Wallace prince is a mean and unkind lawyer, not worrying about anyone but himself, he dies at the end of the chapter. He wakes up as a ghost at his funeral which is only attended by his business partners, his ex-wife, and a girl who he meets named Mei, she is his reaper. She explains to him that he will go with her to the ferryman's house where he will be able to cross over to the other side. She is excited because this is her first solo assignment. They make their way over to the house. Wallace keeps asking her questions but she explains that she does not know the answer and can ask the ferryman once they get there. They stop at his funeral and slowly make their way to a tea shop in the middle of nowhere. There we meet Nelson, an old man who tricks Wallace into thinking he is the ferryman when in reality he is the ghost of the ferryman’s grandfather, the ferryman’s name is Hugo, they also have a ghost dog named Apollo. Hugo explains the golden string that is attached to Wallace’s chest which connects to Hugo, more about the tea shop and how they work, and about the door at the top of the house, the one that when Wallace is ready he can cross through into the other side. Wallace is not ready. Wallace wants to leave and tries to but is met with his body starting to wither away. Hugo explains that if he goes outside of the property for too long then he will turn into a Husk. While outside he meets a Husk named Cameron. Cameron makes a grab at him and when they touch Wallace can see Cameron’s memories and past and all that he has been through including falling in love with a man named Zack, Zack dying 3 years later, and subsequently, Cameron committing suicide. After staying for a few nights Wallace begins to reflect on his life and how it was not a very good one and how he could have done better. Wallace also learns more about The Manager who was the one who gave Hugo his job as well as the others living in the house. He learns that Nelson does not want to move on until Hugo is happy. Nelson works with Wallace in picking things up and moving things around, as well as changing his clothing (which does not go well the first few tries) and it is put to the test when a “psychic” comes into the tea shop because she is convinced it is haunted and is always making Mei mad. As a way to test his abilities to move objects as well as stick up for Mei, Wallace and Nelson decide to mess with her much to Hugo’s dismay. They move her Ouija arrow and even throw it off the table at one point scaring Desdemona enough to leave, leaving Wallace very happy. On Wallace’s 22nd day there Mei brings in another very angry ghost named Alan. A health inspector who doesn’t like Hugo comes by, Alan sees a resemblance between him and his killer so he starts messing with him and things get bad quickly. So much so that the Manager arrives to push Alan through the door and has a chat with Wallace. He says that Wallace had enough time to understand his death and that if he did not cross the door in the next 7 days then he would also be forced through the door. Knowing that he is on limited time Wallace asks Hugo to talk to his ex-wife on his behalf and apologize for him. He also asks Hugo if they could visit a spot his dad used to take him. They must go fast for fear of Wallace becoming a Husk but on the way back they see Cameron and Wallace realizes that Cameron wants help getting back and through the door. Without thinking he pulls out the hook that connects him to Hugo and puts it into Cameron. Wallace passes out and begins to float up since there is nothing connecting him to the ground. Mei, Nelson, and Hugo are able to save Wallace by tying him to Apollo’s leash, keeping him slightly hovering above the ground. Cameron is doing fine and because of that Wallace and Nelson start talking about the possibility of saving other Husks. The Manager told Hugo that the Husks were a lost cause. On Wallace’s last day, when the manager shows up they take that opportunity to ask the Manager why he said those things. Wallace makes a deal that if Hugo is allowed to help the Husks, Wallace will go through the door on his own terms, the Manager agrees though everyone else is very upset. Right as he is about to cross over, however, the manager changes the deal and seeing how much Wallace can help, decides to bring him back to life. In the Epilogue we see Nelson talk to Wallace about how he thinks he is ready to cross because after meeting Wallace, Hugo is finally happy and the book ends with Mei talking to Wallace and Hugo about their next spirit.
5/5 - It was funny, it was cute, it was heavy but heartwarming, my god. I expected it to be a book on the heavy side but then Desdemona showed up and that was thrown out the window. I honestly loved it so much! I don't have too much to say other than I like the balance it has between light + funny and serious + heavy because at the end of the day it is a book about death and people dying as well as a book about ghosts scaring the crap out of people they don't like for the fun of it.
I loved it so much!
This is a very new book. This author is known for his other book House in the Cerulean Sea which is also very popular. Again, it is on the heavier side, talking about death, suicide, and the afterlife. I would recommend this book to high school level and above. I really liked it and would like to read it again!
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