It's A Wonderful Death

Book Review

Title: It's A Wonderful Death

Author: Sarah J. Schmitt

Rating: ★★★★★

Date Published: October 6, 2015

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Count: 320

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Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old RJ always gets what she wants. So when her soul is accidentally collected by a distracted Grim Reaper, somebody in the afterlife better figure out a way to send her back from the dead or heads will roll. But in her quest for mortality, she becomes a pawn in a power struggle between an overzealous archangel and Death Himself. The tribunal presents her with two options: she can remain in the lobby, where souls wait to be processed, until her original lifeline expires, or she can replay three moments in her life in an effort to make choices that will result in a future deemed worthy of being saved. It sounds like a no-brainer. She’ll take a walk down memory lane. How hard can changing her future be?

But with each changing moment, RJ’s life begins to unravel, until this self-proclaimed queen bee is a social pariah. She begins to wonder if walking among the living is worth it if she has to spend the next sixty years as an outcast. Too quickly, RJ finds herself back in limbo, her time on Earth once again up for debate.

RJ is a snarky, unapologetic, almost unredeemable, very real girl. Her story is funny and moving, and teens will easily connect with her plight. Prepare to meet the Grim Reaper, who’s cuter than you’d expect; Hawaiian shirt–wearing Death Himself; Saint Peter (who likes to play Cornhole); and Al, the handler for the three-headed hound that guards the gates of Hell. This cast of characters accompanies RJ through her time in the afterlife and will do their best to gently shove her in the right direction.

My Thoughts:

I want to thank Sky Pony Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I completely fell in love with this book! I can't believe that this is a debut novel Schmitt hit it out the park with this one. RJ has the perfect life, until the day her soul gets accidentally collected by one of deaths reapers and her world gets turned upside down. RJ is used to getting her way so, as soon as she makes it to the lobby where the souls get processed, she demands someone fix her situation and put her life back in order. When she finally gets a hearing to meet with the Archangels that are going to decide her fate Death Himself comes to the hearing and proposes that they let her go back to three major points in her life, where she made the wrong choice and steered of the right path; to see if she makes the right decision the second time around.

This book had my emotions all over the place, one minute I was laughing and the next I was sobbing. Schmitt's writing was amazing, the world building was perfect! It made the afterlife feel very comforting. At the beginning of the book we are introduced to a very selfish and self-adsorbed RJ, but as the book progresses RJ's character development is very well done and she slowly makes her way into your heart; I also really liked meeting Death Himself he was a very witty character. Schmitt hit me with a much unexpected twist that had me at the edge of my seat! This book was so beautiful, it’s a book that is going to stick with me forever, it teaches us that sometimes it’s hard to make the right decisions, but that the decisions we do make, don't only affect us they also affect those around us. I also love how this book deals with bullying! 

Everyone needs to read this book! So, if you haven’t picked it up yet I highly recommend it! 

-SandraTheBookWorm