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2.97 AVERAGE
2.97 AVERAGE
What it's about: Level 2 is the place that exists after we die. A level where memories can be continually accessed, scored and even rented out to others. But Level 2 isn't all that is seems, and when a boy from Felicia's past arrives, it shakes up everything she thought she knew.
What I thought: Level 2 is a wonderful paranormal dystopian novel, with a wonderful twist into what life after death is like. Not only does everyone have their own white pod to access their memories, they are also used as a currency, which isn't overly looked at, but gave this world a new and exciting feel. I love reading dystopians (which this kind of is and kind of isn't) and discovering the new and different worlds the author has created. Lenore Appelhans has created a wonderful novel in Level 2, giving up action, intrigue and best of all romance. Topped with mystery and surprises, it's like a birthday cake that can't really disappoint.
Level 2 is a great debut for Lenore Appelhans and I am super interested to see where Level 3 is going to go.
The Good: Such a wonderful fresh premise gave all the expectations and more.
The Bad: While some might love Felicia and her obsession with Neil, I however did not. His goodness was way too over the top for me and made me want to gag most of the time. Julian was also disregarded as bad bad bad the entire book and I felt like we didn't get a proper look at him. I also felt she didn't really choose between 'two loves' - it was always Neil.
Rating: 4 Bookstacks
What I thought: Level 2 is a wonderful paranormal dystopian novel, with a wonderful twist into what life after death is like. Not only does everyone have their own white pod to access their memories, they are also used as a currency, which isn't overly looked at, but gave this world a new and exciting feel. I love reading dystopians (which this kind of is and kind of isn't) and discovering the new and different worlds the author has created. Lenore Appelhans has created a wonderful novel in Level 2, giving up action, intrigue and best of all romance. Topped with mystery and surprises, it's like a birthday cake that can't really disappoint.
Level 2 is a great debut for Lenore Appelhans and I am super interested to see where Level 3 is going to go.
The Good: Such a wonderful fresh premise gave all the expectations and more.
The Bad: While some might love Felicia and her obsession with Neil, I however did not. His goodness was way too over the top for me and made me want to gag most of the time. Julian was also disregarded as bad bad bad the entire book and I felt like we didn't get a proper look at him. I also felt she didn't really choose between 'two loves' - it was always Neil.
Rating: 4 Bookstacks
It seems that books of the afterlife are my recent theme. With The Memory of After (previously known as Level 2 ), we're given a new look into "life" after dying.
Felicia Ward is the protagonist in this story. She's been dead for what seems like an eternity. She's in Level 2, the place where people who aren't ready to move on stay. She's been trapped there since the day of her death, and frankly, she's still not ready to move on. Not when she can still revisit memories of her life on earth; especially memories of her beloved Neil, the boy she left behind. When mysterious and alluring Julian comes back into her "non-life", she discovers that there's more to Level 2 than she expected. Now Felicia is caught in a centuries old war that may threaten not only her life, but the lives of all the people she cares about as well. Felicia may just be the key to saving everyone, but can she be powerful enough to overthrow the whole system?
Okay, so when I started this book, I had not read the synopsis. I had absolutely no idea that it was about angels. When I hear the word "angels" I immediately think of Becca Fitzpatrick or Lauren Kate. This story is completely different from that. It's a new twist to the angel genre. I love how completely original the storyline is. The way that the author could weave together a whole story, plus also give us great backstory with flashbacks from Felicia's past was great. I found that there was never a moment where the storylines seemed too "forced" for me.
I also enjoyed the fact that there were many twists and turns. I really can't tell you how much they shocked me. This book wasn't predictable at all (except in one detail, but I'll leave that up to you). My head was still reeling from all the twists.
The only aspect that I didn't like, was Felicia's overall motivations. Felicia's need to be the "hero" of the story, mostly ended up in her making rash and impulsive decisions. Decisions that were stupid, at times. Also, I find that Felicia was too "gloomy" whenever we read about her past. Felicia is a great protagonist, but sometimes we couldn't see it.
