Release Day Review! ASCENDERS (Ascenders 1) by CL Gaber

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Is this Hell or is this High School?

THE ASCENDERS Takes You To the In-between Where Teens Who Died Young Go On the Epic Adventure of an After-Lifetime.

Walker Callaghan doesn't know what happened to her. One minute she was living her teenage life in suburban Chicago...and the next minute, she was in a strange place and in a brand new school with absolutely no homework, no rules, and no consequences.

Walker Callaghan, 16, is dead.

She doesn't go to Heaven or Hell. She lands at The Academy, a middle realm where teenagers have one thing in common: They were that morning announcement at their high schools because they died young.

These high school kids are now caught in a strange “in-between” zone where life hasn’t changed very much. In fact, this special teen limbo looks a lot like life in a quaint Michigan town complete with jocks, popular girls and cliques. "There are even cheerleaders in death," Walker observes. It's not a coincidence that the music teacher is a guy named Kurt who "used to have this band." The drama teacher, Heath, is crush worthy because back in his life, he starred in some superhero movie as the Joker.

Principal King explains the rules -- there are none. Why? You can't die twice.

There is no homework.

No tests.

No SATS.

You're just there to learn because the human brain isn't fully formed until you're 24.

By the way, you can't get hurt physically, so race your Harley off that hillside. But falling in love is the most dangerous thing you can do ...because no one knows how long you'll stay in this realm or what's next. Walker falls hard for tat-covered, bad boy Daniel Reid who is about to break the only sacred rule of this place. He's looking for a portal to return back to the living realm.

Ascenders....An epic adventure of an after-life time.

THOUGHTS

They say you can only live once. But what if it isn’t true?

“The truth was you could die twice. Three times. A thousand times. In your heart.”

They say you can only die once. Is it true?

“The truth was you could die twice. Three times. A thousand times. In your heart.”

People believe in Heaven. Hell. Purgatory. Is that what afterlife means?

“With some things, you can close them down, demolish them, build over them. But they never really go away.”

You are born, you live, you die. This is the human curse. There are not second chances. But what happens to those who don’t get to live? There are some who after birth only find out what being alive is and then die. For them there is a place that isn’t Earth, Heaven or Hell. It’s a place where they can grow-up and live. There are no rules, no consequences. 

This is where Walker Callaghan wakes up with no memories of how she got there. Her mother refuses to answer any questions and the school is just strange, with no homework, no tests, no college. But soon she finds out that The Academy isn’t a normal school and that she isn’t in Michigan. The truth is that she is death. And, as shocking as it may be, Walker didn’t go on because she didn’t finish high school. 

You may expect that a school for dead people is different, but the people in life or death are the same. High school is ruled by the popular, there are even cheerleaders. And there is, of course, the bad boy, the hot bad boy. Walker has a bad history with choosing boys, but Daniel Reid is out of this word, literally. And she may be the only person who can get him to open up about his life and his death. Love isn’t easy, not even in death. Both Walker and Daniel have unfinished business on Earth and going back means breaking the most important rule of the Academy and maybe losing their soul.

“Our nature is to want what is denied.”

While reading Ascenders, I found myself thinking about Heaven and Hell and how unfair life is. Some get to live eighty- ninety years and some don’t even get to be twenty. I would like to believe that, for those, really exists an “Academy” where they can find out what love, pain, hope and courage means. People don’t really chance in death and I was happy to find out that Walker got the whole high school experience, with the bee queen and the bad boy.

“You know what’s the worst thing to be in life or death, Bobby?” “Stupid”

I enjoyed walking through the Academy and, finding out the story of each character’s death. It’s funny how for the most of them their death was the most important thing that happened to them. You can discover so much about one person through their death, their entire life is reflected in their last day on Earth. Walker and Daniel’s love story isn’t different from any other teenager’s first love. They are bound by his love for his little brother and her curiosity.

“Pinky swear,” I said reverently. This was no laughing matter. Where I’m from, this was better than a written contract. Since this was obviously of a high, serious nature, I took out my left pinky.”

 Their journey isn’t an easy one but it’s necessary for them to make peace with their deaths. However, some risks are too big, even for them. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Happy Reading!

C.L. Gaber is the co-author of the bestselling YA novel "Jex Malone." She is also an entertainment journalist, syndicated worldwide through the New York Times Syndicate. She interviews A-lister movie, TV and music stars for the Chicago Sun-Times. A movie-loving kid in Chicago, she grew up to earn a degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State. Now she lives Nevada with her husband Ron, once her high school boyfriend; her stepdaughter, Sabrina; and their dogs, Colt and Georgie.

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