Review: Arise by Tara Hudson

Arise by Tara Hudson
Published: June 5th, 2012; HarperTeen
404 Pages

From Goodreads:
New Orleans
Saint Louis
Number One Cemetery
A night there can change a life . . . or a death.

Increasingly worried that dark spirits will carry out their threats and hurt the people she cares for most, Amelia is ready to try anything to protect them. And for his own very different reasons, Joshua has come to this cemetery at midnight to join her in a powerful ritual.

Both know that once Amelia steps inside the Voodoo circle and the beautiful girl from the Conjure Cafe begins the ceremony, everything will change.

Tara Hudson's enthralling sequel to "Hereafter" escalates the danger and excitement, bringing a new dimension to her already mesmerizing story of a haunted love.

My Rating:
4 stars

My Thoughts:

After reading Hereafter, I was somewhat disappointed in the outcome. The first book in a series is supposed to pull you into a rollercoaster ride that leaves you wanting more once it's finally over. I didn't really feel that after reading Hereafter, so I was hopeful that Arise wouldn't fall completely flat.

                I can't say that Arise completely made up for what Hereafter was lacking, but it was a bit better. I liked the setting of New Orleans, since it seemed to be more detailed than Hudson's description of Amelia's hometown in Oklahoma. The original setting was pretty stagnant for me, so a change of scenery was welcome, no matter how random it was.

                Gabrielle was also a breath of fresh air from Amelia's helplessness, I just didn't like how the author sort of shoved her into the story. It was too sudden for Gabrielle and Amelia to go from strangers to friends in all of a day. She was kind of a pro and a con to me; she was the right character, just not at the right time in the story.

                My main problem with both Arise and Hereafter is that they have little to no depth. The story is original, but the characters and the plot were flat to me. The first half of the book was Amelia worrying about leaving Joshua so he wouldn't get hurt by the evil demons that were following her (which, frankly, didn't seem all that evil). When she finally "left" it was for a day, which she spent moping over how much she missed Joshua. Joshua and Amelia win my award for sappiest couple; I would welcome a bit more dysfunction.

                 I really hoped Amelia would grow a bit more in Arise, but she was still fumbling around blindly. Her story could really use some more direction, instead of Amelia simply reacting to situations.

                Don't get me wrong, I liked this book, but it just has some hiccups that made it harder to finish. The series could use some more continuity with the antagonist, since I have a feeling Hudson is going to recycle the same thing that happened in the first two books (but I would be incredibly happy if she didn't!). The demons haven't really been explained enough for them to be menacing - they're just creepy looking people who are supposed to be evil.

I'll probably give something away if I go on, so I'll end this review here. Let me just say that Arise was definitely an improvement over Hereafter, but the series still has a long way to go before it'll be one of my favorites. Tara Hudson wins on originality and her writing, but the flimsy plot and flat characters made it hard to finish. I gave it four stars, because the good outweighed the bad, and I was able to finish it. If you read Hereafter and liked it, I would definitely recommend reading Arise.