The Afterlife

Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to like this book...
Review: The problem with killing your main character off in the first chapter is that it usually doesn't leave room for much of a climax in the end. I wanted to like this book, it's a great concept! The first chapter is very gripping, however, I just wasn't impressed with anything that followed. While the book is short, it seems repetitive and boring. Furthermore, the characters are very distant and unconvincing. While the entire book is spent following Chuy's ghost and listening to his thoughts and feelings, I never get a feeling of who he really is/was. Another downfall of this book is all the Spanish words thrown into it. Luckily there is a glossary included in the back, but since I *had* to know the meaning of every Spanish word I came across, I was constantly flipping to the back of the book. While it's interesting to study languages and cultures, I don't really think the words added anything to the book and they slowed down the flow of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Well not many kill character in 1st page!
Review: This book The Afterlife by Gary Soto was great. As you have read before most authors main characters die at the end of thier books but not in this book. The first two pages describes how Chuy(main character) dies by giving a simple compliment when the killer took things the wrong way and thought Chuy was making fun of his shoes when he really liked them. As Chuy hovers over his bloddy cold life-less body he starts to wonder what he had done wrong. He really does find out that his family really did love him when he thought they didnt. His friends really cared about him when he thought they didnt. He does more things when he is a ghost floating arounf all of Fresnos then he ever did when he was alive. He meets this girl Crystal who changes his life when he falls for her. This book was very good and i recommend that you read it because i know a lot of people will.