My Rating ~ Five Stars

RELEASE DATE: 3 September 2020

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Walker Books

Blurb

“Congratulations, new kid. Welcome to the afterlife.”

What if death is only the beginning?

When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a group of ghosts, each with a special power.

Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome Harriet into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival after decades alone. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.

Review

Thank you to Walker Books Australia for providing me with a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review!

Harriet Stoker just wanted to take some photos in the old abandoned Mulcture Hall. Several students had died there years ago and there were all sorts of rumours about it, but Harriet thought it would be a great place to get some inspiring snaps for her photography project. That is until she fell to her death. As she steps out of her body, she’s greeted by some very excited ghosts who’ve been waiting for someone new to turn up for such a long time. When Harriet finds out the ghosts all have a special power of their own, she’s desperate to find hers – in the hope it’ll be something that can get her back to her grandmother’s house without disintegrating. But how far is she willing to go for it?

The Reckless Life of Harriet Stoker was exactly the type of book I was in the mood for right now! It is dark and brilliant and so much FUN. Ghosts with a complicated friendship circle, A morally grey MC, a sweet cinnamon ghost boy, a queer ‘will they, won’t they’ love story that I was super invested in, and a nice twisty ending! I loved the writing in this one, it was so easy to get lost in and there were even some truly funny moments. The underlying themes of addiction, where Harriet struggled with her need to gather more and more power, using her friends to do so, were really well done too.

Kasper and Felix were some of my absolute favourite characters and I want another book all about them please and thank you. This was one of those books I kept thinking about and snatching time to read more every chance I got, I was absolutely hooked. I haven’t read any other books by Lauren James yet, but after this one, I’m going to go and check some out!