Soul Beach by Kate Harrison (Book Review)

Goodreads summary:
When Alice Forster receives an email from her dead sister she assumes it must be a sick practical joke. Then an invitation arrives to the virtual world of Soul Beach, an idyllic online paradise of sun, sea and sand where Alice can finally talk to her sister again - and discover a new world of friendships, secrets and maybe even love . . . . But why is Soul Beach only inhabited by the young, the beautiful and the dead? Who really murdered Megan Forster? And could Alice be next? The first book in an intriguing and compelling trilogy centered around the mystery of Megan Forster's death.


                                  My rating - 2.5




My Review:
Honestly? I had mixed feelings about this book.
I liked the idea of Soul Beach - a place where young, beautiful people go when they die and their loved ones can visit the beach virtually, and communicate with their dead kin. It was like a paranormal social website. Lewis was a geeky ex-friend of Maggie and Alice's new companion; he was my favorite character and I would have preferred him as the love interest - but we can't all get what we want. 

The thing that I hated about Soul Beach was the romance between Alice and Daniel. It was one of those romances where the characters fall in love at first sight. I don't believe in love at first sight and I insta-love is one of my pet-peeves. Continuing with my hate for insta-love,  another thing that bothered me was that the author concentrated more on the romance than she did on the murder of Alice's sister. 

As I said earlier, I really liked the idea of soul beach. But we never find out what soul beach is, who's behind it and why it exists. It's just... There. No explanation. 

Alice was one of those characters that annoys me from the very first page. She's just lost her sister in a tragic way - I understand - but she's so obsessed with Soul Beach that she spends all her time on there and not in the real world. When people pass on, you grieve, then you get on with your life. 

I hated the ending because it was predictable. I won't go into details to avoid spoilers, but I found that it was an easy way to get Alice and Daniel together. So I'm afraid that I will not be picking up the sequel and I'm pleased that I borrowed this from the library.