⭐️6♾️ I’m hoping that ending means a possible sequel 👀 I’ll scream. For this to be Bonnie’s debut novel WOW. This book truly stuck a cord for me. Our story starts out with a heavenly drag queen named pearly who ends up losing their soulmate. After that They decide that they need to live life and learn to love themselves/find themselves navigating life without their partner. They end up in a position where they guide souls a true spirit guide and she’s in charge of three particular souls. A widow, a terminally ill college graduate , and a trans woman searching for purpose. During pearly’s mission it brings us to thunderbolt books & coffee the cutest Midwestern bookstore that’s haunted by a 1920 burlesque dancer. The catch is while guiding these three spirits, one of them end up falling for the owner of the bookstore who just so happens to be pearly’s ex reincarnated. She’s now tasked with choosing her own happiness over her duty as a spirit guide. This story had so many positive moments that had me crying and some laugh out loud things during this book so I was back-and-forth. It’s a beautiful story of empathy, love passed in present, queer identity, the messy trials of self discovery/ loving ourselves and found family. This is a beautiful book one of my favorites of this year.This needs to be on your TBR especially for pride month. I can’t recommend this enough. It changed me.

Release Date: 1st June 2025
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Queer Afterlife Level: 🌈🌈🌈👼🏾👼🏾

Pearly Gates by Bonnie Solomon is such a fun and electric book that follows the journey of an afterlife soul named Pearly Gates who was a drag queen in her previous life. She seems to have gotten the short end of the stick being assigned as a sanitation worker in their afterlife. After making a fool of herself at an awards ceremony, Pearly's soulmate Thunder leaves her saying that she's stagnating in their life together. Determined to win him back, she finds an opportunity falling into her lap to show off exactly how much she's grown. By taking the place of a burnout Spirit Guide who is in charge of three humans. Hannah Cohen-Jones (a grieving widow), Danielle Davis (a trans woman who is navigating her place in the world) and Sam Garcia (a dying college graduate). At the guidance of Pearly, they all find themselves meeting in a local cafe-bookstore, Thunderbolt Books & Coffee which is haunted by a 1920s burlesque dancer.

I enjoyed flying through the pages of this book because Pearly really takes you for a ride through this story! I especially loved the world building and the way everything within the novel was set up. In regards to the world building, it felt very unique and I could see various teachings and beliefs of both Buddhism (souls working towards Enlightenment) and Hinduism (reincarnation) imbued into this world. The vivid and colourful imagery of the characters and how the afterlife is constructed felt very reminiscent of a sci-fi/fantasy world. As a queer person, I really appreciated that while the souls had their own hierarchy, it was tied to finding Enlightenment. Whereas race, sexuality and gender were free game! Everyone had been various races and genders with different sexualities in each past life.

I also loved how Bonnie had set up the characters (Pearly, Thunder, the humans and antagonists). They all had distinct voices and journeys I found myself rooting for like Hannah finding love after death, Sam learning to live again and Danielle finding the courage to live her life as a woman. The story flowed easily even with all the moving parts of Pearly's growth while handling the humans on Earth and the antagonists coming for her. The time crunch really made us feel the urgency of what Pearly was doing.

I appreciated how all parts of the story started clicking into place in Act 2, it truly was a wonder to watch as the various Chekov's Guns were ready to be fired when the time was right.

I liked the way Bonnie was able to balance the different points of view while ensuring Pearly was the glue and anchor of the story. Pearly is the messiest character I have ever read. If there was ever a character to embody Main Character energy, it's Pearly Gates. Especially in Act 1, we constantly see her centring herself at the detriment of her afterlife. At the same time, you do find yourself rooting for her because she's the fun kind of messy and you do see the potential for her to be better.

The messaging of the book really lends itself to Pearly's growth. In this sense, it does remind me of The Good Place. As long as you have your community and are trying to do right by yourself and others, there's always a better version of you tomorrow. I found that especially heartwarming to see the found family that Pearly and her charges created together.

