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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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 🤷

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I requested this title from NetGalley after reading the premise and was excited to be approved. Unfortunately, my excitement stopped there.

Dead school is decided into around five subdivisions where students are sorted based on their past life. Some subdivisions include Reapers, Spirit guides, Recovery, Suicides, and Crafters. Our main character is sorted into the guides sector, where the remainder of our story takes place. I would have loved to get to see the other sectors and how they worked but sadly the only other sector we get to see(a tiny snapshot at the end) we're the Crafters(which sounded like the least exciting sector to me, but I understand why it would be important to our main character).

Tina Crocker is an overall unlikeable character. She plays a victim role in the story if her life, but is someone who would rather hurt others to lessen her pain than face her inner demons. She's a cronic failure whom only decides to take death school seriously when threatened to be reincarnated as a homeless Thai man who would most likely die from a "chicken disease". Her interaction with other characters is cringe-worthy, and her outlook on the afterlife makes her hard to connect with.

Tina has what I suppose is meant to be a love interest in Alexei, a suicide who has been assigned to the guides section of dead school. While he is likeable enough, we don't get enough of his story(I still have no clue how he killed himself) to want a nurtured romance. In the few glimpses I got into his life, I felt he way WAY to good for Tina. Hold out for better, Alexei; you've got your whole afterlife.

This story just lacked a hook for me. Even the mortal who Tina gets assigned to guide has an overall unlikability. I didn't find myself rooting for anyone at all by the end.

The reason this gets a 2 star from me is the slight redemption Tina gets at the very end of her own will. It showed her growth, but was just too little, too late for me. I will not be picking up any further books if this becomes a series. Thank you to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dead School: a place where dead teenagers go to fulfill their souls paths. Sounded so intriguing to me, yet I was left feeling pretty empty and indifferent towards the characters and the story as a whole. I did not make an emotional connection to the book, (which to me, is very important)- so I was pretty disappointed by the end.
This book had so much potential if the characters could be more relatable and likeable. They definiteb ly lacked depth. also, the book doesn't pick up until after about 55% of the way through which made it drag on.
Now for the characters:
Tina- It seemed like EVERYTHING ALWAYS WENT WRONG FOR TINA...The 5 seconds that she had something good going for her- it was instantly ruined. She literally had NO hope 99% of the book - Frustrating to say the least.
Melinda- total B#. Alexei could've had so much more potential - it felt like Laura Gia West barely scratched the surface with him. Anna was not intriguing to me.
The story line could've been great, had the characters been different. It sucks that I didn't make a connection with any of the characters and didn't really bond with the book.
However, this being Laura Gia West's first book, I think that she has great potential to be a successful author if her characters become more elaborate and relatable.

Received ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tina Crocker is finally on the school stage finishing her song that she composed. She has an audience that is standing and clapping when the pink metallic heart above the stage falls and kills her. She finds herself going into the gates of dead school. She wonders what dead school is. When everyone is finished with orientation, she discovers that she has lived 5,768 lives and failing each of them too. So she is assigned to be a spirit guide assistant to a spirit guide who is more concerned about how she looks and orders Tina to do the work. Unfortunately, she and the floozy will have some different ways of doing the spirit guide stuff. Will they succeed or not? Will Tina get to go to heaven or what?

Dead School is a fun novel to read. The author has you seeing through Tina’s eyes and thoughts while trying to understand why, where, and what is happening to her in dead school. The author has written a book that lightly touches on reincarnation. Reading this made me laugh and chuckle at the adventures she has. It is also a novel about bullies and stopping them. There is much more to this novel than just the light hearted story as at the same time there are serious aspects to it. I highly recommend reading this novel!