Review of “Life is Inevitable” by Daniel Santos

Score: 87/100 (8.7 out of 10)

Life is Inevitable by Daniel Santos is an ambitious paranormal/speculative-fiction novel that takes some huge risks as a YA book and definitely stands out as unique. Apparently, this is also the author's first novel, so we count ourselves impressed in that regard.

The premise is really what makes this book special and probably extremely difficult to write. The novel follows Brennan Claufield and Olivia Benning, two teens who have recently attempted suicide. They find themselves in the afterlife, represented in rail terms. The stairway or road to Heaven is looked at like a series of winding and weaving train lines to a train station. Brennan and Olivia both seem confused and regretful. Brennan is incredibly agitated and Olivia is crushed by sorrow. The two meet each other and immediately hit it off. Their bond is actually the most powerful in the entire book, especially considering how much different they are in interacting with each other than with anyone else.

They are met by Haniel, a friendly messenger angel, who tells them that they are being given a second chance at life. He tells them that their goal is to “find peace” and to “achieve closure” but isn't specific about how they can or should go about doing that.

However, there's a twist! It seems as though they may have gotten mixed up on the train rides back to their bodies, so they end up in the other's body. This is probably the most unique yet challenging thing about this book. There are constantly times when either character is referred to by their spirit name while in the other's physical body or vice-versa. So, you'll have family, friends, and schoolmates calling Brennan “Olivia” and Olivia “Brennan.” You even have times when “he” is called “her” and “she” is called “him.” The pronouns change from sentence to sentence or even within the same sentence. This can be incredibly confusing and difficult to keep up with, especially as the perspectives constantly change, seemingly every three paragraphs or so. Yes, there's a rose image that indicates a change in perspective, but it can still be tough to tell who is who and what is what.

Actually, we had a few theories about what was going on because we were so constantly confused. We theorized that Brennan and Olivia might be the exact same person who is either transgender or non-binary or who might be suffering from multiple-personality disorder. However, what squashed those theories is the fact that their experiences with their separate bodies seem unique, although similar. For example, they are abused physically, sexually, emotionally, and psychologically, but by different people. They also discover items that belong to the other (like letters and artwork) that they initially don't recognize. They act as if they're finding and seeing them for the first time. So, yeah, those cool theories went out the window.

The thing that helps you to distinguish between these two similar characters is how they talk and think. They are distinct. Brennan is an incredibly unlikable person. He is rough, gruff, rude, and foul-mouthed. In fact, his foul-mouthed dialogue is a give away whenever he's in action. In contrast, Olivia is a softer, more sensitive, and emotional person in actions, speech, and thought. While Brennan seems hesitant to show any emotion at all, Olivia frequently cries and ponders. You eventually learn why Brennan is so afraid to show his emotions and why he's such a rough-around-the-edges person, even glimpsing an awful scene in which Brennan's mother nearly drowns him in a bucket full of ice water in an attempt to remove his bruises.

Olivia realizes things about Brennan and vice-versa as the story goes along.

This is a decently-written book overall, especially for a first-time author. There are a few small issues. For example, there are section of this book in which there are double-indentations within the same paragraph and a few times when periods occur outside of quotation marks.

There's also the issue that this is probably not the most appropriate book for a YA (young adult) or teen audience as advertised. First of all, strong language is usually fine. We're not prudish. However, it's a bit excessive for a YA novel. And, more importantly, the topics of suicide and abuse of this nature is quite severe for a YA novel. To the author's credit, they do handle the sexual abuse with a little bit of tact, implying it most of the time by showing the aftermath, but the fact still remains: this is some heavy stuff for the supposed target audience.

However, this book still has a high amount of creative merit.

Check it out on Amazon!