As much as I loved this book, I will say the romantic conflict did let me down a little. It was a very interesting love triangle and without giving anything away, it didn't end the way I hope. I see why Bonnie chose this ending for all of them and it did fit the story she was trying to tell. I'm just a huge romantic and am very invested in soulmates so personally not the ending I was hoping for.

That being said, this was such a lovely book that is very queer friendly, funny and thoughtful. I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun time, feel good novel or even looking to get out of a life funk. I also found it very inspirational on top of being a great comedy. Happy reading everyone and I hope you enjoy this novel as much as I did!

Thank you to Bonnie Solomon and Bonsol Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so much fun!! Definitely got some minor The Good Place vibes mixed with the energy and humor of Space Opera/Space Oddity. I love how queernormative the book was, and how empowering as well! This story had some heavy-hitting themes and struggles, and they were handled very well! You don’t expect a book with so much “yas queen” energy to be so heartwarming and have such self-help themes, but those elements were tied perfectly into a heart-filled, flamboyant little package.

“Young souls assume life gets easier as you evolve, and in some ways it does. But your choices only grow more complicated, in life and in the afterlife.”

I received an eARC of Pearly Gates by Bonnie Solomon in exchange for an honest review - here are my thoughts!

✨Pearly Gates isn’t thriving in the afterlife, the drag queen not finding satisfaction in her position as a sanitation worker. Still, she felt like she was floating along well enough - until her soulmate leaves her, quoting her stagnation as why. Unable to bear the idea of her mundane afterlife without her soulmate, Pearly hatches a scheme to take over for a burnt out spirit guide. Can Pearly guide a young widow, a terminally ill college grad, a 1920s burlesque ghost, and a trans woman searching for purpose to the lives that will fulfill them or will Pearly’s own desires get in the way? ✨

The description of Pearly Gates pulled me in immediately, so I was super excited to dive into this book, but overall I was left a bit disappointed. This book wasn’t bad by any means, but I did feel like there were some missed opportunities. Spoilers from here on out, so buckle in.

First off, let’s talk about my girl Pearly. This whole book was supposed to be about Pearly growing and learning and while we were told this happened, I’m not sure that I felt it. Pearly admitted that she made plenty of mistakes while guiding her charges which is good - that is the first step to growth, but like…I don’t think she’s there yet.

I guess I’m struggling with Pearly being rewarded by becoming a guide at the end of this book. While I do think she’s starting to realize the error of some of her ways, I do fear that she would still be too heavy handed with her charges. I think perhaps her teaming up with another guide to start discussing more direct ways to assist without being overbearing or controlling would’ve been a much better outcome, and would’ve better reflected Pearly acknowledging her own growth while understanding she still has a long way to go.

Another thing that bothered me in this book was “dumb Pearly”. Creating another sentient being by removing some of your own essence or whatever is a dubious idea at best, and when doing it to make someone work for you it’s…like inherently wrong. I’m glad that by the end of the book “dumb Pearly” was basically told she’s a person and because of that she should get her own name, but I feel that Pearly should’ve spent some more time considering what she’d done here.

Gosh, it sounds like I hated this book but I promise I didn’t. Let’s talk about something that I LOVED, specifically Pearly and Thunder’s relationship. Getting to see glimpses of their lives together throughout history, knowing that they loved each other so much, I found it really powerful that at the end of the story they still aren’t together. Choosing to have Thunder’s current reincarnation in a relationship with one of Pearly’s charges was a difficult twist to read, and watching Pearly struggle with that herself was when she felt the most real because it was really, really messy. I’m glad there wasn’t a picture perfect ending where some magical twist led to two versions of Thunder, one for Pearly and one for her charge. It left me with a lot of thoughts about “soulmates” and how finding one another in the next life might not always be the best.

