My first Lauren James book and wow! What a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed and lapped up this very original and well executed story about what happens when we die. That how, when people look back at their life, they do so often do it through "rose tinted glasses".
And it appears that this continues in the afterlife. How we gloss over the bad stuff, when all the clues are there. The human (& ghostly) inability to see what's in front of you before it's too late.
This book though, is definitely not a one trick pony. It's far more than the relationships between Harriet and her Grandmother. There are family feuds, friendships made, broken....betrayal & love. Ànd the author has done a bang on job of tying it all together to produce an awesome read. I'll definitely go back and look up this author as her name has now pinged onto my radar and my interest is piqued.
Thank you so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me this stonking arc!

‘You know, ghosts have myths. Ancient ghosts pass on stories they heard when they were newly dead, from other ancient ghosts on the brink of disintegration. The stories stretch back all the way to Neolithic times, before stories were told in words. Those stories don’t make much sense now. They don’t follow the forms of tales we know.’

This is the first Lauren James book I have read and you can bet I’ve added her other novels to my TBR! It certainly was a wild ride with enough twist and turns to give you an emotional whiplash and keep you on the edge of your seat (or wherever it is you read). The plot was clever and well crafted. The story centres around a society of ghosts in an abandoned university building grappling for power and control.

The stand out element of this novel was the characters. The plot mostly centres around a found family of 90’s university student ghosts and their friendship dynamic and banter was adorable. Each character’s personality was distinct and brought something unique to the story, which is told from multiple perspectives. The titular character was a complex, morally grey anti-hero bordering on outright villain that you sympathise with, if not completely root for. The cast of main characters was diverse and included several LGBTQ+ characters (one is stated to be gay, another bi and another pan).

All in all, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker was an entertaining and thrilling surprise.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the Walker Books for the opportunity to review this book.

I do adore Lauren James. She is a brilliant author and each and every book is so different from the last. This latest novel, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker plays with time and space in a very different way to her previous books. Here she explores life after death.. amongst other things.

Harriet Stoker is exploring the dilapidated remains of Mulcture Hall. It’s her first year at the University of Warwick and she is trying to add some atmosphere to her photography project. Unfortunately for Harriet, she is about to fall foul of a nasty accident, an accident that will kill her. Dead. But that, dear reader, is not the end of Harriet’s story – in fact it is just the beginning.

As Harriet comes to term with the fact that her physical body and she have parted company, she soon becomes aware that Mulcture Hall is full of ghosts. The energy that bursts from her as she dies wakes the ghosts up. Some of them are incredibly friendly and please to see her, they take her under their wing and help her with life after death. It’s a little more complicated than one might think. It’s not long before Harriet discovers that’s she unable to leave Mulcture Hall, to do so would cause her to disintegrate – and nobody knows what happens then. Harriet is distraught as she thinks of her poor gran left alone at home. Her only desire is to somehow get back to her and let her know she isn’t alone.

But there are other ghosts – The tricksters – in the deepest darkest basement, these ghosts really aren’t very pleasant at all, they’ll think nothing of stealing every last drop of energy that is stopping you from disintegrating. The hunt for energy and power is all they crave. Harriet however, in her desparation, believes that she may be able to make a deal with them so they can help get her home to her gran. If anyone knows how, then surely the Tricksters do. Yet how much is she willing to sacrifice? Her new friends? Her new found ghostly powers? Her humanity? Before long Harriet is causing havoc and things are getting way out of control. Events that have been unfolding for over a thousand years suddenly come to a head and Harriet soon has to make a choice – one that could cost everything, including the afterlife.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. This story just runs at full throttle. Who knew that life could be so dangerous after death!? As with any fab YA novel it looks at the everyday issues of friendships, fitting in, sexuality, and of course of that one true power we hold inside each and every one of us that makes us who we are. It’s also about making mistakes and how we learn from them. It’s funny, at times scary, a little romantic but also features some rather awesome ghost fighting in a sucking out all the energy/tearing apart bodies kind of way. the cover is rather awesome too!

