My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.57 with 37 ratings (as of 3/2/2019)

There is no death… only a change in worlds 

It is Valentine’s Day at John Hopkin’s High, and the disgruntled Tina Crocker is having the best day of her life as she performs at the school’s largest talent show. She kills it. Literally. The moment she steps off stage: Tina Crocker croaks and ends up in… Dead School.

Entering a grotesque new world, she is greeted by a furious, hair-wobbling mentor who dispels her into the Spirit Guide division. But, unlike the rest of her class, she becomes the school’s first Spirit Guide’s Assistant while paired with the biggest floozy in the afterworld. Together, they are assigned to guide a living loser, in order to pass their course. ..more

200 Word Review

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Dead School by Laura Gia West was described by reviewer David Nora on Goodreads as “Harry Potter meets Beetlejuice”. I would not agree completely with the description but it is close.

Tina Crocker hates Valentine’s Day and school. She failed at life, love, and everything else she has tried except for playing her guitar. She decides to participate in the school’s talent school, kills it, and dies on stage. She is transported to Dead School where she finds out just how much of a failure she has been. Can she pass Dead School or will she fail at this too?

Dead School is not a dark novel and many reviewers did not like the book because they expected it to be. Reading the description shows it is not. In her debut novel, West takes a different look at being dead. Her main character is a failure, sarcastic, flawed person in life and the hereafter but she is likeable.

Dead School is a quick, enjoyable, quirky read that does not fit into the usual slots for describing a book. Go into this with an open mind and just enjoy it.

I am looking forward to reading more from Laura Gia West.

Review published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 3/2/19.

Genre: Teen, Young Adult, Fantasy
Print Length: 259 pages
ISBN: 1684331463 ISBN-13: 978-1684331468
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Publication Date: November 15, 2018

Purchase at Amazon Barnes and Noble