Review Detail

What worked: The whole twist on the murdered-girl-stuck-in-limbo-with unresolved business premise. In this case the afterlife is the Mall of America. The voice is quirky and hilarious. The twists include: defeated spirits roaming zombie-like through the Mall for years; a God that is in fact two children-a boy and a girl; a couple guardians that have some mega 'tude; and a group of teen spirits trying to make sense of it all. In short, this novel reminded me of a SHOWTIME TV series DEAD LIKE ME only in this case the spirits are stuck in the Mall of America.

Sarah's observations of the afterlife are funny. Imagine being stuck in the afterlife in the most ungodly bridal dress. While in the Mall of the Afterlife she discovers she has a 'gift' that the living can hear her. When she finds out that she was in fact murdered and who the culprit was? She tries to warn a loved one but this has some serious consequences.

The idea of being attracted to another dead person is not new. I did like the chemistry between her and Nick, who 'chose' to stay at the Mall and not move on to the spa(kind of like heaven). He has his own issues too. One plus is how when they're together, they help each other out.

The others in the Mall also have unresolved issues including the guardians in charge of them. And those zombie-like spirits give a whole new meaning to the living dead.

One issue I had though had to be how fast the book moved through the climax. I especially was kind of bummed on one scene that left me hanging. The ending was wrapped up too soon leaving more questions than answers.

Otherwise, for fans of ghostly tales this is a fun story with a quirky voice. DEAD LIKE ME meets the Mall of America with quirky twists at every corner.