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.
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel... a rather long tunnel. Tina also meets a mysterious artist from the Suicide division, Alexei. And, somehow, their different breeds of awkward strangely click. As finals approach, Tina's focus has to switch or else a miserable reincarnated life awaits. Yeah, rest in peace, my ass...
Dead School is an unusual take on the afterlife. Tina dies after an accident at her high school talent show and instead of going to the perceived place for eternity, she’s sent to Dead School. Where it appears, she has already been numerous times and failed.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I really like the concept behind the story, but I found it to be somewhat confusing at times and I felt as though there were aspects of Tina’s life or lives, that should have been included to help clarify things. I also didn’t care much for the ending, but that’s just my own personal preferences showing. I did appreciate the humor that was scattered throughout and what the author did with Tina’s cat. I thought that was a nice touch.
In all, Dead School was creative in a way I hadn’t seen before and I can appreciate that. I think the author did a good job creating this whole other world, even if I found it confusing at times. The characters were the kind you either really like, or really dislike. Alexei was my favorite and I would have liked to know more about him even though it wasn’t his story.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad read. I don’t regret taking the time to read it and would suggest other people give it a shot of their own instead of just taking my word for it.
