Afterworlds
Publication Date: September 2014
Hardcover,
599 pages, Simon & Schuster
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Paranormal
Darcy Patel has put college and
everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New
York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right
decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling
writers who take her under their wings…
Told in alternating chapters is
Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the
'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place
between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that
of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories
need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her
special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about
most.
My Review
Teenage authors, terrorist attacks, and reimagined Indian
religions? Sounds like the start of a bad joke. But in the case of Scott
Westerfeld’s Afterworlds, the joke
wasn’t actually too bad. Of course it wasn’t amazing either.
We start off with Darcy,
a recently graduated from high school, almost published author who wants to
move to the Big Apple. Her experience is cute, and contemporary, and
oh-so-sweet. THEN, we move on to Lizzie. Lizzie’s just survived a terrorist
attack at an airport by channeling her inner dog—in other words, she played
dead. And now, Lizzie can see dead people. Of course, her entire life is being
manipulated by the previously mentioned almost published author. Aww snap!
The
dual point of view was unique and fun. It was weird, in a good way, to go from
a realistic story of a teenage girl in NYC, to a teenage girl running around
with ghosts on her heels. Sadly, Darcy’s story is much more believable, and that’s
not just because Lizzie lives with ghosts and Indian spirits running amok.
Instead it’s because Darcy has such real emotions. She’s curious and fretful
and reminiscent of every teenager who is out on their own for the first time.
Whereas the “afterworld” and its protagonist, and even antagonists, left a lot
of character and relationship development to be desired. And I just want to say that I'm in love with the idea of Yamaraj's character, not so much how he was actually written.
Plus, for a book that
sold for $150,000 to a publishing house,—like Darcy’s book Afterworlds (Not the book I’m writing a review on, but the book
Darcy actually wrote that’s narrated by Lizzie. I know, the similar titles are
confusing aren’t they?)— it better be a danged good book. The pretend Afterworlds just wasn’t $150,000-level
good.
Incidentally, Scott Westerfeld did a marvelous job of showing how
unglamorous the publishing industry can sometimes be. I also heard he based a
lot of his characters off of his famous author friends. *cough* John Green
*cough* The big book Afterworlds (a.k.a.
not the one written by Darcy) is a fantastic learning experience when it comes
to the writing world. However, I failed to see the oh-my-gosh-I-love-Westerfeld’s-writing
appeal. It was good, not squeal-worthy.
*Note: I
received a copy of this book to review from Book Review Board of Missouri. This
in no way altered my opinion/review.
