Mal Caldera is dead and this book is the story of what happens next to her. At first, she is determined to somehow connect with the living side, especially her sister, Cris, because there are unsaid things Mal desperately wants Cris to know. In the meantime, she learns the ways of ghost-life from those who have been dead for years. These ghosts wander about and intermingle with all the drama of their own pasts, throwing a forever party in a decaying ballroom.

I think Mal will be one of those characters who will stay with me. For better or worse, the author made the decision to ask the reader to emotionally invest in a character who is dead. That’s a lot. Because people want to cheer characters on, watch them evolve, and end up with a resolution but all while still breathing. Because that means there is hope. But here, the author chooses to have Mal work through her grief and find her peace in the afterlife. She’s not perfect. Sometimes she is the jerk she was in life, other times, she is the sweet, funny friend everyone loves. Part of me was feeling melancholy. I kept hoping that it was a gimmick and Mal was still alive but that only meant that the author had me hooked.

I enjoyed the writing but I did think the first half was too long and sometimes repetitious. Then the second half kicked into another gear as Mal grew focused on what she wanted for herself and her loved ones. Although Mal is Queer (her ex is a woman), in the present, her two love interests are men. You’ll have to read the book to find out how that works for ghosts.

I recommend this debut and I’ll definitely look out for their next book.

Thanks to NetGalley for ARC.

Mal Caldera is dead, but her afterlife has just begun.

This story follows Mal as she learns to live in the land of the dead, which is to say among the living. In doing so, she is forced to face the issues of her life and meets a guy she can't help but have feelings for.

The story starts as an introduction to the larger mythos and to Mal, who is a queer ex Catholic who struggled with substance abuse. As we explore more of this new reality, we explore what is effectively the mystery of Mal's life and death.


The mythos is intriguing but nothing particularly new. If anything, it plays it a bit safe for my taste. Luckily, Mal is a compelling protagonist, and the people she comes across in her new afterlife are as well. That is the thing that really pushes this story forward. We have rich characters that beget rich explorations of themes family and depression and others. It was enough to leave me very satisfied in reading this book.

This book was unashamedly bisexual. I really appreciated how the author went into this book, knowing that it would feature a m/f romance at it’s heart, and just made sure that no one could possibly think that Mal was straight. She sleeps with all kinds of genders and has an ex- girlfriend feature among the cast of characters and just proudly proclaimed her bisexual identity. It made my heart sing.

The story was touching. It was a story of a young girl getting her life back, even though it featured ghosts and death and that the character was stone dead before page one. From rock bottom, Mal’s journey was one of pulling herself up from rock bottom and learning how to interact with the world again. This was contrasted against the humour and irony that she was in fact dead and had no life to go back to.

That sense of humour and irony was strong throughout the whole book. It made it easy to read and funny despite the very hard topics that are dealt with in it. It was a fun read but also a powerful and moving read as well.

Well worth picking up.

This book was very interesting in parts, but I really struggled to stay invested in the story. For me, I think this is one where the description sounded amazing, but the actual story just didn't come together for me. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

What a unique portrayal of grief. I love when I come across a book where I haven’t read anything similar..

We follow Mal who has recently died as they come to terms with their death whilst also adapting to the other ghosts around them and their way of afterlife. Mal begins communing with the living in order to try and reach out to their family.

This was an interesting, thought provoking and at times touching story of acceptance and overcoming personal struggles. Broken down into the different stages of grief.

Loved that we not only got the story of Mal we also got to know others in the afterlife. Would love to see a sequel possibly following other ghosts.

My only issue was at times I felt it was a bit long and could have been shorter or expanded further on the others in the afterlife. However overall I throughly enjoyed this and would recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

Ghost! Queer story! Yes please!! What a great story!! I enjoyed this and I am so glad I saved this to read it during pride month.

DNF @ 26%
Whilst I enjoyed the concept, ultimately, this book wasn’t for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and their interactions just didn’t feel authentic, everybody constantly had a quip ready and it became difficult to keep reading. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the main character and found the side characters more interesting. However, I liked the writing and would consider picking up another book by this author if it was a better match for me.

