Radiance by Alyson Noel

Radiance is the first book in a new series and a take-off from the immortals series by the same author. This series focus on the deceased sister of the main character Ever in the immortals series. I had only read the first book in that series and at first felt I was missing something in Radiance, but the book quickly took on its own life.

Riley is 12, but unfortunately is also dead. She lives in a place called Here & Now where people continue with life - work, school, sleep, etc - but have the ability to manifest whatever they want. It seems like a decent deal, except she still misses Earth and then learns that each person has a role. She is given the role of "Soul Catcher," which means she goes to Earth and helps souls cross the bridge they failed to cross when they died. Joined by her dog Buttercup and her dorky guide Bodhi, her first task is to convince the impossible "Radiant Boy" to cross, although many others for the past 100+ years have failed to do so. Bodhi has his own task in convincing the "Wailing Woman" to let go of her grief to move on. Will the two succeed and find their place in this new world?

The book had a good voice. You could definitely hear a 12 year old telling this story. It was also a quick read but I wasn't overly impressed with the story. Don't get me wrong. It was a good book and has no fatal flaws, but I'm just not eagerly waiting for the next book to come out. Maybe because I don't see it going anywhere besides what's already been done in this novel. Go to earth, convince the ghost to move on, go home and repeat. Hopefully a curve ball is thrown into the next book because, so far, I'm not impressed. If, though, you liked the immortals, give this a shot to see what happened to Ever's sister. Maybe it will mean more to you than it did to me, someone unfamiliar with the other series.
MMK