First-Impression Friday: Hereafter

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Title: The title screams paranormal. Hereafter is a great title for this story, since it gives a good idea of what this book’s about: a dead girl.

Cover: I must say I absolutely love this cover. The blues and greens are so pretty, and even though you can’t really see it, I love the dress Amelia is wearing. Also, it’s just a little shiny, so it’s even prettier in real life.

Pitch:  For people who like paranormal romance, this pitch is sure to be intriguing. For someone like me, it’s a big turnoff. First of all, I don’t like paranormal romance, and having a dead protagonist just seems really weird. It seems like a well crafted story, but I’m not looking forward to it.

First Sentence: It was the same as always, but different from the first time.

A great first line. It makes me need to read on. What is this mysterious ‘it’? And how in the world can it be the same, and yet different? While this is a little vague, it is attention grabbing.

First Chapter: This chapter has some great points and some really bad parts. The writing is fairly good. It opens with the MC dreaming that she’s drowning, and it’s described so vividly I felt myself squirming. However, as soon as the dream ends, she starts thinking about what’s happened over the past years, telling us all sorts of backstory. One big writing rule is to not give any backstory in the first fifty pages unless absolutely necessary. Here’s it’s really not necessary. This scene would have been more powerful, especially the cliffhanger at the end, had it been written in straight narrative, not backstory.

Overall: For a fan of paranormal romance, this story has great packaging. There’s a perfect title combined with a gorgeous cover and an intriguing pitch. However, all of this convinces me that it’s really not the sort of story I’ll enjoy.       

First-Impression Friday: The Body Finder

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers. 

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him. 

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

Title: I quite like the title The Body Finder. Even if you hadn’t heard anything about the premise of the story it already gives you an idea of what it’s going to be about.

Cover: A lot of people have said that the cover is pretty, and it is, in a way, but I’m not such a huge fan of it. Why is a flower important? Plus, I don’t like how the wording is being placed right in the center, on top of the picture. Yes, I’m being picky, but it’s really hard to explain why exactly I don’t like it.

Pitch: Firstly, I love how Violet has had this body-sensing ability for years now. I’m tired of paranormal books where the MC has to come to terms with their new ability. It’s nice that she’s already had it. I also love that she can sense bodies, and that her ability comes into play when a serial killer arrives in her town. That’s such an original premise that I decided to give this story a try, despite the ‘paranormal romance’ label. The one thing I’m not too excited about is the hint of romance already between Violet and her best friend since childhood.

First Sentence: There are really two first sentences, one for the prologue and one for the first chapter. The one in the prologue is a long, convoluted sentence about Violet walking around. The first chapter starts with an alarm clock waking her up. Hmm. Not too impressed so far.

First Chapter: I just read the first half of the first chapter (up to a section break) and I’m not impressed. First starters, it begins with an ordinary, boring day where she gets up and goes to school. Then it concentrates on her feelings for her best friend. It’s also clogged with backstory, telling about her special gift and her relationship with Jay over the years. Also, the writing feels overdone. This feels like something I’d read on inkpop, not in a published book.

Overall: I’m not sure what to think. I absolutely love the premise but I haven’t liked any of what I’ve read so far. I’ll certainly give it a bit more of a chance but this may well be a book I don’t end up finishing.