Review: Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike

Title: Life After Theft 
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Paranormal
Release date: April 30th, 2013
Pages: 374 (eGalley)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Edelweiss
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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.

Jeff is just the new guy.  Kimberlee is the girl who could never move on.  When Jeff first sees her, he can tell that she's different, but nothing could prepare him when he finds out how different she truly is.  Kimberlee Schaffer died months ago, and for some reason, he's the only one who can see her.  As if trying to fit into a new school isn't hard enough, Jeff has to do it knowing there's a ghost watching over his every move.  In order to help her try to move on, he agrees to help her, but he never could have guessed how difficult uncovering all of her secrets would be.

Life After Theft is a fun read full of deep characters with many secrets and an exciting plot that will keep you wondering.  First off, Jeff isn't the greatest protagonist, but he's perfect for this role.  I always love reading about stories from the male perspective, so ultimately, that's what drew me in, but I stayed around for Kimberlee.  Now, she wasn't the most lovable character- maybe not even likable- but with each chapter, one of her layers peels back.  I was intrigued by this stone cold girl blossoming into a warm and friendly young woman by the end of the story.

The secret that Kimberlee has been harboring is that when she was alive, she was a klepto.  She didn't just take small things that would go unnoticed; she made sure to take the things that actually meant something.  Figuring that returning each item would clear her conscious and allow her to move onto the afterlife, Jeff bends over backwards, risking many things, from his relationship to getting expelled.  What I loved most about this book was that as a reader, we can see what pain Kimberlee was in, how helpless she was and how she just couldn't stop stealing no matter how hard she tried.

Aprilynne Pike creates a great story with many different meanings that would surprise just about any reader.  Though the summary makes Life After Theft seem like a fun, light read, it's much more than just that.  By the time I finished the book, I realized that I've connected with the characters much more than I would have expected.  For such a mean girl, Kimberlee turned out to be a great character to read about.