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 … 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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High School for the Recently Departed by C.L. Gaber is an exciting tale of a girl learning that she is dead and having to be in this in-between place. It is such a fantastic story that I felt immediately connected to Walker and her incredible story.
Can Walker and Daniel pull off going to the living realm with no one as the wiser?
Walker Callaghan
Walker is our main point of view character and the one that we follow on this crazy journey of popping into life in this in-between world where she has to stay. She sounds like an amazing girl being only seventeen, dying so young, and just beginning her senior year at her high school. She at first didn’t like it there, but she eventually learns to like it. Let’s just say that even the dead still have teenage problems like at an ordinary high school. Walker does a great job managing everything that has happened to her and about how she died.
What I like about Walker is that she takes everything in strides. Well, except for a small point but can’t tell for spoilers. Walker is a good kid that just wants to try to help the people that have been nice to her in this new realm that she is currently living with them.
Daniel Reid
Daniel is our love interest for Walker, and they are pretty cute. Okay, so not at first, but at specific points, they started to be sweet. Daniel is just trying to keep Walker at arm’s length away so that she doesn’t get caught up in what he’s planning on doing. He is the one that told Walker that she is currently deceased. What I like about him is that yeah, he looks like a bad guy, but he is very protective of his family and just wants to get his little brother back.
Five Stars
High School for the Recently Departed by C.L. Gaber is an excellent book, and I loved meeting all of these characters. Along with seeing a certain someone that I already met in another book, but I can’t say who. Okay, granted this book did come before The Claires, but its still a spoiler. Ms. Gaber does a fantastic job on it, and I can’t wait to read the other books in this series. I am giving it five stars and recommending it to everyone that likes young adult books with paranormal aspects.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of High School for the Recently Departed by C.L. Gaber.
Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness
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Thank you to the author for letting me read and review your book. This is my honest opinion.
The book blurb gives a very thorough and accurate summary of the book. Doesn’t it sound good? Don’t you want to try it?
I wanted to after reading the blurb. This story is a YA, and sometimes I find YA adult books to be predictable. This one had some predictable parts and some unexpected twists. Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this book.
CL Gaber is a talented writer. She gets right in there and makes the reader feel what Walker is feeling. The sense of loss, confusion, and heartbreak just seep off the page when Walker finds herself in a new place to start high school. I love how she changed and developed along with the story.
I also enjoyed the little love interest between Walker and Daniel. It is so innocent and pure. She strings the reader along as they grow closer together. I mean after all they are still in high school. We don’t need any explicit details, right?
What I found the most enjoyable, was the action. For being a good girl, Walker sure does seem to get herself into one pickle after another. It was fun and unexpected!
I found myself devouring this work and being disappointed when I turned the last page that there wasn’t more.
What a neat concept! I really enjoyed reading this and it kept me interested from start to finish. Admittedly, there were events that I expected to happen, but there were also a couple I didn’t. I enjoyed all the main characters and loved the inclusion of cameos of historical figures!
I have never read this author before, but I enjoyed her work enough to pick up the next 2 books in the series and will keep an eye out for more by her!
The intricate workings of this world had me spellbound from the moment I began reading. There were so many subtle nuances that led me through this story. It had me on the verge of tears and had my heart racing.
Walker Callaghan has enough trouble navigating her way through this afterlife where everything is not necessarily as it seems. Enter Daniel Reid, the consummate bad boy who isn’t the shy, quiet type but the brilliant, cunning type. He has a plan, something he’s been working on since he arrived, and he doesn’t want any help from anyone else. When Walker literally falls into his life-after-death, he discovers something he couldn’t have planned for… love-after-death. But as they work together to break the rules to rescue his little brother Bobby, they open themselves up to something neither of them could have imagined, something they may not be able to survive.
I began this book in April and was interrupted by life. But, I couldn’t wait for a time when I could get back to it and finish it. There wasn’t one thing predictable about this story. The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout. It was more than haunting and took me to a place I never could have imagined. It was unique and extraordinary, and I can’t imagine the mind of an author who would write such a story. It’s a little disturbed and a lot of adventure. And it left me excited to begin reading the next book in the series.
(3.5 stars) I received this book from the author for an honest review.
I did like this book, but it wasn’t completely for me. There were spectacular descriptions on the appearance of different things. I could clearly picture what the author wanted me to see, and it wasn’t so much so that I couldn’t use my own imagination. I also liked that the author did not streamline the entire book, so it felt like there was more to the story. Personally, I think that it added to the writing quality and was refreshing.
The story was original. I love when the afterlife is played with because we don’t know a lot about it. Being able to follow Walker through her experience was interesting and I felt like I could connect with her even though I have never been in her shoes (obviously). I even let a few tears slip here and there when Walker was going through difficult times because I could understand and imagine what it would be like to be in her shoes.
I am someone who does not like when a boy calls a girl “babe” or “baby” because I find it to be degrading. When I first read this, I didn’t know if I could continue reading. It was repeated quite a lot throughout the story, but even though it bothered me, I was able to ignore it and still enjoy the story. I also think that a few of the minor events were stretched longer and given more attention than some of the major events. This did die down near the end of the story, though.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I would recommend this book to people who like Fallen (genre side) by Lauren Kate and Starswept (writing style side) by Mary Fan.
I do plan on continuing this series 🙂 can’t wait to see how the story continues after that ending!
The Ascenders had an interesting concept, a storyline that drew me in. From there, things got better. The emotions, the characters -especially the characters- and just the story in general… Is awesome. I’m not sure where to begin with this review, without giving away all of the amazingness packed into the pages. So I’ll leave you with simply: this book is one you definitely don’t want to miss. And, I can’t wait for book two to be released!
The love the world of the Academy that this story creates. Walker is so confused at first and when she figures it out, then her mom moves on, she is devastated. But Daniel is unable to remain aloof and saves Walker, who ends up helping Daniel meet his chief goal in afterlife.