Thanks so much to the lovely team at Walker Books for inviting me to read and review this title. Can’t wait to get myself a printed copy. 🙂

"Start a story as close to the end as you can manage' is a favoured piece of advice given to writers. In this instance, Harriet's story begins the day she dies. Caught in a limbo-like state in halls of residence, Harriet quickly discovers she has abilities the other ghosts don't have. Forget with great power comes great responsibility - afterall, she's already dead. What can go wrong? I really enjoyed following a heroine who quickly showed a darker side. The inclusion of lgbtq+ characters felt natural and the story had plenty of unexpected twists. Had never read a Lauren James book before but would definitely read more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows the main character, Harriet, from the day she dies, but death is definitely not her end. Trapped with other ghosts in a Uni halls of residence Harriet faces. a number of challenges as she grapples with her past, present and future.
What I Liked:
Plot. Going into this book, I really wasn't sure what to expected. What developed was a unique, thrilling and complex plot line which kept me on the edge of me seat. Although this novel focused heavily on characters and morality the plot was full of twists and turns that made me keep want to keep reading.
Characters. This book focused on an ensemble cast of characters and was written from a number of different viewpoints. All the characters were well developed and nuanced and each bought something different to the story. I particularly enjoyed the sections from the omnipresent point of view, which kept me guessing.
Themes. This book had a strong focus on what it means to be "good" or "bad" and the external forces which influence behaviour. It really made me think about redemption and whether people could/ should be forgiven. Other themes included friendship, what it means to be a family and the complexities of power and its use.
Overall this was another excellent book from Lauren James whose books have been of a consistently high standard. If you have enjoyed any of her other books you should definitely read this. If you haven't read any of her books then I would recommend this a great introduction to her writing. This was a well rounded, engaging read with a great plot, cast, setting and themes .

I've been meaning to read Lauren James for a few years now, since seeing her interviewed at Dept Con in Dublin (twice!). Each time I was so impressed with her amazing ideas for her novels, and I wasn't disappointed with the intriguing premise of The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker.

Harriet goes to explore an abandoned student accommodation hall to take photos for her university coursework, but she is only getting started when she falls from a height and is killed instantly. The release of her energy awakens the ghosts of the other students who had died in that building over the years, and they are eager to welcome Harriet's ghost into their family. However, Harriet isn't interested in fitting in, but doing whatever she has to, to get home to her grandmother.

The story feels straightforward at first, but realising that the likable group who welcome Harriet are by no means representative of the rest of the spirits in the building, who aren't as much of a community and aren't as interested in Harriet's welfare. Harriet, too, is something of a surprise: at first she just seems more interested in her family, but she seems more scheming and ruthless as time goes on, making her a much more compelling character than I first thought.

The book doesn't just have a good premise, it continues to deliver consistently right to the end. As a side note, I thought the inclusive nature of the book was really lovely and natural feeling. The representations of race and class and sexuality never felt forced but rather a real group of people who each had their own hopes and dreams and fears. I loved that most of the ghosts were from the nineties and we saw a comparison between their lives as young adults and young adults now, from the bigger stuff (Harriet explaining different sexualities to Felix, who would have just said he was gay and and thought that was that) to the smaller (ghosts staring at humans out the window trying to guess at trends in fashion, and figuring out how technology has changed), as that rooted the book in the contemporary but also showed all of the changes from the last 20 or more years.

I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a fast paced supernatural mystery with a good cast of characters, and this makes me want to read more of Lauren James.

Lauren James is an excellent writer and I loved a protagonist who quickly showed an evil side. The storyline is original.. Harriet seemed likeable enough at the beginning, but quickly became very dark as a ghost. The storyline with her fellow ghosts and their characters was interesting, as was the reveal of the narrator. Overall an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a height in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a world of ghosts with magical powers – shape-shifiting, hypnosis and even the ability to posses the living. Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah all welcome Harriet into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival. 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!

Lauren James has in my opinion the most skill of any author that I’ve read to continuously write intriguing, twisty and wild YA stories. They keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing and The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is no different!


Having been in lockdown/quarantine for over 4 months now, this was the perfect book to pick up and devour in a few hours. Why you ask? Because, all of the characters are trapped in one place and it just felt normal! When reading, sometimes I really struggle with world building and figuring out how a world works. Lauren James does this perfectly though and shows the rules of Mulcture Hall and the ghost world in such an understandable way! Lauren James has created a very convincing and real feeling world for this story!

This book has an incredible cast of main and supporting characters. Harriet our main character is the perfect anti-hero. You can’t help but dislike her but also at the same time like her as well. Alongside Harriet we have, Felix who has been hiding (badly) his decades-long feelings for sweet, cool and anxious Kasper. You also have the wonderful Leah and baby Claudia and my personal favourite Rima and her adorable fox spirit Cody. Every single character and I mean every single character in The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is well-rounded and developed with stories of their own to tell.

This book is written from multiple perspectives with potentially the most important being the mysterious narrator. Lauren James makes each characters characters voices distinctive and unique despite the number of characters. The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is full of twists and turns and as always with Lauren’s books we as readers are kept guessing!

