Book Review – The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James

My rating:

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. 

I love Lauren James, and her way of twisting things til I don’t know which way is up! This is thoroughly prevalent here, and it’s wonderful. 

Harriet is morally grey (if not dark!) and pretty unlikable, which is actually pretty awesome for a main character. As the book nears the end we find out a lot more about her motivations and why she’s like that, but honestly she does some pretty shady things and I love that it’s not excused. 

I love the concept here, and especially the found family of ghosties, they’re adorable. There’s a ghost baby and a ghost pet fox! And queer flirting and pining! So much cuteness. 

There’s lots of layers too, some of which you don’t realise are even layers until Lauren folds them back like some sort of storytelling genius. 

I will say that because Harriet is so dark, I possibly didn’t quite connect as much as I wanted. And as much as I really enjoyed the end, the first main twist (while necessary for the story) didn’t quite work for me as it felt quite sudden? 

Those are why I gave it 3.5 stars. It’s definitely still fab, and I will be recommended it – especially for those looking for a spooky book this month.

Buy The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker from Waterstones.

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