by Lenore Appelhans
Hardcover, 281 pages
Published January 15th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN 1442441852 (ISBN13: 9781442441859)
Blurb
Three levels. Two loves. One choice. Debut novelist, Lenore Appelhans has written a thrilling otherworldly young adult novel about a place that exists between our world (Level 1) and what comes after life (Level 2).
'I pause to look around the hive - all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories … I've wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me. There has to be more to death than this.'
Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in a stark white afterlife limbo, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend … and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her.
Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing, and it seems she is the key. Suspended between heaven and earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves.
The Good
- The purgatory Ward. The premise is set up very well in the first half of the book. The purgatory “ward” concept is interesting and frightening. The heavy emphasis on social media concepts involving memories was particularly unique.
- The mythology/biblical references. The references to rivers of the underworld and how they’re used as plot devices in the story were very clever. I also liked the way biblical references were used to explain a lot of the back story.
The Bad
- Felicia. Felicia spends way too much time whining about how awful she is. This was even more frustrating due to the fact that we don’t even find out what she did that was so terrible until the very end of the book.
- The confusing second half. The first half of the book feels fairly well polished and the plot is interesting. The same can’t be said for the second half. The action scenes and decisions of the characters, while they are explained, are very confusing.
- The love triangle. I didn’t like Neil or Julian very much at all, and their interactions with Felicia didn’t feel very well-developed or believable. Also, why is every YA book published after “Twilight” required to have a love triangle?
- The “big reveal”. The big secret reveal at the end of the book was very predictable and, when Felicia finally gets with the program and puts the pieces together, it all felt very boring and anticlimactic.
Overall Rating
The first half of this book was so interesting, but it all fell apart in the second half. This is mostly due to lack of detail and confusing explanations. If the second half of the book had been edited and polished, I think I would have enjoyed this book much more, since the premise and world-building in the first half were very unique and intriguing.
