The Afterlife of Holly Chase

By Cynthia Hand

Holly Chase has the job of saving souls, but it is her own that she realizes needs examining.
On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn't.

And then she died.

Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Nov 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781460708804

Cynthia Hand

The Lady Janies are made up of New York Times bestselling authors Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows. They first met in 2012, when their publishers sent them on a book tour together, and they hit it off so well they decided to write My Lady Jane so they could go on book tours together all the time. Between the three of them they’ve written more than twenty published novels, a bunch of novellas, a handful of short stories, and a couple of really bad poems. They’re friends. They’re writers. They’re fixing history by rewriting one sad story at a time. Learn more at ladyjanies.com. 

Reviews for The Afterlife of Holly Chase

[authorjanebnight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: This is a retelling of Dickens the Christmas Carol.Holly Chase is a selfish seventeen year old Scrooge who refused to change her ways. Then, she died. Upon her death she became the Ghost of Christmas Past. Five years into this gig, she is assigned to a Scrooge who she closely relates to and will stop at nothing to save.My rating:5/5Before I start this review I want to say that if you haven't read the Christmas Carol or at least watched some of the movies (the Muppet version is my favorite) then do that before reading. I don't think one can fully enjoy this book without having a knowledge of the original. The main character, Holly Chase, is an unlikable protagonist. She is pretty much a mean girl even after five years of being the Ghost of Christmas Past. In the start of the book she is given an assistant and immediately she starts judging her assistant's appearance and fashion sense. The Scrooge she is helping also is an unlikable character. Which of course makes sense as he is a Scrooge. Fortunately, the other characters in the book were pretty awesome. I enjoyed the whole concept of Project Scrooge (the company that Holly works for and that tries to change the Scrooges of the world). A few things that may not work for some readers:Holly narrates the book and she is a typical whiny YA protagonist at times (but again she is supposed to be annoying and unlikable. That's the point)There is a romance. Some people felt it was weird/unnecessary. I disagree. It was pretty important to the story. Additionally, I didn't predict the ending and at first I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first. I did like it but it wasn't what I was expecting. This book was a great read for me and if you love the Christmas Carol and YA books this might be a good read for you. It absolutely gave me a ton of feels and I am so glad I read it.

[kerilynned · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful updated retelling of A Christmas Carol! It was a little slow at first but once it picked up it was really good! There were little hints throughout the book that there would be a twist coming but it was difficult to figure out exactly what the twist would entail. Holly is definitely a character that you dislike at first but learn to grow as she develops in the story. The ending isn't usually how I like things to end but in this story it makes complete sense and if it ended any other way it just wouldn't have been as amazing. Perfect for a holiday read!!

[thursbest · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is such a perfect and magical book that I've picked up since Harry Potter. I love the message from this book, and its realistically magical ending. The added bonus of 'A Christmas Carol' weaving in and out of the storyline made my heart skip a beat and added so much more to the story in such a classic way. Definitely recommend.

[wickedjr89 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

TW: Fire, DeathI won an arc of this in a giveaway on Goodreads. All thoughts are my own. Since this is an arc it might differ to the final version, I do not know.Since I enjoyed this over-all, as usual i'll get my minor gripes out of the way first. It took me between 50-100 pages to get into it but honestly I should have guessed it, because Holly, the scrooge, starts off so unlike-able and awful, the perfect scrooge! But by 100 pages I was sold, and it just kept getting better from there, which i'll get into in a minute.Since it is A Christmas Carol retelling I honestly should have also expected the Christian over-tones. I know the story, and while I can't read Dickens writing i've seen adaptations of it and do enjoy the story as it as a good message in it. I don't mind religion in books if it doesn't feel preachy or a bit much, and as the story goes it did feel a bit preachy-ish to me a couple times, but this could just be a me thing. It didn't ruin the book for me or anything, just made me roll my eyes.Also while reading I found the project scrooge people...well creepy and kind of hated them sometimes, to varying degrees, but now that i've finished the book I actually understand why things were that way, for the most part. I still think it's a bit creepy, and I felt like they could have had more compassion sometimes, I mean wasn't that supposed to be the point? But I digress.I also disliked the tone of "A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self," type of things here and there. I get helping others is awesome and you should do your best to be a good person, but one shouldn't forget to take care of oneself either and at times I got the impression that taking care of yourself at all is considered selfish and bad. I don't think that was supposed to be the message though.Wow that sounds like I hated the book. Trust me there is much to love about it too! While it took me awhile to come to terms with Holly, I really got to know her over the course of the book. Why she was that way. Why scrooges come to be scrooges. Sometimes you have to look past the surface and really dig deep. You have to look into someone's past. I loved the character development and complexity that shined through!As the plot progressed and the pacing picked up I just kept loving it more as I continued reading and eventually I didn't want to put it down! It was thought-provoking at times and I ended up loving Holly's POV. I got very emotional many times through-out the novel, i've annotated this book like crazy! Also there is a twist I didn't see coming and she does get her happy ending, but not like you'd think! I'll leave you with this quote."Without stories, we're all just lonely islands.""Stories let us see and hear and feel what someone else does," she explained. "They build bridges to the other islands. That's why stories are so important. They create true empathy."So yes, I do recommend this book, particularly around the holidays! It was a wonderful holiday read that i'm really glad I read and stuck with! I wish I could say more about it but I don't want to spoil it!

[salsabrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this contemporary take on "A Christmas Carol," 17-year-old Holly fails to make a personal turnaround after visits from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Killed afterward in a car accident, ghost Holly now works for Project Scrooge, helping the team with annual visits to a designated "Scrooge." This year, in a departure from the usual old white guys, the team has selected Ethan, a hot young man the same age as Holly. Holly feels a personal connection with him and in defiance of project rules, finds ways to connect with him in person, believing she can change him.

[redpanda1138 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had a lot of fun reading this!

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I purchased.Story (4/5): This was a fun story to read during the Christmas season. Holly Chase didn’t care about the ghosts that visited during Christmas to tell her how selfish and self-absorbed she’d become...and then she died. When she woke up, she found out she was stuck working for Project Scrooge as the Ghost of Christmas Past. It’s been a miserable afterlife...but the latest Scrooge she’s working on this year is different. This was a fun and unique story. I liked the idea behind Project Scrooge and thought it was entertaining to think about. Characters (4/5): Holly is your typical spoiled rich girl...kind of. I like how she grows throughout the story but was a bit sad that her reason for change is triggered because her new Scrooge is really hot. Holly’s fellow employees at Project Scrooge were really well done, they are nicely filled out and fun to get to know.Setting (4/5): The majority of the story takes place in modern day New York City. The setting doesn’t play a huge role in the story since most of the story takes place in the Project Scrooge building. Writing (4/5): This book is written in Hand’s standard writing style. It’s very easy to read, flow well and is hard to put down.Summary (4/5): Overall while I didn’t love this book I did like it. It’s a fun Christmas-time read and it’s a unique idea. Holly is pretty hard to like as a heroine but some of the characters surrounding her were really well done. I do like how she grows and changes throughout the story.