Another thing I loved in this book was just how queer it was. Clearly when you’ve got a drag queen as your main character you’re in for some queer content, but I felt the queer identities in this book were one of its real strengths. From a trans woman finding her confidence and safe place to a young widow questioning her sexuality to a nonbinary business owner standing up for their queer staff it was good content all around.

Wow I had a lot to say about this one. Overall, Pearly Gates was a very interesting concept that I felt could’ve been more successful. I do plan on keeping an eye out for more from this author in the future and am glad I picked this one up, even if it’s not a new fave.

A deceased drag queen working a deadbeat job in the afterlife, living on Lightbody Lane, and soul searching to prove that’s she’s worthy of the love she yearns. How can you top that? Her name is Pearlie Gates! How adorable and original! The number of times I laughed out loud while reading this cozy fantasy is innumerable. It kept me giggling!

The movie that played in my mind as I read this book was energizing and colorful with lots glitter and funny characters at every turn. All the characters were relatable and I could not get enough of them. They were so fun! Bonnie Solomon did a FABULOUS job writing this tale. The descriptions she penned made me feel like I was thoroughly entrenched in their world and I enjoyed every second! The storyline and theme were both so original. I didn’t quite know what to think when I started but it didn’t take me long to be hooked and invested.

I would recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for a cozy read with all the feels. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you Bonnie Solomon and NetGalley for the e-ARC. This was a great read!

Brief overview:

After her soulmate decides to leave her, Pearly Gates decides to prove herself as not just any typical soul, but one worthy of being a guide to lost souls on earth. To do this, Pearly makes a deal to fill in for a guide while he takes a much needed vacation. Breaking a few rules along the way, Pearly redefines what it means to be a guide and a friend.

My thoughts:
Pearly Gates was such a fun read! It was like RuPauls Drag Race contestants on The Good Place. I loved it! The flashbacks to past lives throughout the story add a depth to Pearly's character and her choices related to Thunder and her need to prove herself.

While there were a lot of 2020s references and lingo that may put some readers off, and a few interesting grammar and writing style choices, overall it was a really good time. 3.75 stars!

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

have to say i wasnt that struck on pearly shes no clarence... as a guardian angel thats for sure....

so i really struggled with this book even though there was some entertaining times during the read.... it just wasnt for me

I laughed and cried so much while reading this. This story is so heart-felt and beautiful and deep while also being very funny.

Pearly Gates is a soul who isn't content with her position in heaven. When her Soulmate Thunder breaks up with her and severs their soul connection, Pearly feels like she needs to do something to prove to herself and everyone that she's suited for soul guide work. She meets Malcom in a bar in purgatory and convinces him to take a vacation and let her take over his job in the mean time. She becomes the charge for Hannah, a woman who has been mourning her husband for years and can't seem to move on, Danielle, who struggles with gender dysphoria and finding a way to be herself in the world, and Sam who is dying and rather spend his last days at home alone playing MarioKart. But Pearly realizes the person making a connection with one of her charges is her former soulmate reincarnated and she struggles with the choices she has to make for herself and her charges.


I loved reading this book, it was so beautifully written and vivid. I would highly recommend this book to nearly everyone I know. It's fantastic.

This is an incredible LGBTQ cozy fantasy story involving the afterlife, reincarnation, friendship, found family & soulmates.
We also have trans rep, nonbinary rep, & drag rep in this book & i believe all of the topics were written about beautifully! Pearly will truly stick with me forever, her big heart throughout her struggles absolutely shines and I will never forget her! If you’ve already made your Pride Month TBR this book would be the PERFECT FALL READ. it is very much the feelings of cozy fall, Halloween, pumpkin spice & yummy pastries wrapped up in a book. I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC from NetGalley for Pearly Gates & I am so glad that the cover caught my eye because this book will definitely be my new favorite fall reread for the rest of time!! Thanks again NetGalley for the arc!

