The Afterlife of Mal Caldera

Mal's life is over. Her afterlife is only just beginning...

By turns irreverently funny and deeply moving, this debut contemporary fantasy is perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Mal Caldera - former rockstar, retired wild-child and excommunicated black sheep of her Catholic family - is dead. Not that she cares. She only feels bad that her younger sister, Cris, has been left alone with their religious zealot of a mother, picking up the pieces Mal has left behind. While her fellow ghosts party their afterlives away at an abandoned mansion they call the Haunt, Mal is determined to make contact with Cris from beyond the grave. She manages enlists the help of reluctant local medium Ren, and together, they concoct a plan to pass on a message to Cris. But the more time they spend together, the more both begin to wonder what might have been if they'd met before Mal died. Mal knows it's wrong to hold on so tightly to her old life. Bad things happen to ghosts who interfere with the living, and Mal can't help wondering if she's hurting the people she loves by hanging around, haunting their lives. But Mal has always been selfish, and letting go might just be the hardest thing she's ever had to do...

Funny, emotional and life-affirming, The Afterlife of Mal Caldera will have readers laughing one minute and sobbing the next.

"Readers in the mood for offbeat fantasy should check this out." -Publishers Weekly

"The Afterlife of Mal Caldera is a profound unravelling of a life through loss, trauma and family that leads to a bright and vivid afterlife packed with characters to die for!" Rosie Talbot, bestselling author of Sixteen Souls


"This book... felt so intimately familiar, like meeting an old friend... The Afterlife of Mal Caldera brings a heady mix of tender truth and searing wit to the party, where it speaks to the central hunger of the human condition: connection... Mal Caldera is the emo anti-hero we all need, in a queer love story that extends beyond romantic love." Courtney Smyth, author of The Undetectables


"For a book about the dead, The Afterlife of Mal Caldera pulses with life. Vivid, warm, and dancing between deep heart and heartbreak, humor and sorrow. The familiar ghost story finds a new spirit thanks to Perez's fresh and thrilling voice, with characters conjured up by their wry and witty prose. I so appreciated the focus on honest, modern love-from friendships to messy romances and everything in between-and finding forgiveness and community when you least expect it. I'm glad Mal got to haunt me for a while." Nathan Tavares, author of A Fractured Infinity


"Provocative, funny, tragic, honest, and profound. The Afterlife of Mal Caldera will haunt me forever...in the very best way." Angela Montoya, author of Sinner's Isle


"Oh, this book aches. Beautiful, messy, and incredibly human, The Afterlife of Mal Caldera will unstitch you and pull you back together again. This breathtaking debut comes at the tangled-up pain of loss from both sides of living, but it's also a celebration of life, love, healing, and friendship. I can't recommend this one highly enough!" Jules Arbeaux, author of Lord of the Empty Isles


"A wholly original imagining of an afterlife full of sex, ghosts, and rock and roll, at once shatteringly personal and sweepingly profound. Reed Perez's debut tenderly conjures to life the messy, hilarious, heartbreaking Mal and a host of characters living and dead, all of them indelible. The ultimate afterparty readers won't want to miss." Leanne Schwartz, author of To a Darker Shore and A Prayer for Vengeance


"The Afterlife of Mal Caldera is a warm, cozy burial shroud of a book, full of haunting atmosphere and a phantom found family that is simply to die for. Mal is addictively charming, the perfect companion on this hopeful, heartbreaking journey through a richly imagined afterlife." Codie Crowley, author of Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch

Nadi Reed Perez was a 2020 Pitch Wars mentee and writes for The Call of the Flame, a high fantasy audio drama. They live near Denver with their two cats and a few probable ghosts.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.