is a cute, fun yet surprising book about high school, love, friendship and finding closure. Though very different from Wings it's a likeable and enjoyable read.
~Quote:
The first thing I saw was the pink bubble gum, four feet lower than it should have been, inches above the ground, and framed by a set of perfectly painted lips.
It was one of those huge bubbles you just know is going to pop and cover the girl's face, and she'll shriek and yell and whine that her makeup is ruined, blah, blah, blah. But the bubble didn't pop—she did that thing where you suck all the air back into your mouth, and the bubble deflated into a little pink heap.
~About the author:
Critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times best-selling author Aprilynne Pike has been spinning tales since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found out running; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne lives in Arizona with her husband and four kids; she is enjoying the sunshine.
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