I find that with such a great storyline, the characters would have been developed better, but they weren't. The characters were dull in comparison with the story.
Overall, although the characters weren't developed as well as the story, this is a book that you should definitely pick up. It will leave you wanting for more after turning the last page.
4 stars.
"Is heaven boring? Are we just going to sing and listen to angels strum harps all day, every day for the rest of eternity?"
Felicia Ward is the protagonist in this story. She's been dead for what seems like an eternity. She's in Level 2, the place where people who aren't ready to move on stay. She's been trapped there since the day of her death, and frankly, she's still not ready to move on. Not when she can still revisit memories of her life on earth; especially memories of her beloved Neil, the boy she left behind. When mysterious and alluring Julian comes back into her "non-life", she discovers that there's more to Level 2 than she expected. Now Felicia is caught in a centuries old war that may threaten not only her life, but the lives of all the people she cares about as well. Felicia may just be the key to saving everyone, but can she be powerful enough to overthrow the whole system?
Okay, so when I started this book, I had not read the synopsis. I had absolutely no idea that it was about angels. When I hear the word "angels" I immediately think of Becca Fitzpatrick or Lauren Kate. This story is completely different from that. It's a new twist to the angel genre. I love how completely original the storyline is. The way that the author could weave together a whole story, plus also give us great backstory with flashbacks from Felicia's past was great. I found that there was never a moment where the storylines seemed too "forced" for me.
I also enjoyed the fact that there were many twists and turns. I really can't tell you how much they shocked me. This book wasn't predictable at all (except in one detail, but I'll leave that up to you). My head was still reeling from all the twists.
The only aspect that I didn't like, was Felicia's overall motivations. Felicia's need to be the "hero" of the story, mostly ended up in her making rash and impulsive decisions. Decisions that were stupid, at times. Also, I find that Felicia was too "gloomy" whenever we read about her past. Felicia is a great protagonist, but sometimes we couldn't see it.
I find that with such a great storyline, the characters would have been developed better, but they weren't. The characters were dull in comparison with the story.
Overall, although the characters weren't developed as well as the story, this is a book that you should definitely pick up. It will leave you wanting for more after turning the last page.
4 stars.
very....short. more later.
Okay, see...here's the thing. This was quite a strange read for me. Not just because it had an unusual plot or anything, either. It was just so...
Perhaps I should summarize briefly (I'll try anyway) and maybe then I'll be able to better document my feelings about it. Right. Okay. I'm going in.
Felicia...Ward is the daughter of two parents whom travel a lot. Her mother works for the U.S. government and her father is a renowned musician. Consequentially, Felicia has always traveled all over. Her best friend Autumn is also in the same situation. After meeting Julian in Germany, a boy that Autumn likes as well, Felicia is part of their love triangle and ends their friendship once Autumn finds out. Then, after a number of other tumultuous events, she moves in with her grandmother in Ohio and meets Neil. Her life seems to be getting back on the right track until the fateful day of her death. Then she is transported to Level 2, the middle ground between heaven and hell (not perguatory, guys). There, people whom have died in the same time frame, are all grouped together to view their memories of Earth. Felicia happily goes along with this for what feels like years until Julian busts into her pod with a mission: to defeat the Morati, a rouge angel group. Yay!
Oh...Felicia hates Julian for abandonning her.
Okay okay that was not brief and I knew it wouldn't be so...future self, don't roll your eyes at me for writing a long summary. I warned you.
Now, the sequence that I typed above was not how it was in the book. The novel starts off in Level 2 and Felicia's past is detailed through her time in her pod, viewing her memories. This was cute at first, but eventually it seemed like a bit of a copout and distracted from the present. The past was actually more interesting to me because the whole Level 2 just seemed so far fetched...
I am not sure the author did an entirely good job setting up the whole Level 2 thing. She explained okay but then...it was like everyone just accepted that this was the way things were and no one seemed surprised that there were rouge angels or that there even is a hell or anything. It was very strange.
Then there were all these plot twists thrown in at the end (like, the last ten pages) and it seemed quite rushed. I did not like how the author pitty patted around the subject of Felicia's death or her relationship with Julian and Neil and everything was out of order. I know she was trying to be realistic but it just made things confusing.
While I appreciate the unique story line and all, I am not exactly sure what a sequel would do for this. To me, Felicia's past and how it affected her was the most interesting part. I get the feeling that that there will be no more reminescing and we'll be left to deal with the lame Morati. Aw well.
Okay, see...here's the thing. This was quite a strange read for me. Not just because it had an unusual plot or anything, either. It was just so...
Perhaps I should summarize briefly (I'll try anyway) and maybe then I'll be able to better document my feelings about it. Right. Okay. I'm going in.
Felicia...Ward is the daughter of two parents whom travel a lot. Her mother works for the U.S. government and her father is a renowned musician. Consequentially, Felicia has always traveled all over. Her best friend Autumn is also in the same situation. After meeting Julian in Germany, a boy that Autumn likes as well, Felicia is part of their love triangle and ends their friendship once Autumn finds out. Then, after a number of other tumultuous events, she moves in with her grandmother in Ohio and meets Neil. Her life seems to be getting back on the right track until the fateful day of her death. Then she is transported to Level 2, the middle ground between heaven and hell (not perguatory, guys). There, people whom have died in the same time frame, are all grouped together to view their memories of Earth. Felicia happily goes along with this for what feels like years until Julian busts into her pod with a mission: to defeat the Morati, a rouge angel group. Yay!
Oh...Felicia hates Julian for abandonning her.
Okay okay that was not brief and I knew it wouldn't be so...future self, don't roll your eyes at me for writing a long summary. I warned you.
Now, the sequence that I typed above was not how it was in the book. The novel starts off in Level 2 and Felicia's past is detailed through her time in her pod, viewing her memories. This was cute at first, but eventually it seemed like a bit of a copout and distracted from the present. The past was actually more interesting to me because the whole Level 2 just seemed so far fetched...
I am not sure the author did an entirely good job setting up the whole Level 2 thing. She explained okay but then...it was like everyone just accepted that this was the way things were and no one seemed surprised that there were rouge angels or that there even is a hell or anything. It was very strange.
Then there were all these plot twists thrown in at the end (like, the last ten pages) and it seemed quite rushed. I did not like how the author pitty patted around the subject of Felicia's death or her relationship with Julian and Neil and everything was out of order. I know she was trying to be realistic but it just made things confusing.
While I appreciate the unique story line and all, I am not exactly sure what a sequel would do for this. To me, Felicia's past and how it affected her was the most interesting part. I get the feeling that
Spoiler
with the pods destroyed and all
_________________________________
This review and more at Readers In Wonderland
_________________________________
Full formatting of this review shows on the blog. ^
If you have read in my review of SPLINTERED, then you know I love originality-especially in YA. While LEVEL 2 brings this, it falls short in other categories, leaving much to be desired. Its major downfall was the concept of memories, which are basically cleverly designed flashbacks.
Let me give you a little background here. Felicia, our protag, is trapped in Level 2. "Limbo," if you will. How did she die? Well you'll find that out soon! By soon, I mean the end. Yep! You find out what she has been talking about almost nonstop in the book and in her memories literally ten pages to the end. Anyway, a boy she knows from her past suddenly appears, and Felicia is about to find out just how much of the afterlife was hidden from her.
Since I addressed it first, let's talk about the flashbacks memories. I hate them. Blunt, sorry, but true. Especially when they are not even in order. Not only am I going into the novel with no knowledge (and slowly-so slowly-gain more) but I have to try to figure out if one memory happened before the other and it's just a mess. Frustrating, to say the least.
Religion plays a relatively substantial role in LEVEL 2, in a hidden sort of way. There is talk about God, angels, Church, fallen angels, and Heaven. I am a Catholic, and even I thought it had a bit too much. A few of the flashbacks take place in Church and I found myself skimming those pages. There is a way to talk about such issues and I did not feel this was it.
