ARC Review!
Thank you to NetGalley!

Mari died unexpectedly and she woke up in the "after world" or the "in between". It's not exactly as she expected or thought it was. There's a whole system in getting out of the "in between". At least Mari is not alone, her mother is in the afterlife with her.
I found it very hard to get into. 2 stars.

The complete lack of emotion in this book made it bothersome to read. I was intrigued by the premise but left with a lot of questions about "The Powers that Be" and disappointed that the possibility of the in-between is just more corporate America. The main character is utterly unlikeable from the beginning and the more I read, the less I liked her. There was too much angst and anger in this book from the beginning and with all the horrible other things going on in real life, I don't want to read about a moody teenager being angry even in death.

I thought What Comes After was going to be more of a young adult mystery than a general fiction book. I had actually read the blurb on this one and it sounded scary and good. It’s a good family fiction piece, but not what I had expected. This is what happens when you read the blurb (chuckle).

Katie Bayerl deals head on with the issue of parental neglect and having to self-parent. Who is the bad guy, the parent who is trying their best or the kid who is angry and can’t give one ounce of respect to the parent. Each is struggling to survive the best way they can.

What Comes After moves back and forth between life and afterdeath. We get to see Mari trying to overcome poverty obstacles to try and succeed. Then there is her shocking death that makes no sense to her. With her life and memories on open display we talk about what should stay private and what should be shared. Who should judge us? Why should “they” judge us?

Can you come back from death after it all? Nope. Yes, that is a spoiler (chuckle). Bayerl throws in a different mystery for missing souls, but anyone addicted to mysteries could figure it out within a few chapters. I will say this, my Mom and I talked about Limbo all the time. She told me that it looked like Hawaii. Ever since that’s what I tell people and you know what? They’re not so scared anymore.

What Comes After has no scares or thrills. It just deals with the same human emotions that we deal with everyday. Mari makes it worth reading.

What Comes After had such a cool premise. It was giving The Good Place meets Black Mirror, which immediately caught my attention. I was excited to dive into a story about the afterlife with a more reflective, philosophical twist, especially one that felt grounded in a secular perspective.

That being said, I struggled to really connect with the characters. None of them truly grabbed me and that made it harder to feel fully invested in their journeys. The "before" chapters didn’t add much for me either and kind of pulled me out of the main storyline.

The world-building had so much potential but it ended up feeling a bit muddled. The rules of this afterlife weren’t super clear and while I was intrigued enough to keep reading, I was hoping for more resolution. We got closure for some individual characters but not much explanation around the bigger picture or the mysterious Powers That Be.

Still, I appreciated how thought-provoking it was. It’s definitely one of those books that makes you reflect on life, death, and everything in between even if the execution didn’t totally land for me.

Oh man, this was a really stressful book! What happens to Mari in the afterlife is pretty much my version of hell. Group meetings? Affirming messages on t-shirts? Being monitored constantly? UGH. WHAT COMES AFTER is a unique novel, and I liked certain elements a lot, particularly the genuinely messy and complicated relationship between Mari and her mom, Faye. It's one of the better mother/daughter depictions I have read in a novel. The world-building, while the world itself was super stressful, was also pretty extraordinary, and while it took me a while to get into the book and over the ickiness I felt at the "youga" and self-help-iness, I really liked the book overall and look forward to reading more of Bayerl's books.

As a fan of The Good Place, I was immediately interested in this book and it definitely delivered in the concept of a faulty afterlife that needs a revolution. I like that the story presented both Mari's live, death and afterlife in quite a good way. There was some mystery to the events that were presented slowly throughout the book. As were many other details - first hidden and revealed when needed. The afterlife in this book was quite capitalistic, full of propaganda and trying to influence people who recently died to make up things for personal gain of three people who self-appointed themselves. Perfect ground for revolution.

What brings my enjoyment of this book down is the ending. The last couple of chapters had events that happened too fast for no reason. They could be talked about deeper and in detail to be more interesting. It just felt like things happened just so the book could end. I wouldn't mind more chapters. Mari often did not seem in control in what is happening to her and at the end, it was way too easy to resolve everything. I was expecting she would have more of a role in improving the situation.

What Comes After is a story about a girl that died and how the afterlife is and how she figures it out. I enjoyed this book. I liked how they portrayed a version of the afterlife. I enjoyed the flaws and quirks of the main characters and how they interacted. I’d recommend this book to anyone that’s interested in books with the afterlife and what happens after.

This one feels like someone mashed up The Good Place with a self-help parody and then threw in a mother-daughter reckoning just to keep you emotionally off-balance. It’s bizarre in concept, sometimes bumpy in execution, but oddly compelling anyway.

Mari’s voice works. She’s prickly but real, and the tension with her mom gives the story something grounded to hang on to. I didn’t always follow the rules of Paradise Gate (and I’m not sure the book fully does either), but I was along for the ride.

It’s not a home run, and the pacing stalls more than once, but there’s something here—especially if you like stories that are a little weird and a little sad and also somehow full of scarves.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all. Mari character is hard to get behind, and more importantly the afterlife portrayed in this book reflects the real world too much for it to truly be engaging. Yes, there are the watches and points that dictate if you can ascend, but too much of this book felt realistic dystopian and not like people would truly move on to the afterlife. Personally, this is not an afterlife I or anyone would probably want to face or participate in.
Thank you to Penguin Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

This book had an interesting concept about the afterlife. A quick description mentions "For fans of The Good Place", and it definitely has that type of style. Mari, in the afterlife, is in an in-between state called Paradise Gate. It seems straightforward enough - earn enough points to show you've grown and then you can ascend. However, things are never as simple as they seem, and is Mari willing to find out what's going on behind the curtain?

