Cover Image: Dead School

Dead School

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I really disliked this. I had Tina as a character and the story just didn’t make sense. This book had potential but let me down.

Was this review helpful?

Tina Crocker hates Valentines Day and school. So isnt it ironic that she spends her last day alive participating in her school talent show on Valentines day only to die on stage. She is then transferred to Dead School where she must complete her souls mission in order to pass. Tina is a awkward, sarcastic and enjoyable character to read about and really made this book a good read.

This book is definitely different, quirky, and fun so if you do end up picking this book up go in with an open mind and enjoy it.

Was this review helpful?

Dead School by Laura Gia West wasn't the best book I've read in recent months but it was interesting. I will most likely read more of Laura Gia West in the future but overall Dead School didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

Was this review helpful?

This book had not so great writing and annoying characters. I got really bored and DNF’D this book around 25 percent into this book.

Was this review helpful?

This was a DNF for me. I wasn’t able to get past 40%, I just couldn’t get into the book. The synopsis of the book sounded great but it just fell flat for me.

Was this review helpful?

When I read what the book was about then seeing the cover I was here for it, was sold on it. Sadly, though it wasn't for me. I didn't really care about any of the characters or about the story either.

Was this review helpful?

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Was this review helpful?

‘Dead School’ tells the story of Tina Crocker, who dies in a freak accident during her performance for the school talent show. She wakes to discover she’s to join the Spirit Guide Division to train to be a Spirit Guide.

I was first drawn to ‘Dead School’ by the interesting concept. I love reading anything which involves a fun spin on the afterlife so this book appealed to me. However, it didn’t wow me the way I initially believed it would.

Tina is an intentionally awful protagonist, who just ends up being a little too awful for my liking. She makes selfish decisions, is extremely argumentative and makes vast judgments against everyone. Plus, for someone who believed she’s to be in a different division, she doesn’t prove herself to deserve that place at all… in fact, she mentions it maybe three or four times after her death. For someone who fails her course numerous times, she didn’t seem to care that much about her placement within the afterlife. She makes multiple mistakes and tries to fix them with humour, which continuously falls flat. Although, the author tried their best, I feel as if this character just didn’t turn out the way they intended.
Alexei was an interesting character, in a Heather’s JD kind of way. However, his placement in the story just didn’t feel right. For starters, the fact that there is a Suicide Division within the school felt a little off, but to then make them outcasts due to it was discomforting. Personally, I found that a little disrespectful, but I decided to look past it. However, Alexei’s purpose in the plot felt forced, yet the dialogue between him and Tina was fun and one of the main pluses of the story.

The novel itself was fairly difficult to read. Although, the language used was simple, the narrative was often unnecessarily long and told the story as opposed to shown information. The jumps were also quite confusing at times, forcing me to skim read on occasion to get a full understanding.

Overall, this book was okay. The dialogue was fun and the premise was engaging, however, at times it did fall flat.

Was this review helpful?

I really loved this book. I was hooked the whole time. I have never read anything like it. I really hope there is a second book! It seems like the left off for a second. If there is I will definitely be reading it. I want to know what happens to Tina! A+

Was this review helpful?

DNF'd @ 20%

The concept of this novel sounded like it could be a lot of fun, but the execution of it just didn't work out for me unfortunately. My issues come from my dislike of the main character and the sloppy writing style. I just couldn't get interested in what was happening because I was distracted by how irritating the lead was and from the typos.

Was this review helpful?

I was sold on this one by the blurb and the cover , but unfortunately it was not for me. I found the writing style grating, and disliked some of the messages and ideas being put forward. I should note that I am not the intended audience as it seems like the book is aimed at the YA market but that makes me more uncomfortable about what it has to say.

Was this review helpful?

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgally for review purposes.

Title, cover, plot - sold. This sounded amazing and i was so ready to hunker down with this beauty, but it let me down so much. 😩

I didn't care for any of the characters and even had strong negative feelings towards our main girl, which made it hard to care for the book at all. The concept was cool but I just didn't like the exacution 🤷

Was this review helpful?