The ending was tied up, even pretty much hinting that it was done, with no real plot holes or room for expansion. I felt it was thrown together, though. The conflict was solved in a ridiculously fast pace-and not in a good way.
Felicia is forgettable, she's not really anything special except for the fact we are told she is special. I'm still not quite sure why she was so important to everyone.
As I am content (if you could say that) with the ending, I will not be reading the sequel. Three stars because it was semi-entertaining and unique.
This review and more at Readers In Wonderland
_________________________________
Full formatting of this review shows on the blog. ^
If you have read in my review of SPLINTERED, then you know I love originality-especially in YA. While LEVEL 2 brings this, it falls short in other categories, leaving much to be desired. Its major downfall was the concept of memories, which are basically cleverly designed flashbacks.
Let me give you a little background here. Felicia, our protag, is trapped in Level 2. "Limbo," if you will. How did she die? Well you'll find that out soon! By soon, I mean the end. Yep! You find out what she has been talking about almost nonstop in the book and in her memories literally ten pages to the end. Anyway, a boy she knows from her past suddenly appears, and Felicia is about to find out just how much of the afterlife was hidden from her.
Since I addressed it first, let's talk about the flashbacks memories. I hate them. Blunt, sorry, but true. Especially when they are not even in order. Not only am I going into the novel with no knowledge (and slowly-so slowly-gain more) but I have to try to figure out if one memory happened before the other and it's just a mess. Frustrating, to say the least.
Religion plays a relatively substantial role in LEVEL 2, in a hidden sort of way. There is talk about God, angels, Church, fallen angels, and Heaven. I am a Catholic, and even I thought it had a bit too much. A few of the flashbacks take place in Church and I found myself skimming those pages. There is a way to talk about such issues and I did not feel this was it.
The ending was tied up, even pretty much hinting that it was done, with no real plot holes or room for expansion. I felt it was thrown together, though. The conflict was solved in a ridiculously fast pace-and not in a good way.
Felicia is forgettable, she's not really anything special except for the fact we are told she is special. I'm still not quite sure why she was so important to everyone.
As I am content (if you could say that) with the ending, I will not be reading the sequel. Three stars because it was semi-entertaining and unique.
Ugg - really had no idea what was going on for most of the book and the ending didn't help clear things up.
This one was more like a 3.5. I the idea and concept is very cool and interesting. However I really dont like any kind of love triangle, even as mild as this one was. I was also dissapointed with the last fifty pages. I felt it went way too fast like the author either hadn't planned it out in detail or she ran out of pages. I also wanted to slap Julian by the end bc you couldn't believe a thing he said. I think there is a lot of potential, just needs more work
I really don't know what to think about Level 2. I was super-excited about it but having read it...I just don't know.
Here's what I liked: It's definitely an interesting take on the afterlife, and I like the idea of different levels and only being able to move past level 2 when you've made peace with everything's that happened in your life. I liked how angels were involved, so it's also gives a dystopic novel a paranormal twist, which really is an interesting combination for me.
There's a lot about Felicia that I found interesting. How she died, her life on earth, all of the places she lived because of her mom's job...her relationships with Neil and Julian. We see a lot of her memories, and I feel like there's a lot more to her than what we get to see. And since she's dead, we see things as she remembers them, which is something I liked too. Memories really can be a strange thing.
But while there are things I liked and were intrigued by, I just couldn't completely connect with the book, the characters or what was happening.
It was a lot more philosophical than I was expecting, and which isn't a bad. Actually, it was nice to see a different take on the afterlife. But there's just something about it that I just didn't care about, and I'm not completely sure what it is. I mean, we do see Felicia's memories and how some of them connect with what's currently going on in Level 2. And I liked her memories of Neil, because he is what is connecting her to Earth and one reason why she can't move on.