I found this book entertaining. I don't think it ever fully sucked me in, but it was pretty solid overall. I thought the story was done well, and I did care about the characters and their development. I think this book could have been drawn out a bit more for detail in certain areas, but I wouldn't say it detracted from the book - more of I wanted a little more information about certain topics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Nancy Paulsen Books for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.


I liked the beginning of this book but lost interest about half way through. Like other reviewer's pointed out, it was like a YA version/knockoff of The Good Place.

A book where the character goes into the "afterlife" to settle things before moving on. Sounds like either a fun read, or a real emotional journey. I am hoping this brings on the tears..

I like that this was a different take on the afterlife. I liked how to showed the different relationships, and how we view things differently.

However, I just didn't connect with the characters or the stories. I read many different genres of fiction - and the one thing that I require is connecting to the character.s

This might be a really good read for someone else - it just wasn't for me. 2.5 stars rounded to 3.

60/100 or 3.0 stars

I was hoping to like this, as the description made this teen story sound promising. The writing style didn't really work, and while I understand and respect what the author is trying to do, it just fell flat for me.

I have read a few books about the "after". After death. This one was unique in that a sort of dystopian world was created as a holding place. It was interesting how the world was set up to send these people on.
All of the different relationships such as mother / daughter, friend, boyfriend / girlfriend, were used really well to create angst. These relationships also showed how unique we are as individuals and how we interpret our reality.
The end of the book felt rushed and a little trite. And for anyone with strong feelings on what happens to us when we die, this story may not be your thing.
But for those who want to be entertained and try out a new world, this may be the book for you.

Mari is dead, but before she can move on to the afterlife, she has to take care of her unfinished business which includes making peace with her also recently deceased mother. I tried to connect with these characters, but the afterlife in this novel is just too unfamiliar. I'm not sure if I will purchase this for my library or not.

deeply emotional and thought-provoking young adult novel that deals with themes of grief, healing, and the complexities of relationships.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

What Comes After by Katie Bayerl is a first person-POV YA speculative exploring the afterlife in a similar vein to The Good Place. Mari has died and finds herself in the afterlife for the non-religious along with her recently deceased mother. She has to take lessons to become a better person if she’s to save her soul from joining the void, but that’s easier said than done, especially when she has to live with her mother all over again.

The second I saw that this was compared to The Good Place, I immediately picked up a copy. I think whether or not the comparison fits is really going to depend on what about The Good Place kept you watching. What Comes After has a much more serious tone compared to The Good Place’s drama-comedy genre and the focus isn’t on philosophy or the major themes of humans making each other better through love and care. Where it is similar to The Good Place is the alternative version of an afterlife, the different sections of the afterlife, the classrooms, and the complex parent-child relationships.

The complex parent-child relationships mostly come through in Mari’s relationship with her mother, Faye. I think it’s really hard not to sympathize with Mari or feel that she is in the right for being upset with her mother for not giving her a stable home life even if Faye did have some other stuff going on that does help explain it. Children deserve to have a home where they can grow into people who believe anything is possible whereas Mari’s ultimate dream was becoming a normal adult who’s biggest worry is paying the bills. Eventually they might have a healthier relationship, but it will take time.

Much like The Good Place, there is a romance arc between Mari and another teen named Jethro. It’s much more of a subplot compared to the romance arc between Eleanor and Chidi, which over time became more of a major focus in Eleanor and Chidi’s character arcs and the broader story. I was fine with this because while I love a strong romance arc, the other themes going on were taking a lot of space and needed that room to breathe.

I would recommend this to readers of novels exploring the afterlife and fans of The Good Place who loved the complex parent-child relationship between Eleanor and her mother and Tahani and her parents

This was okay. I struggled to get into it and to connect with the story, though. I liked the concept but it just didn’t deliver for me.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Mari, age 16, is dead, circumstances unknown. She finds herself in an afterlife that looks like earth – she even has to take classes with other recently deceased teens. She is also surprised to be rooming with her predeceased, estranged mother. This is a secular afterlife and everything is based on a point system to pay for clothes, rent, etc. Points are also necessary to ascend to the next plane of existence or souls are exiled to the endless void for eternity. But not everyone is happy in Paradise Gate and Mari soon discovers why.
This book was billed as a YA The Good Place. Unfortunately, like The Good Place, it went on too long, especially with the “world building.” I liked the idea behind this book and there were some humorous moments. I really wanted to like this book but it was just ok.

This is an intriguing story that ultimately fell a little short for me. I went into it with hope that our narrator may find in the afterlife the things she didn’t have in life: a close friend, romance, maybe even a healthier relationship or some kind of closure with her mom. However, the story focused more and more on what was wrong in the afterlife - mirroring greed, corruption, and other societal problems - and less on our narrator’s personal journey. An interesting turn, but not what I was expecting, and I feel like the author introduced a lot of issues and characters leading to a revolution without going into enough depth and then wrapped things up too neatly and quickly for that much tension.