Remember Me is a fantasy book series written by Christopher Pike. Three books were published between 1989 and 1995.
In the first book, Shari Cooper, eighteen years old, goes to the birthday party of one of her friends, where she falls from a balcony and dies. The morning after, she wakes up as a ghost. Shari's spirit follows her family and friends after her death, and the police assume it's a suicide, but Shari knows somebody killed her. With the help of her ghost friend Peter, she keeps following the friends who were at the party, in order to find out who is her killer.
Tropes:
- Afterlife Antechamber: The newly dead hang around invisibly in the land of the living until they're ready to move on. The narrator is dictating her story to a living person just before she moves on herself, so she has not yet learned, and thus can't reveal, what happens next.
- Big Brother Worship: Shari absolutely adores her older brother Jimmy.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Amanda, Jimmy's seemingly polite girlfriend is later revealed to be Shari's killer. However, Shari tells Peter that she finds her suspicious since the beginning.
- Brother–Sister Incest:
- Shari's adopted brother Jim and Amanda, the villain. In Amanda's defense, the fact she and her brother did not grow up together would have overridden the aversion to incest which would normally have developed. Even so, she still knew him, was close to him, and pursued the relationship even after she learned of the incest, not to mention the whole disturbing If I Can't Have You…, Together in Death plot she pursues. Also an example of Surprise Incest on the part of Shari's brother.
- Shari has a far too strong affection for her brother Jimmy, to the point that she is jealous of his relationship with his girlfriend Amanda, for some reason. It is later revealed that Shari is not actually related to him, but since Shari didn't know and has always thought of Jimmy as her brother, it's a bit weird.
- Dead to Begin With: The story is fully told from Shari's afterlife.
- Dream Land: Seen multiple times when Shari attempts to invade the dreams of her friends so as to find out which one of them killed her. Also, the moment when she saves her brother's life, which she had dreamed about beforehand.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Shari, when she was alive. Pretty, blonde, rich, many friends, many parties, got a Ferrari at her most recent birthday.
- The Hero Dies: The main character Shari dies at the beginning.
- Love Makes You Evil: Shari's killer was driven insane when she learned the boy she loved was her biological brother separated at birth.
- Near-Death Clairvoyance: Killed at a party, Shari Cooper spends the remainder as a ghost, watching over friends/family and trying to figure out who murdered her.
- The Nicknamer: Jo likes to give nicknames to everyone, except her best friend Shari.
- Posthumous Character: Besides Shari, there is also Peter, her old friend/crush who died before her and is mentioned at the infamous party where they tried to communicate with him via a medium. After dying, Shari meets Peter again, as they are both ghosts and he becomes her Spirit Advisor.
- Posthumous Narration: The book starts with Shari telling us that she is dead. The first few chapters have her describing the night at the party where she dies. Then she starts watching her family and friends after her death as a Helpless Observer Protagonist.
- Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Shari's dream about her brother and the balloon. Which, naturally, she doesn't find out what it really means until the moment it becomes relevant.
- Shadow Archetype: Literally, with Shari and the Shadow. Also a rare example where, despite the initial fear and horror, it turns out to be a positive thing and there is a merger.
- Switched at Birth: Shari and the villain Amanda are revealed to be this.
- Whodunnit to Me?: Shari begins the novel already dead. She was killed at a party, and being a ghost she must figure out which one of her friends killed her.
