The Afterlife of Holly Chase

by Cynthia Hand

Holly Chase has the job of saving souls, but it is her own that she realizes needs examining.
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn't.

And then she died.

Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change

• ISBN10: 1460708806
• ISBN13: 9781460708804
• Publish Date: 1 November 2017 (first published 24 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

The Afterlife of Holly Chase was such a great read, holiday or otherwise! The synopis of the book doesn’t do it justice.

There is so much to appreciate about this book. At the top of the list is the fact that it’s a reimagining of Charles’ Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a reimaging with a twist in the form of Project Scrooge. The way in which the original story is entwined into this story, becoming central to the plot, was so unique. It made for a lovely balance between the classic and the new.

I loved the premise of Holly’s afterlife so much. There is something hopeful about the idea that there are those, even unseen, that care enough to try to help others. At one point, one of the characters makes a comment about never giving up on a Scrooge, and that was really beautiful. And I loved the messages of the original were also present in this, and without any preachiness or overly saccharine platitudes.

And the characters… they were so diverse and interesting. Especially interesting for me was the affinity I felt for Holly and Ethan. Normally, I don’t adore an unlikable character, much less two of them, but there was something about them that really drew me. Both of them felt less like true “bad” people than they did broken people. And that made me heart ache for them. They were each deeply flawed, but it was the paths that led them there that got to me. It created an intriguing tug-of-war between sympathy and angst for them.

There were moments when I couldn’t help but ugly cry, especially as I neared the end. I loved the way it ended, even if I was sad to see it end! 

My recommendation: If you love a holiday read, especially a unique one, this is a fantastic one to try!

[Brianna]

DNF @ p. 134. Reading this I was honestly just bored. I didn’t like the main character, the pacing felt a little weird and the story just wasn’t drawing me in at all. I’m disappointed but I might try and pick it up again next year.

[alisoninbookland]

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The Afterlife of Holly Chase is an enjoyable holiday romp that acknowledges A Christmas Carol while creating a fresh and new story. I really appreciated how this wasn’t just a retelling of A Christmas Carol. It takes the inspiration of the story while creating a new world. Readers don’t need to be familiar with CC to pick this up.

I loved seeing ‘behind the scenes’ at Project Scrooge. It was fascinating to see how all the elements fall into place to make the ‘production’ each year. Hand did a really creative job imagining the hows of the company. I only wish I could see more!

Holly’s voice reads a bit young and some of the elements of the story felt a bit younger than YA. The characters, while mostly enjoyable, are a bit cliche. That said, I did grow rather fond of all of them. Holly really turns it around over the course of the story. The ending knocked the story out of the park.

Overall, the story was a fluffy and fun read that was delightful journey for a Winter’s night of reading. Definite add to your Winter TBR.

[girlinthepages]

It took me a ridiculously long time to finish this book because around the holidays I wasn't listening to audio books that often, but I'm so glad I finished this one! The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a really fun, irreverent retelling of A Christmas Carol that focuses on Holly Chase, a failed "scrooge" who in her afterlife must work for A Christmas Carol inspired corporation called "Project Scrooge" as their Ghost of Christmas Past.

There's so many things I loved about this story. The corporate setting was hilarious in a fantasy/paranormal/retelling sort of setting (really not sure what to classify this one as!) and all to real at times now that I'm a working adult. I enjoyed reading about a protagonist who was really not that great of a person- Holly's grown some by the end of the novel but she starts off as really terrible and is really just a selfish person at the end of the day but that doesn't make her incapable of positive attributes too. I also loved her sarcastic and very teenage sounding narrative that always held a ton of contempt and distaste and a sprinkling of spoiled brat- she really reminded me of the Gossip Girl-era protagonists of the early 2000s.

Unfortunately, the book lost its way for me a little at the end- I'm still not 100% what happened and it was all wrapped up pretty conveniently. There's also a LOT of questions I still have, especially about the secondary characters (what did Blackpool do as a human? Was Dave a former Scrooge? Were the non-ghost employees humans who were alive or were they dead and stuck in purgatory too)? Yet it was still a fun and very creative take on the source material (and it's very AWARE that its based on A Christmas Carol which is fun).

Overall: One of the better YA Christmas books I've read and truly unique, The Afterlife of Holly Chase was not what I was expecting but I'm glad I read it!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages

[bookperson]

I loved the ending! Not so much the middle 😅
I thought that story was going in another direction (more dark, which I would have enjoyed), but it's a good Christmas book.

Finally story when girl don't end up with the guy.

[Sam@WLABB]

What a fun and different spin on one of my favorite classics!

I am such a fan of the the Scrooge Project process. Finding the Scrooge, the uncle, the Tiny Tim, etc - I was fully enthralled by it. But, what I really loved was seeing Holly FINALLY coming to terms with the person she was before her afterlife. It was great the way helping this particular Scrooge made her see those flaws in herself, and also made her realize how many wonderful people she had in her life.

It was quite a journey through Holly's afterlife, but what a beautiful journey it was. There were quite a few lovely and emotional moments, and a lot more amusing moments. But the ending! Fantastic!

