I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley!

This book was written from a young adult perspective, which I usually don't mind, but I found myself a bit frustrated with the immaturity of the main character. My teenage daughter would appreciate the relationships much more than I did, as well as ZombieGirl's personality, but I would be reluctant to suggest this book to her because of the graphic language and predatory behavior addressed. The concept of a Transdead Agency was intriguing, but would have been moreso if we had encountered other such agents.

Overall, I think this book would be most appropriate for older teens, but I'm not sure the story is redeeming enough for me to recommend it.

Couldn't get into the story, wasn't my cup of tea!

I really really enjoyed this book. At 30+ years old (shhh!) I'm not big on YA Fiction anymore, so often the author focuses on completely unrelatable situations for anyone older than...well...young adult. Scarbrough breaks through this barrier with all the power of an undead superhero!! She makes the threat seem real and believable even when the solution is out of this world. Nothing like a bit of Girl-Power to brighten up a heavily male-centric reading list :) Anyone who has ever found themselves powerless against someone else can appreciate the theme of this story. Overall a very entertaining read, particularly in its writing style. I look forward to digging around for more of Joyce Scarbrough's writing.

After Me by Joyce Scarborough


Summarize: Sometimes death is not final! It's just the start of a life. Jada Celeste Gayle meet a guy online and thought she was playing him, but in return it turned out to be a deadly mistake. Jada finds herself in the afterlife with a non humorous woman who wants to send her back to find her killer, and to her shock, wants her to get justice. There's a catch though, she also have to learn to open up to her “new” parents, make a true girlfriend, and let herself feel and fall in love! Easy right, that's the life of a normal teenage girl! Not, in Jada's case, she has never been able to make girlfriends, except for Courtney. That's another story though. Can Jada, now known as Trans-dead Gwen, find a best friend, find a lover, and bring her killer to justice?

RAVES: I absolutely love this book. It was a sad, but at the same time, loving and exciting. I enjoyed watching Jada grow and become a strong and up-standing women. She finally learns to live and sometimes I wish that is what I wish I could explain this to my daughter. The theme through out this book is the power of sticking together and learning that you are never alone. Those who you think you have nothing in common, you may actually have everything in common! Never judge a book by it's cover, I know this book is going to be a hit!

RANTS: I have no rants about this book! It was well wrote, the characters were well rounded and the story line kept me very hooked.

STARS: I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! It is a great read, and recommended to teens and YA readers. I believe that this book will resign-ate with them. I cannot wait to see what she comes out with next!

HOW TO GET IT: You can contact with the author at the links below:
Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joyce-Scarbrough-books/225355834210672
Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/671105.Joyce_Sterling_Scarbrough

I liked the idea that Jada didn't die in vain, that there was something she could do to get justice for her and other kids like her. And I understand that Jada wanted to take down as many internet predators as possible, I'm with her all the way. But I had some difficulties with the language. Maybe times have changed since I was in school, but we did not speak like that. Other than that it was a great, thrilling read. I couldn't put the book down and wanted to know if and how everything would play out. Since this is the first book in this series, I can't wait to read the next book.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley and Backlit PR!

When Jada dies she’s shocked to find out that the afterlife isn’t a myth. Even more surprised to find out that she’s in debt and has to return to earth to hunt down her killer as payment. While she’s looking for the scum that killed her Jada also has a chance to discover friendship and true love, something she’d have never dreamed about before her untimely death.

The plot for this book sounds thrilling, but less than 30% of the book actually focuses on hunting down perverts. Most of it is just your standard young adult romance. There’s some punishment but mostly our hero just lucks out and happens upon them rather than actually focusing on her task.

The biggest bone I have to pick is with the character of Jada/Gwen. She’s insufferable. She’s better than prissy girly girls, better than nerds and just all around “special” and “different”. This isn’t helped by the fact that she’s given super powers by heaven some of which are just entirely useless to her mission. Speedreading, excellent knowledge of chemistry - she doesn’t need these for any real reason in the plot they just make her look cool. If there is one trope I LOATHE it’s the “not like other girls” girl who’s just a snarky jerk to everyone outside her special friend group. Oh and let’s not forget she’s super-duper attractive.

That being said her friend group and foster family are lovely, too lovely. Everyone is perfect, and innocent and kid. Lew is an absolute dreamboat. Handsome, strong, smart and wealthy? He doesn’t have any real flaws. Nor do any of the other people Gwen likes. The villain is comical. His whole life revolves around rape and weird kinks and he thinks of literally nothing but murder and rape. It’s far too black and white. Not to mention the other rapists who are all practically oozing evil so profusely that anyone who didn’t look at them once and know they were sex offenders would have to be an idiot.

Rapists are bad. Readers know that, but it doesn’t give you an excuse to not at least try and write a complex character and society around them. Predators are seen as clearly evil, not people girls might trust before something happens which is more often the case. The way the book sets up rapists and the society around them feels like a bad after-school special rather than real life.

As well, and for now I am in the minority, the ending was a joke. The book built up to the ending just to exclaim “JUST KIDDING” and end on an entirely disappointing note. It wasn’t a strong writing choice. It took a book which at the very least could have been a powerful bittersweet ending and turned it into something that’s boring at best.

The premise could have been great, and some of the characters and story lines are salvageable (looking at you Lew and Matt) but overall it feels like a cheap coat of paint over a standard romance with cardboard cutout villains.