Ascenders: High School for the Recently Departed
by C.L. Gaber
Release Date: April 20th 2015
Summary from Goodreads:
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.
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Buy Links:
Amazon│Kindle│iTunes
About the Author
C.L. Gaber is the author of the ASCENDERS SAGA and co author of Jex Malone. A well
known entertainment journalist, she lives in Nevada with her husband Ron, bonus daughter
Sabrina and two unruly dogs. ASCENDERS 2 is due out in early 2016.
Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook
Review:
3.5 Stars
I was really excited to get the chance to read and review this book. The summary instantly clicked with me and it seemed to be right up my alley.
I did enjoy this book. The idea of going to school after death was really new and fresh, so I didn't get the feeling like I had read it before. I like the fact that it had some important iconic people in it, such as Steve Jobs. It explained how everything in that world worked and how they got the stuff they had there.
I didn't, however, click with the characters. It could be because I am past that age group, as is the case for several YA books for me, but I couldn't get a grasps on the characters. I didn't relate to our main character and sometimes I wasn't sure who's point of view I was reading from. It was very jumpy and I was confused quite often during the book.
Overall, it was a fun read. I will be giving it another try at a later time this year and if any of this changes I will do another review.
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