Description
The perfect girl. The teen delinquent. And the bland one. All dead and sharing an unlikely afterlife. Can they run from their demons while being chased by angels? 'The Good Place' meets a Tradwife TikTok account in this dizzyingly good YA novel about unlikely bonds, forbidden romance and trusting yourself when it really matters.
Sixteen-year-old Emily Woodward has lived her whole life in a tiny, high-control religious community. Some say it's a cult; Em was taught it's the only way to get to heaven on Halley's comet. She knows she'll be married off at eighteen, even if she secretly dreams of a life bigger than that.
Then the car crash happens.
In death, Emily is destined for the Good Line, but before she can be sorted, she sees her rebellious big sister sent to the Bad Line. Desperate to find a way to save her sister, Em agrees to run away from the angels with Jackson, the teen bank robber, and Xanthe, the most perfect girl in Em's community. But can she trust a clearly hell-bound bank robber? And is the perfect Xanthe just with them to snitch? The three teens find themselves in an afterlife that morphs into all the places they've waited in their lives, and for them to survive they need to take the actions they were too afraid to take when they were alive.
The Waiting Place is about judging people for what they do, not who they are, and it's for everyone who's ever been told they would not, could not, must not.
Review
Sixteen-year-old Emily lives in a strict cult-like community with about 500 others. Her Dad is one of the leaders and he made her sister Sarah’s life hell, because she was born from her Mum’s encounter with a townie. Her Dad married her mum to so she could remain in the community, so that’s good, right? Sarah left their community when she was sixteen, and Emily has tried to be the perfect daughter ever since.
Then Sarah returns and Emily’s Dad won’t put up with her “poison”, but while taking Sarah to town they have a car crash and all they die. They crashed into Xanthe, a perfect girl from their community who was out driving her father’s car. But what was she doing away from their group?
In death they are all sent to a waiting room where the angels sort you into the good and bad group. While they are waiting Emily sees Jackson, a boy she used to meet by the river, who has been shot while robbing a bank.
Emily, Xanthe and Jackson are cuffed together awaiting their destiny when they decide to make a run for it. What ensues is a journey of discovery into the big things that have affected their lives, and how they may now have one final chance to put a few things right, before they face either heaven or hell.
You can’t save everyone, but you can try to live a good life is the message of this story. Containing themes of religion and cults, identity, friendship, and making both good and bad choices, it is a clever book that will continue to resonate with readers long after you put it down. The themes make it most suitable to teenage readers aged from 13 to 16.
Teacher notes prepared by the publisher are available on our website for this title.
