Elegy (Hereafter #3) Review

Elegy (Hereafter #3)
by Tara Hudson
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: ARC obtained through Around the World ARC Tours in exchange for my honest review. I do not get to keep these books.
Midnight Minute: Amelia is Risen, but her time is running out.  Can she save the people she loves without condemning herself to hell?
Expected Publication: 06.04.13
From Goodreads:

A stalker ghost, misguided Seers, and spellbinding wraiths—Amelia Ashley has faced them all. Now her greatest hope is to spend the rest of her afterlife with her living boyfriend, Joshua. But the demonic forces return to give her an ultimatum: turn herself over to the darkness or watch them murder one living person per week until she does.

Amelia fears she might really be doomed, until the forces of light give her another option. She can join them in their quest to gather souls, with a catch: Once she joins them, she can never see Joshua again.

Faced with impossible choices, Amelia decides to take her afterlife into her own hands—and fight back.

Midnight Thoughts:

~ I really need there to be some awesome website available only to people who have read a book to be able to access that's like a Cliff Notes for earlier books in the series.  Because while I read and reviewed the first two books, my memory of the second book was pretty spotty.  Possibly because there were a lot of new characters introduced then, and this one opens up with several new ones.  Seriously, I need a cheat sheet!
~ It didn't take long to remember the special relationship between Amelia and Joshua, as their love is as sweet as it can get between a boy and the ghost he loves.
~ So, in this book, Ameila is Risen, which means she can be seen by all humans as long as she wishes.  She just can't touch them.  Which sucks for her love life, but also in her day to day interactions, because even non-touchy people touch more people than they probably think they do on a daily basis. 
~ The book immediately grabbed me when Amelia attends a sleepover with Jill and her friends.  They begin to play Truth or Dare and I'm like, meh.  But then someone throws down with a Bloody Mary dare and I lose my shiz.  Bloody Mary terrifies me like nothing else. I've already mentioned it before, but mirrors in the dark at night scare the crap out of me because of Bloody Mary.  
~ Kade, whom I only slightly remember from the last book, makes a special guest appearance in the mirror and he's no friendly after-life messenger.  In fact, the actual Bloody Mary probably would have been preferable in Amelia's opinion. 
~ Kade and the bridge ghosts give her an ultimatum: either Amelia goes to him, or a friend of hers will die every week.  Which sucks, but I'm thinking, how close of a friend are we talking about?  Because I have lots of Facebook 'friends' that I don't really know so...
~ Jillian is definitely one of my favorite characters in this book.  She's really grown and now that she's found love (not telling who  though!) it's really matured her and balanced out her bitchiness.  But not too much, because I like that she's not as goody goody as Amelia and Josh.
~ There are some Scooby Gang hijinks at the bridge as Amelia and friends try to bring it down. 
~ I think if I were the Mayhew clan, I'd have just moved to a really dry state like Arizona or Nevada...
~ Okay, I made a joke about how safe it was for Amelia and Joshua to date, especially since in the last book she kept dissipating every time they made out, but once again there's an obstacle preventing them from getting their groove on.  But does it count if you lose your virginity to a ghost?  Is it like in the show True Blood where Jessica regenerates her virginity all the time?  Am I the only that thinks about this stuff?
~ Jillian snores.  Just so you know. 
~ Eli makes a brief appearance, but not enough to satisfy me.  I liked him.
~ Serena is back and there is a scene between her and Amelia that creeped the hell out of me.  
~ Grandma Ruth is back, and she's more badass than ever.  Seems she's fully recovered from the last book. 
~ Despite all that Amelia is dealing with, she still gets some great human moments.  Most notably: Prom.  Of course, any prom with Amelia and Joshua runs the risk of being the worst prom since Carrie by Stephen King. ~ The ending is a page turner, with Hudson offering glimpses into hell that were truly frightening. 
~ I may have cried, but I think the ending was a good one for this series. 

Timeless Characters:

Amelia- our ghostly heroine is back, and more alive than ever!
Joshua- the human boy she loves.  He's kind of perfect.
Jillian- Joshua's sister, slightly reformed mean girl.
Scott- Joshua's bff who helps out.
Liz- Amelia's mom, still mourning her daughter.
Serena- Amelia's bestie back in her living days... you know, before demons possessed her and she killed Amelia.
Kaylen- Jillian's wealthy best friend.
Kade LaLaurie- baddie from book two, ghost baddie now. 
Eli- restless spirit from the first two books.
Grandma Ruth- despite her ghost prejudices, it's hard not to enjoy this woman.
Belial- Master Demon.  Seriously.  He had to go to demon school an extra two years to get that title. 
Melissa- Eli's dead girlfriend, she's a slightly close-lipped version of Casper. 
Drew, Hayley, Annabelle, and Felix- New Orleans crew from the last book.
O'Reilly- Joshua's cool friend.