I wanted this book to be so much more.

The plot of this book sounded OUTSTANDING. It had so much potential that I feel really went unused. I wanted this plot to be a modern teenagers take on death, I wanted it to be like the characters from Hex Hall or that sassy main character from Vampire Academy are presented with this world. But the execution of this plot fell flat. The bad taste in my mouth started with the main character. Tina Crocker was a character that I just didn't give a single hoot about. She started as a timid and nervous character, she didn't have any confidence and I really was on her side. Until the end of the first chapter that was, and she died.

Following that she became quite possibly the least likable main character I have ever come across. I didn't care about her life path failure, I didn't care about whether or not she passed her afterlife tasks either. This was especially sealed into place when she met her protege, who she referred to as the "antonym" of ladylike, an "unshowered dude," and claimed she was refusing to mentor a "lowlife". She judged her fellow Guide, Melinda, for being pretty and peppy and interested in the lessons and being determined to pass, and focused so much on the negatives I found her intolerable to read at times. Her obsession with herself was a continuing theme and she just reads as selfish throughout the whole book. It took her 16 chapters to even really think about her parents and realise she missed them. When she goes to see them, she spends the whole time stroking her cat and then ditches her house to go and see if she won the talent show she died at. AND THEN. She gets annoyed because she didn't win. SHE'S DEAD. WHAT AWARD COULD THEY HAVE GIVEN HER?! She also gets upset when she hears students talking about her death and they don't really say much other than it was sad, quoting "So what if I was awkward and didn't care about anyone here."

Outside of her, the other main characters left very little to be desired. Carl's character was impossible to read. Melinda, I just didn't care about. Alexei was the only character I would've blinked twice at but he even fell flat in places.

The romance, if you could call it that, between Tina and Alexei also felt really inorganic. I felt like they could've been great friends and Alexei could've been a great character, but I don't think there was enough investment in them as a duo, and I think their relationship was exaggerated in the blurb. Nothing really came of it until the last 25% of the book.

This book was also written in places as if it was written by someone who'd never met a sixteen year old. The obsession of the characters with Facebook and Starbucks really left me unsettled because in reality, I've NEVER met a teenager that acts like that about those things. Or anything really. Like one of the characters literally drools for a Starbucks coffee, DROOLS. FOR STARBUCKS. That's a whole other comment in itself. I found the bit where they "out" two characters on Facebook a bit sour tasting as well.

A compliment I do have for this book however, is the worldbuilding. The world was great, but more attention needs to be paid to the character building as I think a good character makes a good book. This book had a lot of potential, and I'm sad it didn't live up to it fully.
1 like

Was this review helpful?

A standard horror novel set in a high school, nothing new to be found here but it will satisfy most horror fans

Was this review helpful?

Tina Crocker is not a character we really get to know during this. Initially I felt some sympathy for her as she suffers with nerves, and the one time she pushes herself out of her comfort zone she ends up dead.
With Tina’s death at a school show we then come to learn this is the latest in a long line of attempts to pass Dead School. The character we know as Tina has a reputation as a failure. For whatever reason she is not allowed to take on a specific role; she has to go back to learn how to guide another through death.
Following Tina in her mission to help social misfit Anna, we also get to see Tina develop.
Unfortunately, though I liked the sound of this it really jumped all over the place. There wasn’t sufficient detail given to set up the concept, and the interesting idea of the school actually became a background detail. The characters weren’t really fleshed out enough to care unduly about them, and the ending seemed to arrive from nowhere.
I was so keen to read this when I saw it on NetGalley, but it seems to be one of those books that isn’t quite being pushed in the right place.

Was this review helpful?

I had mix emotions about the story. I loved certain parts of it and a few left me wanting more explanation of why the character did sertain things. Tina is really a flawed character she is not the usual character which many might be use too, however she has refining qualities that save her all together.

Was this review helpful?