Lauren James continues to be my favourite author whose books have me stopping absolutely anything I am doing as soon as they are in my hand and have me reading them in one sitting. If you are looking for a page-turning, flawlessly written and exiting book then The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is for you! It has murderous ghosts, queer pining, found family and horror and I adored it!

Overall, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is a fantastically twisty, cleverly written and original story that keeps you guessing. It has you on the edge of your seat and makes you feel a little unsettled whilst reading. I cannot recommend this book to you enough!

I absolutely devoured this book, it is full of everything I love most - horror, unreliable unlikeable characters, pining and found family. Lauren has written a fantastically twisty, original, clever story with so much humor that still manages to be unsettling and to stay with you. I will be thinking of these characters and what happens for a long time.

I loved all of the twists and how everything came together at the end of the book, I didn't see so many of the events coming and was really impressed with Lauren's plotting and story arcs.

Thanks to netgalley and Walker Books Ya for the review earc.

*I received an eARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is an entertaining and thrilling story full of twists and turns. It's an exploration of how we deal with our inner (and outer) demons and face the truth of who we are and who we want to be.

I went into this book having read James' novel: The Loneliest Girl In the Universe, so I expected a story full of mystery and crazy twists. And I was not disappointed. The world James' has created is intriguing and so cool you kind of want to visit this university building as a ghost. A huge part of this for me was the characters. As Harriet meets the other ghosts, we're immediately thrown into a lovely found family with friends who loves each other even though they all have their secrets. The story is told through many perspectives which I really liked (one perspective isn't like the others and I had so much fun figuring out what the hell was happening). The cast is also very diverse and queer, which felt natural and was explored with care. I was rooting for the romance the whole time!

The only small problem I had with the story was near the beginning. Harriet just died and though she had a burst of 'freak-out' I felt she was way too quick to accept her death. Like, if I died and woke up as a ghost, I think I'd need at least a week to process. But Harriet's personality is very different from me, so that's probably why. Her bold personality was also part of what made her character so interesting. I don't necessarily like her, but I sympathize with her none the less. Her boldness and determination made it fun to see what she'd do next.

And then the ending. The arc I got was missing the last 70 pages, so for half a day or so I just thought it was a story with a very open ending. Wouldn't be the first time we've seen those. But no! I got the real ending and it blew me away. Have you ever read a book and wished it was longer? Then image you got another 70 pages. That was how this felt. And it was so satisfying! James sets up so many small mysteries and secrets and the payoff was *chef's kiss* perfect!

Overall a great book with loveable characters, an intriguing world, and a plot that'll keep you on your toes! I would highly recommend checking it out if you're interested in ghosts, murders, morally-gray characters, and found families.

Lauren James is one of my favourite authors and I never cease to be amazed by how completely unique every book is! With a slightly creepy vibe, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is a twisty supernatural adventure that grabs hold and doesn't let go!

Harriet is thoroughly unlikeable, but I still found myself rooting for her! There is a lovely theme of found family that I thought was totally heart warming.

Also, I'm so in love with that cover. It's just the right mix of sinister and mysterious, and totally reflects the book!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Walker Books and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

Normally I don’t read thrillers so this was a new genre for me to discover. The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is a story about a young woman who dies in an abandoned building and discovers there is an afterlife with other ghosts. Some who are good and some who are very bad.

The story got my attention right from the start and kept it for about forty percent of the story. Right when my attention slipped away there was a plot twist I didn’t expect and then there was another and another plot twist I didn’t see coming. Those plot twists drew my attention back to the story and kept it through to the end.
What I liked very much was the way the writer wrote the story. The personages were also something I liked very much. The side notes were something I loved, it gave something extra to the story.

Harriet doesn't bother with all the signs saying Danger of Electrocution, or Unstable Structure. She knows this is the perfect place to take photos for her photography project and a bit of danger isn't going to stop her. She's bound to get a good grade with all the amazingly atmospheric photos she's taken. She has so many big plans for her life but unfortunately life has different ideas for her.

This was a bit of a difficult book for me to review. I enjoyed The Quiet at the End of the World and really loved The Loneliest Girl in the Universe so of course couldn't wait to get my hands on this one.

As usual the author's writing is very good and I loved the way you get to know all the characters and their perspectives, as well as Harriet. This is good because as the book progresses I liked Harriet less and less, and I cared less about her too. Usually I don't enjoy a book that much if I'm not invested in the main character, but thanks to the writing and the other characters I kept with it.

There's an unidentified narrator throughout the book which adds a wonderful mysterious element. Are they orchestrating the whole thing or just watching? I had my suspicions of who this could be though you don't find out till nearer the end. There are lots more surprising twists too!

