Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Now that she's dead, a queer 16-year-old girl must pass a major test to get into heaven.Tegan Masters is dead. She wakes up in what could possibly be the most depressing motel in all of New Jersey: Wildwood's Marybelle Motor Lodge. It's where Dad took Tegan and little sister Quinn in the wake of their mother's leaving two years earlier. According to Zelda, the teenage angel behind the motel desk, they're standing in heaven-"an exact replica of your happiest memory on Earth." But according to Tegan, it's actually her worst. And so, Tegan has gone to Upper Management to complain. If heaven is supposed to represent happiness, why is she here? Upper Management, having already had some issues with Zelda's methodology, poses a challenge. If Tegan is right, and there's a better representation of happiness from her life, then Zelda will be terminated-but if Zelda is right, and she chose Tegan's happiest memory, Tegan will be sent to purgatory. So begins an emotional and epic this-is-your-life trip, with Zelda trying to prove her case. What neither girl expects is the sweetness of catching feelings for the other. A fresh take on a possible afterlife, this narrative is filled with depth and wit, despite its dark tone. Its realistic depiction of a girl's reservoir of coping mechanisms for dealing with those who have let her down is exceptionally well written. Major characters are cued white.A worthy read about a short life brimming with possibility. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

Now that she's dead, a queer 16-year-old girl must pass a major test to get into heaven.Tegan Masters is dead. She wakes up in what could possibly be the most depressing motel in all of New Jersey: Wildwood's Marybelle Motor Lodge. It's where Dad took Tegan and little sister Quinn in the wake of their mother's leaving two years earlier. According to Zelda, the teenage angel behind the motel desk, they're standing in heaven-"an exact replica of your happiest memory on Earth." But according to Tegan, it's actually her worst. And so, Tegan has gone to Upper Management to complain. If heaven is supposed to represent happiness, why is she here? Upper Management, having already had some issues with Zelda's methodology, poses a challenge. If Tegan is right, and there's a better representation of happiness from her life, then Zelda will be terminated-but if Zelda is right, and she chose Tegan's happiest memory, Tegan will be sent to purgatory. So begins an emotional and epic this-is-your-life trip, with Zelda trying to prove her case. What neither girl expects is the sweetness of catching feelings for the other. A fresh take on a possible afterlife, this narrative is filled with depth and wit, despite its dark tone. Its realistic depiction of a girl's reservoir of coping mechanisms for dealing with those who have let her down is exceptionally well written. Major characters are cued white.A worthy read about a short life brimming with possibility. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)

School Library Journal (Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Gr 9 Up —Sixteen-year-old Tegan is dead, and her heaven is all wrong. She's filed a complaint with the manager. Her assigned angel, Zelda, did all the research and constructed Tegan's heaven as a perfect clone of her "happiest memory." According to all calculations, that memory is the Marybelle Motor Lodge, a broken-down motel complete with the tampon that floated in the pool when Tegan actually stayed there with her dad and sister in the aftermath of her mother leaving. There's no way Zelda could be wrong, and she'll prove it in the manager's challenge, or they'll both face consequences. Brimming with snark, angst, and self-discovery, this unique representation of the afterlife is as engaging as it is insightful. VERDICT This appealing and amusing speculative queer romcom about the bureaucracy of heavens is perfect for fans of the TV show The Good Place and authors like Adam Silvera.—Kayla Chamberlain