A review by book_sense
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

 
I am unsure about how to rate this book. The first hundred pages, though slow, were a solid 3.5 for me. Then the book progressed and it turned to 4 because Holly was interesting to read about. She was funny and sarcastic plus the whole scrooge premise was really interesting. Then came Ethan Winters and slowly my rating fell back to 3 because that dude honestly had no personality. He was a completely unbelievable 17-year-old. Like I understand if he was a complete dick. It would have made sense. But the way he acted with other people and then with Holly simply didn't add up. His character didn't make any sense. Neither did their relationship because everything was so instant. There was no pinning or angst. And the way Ethan fell in love with Holly just proved how out of character that was. By the time we reached the end of the book, I simply wasn't invested in their relationship, neither did I care. The whole speech Holly gave to Ethan, was a big eye-roll moment for me. But then the ending, the twist, and turn really notched the rating back up to 3.5. It was a whole lot of Christmas cliche but the last twenty pages really made me smile. So that's the rating. A 3-3.5. I don't know. The book had so much potential but the execution didn't really work for me. 
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