This was an intriguing book that made me flip pages faster and faster. I thought that the author did a fantastic job on how they put everything together and the way that it ended. This book was well written and the plot was fast and entertaining. Thank you NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

Shelving this as one of my most upsetting reads of all time. Dead School by Laura Gia West is about a teenage girl, Tina, who dies and finds herself in attendance at Dead School. Dead School is sort of like a Harry Potter meets Dead Like Me purgatory. Upon arrival students are placed into one of five divisions: Reapers, Recovery, Spirit Guide, Suicides, and Crafters. Each division has different duties and level of permissions as it's set up as a hierarchy, dependant upon where you are with your soul mission. It's kind of like a fun and spooky magic school after death (similar to angels, but definitely not angels), which is pretty cool. Reincarnation and death-is-not-the-end is a big theme.

Edit: Be warned that if you leave a review that is anything less than stellar, you may be harassed in the comments and the author will subtweet about you being a "snowflake". For me this book has consistent, heavily problematic themes throughout. These are my O P I N I O N S. Your opinion is not worth more than mine just because you disagree with my perspective, and you are welcome to feel however you want to feel about this book. You are also very welcome to write your own review. I'm not here to debate, I'm here to review this book.

The reason this book is so upsetting, aside from the problematic content, is that it has so much potential to be great. This is a book I could have fallen completely in love with, and it conflicts me to love so much of this book, but still rate it 1 star because the good parts WERE SO GOOD but the bad parts WERE SO BAD. The premise and worldbuilding which I would easily give 4-5 stars, is such a unique concept and played out pleasingly cinematical in my mind, but it wasn't enough for me to raise my rating.

CONTENT WARNING for lifestyle discrimination, sexism, racism, fat shaming, consistent topic of suicide, mention of corpse deformation, loss of a loved one, invasions of privacy, queer-phobia, male on female abuse, drug content via addicted parents, allusions to body dysmorphia, eating disorders, depression/anxiety/mental health disorders, child abuse and torture in the form of shock therapy, allusions to underage rape, multiple forced nudity scenes with a teenage girl, and religious themes. If any of these are triggers for you, please proceed with caution. ♡

I'm so upset because this book could have been an amazing Death Positive YA, but it was far from that. I just want to take a moment to express that the MC of this book is a teen, as well as the fact that this is heavily themed around schools (3 schools, in fact), so I'm going to assume the target audience is teens. Now with that said, this is a YA book that I would never consider recommending to a YA purely due to the negative content; it's uncaring, stereotypical, and sends a bad message. The primary message basically being that if you're not popular and you don't have many friends, or you don't get along with your family, or you haven't achieved much in your life yet, or you haven't fallen in love or haven't passionately connected with anyone (your pets don't count) and then you die, you "fail at life" and will be punished in the afterlife as if your soul has no inherent value. We're talking about impressionable young readers, here. I feel like this completely goes against what many people in this age group are experiencing, so why would you make it a point to attack them for it?? Embedding current societal judgements and hatred as a primary sense of what gives a soul value just wasn't the way to go here.

Aside from that, there were just so many problematic issues they were practically jumping off the pages. The MC Tina's toxicity, and the general toxicity woven into this book, is appalling. Tina has failed her life path of LOVE for the however many thousandth time, and is basically the scourge of Dead School. She's given one last chance to redeem her soul, by helping a living person achieve their life path. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Tina sure does like to think of herself as a victim, and at times she definitely is, but she's also very much a bully. Now, I refuse to believe that Tina is incapable of love. I flat out deny it. She loves her cat, her family, and herself - but not in the way people want her to. That doesn't seem fair to me. However, she is mean and toxic. Yes, toxic.

• The characters are extremely unlikable. Every. Single. Character. I couldn't bring myself to care for them. I feel like they were supposed to be strange and whimsical, and I'm totally into that, but the tone wasn't really...accepting, it seemed very judgemental, especially given the fact that none of them ever really truly redeem themselves. Just saying that they were redeemed doesn't count and honestly that irked me so much. I want to SEE their redemption, not just hear it.