I really enjoyed The Afterlife of Mal Caldera. I particularly liked how Perez shows the lighter side of death or that it is something that must be accepted. Mal was such a likable protagonist to follower because they are far from perfect even when dead. I adored following her learning to live between the two worlds, the one of the dead and the one of the living and I particularly loved that the parts of the novel are broken down into the stages of grief and depression.

The novel is equally beautiful, heartwarming, a little sad at points and a little funny. I loved how real the characters felt in this. They are messy and awkward but that is what makes them. I adored going through the journey with Mal and the other characters and I think anyone, regardless of what genres they prefer would enjoy this novel.

As always thank you to Titan Books for the copy to review. My review is honest and truthful.

The Afterlife of Mal Caldera shines in its exploration of grief, family and death, but is unfortunately let down by its supporting cast of ghosts.

When the focus was on Mal and her family, this was an emotive and thoughtful read, especially in its exploration of Mal's relationship with her sister and estranged mother.

However, there are large sections of this story dedicated to the other ghosts Mal encounters and I found these section mostly dull or annoying, and bogging down the pacing of the story.

This was particularly true for Alastair, the head ghost (as such) whose secrets and past are hinted at but never learned, and whose passing on felt a little nonsensical to me.

Whilst they were some elements about the various ghosts that interested me later in the story, it took too long to get there. There were also a few aspects of them that were mentioned once and then never followed up on.

Overall though, this still packed a powerful emotive punch and might suit anyone looking for a story about the afterlife.

Is it weird that a book about death is delightful? Well, you'll have to make peace with it, because The Afterlife of Mal Caldera was just that. Mal is dead, and she has some things to do. She wants to communicate some things to her sister, even though the new fellow ghosts she meets advise her against it. Both in life and death, Mal is not likely to take anyone's advice. That is the premise, as briefly as I can tell it to you. Because trust me that you want to go into this without knowing too much. It makes it so much more fun. Mal has to learn to navigate between the world of the living and her new world of the dead, but we as the reader make this journey with her, so I hesitate to say too much.

I will tell you this: I fell wholly in love with this story, with Mal, ornery as she could be at times, and certainly with all the folks- dead and alive- she meets along the way. Every person she encounters ends up playing a part in Mal's growth and development, because surprise! You can grow as a person in the afterlife! And Mal needs to do just that unless she wants to turn into a full-fledged "broken" spirit. Not only does she have to confront decisions she's made post-death, but those she made in her time alive, too. But all of this happens with an undercurrent of hilarity, as well as quite a few emotional moments. I have a feeling that this story will stay with me for a long time.

Bottom Line: Beautiful, funny, and motive, I loved everything about Mal's afterlife journey.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book....

an interesting read though i have to say it wasnt quite for me.... but its well written and others may find it to their liking....

mal is dead and she finds herself in the inbetween.... she finds herself wanting to get in touch with her sister and send her message


it has a theme that many will like

Love a ghost stories? Love QUEER ghost stories?? This is the book for you. A truly delightful debut novel that keeps readers cycling through all the emotions and hanging on until the very end!

For some reason this just didn't connect for me. I'd be most interested in hearing from readers who have dealt with suicidal ideation or who have lost someone to suicide. I think part of the problem for me was i just couldn't see where we were going, or what the point was. The middle of the novel got kind of wandery and felt a little directionless. I also didn't feel like I could root for Ren and Mal to have a future so that whole storyline felt like it was a dead end waiting to happen. I also didn't like that we never found out who Alastair really was? Or maybe i missed some clues within the book? But there were enough references to his secret that it felt like a let down we didn't get to learn it. I do think there's a right audience for this book, unfortunately it just wasn't me this time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What first drew me to this title was the premise of Mal, our main character, trying to reach her sister from the beyond the grave. Unfortunately, this ended up being quite a small part of the plot, and I really wish we’d gotten a bit more information about their relationship, generally. I found Cris, Mal’s younger sister, to be by far one of the most interesting characters and she barely got any screen time so to speak.

