Book Review: The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand [Audiobook]

 
 
One Christmas Eve, Holly was visited by three ghosts who urged her to change her ways, but she didn't listen. Five years later, she's spending her afterlife working for that very same company as the Ghost of Christmas Past and hating every minute of it, until she unexpectedly finds herself relating to their newest Scrooge.

Book Review: The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
Title: The Afterlife of Holly Chase
Author:
Pages: 416
My Rating: 4 Stars
More Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Publisher
 

Review:

I listened to the audio for this one, and I enjoyed it, both the audio and the story.

The idea was a unique one—a company that finds “Scrooges” and uses the Christmas Carol formula (three spirits on Christmas Eve) to rehabilitate them, the spirits being former Scrooges who failed to be rehabilitated (and died, hence the spirit part). It was kinda fun though, in a way, how, instead of everything just being magical, the whole thing was like a big production with costumes and special effects and everything.

The story was unexpectedly touching. The main character was unlikeable at first, purposefully so, but she grew in a very natural way as the story went on. And I appreciated that the author didn’t let the romance take over, instead letting Holly’s growth shine.

I was uncomfortable with the major invasion of privacy aspect though (this was literally an entire company of people monitoring a person’s every activity with cameras and things, sifting through and recording their memories and emotions, and sitting around analyzing/discussing everything about them), and obviously it was required for the story, but I just would’ve liked that to be addressed by someone.

As for the audio, I thought Erin Spencer did a great job narrating. I didn’t love all the male voices, but they weren’t awful either.

Overall, I enjoyed this touching Christmas Carol-inspired story.

 

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23 thoughts on “Book Review: The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand [Audiobook]

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  1. Michelle @ Pink Polka Dot Books

    I would definitely like to read this book this Christmas season!! It sounds really good and I also like this author’s other books. I’ve recently discovered that I like audio books, so I might actually do it that way too!! Glad I read your review, now I know for sure it’s going to be a good book for me 🙂

  2. Greg

    Sounds fun. Definitely a unique idea. Although yeah the privacy thing would be a little concerning haha, and I can see where it maybe should have been addressed by someone in the story. Still, it does sound good!

  3. Sam@wlabb

    I had put off reading this book, because I saw people’s meh reviews, but I really liked this. I thought the Scrooge process was pretty fantastic, and felt that Holly’s journey was quite beautiful. I was a little sad, but also happy at the end.

  4. Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    I’ve been sort of putting off listening to this one even though it’s on my list of review books that I missed that I can get the audiobook on Hoopla at my library (yes, I have such a list—sad, I know). Now you’ve inspired me to pick it up next. And I didn’t remember that it had a Christmasy theme!

    1. Kristen Burns

      My favorite thing about this comment is that you have a whole list for review copies you didn’t get to and are now available as audiobooks on Hoopla lol. I hope you like the book!

  5. Olivia Roach

    I have this one on my kindle but I have to admit I mostly forgot about it, so it’s good to have this reminder that I have a good book waiting for me. I didn’t realise it was sort of a Christmas Carol retelling and it was so emotional as well! I can understand why you would want the invasion of privacy addressed though. I would too ;.; I need to get around to this one sooner rather than later!

  6. ShootingStarsMag

    Yeahhh the invasion of privacy seems a bit much, but it works for the story, so I think I’d be okay with it. I hadn’t realized what this one was about – I like the sound of it!

    -Lauren

  7. Pingback: Bite-Sized Reviews of Every Other Weekend, Storm and Fury, The Afterlife of Holly Chase, and All of Me – Feed Your Fiction Addiction