Grief in the Fourth Dimension
By: Jennifer Yu
Genre: YA
Number of Pages: 344
Published: July 16, 2024
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Dates Read: December 1, 2024 - December 4, 2024
Format: Library Book / Audiobook

Trigger Warnings: Depression, death, grief, racial and migrant issues, mention of suicide

Kenny Zhou and Caroline Davison were in two separate universes in school – Caroline’s is one of softball and family dinners; Kenny’s is one of textbooks and late-night shifts at his parents’ Chinese restaurant. But after their deaths, they find themselves as roommates in a mysterious white room with a large hi-def TV that shows their loved ones’ lives.

As Kenny and Caroline watch their loved one’s life continue on, they realize they can influence events through radio signals, psychic mediums, and electromagnetic interference. As they try to help their loved ones through their grief, Kenny and Caroline start to understand the depth of how their lives and deaths were connected and how to help their families.

Jennifer Yu did a wonderful job bringing up heavy topics without making them heavy. It was an easy read, that still brought up physics and philosophy in ways that made you think.

My only con of this is I wish we did get a little more about Kenny. I understand the reasoning why we didn’t in a way, but I felt like the focus of the novel was more on Caroline and her family’s healing.

<spoiler/> So this one is a little close to home in a way, especially after we find out how it was Kenny’s mom who killed Caroline and the court process her family was going through. The guy who hit and killed my dad got 5 days in jail and probation. Drugs were kind of a factor, but it of course, is complicated </spoiler>

Overall, this is a great read about grief and the passing of loved ones. It probably won’t be for everyone, and in all honesty, may make you cry if you’ve recently lost someone.