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[Kat @ Novels & Waffles]

"Falling in love can help us to see the things in life that are truly important. It can make us want to be better people. It can teach us to sacrifice what is in our own best interest for the sake of someone else."

This book has been on my TBR since last Christmas. I wanted to read it then – BECAUSE THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE AND I NEED ALL THE GINGERBREAD COOKIES, SANTA HATS, AND RED-RIBBONED-WREATHS IN MY LIFE – but somehow I just didn't get around to it. *insert very loud sigh here* So this year I was DETERMINED to read it. And I did. Obviously.

While I was about as excited to start reading this as a toddler on Christmas morning (I mean it's written by one of the Lady Jaines!!! But wait, there's more: it's also a super-creative reimagining of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. You don't see that everyday, so YAY for creativity points!), it didn't quite live up to my great expectations (hahahahahsobs. I will refrain from any more Dickens puns. Probably).

Sure, the premise was fun and original, but some aspects of the plot were stilted and unbelievable (which is kind of saying something, considering this book is all about time travel and ghosts – which, in case you haven't noticed, aren't ranked very high on the believability scale). The mix of normal and paranormal felt awkwardly handled, and I'm still confused about how Holly was dead, but not dead? That explanation fell flat for me, as did much of the other clumsy worldbuilding.

The characters and relationships saved the book. Holly, though purposefully written to be an unlikeable character, wasn't as big of a hum-bug Scrooge as I thought she would be. Yes, she was selfish, but I still ended up liking her well enough to stick with it until the end All in all, while this story's premise was creative and unique, the handling of the worldbuilding was not as strong as I would have liked. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't something to go sing door-to-door about.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Review first appeared on The Bent Bookworm!*~

I love the original A Christmas Carol, so I was super excited when I realized that this retelling was by Cynthia Hand, one of the lovely authors of My Lady Jane (which is AWESOME and if you haven’t read it what are you waiting on go now). If you haven’t read the original but have seen a movie adaptation, you’ll still “get it” for this book…if you haven’t read or seen it you might not enjoy it quite as much, but it’s all somewhat explained within this particular story.

When I started reading this, I was about 20% through when I whined on GR that the main character, Holly, was just soooo unlikeable. Well, she’s supposed to be a FAILED Scrooge – which means she was visited by the three ghosts of Christmas, and refused to head their warnings – so naturally she would be unlikable. I get that. But I just couldn’t get on board with her at all! I didn’t care that she’d been yanked from her life at an unbearable young age, I couldn’t care less about her dingy little apartment, and I really really REALLY hated how she treated the other people she worked with. Given that it was a Scrooge story though, I kept going. Also, yes – Holly has had to deal with the loss of her mother, which royally sucks no matter how rich and pampered you are. She didn’t deal well, because none of the adults in her life dealt well. It definitely contributed to her being the way that she is, BUT…we all have choices, and we can’t blame other people for the choices we make ourselves.

Ethan, this year’s chosen Scrooge of Project Scrooge, had me scratching my head. Because yes, while he’s cold and kind of jaded for a seventeen year old, he’s not…THAT…bad. I kept expecting him to do something truly despicable but it never really happened.

The modern twist on the Christmas Carol story was really fun and original. I loved it. It kept me reading even when Holly had me pulling my hair out. Also, her ex-best friend, Ro, kept me reading because I was so hopeful that somehow, someway, beyond the grave, they would reconcile.

“He said, ‘Without stories, we’re all just lonely islands.’…Stories let us see and hear and feel what someone else does,” she explained. “They build bridges to the other islands. That’s why stories are so important. They create true empathy.”

Yes. YES. This is why we read. This is why we read stories about people outside of our own little bubble, it’s why we read stories written by people who are different than us. We read to relate as well as escape. Ro, girl, we need to be friends.

I was not okay with the way Holly manipulated everything to suit her own feelings and desires up to the very end. I mean…had she not learned ANYTHING from death? Apparently not. She literally put her feelings and desires and emotions ahead of everyone and everything else. BUT THEN.

The entire trajectory of the story changes in the last few chapters. It was so unexpected and the ending was SO DAMN REFRESHING I could have cried. It was so, so much better than I was even hoping. It added a half star onto my rating for this book, because it dared to be different and it actually resolved so much.

4/4 stars, definitely recommend especially if you like the classic A Christmas Carol.

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[Bianca]

So I walked. I walked and walked and walked. Alone. I was always alone. I was always going to be alone, I realized. Not going anywhere anytime soon. Stuck, forever. Lost.

I could see them, right there in front of me—the people and places and things that other people saw. But I couldn’t touch their world. I couldn’t be a real part of it. I was just a ghost.

— A fun YA retelling of A Christmas Carol

[liz089]

I had SO MUCH FUN reading this novel ! It was a blast and I enjoyed myself so much. Sometimes I continued reading and I just forgot about all the other things I planned on doing XD

It might be more of a Christmas read, considering it is about A Christmas Carol/Scrooges.. but with the weather getting colder with the minute and the darkness appearing sooner every day, I found it a perfect Fall read as well.

The story is just so original and fun, great characters and an awesome plot. Okay it might not be the most complex plot and some things are pretty predictable... but I loved it so much !! Really a great, light read for this time of the year. 4.5 stars !!!