Aug 1, 2026 · 36 min · 9 segments
Today, I review The Unexpected Afterlife of Salon Rose, and interview the author, Amy B. Scher! Join us as we discuss making the switch from nonfiction to fiction in publishing, the true story that…
Amy B. ScherGuestEllie ManoHostThe subtitle of this book is A Coming of Age While Dead story, and honestly, when I first read that, I was like, "Where could this possibly be going?" And this book is truly one of the most unique young adult books I've ever read.
It features a fascinating interpretation of the afterlife, and I haven't read many books set in this in-between state between life and death before.
Like, one of my favorite TV shows of all time is The Good Place, and there were aspects of The Unexpected Afterlife of Ceylon Rose that did remind me of The Good Place.
She wakes up one day in the nowhere in between, which is this in-between state between life and death.
This place is kind of designed for people to reflect on the past and figure out everything they need to figure out before they actually move on to the big infinite forever, which is basically the afterlife.
People stay in the nowhere in between for different amounts of time, and Ceylon doesn't know how long she's gonna be in there.
The last thing she remembers is being at a party, and then the next thing she knew, she woke up here.
She realizes that she's been murdered, and the only way she can actually get out of the nowhere in between is to figure out who killed her and why.
There's a whole group of people who are also taking the time to reflect before moving on to the big infinite forever.
In the nowhere in between, Ceylon also meets a man named Mr. Ek, who used to be a school psychologist and now leads basically an afterlife support group for teenagers.
Even though she's surrounded by good people, Ceylon does have a really hard time knowing that she was murdered and she will never get to go back to her old life.
She begins investigating her death using her memories, trying to figure out who could have possibly killed her and what she could have done to them to deserve it.
And with the help of all of her new friends, even someone that might be a little bit more than just a friend, Ceylon will have to use all of her wits to solve her own murder so she can let go of the past and look towards a whole new future.
[upbeat jingle] One of the most interesting things about this book is that uppercase letters are not actually used that much.
The subtitle of this book is A Coming of Age While Dead story, and honestly, when I first read that, I was like, "Where could this possibly be going?" And this book is truly one of the most unique young adult books I've ever read.
It features a fascinating interpretation of the afterlife, and I haven't read many books set in this in-between state between life and death before.
Like, one of my favorite TV shows of all time is The Good Place, and there were aspects of The Unexpected Afterlife of Ceylon Rose that did remind me of The Good Place.
She wakes up one day in the nowhere in between, which is this in-between state between life and death.
This place is kind of designed for people to reflect on the past and figure out everything they need to figure out before they actually move on to the big infinite forever, which is basically the afterlife.
People stay in the nowhere in between for different amounts of time, and Ceylon doesn't know how long she's gonna be in there.
The last thing she remembers is being at a party, and then the next thing she knew, she woke up here.
She realizes that she's been murdered, and the only way she can actually get out of the nowhere in between is to figure out who killed her and why.
There's a whole group of people who are also taking the time to reflect before moving on to the big infinite forever.
In the nowhere in between, Ceylon also meets a man named Mr. Ek, who used to be a school psychologist and now leads basically an afterlife support group for teenagers.
Even though she's surrounded by good people, Ceylon does have a really hard time knowing that she was murdered and she will never get to go back to her old life.
She begins investigating her death using her memories, trying to figure out who could have possibly killed her and what she could have done to them to deserve it.
And with the help of all of her new friends, even someone that might be a little bit more than just a friend, Ceylon will have to use all of her wits to solve her own murder so she can let go of the past and look towards a whole new future.
[upbeat jingle] One of the most interesting things about this book is that uppercase letters are not actually used that much.
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