I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
High School for the Recently Departed
by C.L. Gaber
Series: Ascenders Saga #1
Series Rating:
Published by Big Picture Media on April 20, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 483
Format: Kindle
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Book Depository
Also in this series: Skypunch, Omorrow, Ascenders 11:11
Walker Callaghan doesn't know what happened to her. One minute she was living her teenage life in suburban Chicago...and the next minute, she was in a strange place and in a brand new school with absolutely no homework, no rules, and no consequences.
Walker Callaghan, 17, is dead.
She doesn't go to heaven or hell. She lands at The Academy, a middle realm where teenagers have one thing in common: They were the morning announcement at their high schools because they died young.
These high school kids are now caught in a strange “in-between” zone where life hasn’t changed very much. In fact, this special teen limbo looks a lot like life in a quaint Michigan town complete with jocks, popular girls and cliques. "There are even cheerleaders in death," Walker observes. It's not a coincidence that the music teacher is a guy named Kurt who "used to have this band." The drama teacher, Heath, is crush worthy because back in his life, he starred in some superhero movie.
Principal King explains the rules -- there are none. Why? You can't die twice.
There is no homework. No tests. No SATS. You're just there to learn because the human brain isn't fully formed until you're 24.
By the way, you can't get hurt physically, so race your Harley off that hillside. But falling in love is the most dangerous thing you can do ...because no one knows how long you'll stay in this realm or what's next.
"Losing someone you love would be like dying twice," Walker says.
* * * * * * Walker Callaghan has just arrived at the Academy after a tragic car accident. “Is this heaven or is this high school?” she asks.She finds out her new life is a bit of both as she falls in love with tat-covered, bad boy Daniel Reid who is about to break the only sacred rule of this place. He's looking for a portal to return back to the living realm.
He needs just one hour to retrieve his younger brother who strangely never arrived at The Academy. Bobby is an Earth Bound Spirit, stuck at a plane crash site that took both of their lives as their rich father piloted his private jet nose-first into a cornfield on Christmas Eve.
Walker loves Daniel and risks it all to go with him.
Have they learned enough to outsmart dangerous forces while transporting a young child with them? Can their love survive the fragmented evil parts of themselves that are now hunting them down as they try to find a way back to the middle?
At the Academy, you learn the lessons of an after-lifetime.
High School for the Recently Departed by C.L. Gaber is an exciting tale of a girl learning that she is dead and having to be in this in-between place. It is such a fantastic story that I felt immediately connected to Walker and her incredible story.
Can Walker and Daniel pull off going to the living realm with no one as the wiser?
Walker Callaghan
Walker is our main point of view character and the one that we follow on this crazy journey of popping into life in this in-between world where she has to stay. She sounds like an amazing girl being only seventeen, dying so young, and just beginning her senior year at her high school. She at first didn’t like it there, but she eventually learns to like it. Let’s just say that even the dead still have teenage problems like at an ordinary high school. Walker does a great job managing everything that has happened to her and about how she died.
What I like about Walker is that she takes everything in strides. Well, except for a small point but can’t tell for spoilers. Walker is a good kid that just wants to try to help the people that have been nice to her in this new realm that she is currently living with them.
Daniel Reid
Daniel is our love interest for Walker, and they are pretty cute. Okay, so not at first, but at specific points, they started to be sweet. Daniel is just trying to keep Walker at arm’s length away so that she doesn’t get caught up in what he’s planning on doing. He is the one that told Walker that she is currently deceased. What I like about him is that yeah, he looks like a bad guy, but he is very protective of his family and just wants to get his little brother back.
Five Stars
High School for the Recently Departed by C.L. Gaber is an excellent book, and I loved meeting all of these characters. Along with seeing a certain someone that I already met in another book, but I can’t say who. Okay, granted this book did come before The Claires, but its still a spoiler. Ms. Gaber does a fantastic job on it, and I can’t wait to read the other books in this series. I am giving it five stars and recommending it to everyone that likes young adult books with paranormal aspects.
The Ascender Saga
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of High School for the Recently Departed by C.L. Gaber.
Check out my interview with C.L. Gaber HERE.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About C.L. Gaber
I’m C.L. Gaber, an author and film journalist for the New York Times Syndicate and Chicago Sun Times. I also co-authored Jex Malone series. Originally from Chicago, I make my home in Nevada with my husband, bonus daughter and two unruly dogs.
My husband knows that Ascenders began with me in bathroom half the night writing on tiny notepads because I didn’t want to wake him. When daylight did roll around, I told him, ”Baby, I had the most incredible dream”.
…
Scientists don’t always agree on many things because that’s their gig. But most will inform you that the human brain doesn’t fully form until you’re 24-years-old. It’s explains a hell of a lot of things including why we do such reckless and unforgettable things when we’re growing up.
It also begs the question: What happens to those who die young? Where does all that reckless energy and boundless potential go? Does it just get snuffed out…or does it ascend to another realm?
Go HERE to read more.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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