Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

(3/5 stars)

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.

I'm kind of all over the place with this book, my opinion is completely split. So for the sake of defining my opinion, I'll have to say that I'm pretty neutral when it comes to Afterworlds. I didn't like it but I didn't dislike it. 

What I liked: Without a doubt, this is one of the most interesting and original ideas for a novel. It's a book within a book (which is why it's so incredibly long at 600 pages) and it's always clear which storyline is which. Round of applause for that. I was fascinated by Lizzie's story, and it got my attention right away. It's a cool concept--psychopomps--and you don't see a lot of that in fiction. The world building in that specific story was way cool. Darcy's story had my attention because it's a subject that fascinates me: the publishing industry in NYC. Basically, that's my dream. So I loved all the parts that were set in New York and it was an accurate glimpse into the industry which I appreciated.

What I didn't like: I'm all for long books. They're my favorite. But this one dragged. It was almost a bit painful. Though, I'm pretty sure the reason it felt so slow was because of the two different story lines that were going on and how they never crossed or anything to keep your attention. I found myself getting really into Lizzie's story, but then it would switch to Darcy's pov and that annoyed me. There were just a lot of parts that made it hard to get through and it lost my interest quite a bit. 

So I don't know if I would really recommend it, only because I can't device for myself how I feel about it. There were parts that I loved and that were cool to me, but then all that would change with the next chapter. 

-Annie