What Comes After / Katie Bayerl / Book Review

WHAT COMES AFTER

This isn't the afterlife Mari was promised. Not that she was promised much of anything. She's never been religious, after all. But nothing has been more disappointing to Mari than her sudden death, and all the problems she's dragged into the afterlife with her. Biggest problem of all: her also-recently-deceased mother Faye.

Mari thought she'd finally escaped Faye, as awful as that sounds, with Faye's own untimely demise. But now that Mari's landed in the In Between as well, well, her mother's here waiting for her with open arms. There are rules to follow, paths toward enlightenment that those in charge of the In Between want Mari to follow, and Faye's there to help her along the way (assuming she can get her own dysfunctional self together to do that, of course).

Mari's always been one to keep her eye on the prize, regardless of her mother's inability to hold her life together. But attending classes at the Center, practicing You-ga and going to group therapy doesn't seem to be helping Mari's vibe tracker move on from the angry red of her untimely demise. And with her mother already on the brink of being kicked out of Paradise altogether, Mari finds herself right back where she started: desperate to keep her head above water, to keep her small family afloat.

THOUGHTS

Any book that's set in the afterlife is a book set to tackle great philosophical questions, and this book... certainly tries. I'm not sure that it succeeds that much. Don't get me wrong. It isn't a bad read. I'm just not so sure how successful it is at its own subgenre.

PROS

Eternal Life, Eternal Problems	When life keeps on going after death, all of life's problems seem to follow along. At least here. Mari has a lot on her shoulders, in life and in death, and most of those problems stem from the interpersonal relationships in her life. When those relationships continue on into the afterlife, of course she brings her problems with her. And she's not the only one. I like that this book focuses on the work someone might need to do, internally and interpersonally, to reach some sort of real self-actualization, one not dependent on wiping the slate clean and just forgetting all that came before. Those problems don't go away just because you died, right?
Self-Help Callout	As much as this book deals with "self-actualization," it doesn't just happily fall into the realm of quasi-spiritualism, self-help, and non-denominational enlightenment. In fact, it really calls out that sort of gross, grifter economy of guru influencer and self-actualization expert--you know, the kinds who make money off their books that teach you how to get rich, get happy, get better (but really only give the authors money and the readers benign platitudes). This economy takes advantage of people who are desperate, people who need real help, and that comes through here, too, in Katie Bayerl's non-religious afterlife.
Secular Afterlife	Which does lead me to another note. It is really nice to dig into this vision of, you know, a secular afterlife. An afterlife not rooted in ideas of Heaven and Hell, or cosmic energy, or reincarnated enlightenment, or the fields of Asphodel, or any other religious imagining. Katie Bayerl imagines an eternity in the void, but not a dark and scary void. Just, you know, a void. A void that is both limitless nothingness and limitless potential--the kind of potential that can birth a technocratic society of spirituality influencers run by AI and good vibes. And I did like the idea that the spiritual guru influencers and tech-bro influencers are natural allies, them against the suggestible masses. They really are a grifter match made in non-denominational heaven.

CONS

As much as I liked some of the concepts Bayerl employs in this book, I just don't think an afterlife book will ever be that impactful if it isn't working in a tried-and-true form of eternity. Questions of Heaven and Hell, of Karmic justice, of redemption and salvation and sin and sinners, feel much more meaningful than a grifter AI afterlife. That's more of a strawman than anything else, because nobody believes in this type of eternity anyway. So building it up just to take it down makes for a book, but it doesn't make for a very good philosophical discussion. And I don't know about you, but I pick up an afterlife book for something of a philosophical discussion.	Strawman
This book's treatment of Mari's new friend Larisa made me as uncomfortable as using the word "uncomfy" (which I do hate, by the way). She's more of a prop character than anything else. She doesn't get to stand on her own. And in a moment of irritation, Mari throws an accusation of jealousy toward Larisa that feels, well, uncomfortably homophobic (in a playing-into-stereotypes way). Even if Mari does immediately apologize, nothing about this sat right with me. It felt icky. It made me sad.	Uncomfy
I don't know. The names in this book kept throwing me off. They're unusual enough to make an impact on the page without any particular purpose. This book felt like I was reading about characters instead of reading about people. The names felt so intentionally chosen (without there being a given intention in the book) that it could only be by authorial intent, and that just isn't great for immersion.	Naming Conventions

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6/10

Fans of Akemi Dawn Bowman's The Infinity Courts will like stepping into this new AI afterlife. Those who loved The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza will like wrestling with these new questions of eternity in community.

Details Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books Date: April 29, 2025 Series: N/A Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.