Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am going to be honest, this book was a real struggle for me. The subject matter was fine and not an issue for me but what was was the writing style. I found it really difficult to understand what was going on it being said in the first few chapters.

Once the story got going it was easier to read but the style still kept me out of touch with the book. Maybe it all went over my head but I don't actually think I understand what happened in the end of the book either.

It's unusual for me to dislike a book however I was glad to complete this book but maybe I was not the target audience for this?

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

The trigger warning at the beginning of the book should be taken seriously: there is rape, violence, prostitution, pedophilia, hardcore racism and much more in this book. In that regard, it highly reminded me of the Sin City Universe. It is brutal, the language is - in places - racist, disturbing, slurring and hard to process. In other respects it is almost poetic and beautiful. The entire novel is a mixture of this, yet also something more... If you can stomach the topics in the novel, read it. It is rewarding to read the entire thing even though you might doubt it whilst reading...

Imagine a future, divided America that lives in poverty and is shaped by violence, crime, and child labour and prostitution. We meet many different characters that are all connected. Our first story focusses on Janelle, she is a young, Black girl who works in a brothel to enable her mother and herself a decent life. When she is raped and killed in an alley behind the brothel, she does not stay dead. A monster has taken her voice and a mirror version of herself now roams the streets, seeking revenge. With her new, white voice Janelle starts to re-do her past sins and re-connect with humanity...

Each story gives the reader a new, deeper understanding of the story, despite the violence parts of the stories are beautifully crafted and give one some hope. Throughout the text one can find comments by the author (I didn't really get them but I thought it was nice to see what the author wanted to change etc.) and the story ends by a meta-commentary of the author that brings it all together. If you make it to the end of the story, you will be astonished. I really enjoyed it in the end although I had serious doubts mid-reading.

Four stars, because I had some problems immersing myself into the story because of all the violence... Would like to read more from the author.

I loved this story. It was eloquently done. A strong strong. Characters were real. The world was fascinating and attention grabbing. I enjoyed the story. I would recommend it.

This book is a hard one to describe. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s dark and beautiful, it reads almost like poetry. After chapter 6 I want to be the authors BFF. I feel that anything I write about it, wouldn’t give it justice. Let’s just say that readers of Nicholas Sparks should probably not read it. I’ll just leave it with this “John Green” quote (wink, wink): “Challenging...powerful, a testimony to the enduring spirit of womankind.”

I'm afraid I found the subject matter too hard to take and had to DNF this one abut 15% in. I'm giving it 4 stars based on what I did read as it is very well written, inventive and engrossing, The heroine is engaging and interesting and the dystopian vision of a new future America was worryingly convincing.

After Hope Dies was a struggle to finish but not for the reasons you may think. It is crucial that you take the trigger warning to heart. There is no “fade to the light in the corner and pretend like what’s happening isn’t happening” like they do on tv shows. This is in your face. It’s brutal. It’s detailed. And it’s tough to get past. I had to take this one slow. Read some take a break and return.

All that said if you’re looking for something new. Something different than what’s out there. And something with a mix of characters that feel true this might be the one for you. There is a supernatural/fantasy aspect that I didn’t expect and at times it threw me but with a shrug I pushed forward.

The switching in viewpoints was another challenge for me but it also forces you to slow down and really focus on the story. The characters. Sometimes you need books like this. The ones that force you to think about the bad in our world. There are people who live the horror daily while others pretend they don’t know or there is nothing you can do. Give this one a try and see if you can still pretend.

I probably won’t read this one again because although I think it was well done the imagery really got to me. I might need to read a few kids books now. That said I will mention this to people and I will recommend they check it out with the side note to take all warnings to heart.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the arc in return for my honest review.

I received an arc of this book through NetGalley. I put off reading it because I thought it might have me in my feelings. It did.
I used to forge ahead and read things with trigger warnings. Sometimes it's a little easier to digest than others.
This is to one of these times. Don't let that turn you off though. The subject matter, while sensitive is what's happening to so many young girls all over the globe. Abused, raped, murdered, forced to do things they do not want to do.
Its about how the author handles the situation. While we're not hand held, it's still a good read.
The reanimation of a young girl seeking revenge is what drew me to the story. It's a great fantasy slightly supernatural debut effort.
It's not what you re going to call an "enjoyable" read. Where you curl up and laugh, cry and enjoy the fictional tale. But it might be a necessary one. Because it's closer to reality than it should be.

Author/Publisher/Reviewers Note: This book deals with darker themes including racist content, depictions of rape, and strong themes of child sexualization/exploitation. If ANY of these subjects make you uncomfortable, then this is not the story for you.

