Read This Book…

Dylan has just made contact with her father and has decided to skip school and hop on a train to meet him for the first time, against her mother’s wishes. She’s on the train when she awakes to an empty car and a bleak landscape — the train has crashed, and she is now in the afterlife. That’s when she meets Tristan, a brusque ferryman meant to guide her across this terrain and into the afterlife. Along the way there are wraiths and lost spirits, formed by Dylan’s fears and lost dreams, and the journey will be treacherous. But despite her many questions and fears, Dylan finds herself falling for Tristan, and Tristan is intrigued by the first human to stir emotion in him in a very long time. But when Dylan begins to ask impossible questions and look for another path, her future in the afterlife is no longer certain.

I was intrigued by the gorgeous U.S. cover, but there’s a lot more to this novel than just an interesting set up. I really enjoyed Dylan’s struggle to accept her mortality and all its implications, and her fascination with Tristan and his peculiar job. Their relationship was deftly written, and while the idea of falling for an immortal ferryman might be a bit of a stretch for most people, in this book it just made sense. The author does a great job of balancing dual points of view and the past and present to tell not only Dylan’s story, but Tristan’s as well. And even though the ending seems inevitable from the beginning, this book genuinely left me wondering what would happen next, and eager to find out. It’s a romantic page-turner with an unexpected twist and lots of heartfelt emotion and bravery, and you’ll definitely want the sequel on hand when you finish!