Peter Green and the Unliving Academy tells the story of the (after)life of Peter Green, a fourteen-year-old boy who has recently died. He doesn’t remember how he died or who he was before he died. He retains just enough memory to realize that there is something he needs to do, someone he needs to help. While he’s at it, he needs to learn the ropes of this new place, Afterlife, where he’s the newest arrival.

This novel combines many elements of fantasy with a sprinkle of light horror mixed in. Even though it contains some horror aspects, this book should not be frightening at all to its intended audience. The most horrifying thing that a middle grader will find in this book is the fact that, apparently, even in death there is no respite from school and homework. It draws upon traditional types of monsters, along with some new creations unique to this author, for some of its primary characters. The setting and characters reminded me of Tim Burton’s movies, with a richly detailed world with a dark tint to it, many characters of varied types, and uniqueness throughout the whole work.

While this novel has a creative premise, I did not find it very engaging. The characters were very one-dimensional. This may be at least partially attributed to the fact that none of the major characters, being students, have their memories because memories are not given to children who are unaccompanied by their parents in the world of Afterlife until their eighteenth birthday. This aspect of the story contributed to the mystery of the main character’s primary story arc, but it also meant that the author had to write interesting characters while having absolutely none of their history on which to draw. The one or two faces that we saw of each character were often entertaining, but beneath that surface there was, literally, nothing there.

The author is very good at world-building, and it is apparent that she loves the Afterlife setting that she’s imagined. She is very good at describing it, and this amount of detail makes it easy to imagine even though it is a fantastical realm. In some places the descriptive detail seems to overwhelm the story. It feels like the story is hiding behind the grand setting design as if a beautiful stage was set and then the play presented on it was lacking in substance. The story is short on significant action, and the action that does happen feels rushed.

The book also suffers from quite a few grammar and punctuation errors. Usually I don’t hold this against a book when reviewing it unless they are intrusive, but there were several places where I had to re-read then determine what the error was in order to figure out what a sentence meant. These errors seemed more frequent towards the end of the book, as if the author or editor was rushing to finish it and missed some things.

In summary, this book presents an interesting concept and sets it in a detailed and engaging world. However, the story did not capitalize on this uniqueness and the potential that it has. Since this is the author’s first book, and it leaves room for a sequel, then perhaps the next installment will hold additional character development and a more substantial story.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by TCK Publishing.com

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  4 religious exclamations; 4 mild obscenities; 3 scatological words. Note:  British use of the word “bloody” (not tallied).

Violence/Gore:  Characters have fatal wounds which are described in a non-graphic manner; mention of signing something in blood; monsters are attacked with non-lethal weapons; a scary scene in which monsters howl and try to escape from cages; characters punch each other in a good-natured way x2; a scene of comic violence in which school supplies attack students; a schoolyard scuffle with no major injury; a character is tazed; report of a character bitten, resulting in “blood everywhere”; characters’ heads are knocked off during a sporting event (not gory); characters spar with weapons and fists x2; a martial arts fight with minor injury; a fight between characters and a monster results in minor wounds and property damage x2; report of a death by violence (unspecified); report of a death by illness; a character briefly wonders if another is going to disembowel him; a character is bitten by many small pests; report of a character bitten by a monster x2; a character pinches another x2; characters fight with fists and kicks with no major injury x2; a character gets a bloody nose from a fall; a snowball fight; report of a murder; characters plot to kill another; a verbal threat; a character removes and replaces her head several times; a character has bloody wounds form previous violence; a character throws knives at another with no major injury.

Sex/Nudity:  A few mentions that a boy likes a girl; boys are nervous around pretty girls/women; a secluded spot is known as “the kissing place”; report of two romantically-involved people running away together; joke about a boy having a “monster” in his pants; report of a past forbidden love; report of love spells being used on people; a couple of mentions that students sometimes sneak off to make out x2; a boy flirts with several girls; a boy rests his head in a girl’s lap; a character cries about breaking up with another; characters hold hands; a child is uncomfortable about his parents cuddling and kissing; a man leers at a woman suggestively.

Mature Subject Matter:

Mention of devil worship; bullying; espionage; hacking; assassinations (mentioned); death (child, sibling).

Alcohol / Drug Use:

A character smokes a cigarette.