What did I just read? I mean that in a really good way, but... what? I need a moment to collect myself, because this was a wild ride!

Things I loved:
- morally grey MC
- queer pining (like, so much pining!!!)
- found family of ghosts
- ghost baby!
- ghost pet FOX!
- so many ghosts!!

Lauren James is so amazing at writing the most twisty, intriguing books that keep you on the edge of your seat. It was so much fun trying to figure everything out, and there's always this weird sense of pride if you figure out a certain twist before it's revealed (I'm bad at that, okay??). Let's just say there were some really fun twists here. I think it would be best to dive into this book without knowing too much about it.

I have a really hard time reviewing this because for me, how much I enjoyed this book is directly related to if there will be a sequel. Because this book needs one! There are so many loose ends, and I feel like the book ended quite abruptly. I just wanted to find out so much more! I'm just gonna assume there will be a sequel that just hasn't been announced yet!

UPDATE: I was told by the author and the publisher that the initial eARC I read missed the last 20% of the book! So that explains why the "ending" felt so sudden to me, and I thought I'd write a little update so my review reflects the full novel I read. Of course I couldn't pace myself and I dove right back into this book when I found out there was more! Honestly, this ending was so satisfying, and there were even more twists and turns - ones that I really did not see coming. I think this is probably a standalone as the ending it very well-rounded! I already can't wait to reread the full novel once it's released!

Rep: pansexual MC, Black gay MC, questioning bisexual MC, Brown hijabi side character

CWs: death, murder, gore, poisoning, abuse by a family member, past death of parents

After initially reviewing this book, it turned out that the last 20% had been missing from copy of the galley! It had been a week or so since I finished reading, but I've tried to pull my thoughts together now after actually finishing the complete version.
The final 20% changed my opinion to some extent - the conclusion was a lot more satisfying, and I enjoyed the twists, turns and revelations of the last quarter. I still found there to be some issues with the book however - though it was gripping (I sped through it in a couple of days) and mostly engaging, I found it difficult to get through. There were a few points where, had I purchased the book or gotten it from the library, I would have stopped reading. I found the violence, though not frequent, to be quite jarring. I realise it's a story about ghosts, but it felt like an unsubtle way of emphasising certain character's traits.
Characterisation, and who we focus on, also affected my enjoyment of the book - I was very glad that there were multiple POV characters alongside Harriet. Although I happily read books with an unlikeable protagonist, for the majority of the book I found her really hard to deal with. I would much rather have read a book about the friendship group at an earlier point in time - I wanted to know more about all of them, and their dynamic when they were alive, what happened when they first became ghosts, etc.
The sections I enjoyed the most were watching the group simply be friends - interacting with each other happily, before the plot kicked in. Possibly, I wanted this to be a very different story than it actually was.
The last quarter of the book has a much heavier emphasis on the different characters of the friendship group, allowing for greater character development, and I enjoyed it a lot more because of this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book to review.

I was excited to read this because the premise sounds amazing! I was so happy when I got an arc that I dived straight in. Unfortunately this book was a little bit of a let down for me. I think I expected more from this book.

I really enjoyed the idea behind this book. I liked the idea of becoming a ghost when you die and each ghost having a different power was a really great detail. I enjoyed the ghost rules and the overall atmosphere. I liked the dynamics between the ghosts and how they interacted with each other. I loved the paranormal aspect of the book but other things really annoyed me.

However I did not like the main character and she nearly made me dnf the book. Harriet Stoker isn’t a likeable character, she uses people and is selfish. I think she was meant to be written as an antagonist but even as a villain I didn’t like her. I felt nothing towards her. The other characters were okay, but to me they didn’t really have any development. I also felt I didn’t get to know the characters that well. I liked the trickster ghosts and would have liked to see more of them. There are multiple povs in the book and a couple in each chapter which I didn’t enjoy as it jumped from one to the next.

The writing style was simple which made it quick to read and I liked how short the chapters were. There was a couple of formatting issues on my arc but it was only cutting off the beginning of a few words never now and again.

When I first read this I was let down by the end, however it turns out that the end of the book was missing from my Netgalley arc. Once it was added I read the end and I thought it was okay. I liked the action that there was and the ghosts teaming up to take down the tricksters. Some of the twists I could see coming and others felt a little convenient.

Overall I think I expected more than I got with this book. I know people will enjoy and love this book but it just wasn’t for me.

