Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Afterlife of Holly Chase

Fourth Reread (December 2023): 5 Stars*
Third Reread (December 2021): 5 Stars*
Second Reread (December 2019): 5 Stars*
First Read (December 2018): 5 Stars*
I initially heard about this book on BookTube, and have made an effort to reread it every December since.
"The Afterlife of Holly Chase" is a Christmas Carol retelling set in modern-day New York with a sassy, entitled teenager. Holly Chase was only seventeen years old when she was visited by three ghosts and told to change her ways. Unfortunately, she did not listen, and she was killed a few days later. Now, she works at Project Scrooge to help people see the error in their ways before it is too late.
This book is such a cozy, comforting story to reread every year around Christmas. Although the bulk of the story does not take place on Christmas, the entire project and effort is executed on Christmas day, so the story has the holiday spirit throughout the entire story.
Holly Chase is such a great character to read from, and I really enjoy seeing her character grow and mature throughout the story. Although she did not rectify her horrid behavior in time to be saved, she does seem to be reflective of her past transgressions. Honestly, I think her portrayal is 100% accurate, because in all reality, what rich seventeen-year-old who was visited by three ghosts and told to change their ways, would actually change their ways.

One of my favorite parts of this story is that it is not a love story. Yes, there is a romance, but the story is Holly's, and the point of the book is that she is working to get her life back.

I highly recommend this book, and I hope to be able to continue my tradition and reread (most) every year.

Content Warnings

raisinreads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Content Warnings

silversparkles50's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was good, and I enjoyed it. When I first started it, I thought it was going to be a huge disappointment, but it ended up getting so much better. I thought I didn't like where this story was going, but I actually ended up hating it a lot less than I thought I would, and as time went on, I found I actually started to love how that particular aspect of the story was handled. I loved it especially at the end. The main character, Holly, was just a bad person all around. This was to be expected going into it, as she is a failed scrooge that did not want to change. I loved watching her growth throughout the story and how she learns to see points of view of the world. I was bored of the story at times, and I will say sometimes there were time skips that bothered me a little bit. I know why, because this book does span a long period of time, but I feel like the skips were done and explained away lazily with a quick recap of anything that had happened during that period. Other than those little things, though, I really enjoyed this book, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun Christmas story!

Content Warnings

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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(Tried to read this in August 2023)
There was just NO reason at all for me to put up with this character that was annoying AF.
I knew that even if I pushed through I would've given this 1 or 2 stars and what's the point on wasting my time like that.
I'm still interested on the original A Christmas Carol book though.

Content Warnings