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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Book Review: Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt

Goodreads Summary: Can a road trip repair a romance gone wrong? Find out in this standalone companion to Lauren Barnholdt’s Two-way Street.
Here are Peyton and Jace, meeting on vacation. Click! It’s awesome, it’s easy, it’s romantic. This is the real deal.
Unless it isn’t. Because when you’re in love, you don’t just stop calling one day. And you don’t keep secrets. Or lie. And when your life starts falling apart, you’re supposed to have the other person to lean on.
Here are Peyton and Jace again, broken up but thrown together on a road trip. One of them is lying about the destination. One of them is pretending not to be leaving something behind. And neither of them is prepared for what’s coming on the road ahead…

Title: Right of Way
Series: companion to Two-Way Street
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: 9th July 2013
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Format: eGalley
Source: publisher via Edelweiss

I haven’t read a book by Ms Barnholdt before and gee whiz, I will be adding her to my list. I really loved her writing style, such an easy flow and fun to read. I have never read about a boy that is as sensitive as Jace and I found him to be a lovable guy. My favourite character in the book was definitely Hector, who can’t help but love the dog that seems to bring these two together.

Peyton is going to a family wedding with her parents and has now been told that Jace will be attending as well. Peyton doesn't know how to feel about this, excited but nervous as well. Since their break-up so to speak, Peyton has been trying with all her might to not even think about him.

They met at a party while Peyton was visiting her cousin and Peyton was instantly attracted to him. Knowing she probably didn't have a chance, Jace obviously had different ideas. They started talking and talking and talking and soon became friends. When Peyton had to return home, they continued talking over the phone and hoped to meet up again very soon. But that didn't happen, all of a sudden Jace stopped replying to her texts, emails and everything, without an explanation or anything, Peyton was heartbroken.

Peyton gets stranded at the wedding, her best friend got busted and their plans to run away for the summer thwarted. Peyton had no money and no means of getting home, what was she to do? In walks Jace at her vulnerable moment, they seemed civil with each other during the wedding and Jace was checking up on her. Peyton spilled to beans that she had no ride home and Jace made the decision to drive her himself.

What Peyton didn't tell him was her secret(s), she wasn't going home. Before going to the wedding, Peyton had a call from a credit card company to say she hadn't made a payment in a long time, but Peyton doesn't even have a credit card. So who has the credit card in her name?

During the road trip, Peyton and Jace have to come to terms with what happened between them in the past. Peyton has to accept her own issues and that she didn't have any control over them. Running away from your problems never solved anything and Peyton has to face her parents and their family issues before she can get on with her future.

The way this book was written is fantastic and unusual, it would jump from past to present, but also with the point of views from both Jace and Peyton. With each chapter I had to keep reading to see where the other character was up to and to see if Peyton would face her fears. I haven’t read Two-Way Street and felt a little confused to begin with, but once I got into the story, that didn't matter. Right of Way was a great read and I can’t wait to pick up another Lauren Barnholdt book.

4 GREAT CONTEMPORARY BOOKS

About the Author

Lauren Barnholdt is the author of the teen novels The Thing About the Truth, Sometimes It Happens, One Night That Changes Everything, Two-Way Street, and Watch Me. She is also the author of the middle grade novels The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney, Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better, Four Truths and a Lie, Rules for Secret-Keeping, Fake Me a Match, and Girl Meets Ghost. She lives in Waltham, Massachusetts.

~ courtesy of Edelweiss

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