Book Review: Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike

Goodreads Summary: Kimberlee Schaffer may be drop-dead gorgeous... but she also dropped dead last year. Now she needs Jeff's Help with her unfinished business, and she is not taking no for an answer.
When she was alive, Kimberlee wasn't just a mean girl; she was also a complete kleptomaniac. So if Jeff wants to avoid being haunted until graduation, he'll have to help her return everything she stole. But Jeff soon discovers it's much easier to steal something than it is to bring it back.

Title: Life After Theft
Series: N/A
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: April 2013
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Format: eGalley and Paperback
Source: Edelweiss and Library

I really enjoyed reading Life After Theft, it was a unique premise and I hadn’t read anything from Aprilynne Pike previously. The writing style was fantastic and characters growth by the end was fulfilling.

Jeff moved from Phoenix to Santa Monica with his parents, they came into money and now Jeff is attending a private prestigious school. Jeff hates uniforms and doesn’t want to change schools, but here he is. Walking in on his first day and he finds a girl lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway near the lockers. Students were walking down the hallway and heading straight toward the girl lying on the floor, they were going to trip over her, Jeff called out and the girl was shocked. Meet Kimberlee Schafer, she died over a year ago and has been haunting her school. Jeff is the only one that can see her and doesn’t quite believe she is actually a ghost.

Kimberlee is now haunting Jeff, she figures if he can see her, then there must be a reason and he has to help her to move on. Kimberlee proves she is a ghost and that she was a student of Whitestone. Kimberlee explains that she stole some things and she must get them returned; this is the reason she is still lingering. The next day, Jeff goes to a beach on the property where Kimberlee used to live, there is a hidden cave where she used to put the items she had stolen. There weren’t just a few items; there was a cave full, over a hundred boxes.

So begins the adventure for Jeff returning all the items stolen. They start with returning stuff to students at Whitestone and in particular the crowd that Jeff has found himself sitting with. Jeff has found love at first site with the most beautiful girl alive in school, Serafina (Sera). Sera takes pity on Jeff and invites him to eat the first day at their table, but he ends up there permanently. All the kids so far seem extremely excited to be receiving their stuff back and there is excitement about a Red Rose Returner, but Jeff gets caught by Sera’s brother Khail.

Khail offers his help and that of his wrestling team and they all try to make quick work of the goods. There is a danger of being caught, but their plans seem flawless. There seems to be secrets everywhere though, Sera has a chequered past and Khail has his own ulterior motives for helping Jeff. Kimberlee has the biggest of all and never wants to share the truth. Jeff doesn’t know if he should really trust these people and play things out or ask them straight up.

Does Sera like Jeff for him or is there another reason? Why is Khail really helping Jeff, what is he hiding that Kimberlee knows? Will they be caught returning the items? Can Kimberlee move on and is it just the stolen stuff that is keeping her behind?

This was a whitty, fun and interesting book, light hearted but with some school bullying issues. I really enjoyed reading Life After Theft and can’t wait to pick up another book by Ms Pike.

4 GREAT FUN BOOKS

About the Author

Courtesy of Ms Pikes website

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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