THIS BOOK IS NOT FRIENDLY TOWARDS MARGINALIZED VOICES.

• Tina shames the girl she's supposed to be helping with judgements and sexism. She refers to her as being ugly/a loser/fat and the "antonym of femme" whilst judging her life (she's a geeky gamer), when it's obvious that this girl has mental health problems. Tina's lack of empathy was revolting. As someone with my fair share of mental health problems, I found this offensive.

• Judgement is CONSTANTLY cast on the "outcasts" of society. Goths are depicted as angry emotionally unstable suicidals, geeks as deformed hunchbacks with lisps and poor hygiene. She assumes a goth kid has lice because he itches his head when he's anxious, and is surprised to find that he's actually intelligent when she engages in conversation. "Black is a depressing color." Seriously, fuck off Tina. As a goth geek, I found this offensive.

• Queer-phobic. At one point "revenge" is taken in the form of Tina and her colleague hacking into this poor girl's Facebook and falsely/publicly outing two individuals as being gay with each other. They retaliate by becoming physically abusive to her. This is not okay. I'll say it again, THIS IS NOT OKAY. What this is, is harmful and disgusting. As a queer person, I find this offensive.

• Internalized racism. If Tina fails dead school again, she will be punished by reincarnating as a homeless Asian man who dies of...I believe, some form of addiction. Who thought this was okay?? Really, I am shocked, and again, I find this offensive.

• Intrusions of privacy and personal space. Tina wants to know more about someone and, not accepting that they don't want to open up to her, goes behind his back and travels into the archives of his life to personally witness every single vulnerable, private moment of his life before he died (by suicide, which she was aware of beforehand). I have lost a loved one to suicide and I found this beyond offensive, I have no words.

• Not friendly towards individualism. We witness a problematic scenario where Tina serves "detention" in the form of brainwashing shock therapy IN AN ELECTRIC CHAIR. She's unwillingly strapped to an electric chair and given 500 questions during her shock therapy which she had to answer either "yes" or "no" to, and if she answered "wrong" she was electrocuted. This is child abuse. Why should you smile at a stranger just because they smiled at you first? Why should you trust someone just because they're being nice? The world isn't that simple and I am completely disgusted with the forced rhetoric that individuals are not allowed to put up their own emotional/physical boundaries of protection or self-love, that they must live and react within a bubble of someone else's comfort. This is sickening and beyond unacceptable. Again, I found this offensive.

And these are only the issues that really stood out for me, there are more. The tone of this whole book felt like a heavily theatrical personal attack against the "outcasts" of society, the people who don't act the way the majority wants them to. I believe this book would have benefited from a sensitivity reader, since it deals with so many sensitive topics that I felt were not expressed in the best light. Like I said earlier, this could have been so good, and if it didn't have all of these issues it would have easily become one of my favorites, but unfortunately I ended up really truly hating it. I am not sorry for this review, at all, whatsoever. Bottom line, I would not recommend this book, and I'm blacklisting this author due to their antagonistic attitude on social media.

Was this review helpful?

E-arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did request this book solely on how beautiful the cover is. Rookie mistake!

I found this book to be problematic. The writing style was not my cup of tea.
The characters were forgettable and bland that I didn't care about them at all. Most of the time I had to re-read pages since my attention was probably elsewhere.
The plot was interesting through the middle of the book then it went downhill and didn't pick it up.
Glad I made it till the end though.

Was this review helpful?

I received this book for review. There will be a video review on my youtube channel. www.youtube.com/writerbren I enjoyed this book for the most part. The dialog needs some work, but the plot is unique and fun. I believe the author left a place for more books in the series. I would read them if the dialog were better. I don't believe the author is aware of how teenagers the age she was depicting really talks. It was more like 12 year old boys speaking than older teens. Other than that it was a good read and I recommend it.

Was this review helpful?