Life After Theft Paperback – April 29, 2014

When Jeff transfers to Whitestone, a prestigeous high school where he's expect to, not only excel, but also wear a very stifling tie, the last thing he expects to find is a ghost. Right there, smack in the middle of the main hallway, snapping her bubblegum (rather obnoxiously), with people walking both around and through her.A year ago, Kimberlee Schraffer former queen bee and self-processed great swimmer, died in a freak drowning accident. Not only did the former queen bee leave behind a legacy, but also a cave full of stolen goods.Convinced that her kleptomania is what's keeping her tied to Earth, Kimberlee wants nothing more but to move on, from this world into the next. But how could she when no one can see or hear her.Until now.Jeff isn't the ideal candidate. But he's the only one available. Kimberlee knows the only way she can truly rest in peace is if she returns every stolen item. And since she cannot technically touch anything, she enlists Jeff to take on this task.Will he be able to right all of her wrongs?Life After Theft, written by author Aprilynne Pike, is a straight up paranormal novel that, beyond being a lot of fun and laughs, is a read that will leave readers with some weighty questions.What made Life After Theft such a great read was the fact that, for me, it was so unexpected. Up until this point I have never read any of author Pike's books, so I had no expectations. I was simply looking for a book to read while on vacation.What I found was a book that I was able to truly sink into. Maybe it's partly because the plot line is unique and holds many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Pike's breaths life into her characters, even Kimberlee. Jeff's voice is authentic and endearing. While Kimberlee, though often snarky, is an great character that, even though readers will want to dislike, will wind up loving.What made Pike's Life After Theft such a great read is Pike's writing. Simply put, it's a book that is well written. It's strong, it's witty, it's engaging.Beyond the solid plot and the realistic characters, Life After Theft will leave reader's with many questions, questions that aren't easily answered. Are ghosts real? Why can some see them and some can't? Beyond that, the biggest question (I think, personally) is what happens after one dies?Life After Theft was a really fun book that will leave readers (if they are readers like me) questioning both life and death. Beyond that, it will keep readers laughing, from start to finish.

I read the prequel, One Day More, to Life After Theft first, so I wasn't expecting the book to be from Jeff's point of view, but I enjoyed it. Jeff's new at school and doesn't realize that the girl who's lying in the hallway is actually dead, and he's the only one who can see her ghost. Kimberlee Schaffer starts out without showing how thrilled she is (or should be) that someone can finally see her, but more with the demand that Jeff talk to her and help her. He comes around and Kimberlee begs him to help her return the treasure trove of stuff she's stolen, both from her classmates (she never really had friends), teachers and stores.Jeff agrees, both for the sake of his conscience and to help Kimberlee solve her problem and go back to wherever she's supposed to be, rather than continue haunting him. The two probably wouldn't have been friends when Kimberlee was alive, and what I found interesting is that even though Kimberlee wants all the stolen stuff returned, save for one major plot twist, she is mostly not such a changed person, even after over a year spying on her classmates from afar. Even though the book is called Life After Theft, it's much more about Jeff, as he negotiates his relationship with Sera, who he starts out considering out of his league, and her brother, Khail, who agrees to help him return the stolen goods. I'm not normally a paranormal reader, and sometimes have trouble getting into other worlds, but Kimberlee, aside from being a ghost, seemed pretty normal. I liked that even after she's died, nobody has anything good to say about her (except perhaps Jeff), and that while most people are simply thrilled to get their stuff returned, there are mixed reactions. I also liked Jeff's parents, who seemed permissive while still being loving and concerned, and were a major contrast to Sera and Khail's parents, not to mention Kimberlee's inattentive ones. Definitely a fun YA novel with a twist, and I'd recommend it to paranormal fans as well as those who don't usually read paranormal books.

Without it saying so in the summary that Life After Theft was a retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel, I would have never known. It was a very loose retelling since instead of saving people's life, the main character Jeff is returning people's stuff. The setting did a great job of being updated and contemporary, but I didn't think this was a great retelling. The stickers with red flowers on them that Jeff put on the stuff he was returning was really the only tie-in to The Scarlet Pimpernel that I could see. It was more like Mean Girls meets the 1990's film Ghost Dad that starred Bill Cosby (yes I watched that show all the time as a kid). I compare it to Mean Girls because these girls in the book were awful to each. Just awful. And the reason when we finally find out didn't really justify to mean the extreme hate these girls had. I can't even remember what it was.The voice of the main character Jeff was very well written and fun to read. He was snarky and funny. The plot was a little bland and didn't move along that fast, but the characters were interesting enough that it kept me turning the pages. I was also curious about why these girls seemed to hate each other so much and that kept me reading as well even though I didn't really like the reason when I found out.Overall, it was a quick, fun read with interesting characters but not that great as a retelling.