Review: Arise by Tara Hudson

Title: Arise (Hereafter #2)
Author: Tara Hudson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Paranormal Romance
Release date: June 5th, 2012
Pages: 404 (ARC)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Publisher
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Amelia—still caught between life and death—must fight for every moment of her relationship with the human boy Joshua. They can hardly even kiss without Amelia accidentally dematerializing. Looking for answers, they go to visit some of Joshua’s Seer relatives in New Orleans. But even in a city so famously steeped in the supernatural, Amelia ends up with more questions than answers…and becomes increasingly convinced that she and Joshua can never have a future together.Wandering through the French Quarter, Amelia meets other in-between ghosts, and begins to seriously consider joining them. And then she meets Gabrielle. Somehow, against impossible odds, Gaby has found a way to live a sort of half-life...a half-life for which Amelia would pay any price. Torn between two worlds, Amelia must choose carefully, before the evil spirits of the netherworld choose for her.

While Hereafter still stands as my favorite in the series, Arise had its good points.  In this much-anticipated sequel (for me, at least), we find out that Amelia still has a lot more on her plate than we left her with.  She's faced with the largest decision she's ever had to make in this afterlife.  When she is faced with that decision, she feels as though she must get out of town and luckily, she's able to hitch a ride with Joshua's family to New Orleans for Christmas vacation.

Ahh, New Orleans.  The setting is my favorite part of the book and while reading, I blissfully took in all it had to offer; from the beignets to the voodoo, even imagining a few Cajun accents.  Though I haven't been able to travel there myself, I was able to imagine it through Amelia's eyes.  When Joshua finds a way he thinks will help her rid her recent troubles, he surprises her with a trip to a nearby voodoo shop and even though the woman shoos them away, they meet a girl around their age that is willing to help.

Although Gabrielle turns Amelia's life upside down with her voodoo, she does her best to guide her down the right path and eventually become more of a friend than Amelia can ever remember having.  Gaby was completely honest and helpful from the beginning, which was admirable.  She's not even as different from Amelia as you might think upon meeting her.  It's easy for me to say that out of all of the characters introduced in this story, she was my favorite.

Arise turned out to be fast-paced, intriguing, yet just a little short of certain things I loved about Hereafter.   In this story, aside from being tracked down by the demons, Amelia must learn to deal with her unresolved feelings, her new abilities and a group of dangerous Seers that have a few dark secrets of their own.