I so wished I was more into the book, and could connect with it a little more. Just when something's revealed, you're off to the next big reveal, and I never felt like things had a chance to sink in, because things kept happening. I think...I just didn't find Level 2 as a setting particularly interesting. Sure, it's the afterlife and I totally get the whole viewing memories until you're ready to move on part of it and PARTS of level 2 itself were fascinating...but at the same time, something about it didn't quite work for me. While it doesn't need a lot of explanation- which we do get in the book- I kind of wanted more details about Level 2 as an in-between. It's not that what we learn wasn't enough, because it was. It might just be me, because I was expecting something slightly different.
Final Thoughts: I liked parts of Level 2, but I just couldn't completely connect with it. I liked seeing Felicia slowly come to accept that she's made mistakes and can't change and is finally able to move on. Overall, though, Level 2 was just okay for me, so I give it 2 stars.
Here's what I liked: It's definitely an interesting take on the afterlife, and I like the idea of different levels and only being able to move past level 2 when you've made peace with everything's that happened in your life. I liked how angels were involved, so it's also gives a dystopic novel a paranormal twist, which really is an interesting combination for me.
There's a lot about Felicia that I found interesting. How she died, her life on earth, all of the places she lived because of her mom's job...her relationships with Neil and Julian. We see a lot of her memories, and I feel like there's a lot more to her than what we get to see. And since she's dead, we see things as she remembers them, which is something I liked too. Memories really can be a strange thing.
But while there are things I liked and were intrigued by, I just couldn't completely connect with the book, the characters or what was happening.
It was a lot more philosophical than I was expecting, and which isn't a bad. Actually, it was nice to see a different take on the afterlife. But there's just something about it that I just didn't care about, and I'm not completely sure what it is. I mean, we do see Felicia's memories and how some of them connect with what's currently going on in Level 2. And I liked her memories of Neil, because he is what is connecting her to Earth and one reason why she can't move on.
I so wished I was more into the book, and could connect with it a little more. Just when something's revealed, you're off to the next big reveal, and I never felt like things had a chance to sink in, because things kept happening. I think...I just didn't find Level 2 as a setting particularly interesting. Sure, it's the afterlife and I totally get the whole viewing memories until you're ready to move on part of it and PARTS of level 2 itself were fascinating...but at the same time, something about it didn't quite work for me. While it doesn't need a lot of explanation- which we do get in the book- I kind of wanted more details about Level 2 as an in-between. It's not that what we learn wasn't enough, because it was. It might just be me, because I was expecting something slightly different.
Final Thoughts: I liked parts of Level 2, but I just couldn't completely connect with it. I liked seeing Felicia slowly come to accept that she's made mistakes and can't change and is finally able to move on. Overall, though, Level 2 was just okay for me, so I give it 2 stars.
When I saw the summary for Level 2 back in early December, my reaction went something like this: “Yes! I have to have this ASAP! This is such a me book! Why has no one put this book in my hands yet? So, when is the release date? Still over a month away? How ever can I make it that long?”. As you might imagine, Level 2 quickly became one of the top books I was looking forward to this year, so I got a hold of it as soon as I could, and I’m so glad I did.
I was really hoping this would be a five star book, but it didn’t quite make it to that point. There were a few things I had issues with, so I’ll get those out of the way before I squeal over all the parts I did love. First, Felicia, our main character, doesn’t think highly of herself, and this gets quite annoying after a while. Her thoughts about her past seem to be completely self-deprecating and on the lines of “I’m the worst person ever!”. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Felicia’s made plenty of mistakes, including some pretty major ones, but her constant hatred of herself seems a little overboard and is hard to read after a bit. This gets better towards the end.
My final complaint is that while the book does suck you in, it takes awhile for the main plot to actually start. Most of the beginning is spent in Felicia’s memories. These become necessary to the plot later on, but when it’s not clear how, it seems a bit unnecessary to spend so much time reliving some of Felicia’s experiences. Once the plot really takes off, even the quality of the memories seems to improve.
All right, now that my complaints are out of the way, I can focus on what I do love about this novel. To begin with, the concept. Why aren’t there more books that take place in the afterlife? There’s so many things you can explore there. I’m now convinced that Lenore Appelhans must have found my 10th grade creative writing project in which I wrote a short story about a girl who dies in a car wreck to find the afterlife is a large room with a TV and a DVD player, and you watch a DVD of your life over and over until you get to the point of your death, then the cycle starts all over again, but you don’t remember you’ve already watched your life. Level 2 definitely has a similar vein, at least for awhile, which just made me love it even more.
