Satellite

Part 1 of the Satellite Trilogy by Lee Davidson

"Grant Bradley was never meant to survive cancer or live happily ever after with his fiancée, Tate. Before he was born, his destiny to become a guardian angel was decided by the life-planning Schedulers.

  

Despite having what his new peers deem as a great position in the afterlife, living in utopia with a merciless mentor and looking after strangers doesn't change the way Grant feels about losing out on his life with Tate. Refusing to accept his destiny, he finds a way to visit his lost love. However, keeping their connection alive and, most importantly, secret, will end up costing Grant more than he could ever imagine."

The Satellite by Lee Davidson is an interesting on the guardian angel mythos. The main character Grant is chosen to become a Satellite after he dies at a young age from cancer. When people become Satellites typically they lose all their memories of their former life. However, Grant is different and continues to remember every detail. This leads to a lot of problems for not only him, but his finance Tate. Throughout the course of the book we follow Grant as he struggles to adapt to his new role as a Satellite, help his "tragedy" (the one he is a guardian for), and his linger memories of Tate. 

Overall, this isn't a bad book. It was definitely a nice change to see a YA book with a male lead character. There aren't very many of them in books today. While this deals with the idea of guardian angels, although called a different name, it's not religious at all. In fact it makes it seem more like this is a typical job that a person can expect to be placed in once they die. The other characters are well thought out and provide the necessary details to help continue Grants story forward. There were a few times when it was a bit slow, and seemed to drag, but not many. I found it to be a bit confusing at the beginning as there is so much going on, but it gets easier to understand you get into the story. 

The reader is also left with a lot of questions about some of the characters and why they were treated the way they were. For example, Tate wasn't given a Satellite of her own until she was in an extremely bad state, while Grant was involved with his tragedy before anything traumatic even happened to him.  

I wasn't terribly fond of the ending. While the story line with Grant's tragedy was resolved, you're left hanging for the rest. This is the first book of a trilogy, and I understood that there would be somethings left unfinished, this just feels like it was stopped in the middle. 

If you're looking for a new and interesting twist on what happens to people once they die then this might be the book for you. It's good a start to what could be an excellent series. 

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. There was no monetary compensation.