Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike

Moving to a new high school sucks. Especially a rich-kid private school. With uniforms. But nothing is worse than finding out the first girl you meet is dead. And a klepto.

No one can see or hear Kimberlee except Jeff, so–in hopes of bringing an end to the snarkiest haunting in history–he agrees to help her complete her “unfinished business.” But when the enmity between Kimberlee and Jeff’s new crush, Sera, manages to continue posthumously, Jeff wonders if he’s made the right choice.

Clash meets sass in this uproarious modern-day retelling of Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel.

This was a fun read. My first by Aprilynne Pike, and from my experience with Life After Theft, it certainly won’t be my last.

Pike has created a ghost story without the element of terror. Instead, this haunting focuses more on redemption and pushes the message that what we do in life matters, how we treat people matters.

Okay, I may have just made it sound like a commercial against bullying. It is nothing like that. The messages are underlying, and are not preachy.

One of the most unique things about this story that sold me from the first chapter? A teenage male as the narrator. YA readers are so used to reading from the female perspective, so it was refreshing to see the story develop through the eyes of a teenage boy.

Each character is so well defined and rounded that the reader can identify with traits from each. I especially enjoyed that the most boring, basic teenage boy was selected as the narrator. It made the story pack a bigger punch. The party scenes, the romance—and even the sadness and heartache, were all firsts for Jeff. Watching as he navigates through all of these first experiences resonates with the reader.

This story was well crafted, and the world created is highly believable. Yes, in this case the haunting is entirely believable. A girl who was miserable in life, seeking a second chance to make amends. I believe it. I am certain most other readers will too.

This book had me thinking long after the last sentence had been read. To me, that is great writing.

I really hope this story is adapted to film, it would make for a fantastic movie.

Thank you, Harper Collins Canada for the ARC review copy.