“It didn’t bother me much, being dead. I hadn’t really been living anyway. At least now I’d never have to do the dishes in the sink, or worry about the bills piled on the table, or nurse any guilt about staying in every night.”
Rating: 5 stars
Release date: 11/06/2024
Publisher: Titan Books
Author: Nadi Reed Perez
TW: Death, dying, grief, mental illness, addiction, drugs, alcohol, underage drinking (remembered), drunk driving (remembered), suicide (implied), suicidal thoughts, mentions of cancer
Mal’s life is over. Her afterlife is only just beginning…
By turns irreverently funny and deeply moving, this debut contemporary fantasy is perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
Mal Caldera—former rockstar, retired wild-child and excommunicated black sheep of her Catholic family—is dead. Not that she cares. She only feels bad that her younger sister, Cris, has been left alone with their religious zealot of a mother, picking up the pieces Mal has left behind. While her fellow ghosts party their afterlives away at an abandoned mansion they call the Haunt, Mal is determined to make contact with Cris from beyond the grave.
She manages enlists the help of reluctant local medium Ren, and together, they concoct a plan to pass on a message to Cris. But the more time they spend together, the more both begin to wonder what might have been if they’d met before Mal died.
Mal knows it’s wrong to hold on so tightly to her old life. Bad things happen to ghosts who interfere with the living, and Mal can’t help wondering if she’s hurting the people she loves by hanging around, haunting their lives. But Mal has always been selfish, and letting go might just be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do…
Funny, emotional and life-affirming, The Afterlife of Mal Caldera will have readers laughing one minute and sobbing the next.
I was hooked from the first page of this book and flew through it in just a few days – I never sit down to read a physical book anymore, so consider this a testament to how much I enjoyed it.
Despite the main content of the book, it was a really uplifting story. It’s a story about learning to live, even when it feels like you’ve missed your chance.
Throughout the book, Mal learns to love and build friendships and relationships that aren’t toxic, and she learns to fight for the things she cares about.
I loved the ghost lore.
The Indecisive Readers 