From the Publisher
"Gorgeous, funny, and heartbreaking." —Lauren Oliver, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall
"Blend[s] humor, uncertainty, anger, and hope. In her debut novel, Rothenberg supplies readers with an imaginative and intriguing vision of what might happen after death." —School Library Journal
"Rothenberg blends genius in a fresh and heart-wrenching way." —Booklist
"This debut is a fast, twisty, highly dramatic read about the turbulent nature of love."—Romantic Times
"Rothenberg explores what happens in the afterlife when you aren't quite done with your life" —San Franscisco Chronicle
"The funniest, sweetest, most heartfeld, sigh-worth and oh-so romantic story I've ever read. You'll love it!" —Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Eternal and Blessed
BCCB
"Peppered with slang and pop culture references, Brie's voice is utterly adolescent, and her lively, flirtatious banter with Patrick...rivals that of any blockbuster rom-com."
Booklist
"Weaving significant contemporary issues into a romance flecked with humor, Rothenberg blends genres in a fresh and heartwrenching way. With echoes of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall (2010), this is an emotional and thoughtful first novel with a twist."
Lauren Oliver
"Inventive, gorgeous, funny and yes...heartbreaking. You will absolutely love this book."
Kirkus Reviews
When Brie's heart literally breaks, killing her, she must go through the five stages of grief before moving on in the afterlife. Brie leaves behind a loving family, three best friends and a first boyfriend whose declaration that he didn't love her caused the bizarre heart event that offed her. Under the guidance of the annoying-but-hot Patrick, she explores the afterlife, haunts her ex-boyfriend and works her way through the D&G Handbook (D&G stands for "dead and gone"). It's Patrick who tells her that her first task in the afterlife is to work through those five classic stages: denial, anger, bargaining, sadness and acceptance. Brie is a likable-enough narrator, when she's not being vengeful. But Rothenberg's afterlife is irritatingly undefined for one that comes complete with a handbook. Rules seem to be applied more for narrative convenience than any adherence to complete concept, and the twist that drives the climax, while satisfying in an It's A Wonderful Life kind of way, comes out of nowhere. Moreover, her progress through the stages of grief becomes muddied by her continued interactions with the living world. Yes, she's angry, but it's hard to tell whether she's angry at dying or at her ex-boyfriend. Gabrielle Zevin's Elsewhere (2005) stands out as far better treatment of a similar concept. Interesting idea, not-so-great execution. (Fiction. 13 & up)