As for the rest of the plot, I found it to be meandering and slow in the middle. It felt repetitive as Mal pretty much did the same things over and over, though i did appreciate the character development at the end. That said, in comparison with the majority of the book, I found the ending to be quite abrupt.

As for Mal herself. Well. She’s a messy character, and I found it difficult to connect to her throughout most of the book. Her decisions were repetitive and repetitively self-destructive. As I’ve said, she did have character development but it felt like it came quite late. Not necessarily out of nowhere, but quite late. In line with that, I didn’t feel there was much distinction between the stages of grief we were supposed to be following along with. Mal also read as a little immature for her 27 years, though perhaps that’s just me. If it wasn’t for the mature and serious themes this book covers I’d have assumed it was maybe a YA that had been mislabelled as an adult book.

Finally, my other sticking point was some of the dialogue. It felt clunky and awkward at times. Again, some of the characters felt a little juvenile because of that but maybe that was the point. It was also occasionally quite repetitive. And I found that the characters didn’t really have distinctive voices, so in the absence of dialogue tags I sometimes lost track of who was saying what.

Even with all that, the characters were fairly interesting and the book isn’t by and large badly written, it just could’ve used with some tightening up. And honestly, it could’ve been shorter. Overall, as far as debut novels go, it’s quite decent. I could see fans of They Both Die At The End liking this.

The portrayal of grief is beautifully done and with just a few words each character comes to life on the page (sorry, couldn't resist that!). The love stories are entirely believable but the endless ghostly partying becomes a little tedious at times - however I suppose that is the whole point, the sheer boredom of nothing ever changing until the spirit finally 'passes over'. Despite this, Mel does change and grow as a person, she changes lives (and deaths) as she passes through her various stages of grieving pulling the reader with her as she laughs, cries, loves and dances.

A beautiful story about the stages of grief and the choice to let go of the ones your love in order to move forward with your own existence. The paranormal found family element of the story was unexpected, as I was anticipating the book being centered around Mal and her sister, but I enjoyed following the dynamics of Mal and their ghostly friends. The Haunt was giving me MAJOR Julie and the Phantoms vibes, which perhaps contributes to my sense of this novel feeling more "YA" than adult, but this was mitigated by the stories heavier themes about loss and mental health.

A wonderful concept, exploring the stages of grief from the other side. Written with a great sense of humour, well-developed characters, and so much emotional depth. It was a bit slow in the middle, but I'm glad I stuck with it because the ending is an emotional rollercoaster, perfectly bittersweet.

This is such an amazing story! The author does a beautiful job of tackling heavy and painful topics with grace.

So, this book made me cry. That might be a terrible way to start this review however I'm of the opinion that the best stories stir one's emotions. There are many books that speculate the workings of an afterlife but in Mal Caldera's afterlife, it's as raw and passionate as the land of the living. The author managed to hit the emotional beats without coming off as twee or overly sentimental. Mal is an engaging protagonist, even at her lowest point you want to stick around to see her journey through. "The Afterlife of Mal Caldera" is a genuine love letter to all facets of life: the messiness, the pain, the joys and the love.

A novel that personifies the perfect use of first person narrative, the author opens up the story in the apartment of a person recently passed but to reasons unknown. The author launches quickly into plot as protoganist Malena (Mal) comes to terms there is no judgment but is introduced to the “afterlife”. I really enjoyed the quick pace of the beginning; not only was I drawn in but I didn’t want to put the story down either.

How unexpected; a heartfelt story of grieving laced with dark humor. I would have enjoyed a little more set up with Ren; they fell into that friendship a little too quickly and he was a much deeper character than that. The love story between the two just got in the way of the depth of the story for me. The pacing in the back half felt completely different from the first, so that threw me off. And the “love story” just made me sad.

Overall, this was a great read, if you can handle someone facing their inner demons with a little dark humor too. Definitely add this one to your reading wishlist