Five years ago, Holly Chase was visited by three ghosts; the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. They attempted to show her the error of her ways, how horrible she was to her father and best friend, and get her to change into a better person.

However, Holly didn’t believe them, and she woke up the next morning the same as ever. Until two days later when she died.

Now, Holly is working for Project Scrooge, an organization dedicated to helping the so called Scrooge’s change their ways, as the ghost of Christmas past. For the last five years she has worked with the organization to help people like her before they die. So far she’s hated the afterlife.

This year is different though. She is assigned to this year’s target, Ethan, and she begins to see that they’re not all that different. There’s a couple problems though. One, it’s company policy not to interfere with the targets life and two, she’s dead. So she enlists the help of her new secretary and secretly finds a way to spend time with him.

This goes on until it’s finally time for Holly to reveal herself as the ghost of Christmas past and attempt to get Ethan to change his horrible ways. Will she fail? Or will she turn Ethan, and herself, into a better person with the help of her new friends at Project Scrooge?

Cynthia Hand puts a new spin on a timeless tale in The Afterlife of Holly Chase, with a cynical protagonist and loveable side characters. Her novel is incredibly original and is sure to entice fans of classic story retellings! Personally, I enjoyed Holly’s fabulously unlikeable character, as well as her crass humor, and I hope you will too!