- Afterworlds is delivered in two parts and we navigate between them. The first is that of Darcy Patel a seventeen-year-old writer who puts of college to go to New York after landing a publishing deal for her novel Afterworlds. Can you see the appeal? Life as a writer in the Big Apple. Yep, I was excited and curious. The second part is Darcy’s novel Afterworlds. Afterworld is a suspenseful paranormal thriller that takes place in the world between the living and the dead. Creep-tastic right?
- Darcy was genuinely portrayed, despite having written a novel in 30 days and selling it to a publisher. *every writers dream* Westerfeld made her experiences both as new writer and those of a young woman starting out in the big city feel surreal. Her feelings and insecurities are those I am sure every new writer feels.
- In Afterworlds Darcy’s story, we get essentially a ghost story, with some insta-love. I thought some of the concepts; especially the twisted paranormal aspects were interesting. Westerfeld introduced some new paranormal characters in this land of the dead. I personally thought the ghost Lizzie befriends in her home was the most interesting character in the entire book.
- Scott Westerfield is talented, and brought the worlds to life. Even though I did not connect with this tale, I will gladly try another work by him.
Decaffeinated Aspects:
- While both stories had aspects that appealed to me, and I certainly had no trouble, finishing the novel I never became caught up in the story. I love when I slip into the world, connect with the characters and lose track of time. Sadly, I never achieved that nirvana with Afterworlds. When I finished I scratched my head and questioned, “What was the point?”
- The tale transitions well between stories and if I had to choose between the two, Afterworlds with Lizzie was far more interesting. Which surprises me because it took me a long time to connect with Lizzie.
- We get an LGBT romance in NY with Darcy, but because of the two stories, we never really get a chance to connect with Darcy and her love interest. The romance in Darcy’s novel Afterworlds was complete insta-love and never fully developed.
Audio CD received from publisher and full review posted on blog.This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer