The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker Written by Lauren James. Reviewed by Becca, Age 17

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker’ begins with the death of the anti-heroine, Harriet, in the abandoned building of Mulcture Hall, and follows her as she experiences the afterlife there, meeting Felix, Kasper, Rima, and Leah, who welcome her warmly. Harriet quickly becomes consumed by her hunger for greatness and her need for a power. She strives to do everything she can to achieve this, ignoring the destruction she causes to everyone around her, as all she wants is to leave the Hall to see her grandma.

As we follow Harriet’s story of desolation, many unexpected twists occur along the way.
I absolutely loved this book, I was engrossed in it.  It is brilliantly written, I loved how every so often we are taken away from the story to an outsider’s perspective, who knows what is going to happen and yet is completely helpless.

I also really enjoyed switching between the narratives of different characters every so often, it kept the book engaging, whilst also drawing me even further in when the previous character’s section had been left on a cliff hanger.

The story itself is extremely original and interesting and was constantly keeping me guessing at every twist and turn. The ending made me very emotional when I finally found out at the end how the university students had died so many years before, as the way it was written was so moving. I enjoyed and appreciated the representation in the book too, of many different cultures, races, and sexualities.

It is heavily implied at the end of the book that there is going to be a sequel, which I really hope I am correct about as I already can’t wait to read it, it’s just a shame that it probably won’t come out for a long time!

I highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys fantasy, it is a flawlessly crafted novelit is a flawlessly crafted novel.