I’ve read some reviews that state Neil, Felicia’s love interest, seems a little too perfect, and while I think that’s a valid criticism, I actually do know people like Neil, so I can’t say it’s exactly unrealistic. I really like the exploration of Felicia’s and Neil’s relationship. Felicia grows a lot during it, but I feel like there was a good balance of having Neil be a catalyst for Felicia to come to terms with herself while not being the only reason. It can be a bit dangerous to play with the “boy saves the girl” device, but I thought it worked fairly well in the story.
I’m not sure why, considering this story is about the afterlife, but I didn’t expect religion to play such a large role in the story. It fits well by the end, but Felicia’s memories of things like youth groups and meeting Neil at church just seem so normal despite the premise and setting of the story. I really like the plot about the war and the last fifty pages of this book definitely kept me turning the pages as new twists kept being revealed!
Final Impression: Despite a few things I disliked throughout the book, for the most part Level 2 kept me entertaining and wanting to know more. It was so refreshing and original with characters I really grew to care about. This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I ended up really liking it anyway. I think it’s a worthy read and has me excited to read Level 3. 4/5 stars.
I was really hoping this would be a five star book, but it didn’t quite make it to that point. There were a few things I had issues with, so I’ll get those out of the way before I squeal over all the parts I did love. First, Felicia, our main character, doesn’t think highly of herself, and this gets quite annoying after a while. Her thoughts about her past seem to be completely self-deprecating and on the lines of “I’m the worst person ever!”. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Felicia’s made plenty of mistakes, including some pretty major ones, but her constant hatred of herself seems a little overboard and is hard to read after a bit. This gets better towards the end.
My final complaint is that while the book does suck you in, it takes awhile for the main plot to actually start. Most of the beginning is spent in Felicia’s memories. These become necessary to the plot later on, but when it’s not clear how, it seems a bit unnecessary to spend so much time reliving some of Felicia’s experiences. Once the plot really takes off, even the quality of the memories seems to improve.
All right, now that my complaints are out of the way, I can focus on what I do love about this novel. To begin with, the concept. Why aren’t there more books that take place in the afterlife? There’s so many things you can explore there. I’m now convinced that Lenore Appelhans must have found my 10th grade creative writing project in which I wrote a short story about a girl who dies in a car wreck to find the afterlife is a large room with a TV and a DVD player, and you watch a DVD of your life over and over until you get to the point of your death, then the cycle starts all over again, but you don’t remember you’ve already watched your life. Level 2 definitely has a similar vein, at least for awhile, which just made me love it even more.
I’ve read some reviews that state Neil, Felicia’s love interest, seems a little too perfect, and while I think that’s a valid criticism, I actually do know people like Neil, so I can’t say it’s exactly unrealistic. I really like the exploration of Felicia’s and Neil’s relationship. Felicia grows a lot during it, but I feel like there was a good balance of having Neil be a catalyst for Felicia to come to terms with herself while not being the only reason. It can be a bit dangerous to play with the “boy saves the girl” device, but I thought it worked fairly well in the story.
I’m not sure why, considering this story is about the afterlife, but I didn’t expect religion to play such a large role in the story. It fits well by the end, but Felicia’s memories of things like youth groups and meeting Neil at church just seem so normal despite the premise and setting of the story. I really like the plot about the war and the last fifty pages of this book definitely kept me turning the pages as new twists kept being revealed!
Final Impression: Despite a few things I disliked throughout the book, for the most part Level 2 kept me entertaining and wanting to know more. It was so refreshing and original with characters I really grew to care about. This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I ended up really liking it anyway. I think it’s a worthy read and has me excited to read Level 3. 4/5 stars.
Well, that was kind of anti-climactic. Great except the last chapter. Interested to see what happens in book 2