Midnight Moment:

The promise Amelia elicits from Jillian.  That's all I'm gonna say.

Stop The Clock:

Obviously, I was happy with this book, and if you've read the series than I think you'll be happy with the outcome.  Hudson could have gone all crazy with it, but she stayed true to the characters and it's a better series for it.  There's just not enough ghost stories out there, so I'm glad to have read this one.  Looking forward to future novels by the author!


Tara Hudson— Website |Tara Hudson

  Elegy (Hereafter #3) gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

Tears in Rain Review

Tears in Rain
by Rosa Montero
Genre: Science Fiction
Format: ARC from Wunderkind in exchange for my honest opinion
Midnight Minute: A intricate sci-fi mystery meets Blade Runner.
From Goodreads:

Death is inevitable. Especially when you have an expiration date.

As a replicant, or “techno-human,” Detective Bruna Husky knows two things: humans bioengineered her to perform dangerous, undesirable tasks; and she has just ten years on the United States of Earth before her body automatically self-destructs. But with “anti-techno” rage on the rise and a rash of premature deaths striking her fellow replicants, she may have even less time than she originally thought.

Investigating the mysterious deaths, Bruna delves into the fractious, violent history shared by humans and replicants, and struggles to engage the society that fails to understand her—yet created her. The deeper she gets, the deadlier her work becomes as she uncovers a vast, terrifying conspiracy bent on changing the very course of the world. But even as the darkness of her reality closes in, Bruna clings fiercely to life.

Midnight Thoughts:

~ The book is partly inspired by the movie Blade Runner, and it is referenced several times in the book, as the techno-humans are often referred to as replicants because of the movie. Of course Bladerunner is based on the story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. 
~ The opening Tears in Rain proves why it is never a good idea to answer the door in the middle of the night. 
~ The narration is broken up with computer entries of the history of the replicants (one of the characters is a historian working on the archives), which I thought was a great way to set up the rules of the sci-fi setting and get information to the reader.  I also liked this way of presenting information because I am a nerd and I thought the history of the replicants was really interesting. 
~ It's probably helpful if you've watched Blade Runner prior to reading this book, although it's not completely necessary.  But watch it anyway, because it's a cool movie starring Harrison Ford. 
~ I hope scientists are reading sci-fi books, because it is not a good idea to make artificial life look like humans.  Don't give them emotions.  Just don't!
~ Bruna Husky as a protagonist is bad ass! Shaving her head in order to prevent giving her enemy something to hurt her with?  Brilliant.  Plus her tattoo is cool.  She would scare the crap out of me. 
~ I normally do not read much science fiction, but this book is exactly why I should!  It's easy to see our world on this path- a day where the color of someone's skin might not matter, but someone's species will. 
~ This book also serves as a reminder that reading translations is a good idea.  There are so many good books by authors who don't write in English.  I went through a phase where I read several Japanese authors and then Swedish authors.  I hope to read more translated novels in 2013!  
~ I love the idea that memories are a kind of drug to replicants.  This was not the only book in 2012 that I read that dealt with memories and how important they are to us and how much they make us who we are.  
~  I loved the complicated, intricate relationship between Nopal and Husky.  
~ Bartolo is adorable and my heart ached at how cute he was. He's both cute and pathetic, making you want to both cuddle and strangle him too. I want one!
~ The title of the book comes from a quote in Blade Runner: 

All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.

~ I really, really hope there is a sequel!!

Timeless Characters:

Bruna Husky- private detective techno-human.  Will kick your ass.
Cata Cain- Bruna's neighbor, another replicant/techno-human.
Yiannis- human friend of Bruna's, professional archivist.
Roy-Roy- human friend who is a walking billboard.
Myriam Chi- leader of the RRM, replicant, hires Bruna.
Merlin- Bruna's dead lover, seen in flashbacks. 
Pablo Nopal- human, memory writer. 
Paul Lizard- human inspector working the same case as Bruna.
Valo- Chi's lover and head of security.
Habib- Chi's personal assistant. 
Maio- alien that Bruna picks up.
Marari- human with a bionic arm, like Red from Shawshank Redemption, she's the person Bruna goes to when she needs something. 
Bartolo- alien pet. Eats things he shouldn't.

Midnight Moment:

There were so many details in this book that made up midnight moments, but my favorites were anything to do with Pablo Nopal and his connection with Bruna, and Maio's "talent".

Stop The Clock:

For fans of science fiction and dystopian and thrillers! I will definitely be reading more books by Rosa Montero!


Rosa Montero — Website |I think this is her page.

Tears in Rain gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

 ** For you Amazon Prime members, the kindle version of this book can be borrowed for free right now!**