I love Lauren James, her writing is always wonderful and this was no less true in this book. I loved the diversity of characters in this book and the intrigue was top notch. However the ending just left me feeling a bit let down. If this is a standalone then the end is a very weak point and if it isn't then I feel that knowing it was the first in a series would have allowed me to be prepared for the level of cliffhanger.

However the story is clever and interesting and I am really hoping there will be more because I need answers!

3.5 stars, removed half a star because of the abruptness of the ending.

Lauren James has done it again with another brilliant story full of diverse, well developed characters, and twisty plot. This title is particularly gruesome, dark, and twisted, which makes it the perfect read for around Halloween. Any fans of ghost stories and urban fantasy will love Harriet Stoker.

I absolutely loved the concept presented in the book, including the multiple narrators and especially the one unknown for most of the story. The writing and world building is as amazing as i'd expect from Lauren James and her characters are well developed to reflect that.
The titular character is an enigma to me. It's almost as if she is displaying signs of being on the spectrum, but it's never identified. As it stands, I have a strong dislike for her as a person and it actually makes for a refreshingly different sort of read.
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending as the story is left with a number of loose ends and because I don't know if there is an intended sequel I feel really uneasy about it. I think that's because it doesn't feel like one of those deliberate 'I'm leaving it to your imagination' sort of endings... it feels like there is more waiting to be said.

******* What is written below will not be shared on my blog or any sites when it comes to publication*****
Something I really did struggle with was Kasper talking about his ability to possess people who are alive. I find the line "It might not kill them, but it's- it's rape. I can't be that person." rather problematic because what he is talking about is not rape, nor could it be. I understand that the author is trying to convey that Kasper's idea of consent and that is great. However, I've spent 10 years teaching young adults PSHCE and the level of misunderstanding regarding rape and consensual sex is rather worrying. Yes, I understand the book is fiction and that someone may use the word rape in the way Lauren James has (Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park says "I call it the rape of the natural world") however, I'm just concerned that it could add to the misinformation. It could also lead to problems with Religious Education and the impregnation of Mary. Some students since the development of the 'Me too' movement have been questioning if Mary was raped by God. Which, while debatable among theologians, is not something entered into within the classroom. The reason for it not being considered rape is because of the lack of intercourse, which is the same for what is being said here.
I know I've rambled and perhaps no one will see this, but those few words have caused a lot of conflict for me. It is amazing the power of words. Had it have read "It's like rape." I perhaps wouldn't have even have picked up on it.
********

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I look forward to reading anything else Lauren James writes.

This is really more of a 3.5 star review!

When I read a Lauren James novel, I know I'm in for a good time. The three books I've read from her in the past - The Next Together, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, and The Quiet at the End of the World - were packed with enough twists and turns to keep me racing through, eager to discover what would happen next. I opened The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, saw that the first line began with, "Twenty minutes before her death...", and figured that I was in for an equally fun ride.

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker is, true to form, full of plenty of 'oh!' and 'wait, what?' moments. I've found James to be really good at that: she gives tiny hints so that you'll start to figure out plot twists before the characters do, and certain things revealed towards the end practically beg you to read the whole novel again with that new knowledge in mind.

This means that our protagonist, Harriet, who was a first-year at university studying Photography until she died, is an interesting one. I started out sympathising with her - no one wants to die at eighteen with a bunch of unfulfilled life goals, surely it's only natural for her to be a little power-hungry in an attempt to regain some control over her (after)life - but her villainy grew chapter by chapter. As her morality declined further and further, I began rooting for the close-knit group of friends who'd died together in a mysterious incident back in the 1990s, hoping they'd find a way to stop her before it was too late. Speaking of those friends, Felix, Kasper, Rima, and Leah were such fun characters, and I especially liked Rima's cute little pet fox spirit.

There's a great setup here and I was thoroughly prepared to be blown away by one hell of an ending, but I was quite disappointed by the fact that this novel ends on such a cliffhanger. I have been known to enjoy books that leave everything so open, but considering all the buildup, I was expecting much more. We're asked to question so many things as the plot unfolds (what is the purpose of the narrator of the italicised chapters, and what cataclysmic events are they constantly referring to? were the deaths of Felix, Rima, Kasper, and the other ghostly inhabitants of Mulcture Hall truly due to a carbon monoxide leak one night, or something more sinister, as police reports suggest?) and aren't given answers to them. Later on, the book even brings attention to a strategically-placed tripwire being the cause of Harriet's fall, suggesting that her death might have been a murder rather than an accident, and while I have what I think is a pretty solid theory, I need some actual answers!

Putting my disappointment in the cliffhanger ending aside, James has without a doubt succeeded in making me want to know more, and now I'm hoping for a sequel!