this book struck me down. struck me down good. the name. the cover. it all sweeps in to make me feel so overwhelmed with love for this book and the characters within it. and what a character we are met with as our lead.
i have honestly never read anything quite like it. i dont know how to describe it. its like coming to a whole new world, a whole new genre no one saw coming. but a world and book and author we all most definitely need.
Pearly gates is your best ever heavenly drag queen. her soul mate has left her though. and she needs to win him back.
and what comes next is both too big for our living world but all so relatable to our living world. is tough and tender. its soft and sublime. its kind and its emotional. and these are all the things you can read into our Pearl herself. and yes, im now calling her "our" Pearl. for that is what she is. forever more taken under our wings and kept there. i love this Queen!
the humour and clever writing is again beyond what i saw coming and so needed. its placed throughout the book so you are indeed either randomly smiling or actually laughing out loud.
the characters Pearl meets along her way are also worthy of note.
please read this book. and send it into schools and book clubs all over so more people can get comfort and goodness from it.

This may be a debut novel, but you can tell that the author is not new to writing professionally. What a fun, emotional, and unique experience. The blurb hooked me immediately - a deceased drag queen has the worst job in the afterlife: a cosmic sanitation worker. And then her soulmate leaves her! I had to know what happened next. Loved the found family aspect; and I definitely cried.

I had the privilege of reading this early thanks to NetGalley and I’m so grateful I got to experience this story. From the first few pages it felt heartwarming and even relatable, despite the book’s magical and other worldly aspects. This was such a unique story to explain the topic of reincarnation, past lives, and soul searching with a modern twist.

Everything from the setting, to the characters, I was able to picture so vividly in my head. My main take away from this story was its message when it comes to soul searching. I think Pearly Gates does an exceptional job at depicting these fantastical and whimsical aspects of world building while still being relatable. Relatable in a sense that we all reflect on our own lives, our own accomplishments, wants, what-ifs, and maybe even regrets. We’re all put on a level playing field when we’re challenged with our own mortality and the subsequent thoughts that come afterwards.

There were some moments where I thought the story dragged just a smidge, but not anything that would deter me from rereading or recommending this book to others. If anything, I want more Pearly!! I would love to read more of Pearly’s experiences and escapades with other souls as a spirit guide, or even her own experiences of past lives and her own reincarnation. This book is for those who love a cozy fantasy and a found family trope!

With its use of whimsical prose and humor, Pearly Gates examines characters from different walks of life and tells the story of their time with a spirit guide (who happens to be a fabulous drag queen with an over the top personality and also feels like she’s at a standstill). It lets us know that really none of us have our lives together, even intergalactic celestial beings, and that’s perfectly okay.

I loved this book quite a lot, the characters were incredibly dynamic and the world was so colorful that I wanted to live in it! I wanted to physically meet every single character.

The story is very well-written and has enough facets to not be boring. The Pearly/Thunder dynamic was unique but somehow, so familiar in reflection to my actual love life. The found family aspect is more than you could hope for.

The only part I found distasteful was about 25% in, there was a Harry Potter reference. For a book and author that seem so inclusive, it really rubbed me the wrong way to include anything regarding that series. Without that reference, this would have been a 5 star book for me.

Thank you Bonsol Press and Netgalley for this ARC.

I absolutely adored this book – the world building, the pacing, the character development was phenomenal.

“Pearly Gates” is the debut novel from Bonnie Solomon about a deceased drag queen named Pearly Gates, who hates her job in the afterlife as a cosmic sanitation worker. In a bit of an after-life crisis after her soulmate leaves her, she makes a deal with a burnt-out spirit guide to take over his caseload in an effort to prove herself worthy of a new job.

In Pearly’s journey, we meet her charges, Hannah, Danielle, and Sam, and also Charlie, who Pearly quickly realizes is her reincarnated soulmate. Pearly navigates her new role as a spirit guide of three souls with different problems while fighting her internal battle of watching her former soulmate fall for one of her charges.

