Title: Life After TheftGenre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal
Publication: April 30th 2013, HarperTeen
Pages: 352 pages, Paperback
Source: Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for sending me an ARC to 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.
I'd seen Life After Theft on Goodreads and I didn't actually read the synopsis, I just looked at the cover, which is honestly stunning, added to my wish list, not knowing that I would be reading it way sooner than expected! I own Aprilynne Pike's Wings series, however I have not yet managed to read them. As you know, my TBR pile is taller than me *cowers*, so I haven't managed to read them yet, but I will soon, and I'll have to add it to the top especially after reading Life After Theft.
Anywhoo, when Edelweiss accepted my request I literally squealed and did my happy dance that my parents have grown accustomed to since I started reading and fan-girling, which I think was from when I was 6 years old. But yep, I totally flipped and when before I started reading it I was thinking "Eeeh, maybe I shouldn't have requested it, as it's about ghosts and dead people and that kinda stuff Freaks. Me. Out. So basically I was actually kind of hesitant to read it, but once I started reading it I honestly couldn't stop. Yes, it was THAT GOOD.
I'll start by talking about the cover, I absolutely love the cover and I think it is gorgeous! I love how the reflection in the sunglasses *spoiler* is where the cave is and where all the items she stole are hidden, *spoiler* well I presume that's what the reflection is! Although I do LOVE the cover, it is quite misleading. I didn't actually read the blurb (I just requested and added to my wish list due to the pretty cover *guilty sigh*), but if I did I would've known that it was told from a male POV. Yep, that's right, the narrator is a guy! If you look at the cover without reading the blurb you would've thought it was told from a female POV, so when I read the first few pages, I thought it was a from a female point of view but then he said his name was Jeff and then the realisation hit me that it wasn't from a female point of view. And guys, this has taught me two extremely valuable lessons.
Two Extremely Valuable Lessons I've Learnt From Reading Life After Theft:
1. Depending on the gender of the person on the cover of the book, don't assume it's written in that gender's point of view
2. Always read the blurb before requesting a book and don't just get distracted by pretty cover
See? Two extremely valuable lessons.
The plot centres around Jeff, the new kid from Phoenix attending a rich kids school. It's never easy being the new kid, especially when the first person he meets happens to be a ghost. A kleptomaniac ghost called Kimberlee. In order for Kimberlee to pass on, she asks him to help her with a little favour, that turns out to be not so little after all.
Jeff was a really nice, good guy. He wanted to do the right thing and was kind to people. I mean, on his first day of school he meets a ghost that is quite catty and has a psychological problem and he agrees to help her and put up with all her nonsense. I absolutely loved reading Life After Theft, from his narration! He's really an awesome character, who naturally does the right thing and when he has gotten himself into a mess he does his best to fix the problem. And I might just consider him my new book boyfriend :P
Kimberlee...what can I say? Although she was really a nasty person back in the day when she was still alive, she actually learnt her lesson and I really liked her! And also, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her! She was a literally a lost, wondering soul and you could feel the loneliness emanating from her. So even if you're determined that you'll hate Kimberlee, because she was a klepto and a bully, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to help but love her! I also quoted a lot of things she said, as some of the conversations her and Jeff shared were just too hilarious!
Sera...I didn't like Sera and I don't know what Jeff saw in her. I also felt like I couldn't trust her. *spoiler* So when the ending came and I saw we could actually trust her, I felt slightly disappointed as I really had gotten the feeling that she was hiding something big. *spoiler* And truth be told, I was actually disappointed he ended up dating her and I was hoping that he'd date someone more likeable.
The friendship that developed between Jeff and Kimberlee was also cute to read about it, and like I said, I loved the banter that went on between the two of them sometimes.
The plot was really original and I absolutely loved reading about Jeff trying to help return all the stuff and the little things that happened to make the story more exciting. I pretty much read half this book in one setting, it was so enjoyable and I couldn't put it down, however, towards the end I found myself picking it up and putting it down, so I just wish the last few chapters held more exciting events that would have me 100% gripped and immersed in the story.
I was also kind of disappointed about the ending. I have absolutely no idea *spoiler* what the blue shoes at the end of his bed had to do with it! *spoiler*Honestly, I have not an inkling of an idea. So if any of you guys have read this please send me a message via Goodreads as to what this means! Because I'm either really stupid for not seeing the meaning or it just randomly ended like that, which I'm sure it was written there for a reason!
I all felt LAT had some unanswered questions and I really do wish there was a sequel so that I could find out the answers to the questions that I've found myself asking. Like, why was it only Jeff that could see Kimberlee? What was the real reason for Kimberlee's nastiness towards Sera? *spoiler*WHY WERE THE BLUE SHOES ON HIS BED?!*spoiler*
Overall, I loved Life After Theft, it was an original idea that was very well-written and had me intrigued almost the whole way through. With a loveable main character, great writing and non-stop guessing and fun, Life After Theft is a great novel that, despite handling ghosts/death/passing, is a light, quick read that will have you laughing on more than one occasion and have you wondering what really does happen after death. A great YA novel that I highly recommend!
I give it: 4/5 CUPCAKES!
