Book Review: Afterlife #1, Beyond

Have you ever wondered where you go when you die?

Meghan is 16 when it happens to her. She wakes up on a flying steamboat on her way to a school run by Angels in a white marble castle. It is a school everybody has to go to before they are let into Heaven. On the boat she meets Mick who has been dead for more than a hundren years but still looks like a teenager. He helps her past the difficult beginning at the new school in a new world. One day some of Meghan's roommates find a mirror in a cellar of the school and they persuade her to go through it with them - well knowing it is strictly against the rulesof the school. Meghan ends up back on earth where she meets Jason. But Jason is in danger and Meghan knows something important. Something that it is a matter of life and death. Soon she is forced to choose between the two worlds. The one she belongs to now and the one she left.

Beyond is the first novel in T.P.Boje's Afterlife series and is great for children and teenagers ages 9 and up.

Beyond
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 153(ebook)
Part of Series: Afterlife #1
Purchased: For Review by the author
Rating: 4/5 stars
Buy: Book Depository || Amazon (US) || Amazon (UK)

REVIEW:
This book was a request by the author to be read and reviewed. It was the first book I've ever read which had to do with Spirits and the Spiritual world, so don't judge me badly for it.

Good things: I liked the writing, which was simple. You all know by now that english is not my native language, so easy and simple writing is always welcome. Also, I liked how quick it was. The author don't stay long into descriptions and events. Everything is passing really fast and the scenery changes, so that was something different and also welcome. Lastly, I liked the characters. There was not much freaking out over the whole I'm-a-spirit-now thing, they all embraced it and continued with their lives.

Bad things: The whole scenery was somehow weird and familiar at the same time. Firstly, there is the school where all the characters leave and learn how to be spirits. It's almost like Hogwarts. I mean, there were stairs that were moving around and you didn't know where you're going to end up. One stair that lead Meghan into a room that she shouldn't be and there was a Thinking Chair, that was some sort of an alive chair that could lead you wherever you wanted in the castle and was acting like a dog that, well, it reminded of the Talking Hat without the talking part. Then there is the story where it almost, and I say almost, would end up as a love triangle, but there wasn't, which was good. But the love story is just so cliche. A spirit falls in love with a human. There is love when there must not be love.

Bottom line, the author creates a world which is great. I mean, that if these things really exist, I'd be happy and not scared for the afterlife and what happens next. Also, the book leaves you with many questions and for that reason I so want to read the next ones too. As I said, the book is easy and appropriate for younger readers too. No matter what's your religion, even though the author talks about God and Jesus, I think it's really sweet for you to read it.