Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall

Heaven looks A Lot Like The Mall

By Wendy Mass

Summary:

One day, 16 year old Tessa suffers a terrible accident in gym class and she goes into a coma. But in her head she is in heaven, and for her, that means that she is in the mall where her parents worked and where she has, in a way, grown up. That's her heaven.

In the so-called heaven/mall, she meets a boy who has also suffered a traumatic accident. When Tessa asks him why she is in the mall, he tells her she is here to figure out who she is and to try to understand why and how she has changed over the course of her life. Just before he leaves, he gives Tessa a shopping bag and tells her that it contains the most important things that she has ever bought from the mall.

At first Tessa is confused, but soon she lets her memory take over and remembers her old life as it flashes before her eyes once again...

As Tessa remembers the good and decisions that she has made, she also remembers a very different version of herself than who she is today. She regrets choices and actions that she took and she can't help wondering if it is it too late to change?

Review:

Once again, Wendy Mass has done it! This book is brilliant! It is a page-turner that talks about a girl who goes to 'heaven' while she is in a coma. It was a unbelievably fantastic plot with lots of twists and turns.

Tessa is a realistic character who a lot of teens will be able to relate to. I think that a lot of teen girls would like to go to 'heaven' like Tessa and figure out what we did wrong in our lives and see the mistakes that we made without realizing it. Also, none of us are perfect and I think that after reading this book, I feel more comfortable in my own skin and have learnt to accept that everybody makes mistakes, and that that is just part of life and that I wouldn't learn from my mistakes if I didn't have any.  I think that I lot of girls, tween or teen, would benefit from reading about Tessa's trip to 'heaven'.

I loved that when Tessa was in 'heaven' each item that was in the shopping bag that was given to her had its own story and that after reading about every item and its story, I felt like I knew her. Wendy Mass builds the character of Tessa throughout the book.

I also found it very interesting that the entire book was written in verse.  It didn't rhyme, but it was written as if it was a poem. At first I thought that it might have just been the first page or two that was written like that but, but no, the entire book. I am surprising myself by saying this, but I absolutely loved it! It is what made the book such a page turner! In one verse was a bit of her life which suddenly stopped and I just needed to get to the next verse, and then the next, and since the verses are quick and easy to read, the story progresses quickly.

This was the best Wendy Mass that I have ever read and one of the best books ever!

Recommended for all teen girls 14+