This book was warm and heartfelt and made me laugh and cry. “Pearly Gates” is the perfect cozy fantasy with queer characters, found family, and unique world. I look forward to what comes next from Bonnie Solomon. Thank you NetGalley and Bonsol Press, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

☁️👻 PEARLY GATES by Bonnie Solomon 👻☁️

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pearly Gates, a d e a d drag queen is a cosmic sanitation worker in the afterlife, and hasn’t been able to move up. Her soulmate thinks she’s incapable of growth and leaves her, and she’s determined to prove him wrong and win him back. She convinces a burnt out spirit guide to hand her his caseload, and this mission takes her to Thunderbolt Books & Coffee, a coffee shop in the Midwest. She starts guiding a young widow, a terminally ill young adult, and a struggling trans woman, and works her magic… and realizes that the cafe’s owner is her soulmate reincarnated. When one of the people she’s guiding falls for the owner, she has to decide what matters most to her.

This book was pure queer joy and was so so fun. Even though some heavy topics were talked about, the world of this book felt so lighthearted, and it was such a joy to read. I do feel like at times a lot was going on, and I wish there was more information about the afterlife and how things worked with the fantasy aspect of this book, but I had a great time reading it. The characters were loveable, the story felt warm and familiar, and everyone had a satisfying journey.

Read this if you like:
- Pixar’s Soul
- Drag Race
- queer joy

Vibes: 👻👑💋🪩👠🍾☁️

Song that matches the vibe: Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan

Full review including content warnings on my StoryGraph.

Pearly Gates is out TODAY - May 19, 2025! Thank you NetGalley, Bonnie Solomon, and Bonsol Press for the eARC. This eARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

I had to dry out before I could write this review. Bonnie, what a debut! First of all, yes capital B in Black woman! Love that for us. Pearly Gates is goofy, silly, sincere, irreverent, and just all around fun! I wish I hadn’t put this book off as long as I did, but I know I’ll reread it.

I took away so many quotes from it and I’m even examining my own life with a completely different lens. The concept of past lives has always fascinated me, but this book took it to an entirely new level.

You ever read a book and wish you could read it again for the first time? That’s Pearly Gates for me. I want to laugh and commiserate and sob the way I did for two days, all over again.

Since I can’t re-live this initial read, let me just say I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews along with NetGalley and this is my honest review. 5 stars and a death drop that I most certainly cannot do in this life, but maybe the next. So much for being a cat in another life lol.

This book is for everyone who wishes their fairy godmother was a drag queen. In a former life, Pearly Gates was a drag preformer. Now, working for the spirit sanitation department, she's still got sass, class, and a whole lot of ass. Unfortunately, the higher-ups don't see Pearly as the star that she is, so she "bends" the rules and takes a job as a spirit guide. The rules keep on bending as Pearly tries to help her human charges, save a coffee shop run by her reincarnated ex-soulmate, and maybe find herself along the way. Get ready for a great show because Pearly Gates is going to death drop into your heart!

Pearly Gates was such a fun and charming read! It’s got that cozy fantasy vibe, with a bunch of quirky characters stumbling through a chaotic life AND afterlife. Found family, soulmates, and lots of heart (plus some personal growth along the way).
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

When Im telling you this put me into my feels I wasn't lying!!! A heart warming and cozy book with several themes of queer identity, found families and overall personal growth not only for our main character but also her "children".

First of all... what hooked me from the beginning was obviously this was written in the POV of a drag queen! EPIC and loved every single second of it! What a fun book as we follow Pearly and her journey as she aids in 3 different lives almost as a spirit guide. I truly was rooting for everyone's success and although there was several tear jerkers moments throughout the book I couldn't put it down.

Pearly... you warmed my heart and I love you! Such a cute and cozy book to pick up.

funny, well written, feel good story with some very fun characters and amazing world building. i think it's a fantastic novel. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.