My dearest reader, if the above paragraph in bold as well as the brief description above has not already convinced you, let me state it AGAIN - this book contains disturbing imagery. It is NOT for the faint of heart or easily offended. There are numerous passages that require the reader to have a strong constitution. Several of the reviews I have seen, the person reading it did not take the warning seriously and sadly suffered for it.

All of that aside: After Hope Dies is an excellent book. It provides a truly scary "What if...?" that once the reader finishes the book - including the epilogue - will leave them wondering just how much could potentially occur.

In three short stories, After Hope Dies, follows several individuals in a not to distant future. The city they are in could be anywhere in the United States and the persons the overall story centers on live in one of the poorest sections. Drug use as well as vices of other kinds run rampant and all of the characters are affected in one way or another.

While each individual story has its own main character, they also cross over in to the other stories. The child prostitute in the first story is the next door neighbor of the game playing introvert of the second story, and she goes to school with the younger sister who features in the third story. The introvert runs in the same gaming circles as the older sister in the third story. And between them all is the brothel owner and his assistant. They all play off of one another, acting and reacting to events as they occur.

Each person has their own story and Haraden does an admirable job of delving in to each one. It is certainly not an easy task, some of the jobs that these characters take on could be described as distasteful, yet they all do what they must. They make deals with demons with the intent of living another day.

Haraden's writing is smooth and strong. As disturbing as some scenes are, they are penned in a way that is not difficult to imagine. The stories are easy to follow and the characters can be related to by most. As someone who is whiter than the proverbial sour cream, I will never be able to fully relate to the discrimination (both internal and external) faced by many. Reading After Hope Dies however, gave me a tiny inkling and takes me one step closer to understanding.

At times hard to read and hard to stomach, it is an engrossing book and one I simply must recommend.

Thank you first to Lilly Haraden and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

The publisher's warning should definitely be taken seriously, I can see where there are multiple upsetting themes and rough language used throughout. On the flip side the author also uses some stunningly beautiful language, such as any time when the cranes appear. It feels like an intentional balance the way the passages are placed.

i believe there is one more round of editing happpening, there are still author's notes and a handful of typos but nothing crazy or too distracting. The language forced a slower read for me to keep track of what was happening at times, and I got the feeling that the reader is supposed to shrug and accept the supernatural - much like the characters.

The story has some unique aspects such as the characters creating monsters that create more monsters/spirits/ entities, very cool. Some of the supernatural aspects were hard to follow, but interesting, and I really did enjoy the hope, despair and death imagery. I loved Hugo's character, and most disliked the vampire because she felt thrown into the mix and unrelated.

As a social commentary the book does it's job, if nothing else evoking some steong feelings and making us think about class, race, desperation, and despair among brighter aspects. It definitely is not meant to be a happy story but it is a good one.

I would rate 3.5/5 stars and recommend this to those with a strong stomach and big imagination. Fans of the supernatural and fantasy won't be let down.

(I included the link to my blog but got the impression that the author wants the review posted on it's release day, so I will do so at that time. It will be a slightly reformatted review!)

I tried really hard to comprehend the concept of the book. I made it 78% of the book and I just couldn't make it any further. Once I got to the twins, it became too confusing to keep up. I will admit that I gave it more than I generally would have because it had its moments. It was not because of the child prostitution or the drug use. It was not because of the rape or the gory murder. There were just several other factors involved. I will attempt to read it again in the future.

I did not take the publisher's note seriously: "This story includes racist content, depictions of rape and strong themes of child sexualisation/exploitation." I have a strong stomach, but After Hope Dies was brutal in it depiction of rape and child prostitution. If you can get past that, the book is excellently written. The characters are well developed and the plot is unique. I'm not sure what genre it belongs in, racial dystopian fantasy?

2.5 stars

*Thank you to the author and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Trigger Warnings: Graphic rape, violence, child prostitution

This book did not personally suit me, and I can foresee it producing very mixed reviews - either for the writing style or the content. For me, it was both.

Of course, if you read the description then you are going into the book aware that it will cover some uncomfortable topics, such as child prostitution - I thought that I would cope with that, but the content was so graphic and vulgar that I couldn't refrain from skipping many parts of the book.

The book continually changes perspective which made it quite confusing and jarring to read, and I would often have to trace back sentences to identify who/what was talking and about whom. Eventually, I lost interest by this point as I could not feel comfortable enough with the content and neither could I coherently follow the story without the need to repeat passages.

With all that being said, I don't want to put others off giving this book a try. This is just my opinion and it was not a book that suited me well, but that's not to say it won't suit you!

I will be keeping a look out for more books from this author because I am interested in what other stories she may produce.