JO-JO AND THE FIENDISH LOT

Dead musicians guide a newly deceased teen in his search for his missing—and also “passed”—girlfriend. Shortly after meeting the recently resurrected and very tough Max, 18-year-old Jonathan Joseph Dyas (Jo-Jo to most) dies and begins his own journey through the afterlife. As he searches for his dead girlfriend, Jo-Jo’s rock-star companions maneuver him along a self-reflective path while playing their gigs. Max’s acerbic behavior, which initially feels harsh, comes to seem deserved as Jo-Jo’s whining continues. Jo-Jo’s devotion to the memory of his dead girlfriend makes him something of a hackneyed character, lacking both perspective and originality. Forced along on the same gray, soulless journey, both Jo-Jo and readers finally find solace: Jo-Jo connects with another lost soul, and readers eventually complete (or abandon) the dull narrative. Auseon’s bureaucratic afterlife lacks freshness, though creative footnotes explaining various characters’ deaths add some levity. Lacking both the authentic relationships of Daniel Water’s Generation Dead (2008) and the creative reinterpretation of Gabrielle Zevin’s Elsewhere (2005), this novel just fades into the mist. (Horror. YA)