This was funny, mortifying (the 2nd hand embarrassment gets me every time), and wonderfully tender. The author did an amazing job narrating their own book here.

Pearly Gates is an iconic character. Conning (kind of) her way into being a temporary spirit guide, she's kind of in over her head, but with sarcasm sharp enough to give you stitches, and enough confidence to know she's absolutely fabulous, she figures she can wing it. Mostly.

The cast of characters was wonderful, with their varying challenges, they each have something to teach Pearly and each other about growth, acceptance, and love.

I expected this to be cozy and funny, I did not expect to nearly be in tears at the end. It was truly a wonderful read.

HIGHLY recommended.

Drag queen Mary Poppins meets Legends and Lattes and it's super cute, fun and heartwarming.

I really enjoyed this, and I'm extra impressed that it's a debut indie novel. Pearly is a messy but lovable main character who gets to grow over the course of the story, and I loved her three human charges (plus bonus ghost charge), Charlie, and the cosy coffee shop.

There are a lot of charming details that made this stand out. One of my favourites is Pearly's outfits. More than once she mentions dressing simply or inconspicuously and then describes an absolutely outrageous outfit. It's such a fun bit of characterisation. I love Dumb Pearly. I love that Sam and Pearly want to solve a mystery but can't decide which of them has to be Watson, so they settle on "Holmes and Holmes" and call each other Holmes for the rest of the book.

Pearly's way of speaking felt a little corny to me at times (it's very YASSS QUEEN, YOU BETTER WORK). It is sort of lampshaded when Pearly realises that Dumb Pearly can only speak in drag cliches, and to be fair, her last life on earth is said to have been 2009. To be even fairer, I'm certainly not up to date on what the cool drag queens are saying, so maybe I'm not giving Pearly enough credit here.

This also felt a little long to me, but it came together so well in the end. I especially loved the last quarter or so as the story moved towards resolution. The ending had me in tears. This works well as a standalone, but I'd also be totally open to this becoming a series.

For something marketed as "cosy" (I think mostly accurately), it's worth noting that there is still some dark stuff in there, including on-page transphobia, a character with a terminal illness, and a memory of a homophobic hate crime.

The audiobook was really professionally narrated and produced. The way dialogue was read was a little weaker than the rest of the narration, but I stopped noticing it pretty early on and it didn't affect my overall reading experience.

Pearly Gates is a cozy fantasy jam packed with heart and soul, in more ways than one.

An afterlife drag queen trying her hand at being a spirit guide is as chaotic and fun as it sounds. Lip syncs and death drops are in abundance, but along the way on Pearly’s mission there are loads of really touching positive messages.

Laugh out loud funny, several dry your eyes moments, and a banger of a soundtrack.

I have a feeling Pearly will be back and I’ll be right here waiting.

Get this on your pride month tbr.

All the stars 🌟
#Jorecommends

Beautifully written and narrated by Bonnie Solomon 🎧

Huge thanks to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