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A review by jennaclarek
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
3.0
The main reason I picked up this book was because it's always listed as having asexual (specifically demisexual) representation. As someone who identifies as asexual (and has considered being demisexual), I figured I should read it. So I did. But I didn't actually know the plot of the book going into it...then again...I often just forget to read summaries going into books. Oops.
Anyways, while I really enjoyed a lot of this book, I had a lot of problems with it too. My main issue was Lizzie's story aka all of Darcy's novel. It really read like a NaNo novel I would write myself, which I guess kind of matches Darcy's style and her character, but it was kind of frustrating to read knowing it was written by Scott Westerfeld, a legit published author. I kept getting annoyed with the plot and the characters in Darcy's story because it feels flat and poorly done and kind of lame, honestly. Also a little confusing. I guess it was cool because you did get to feel like you were in Darcy's world and you knew what she was working on, but I did not enjoy it much at all. The romance between Lizzie and Yama was super rushed and totally unbelievable. Yama honestly felt like this flat, undeveloped character who didn't do anything. (Which, could mean a number of things - women are objectified like this all the time in movies and literature, so it shouldn't feel so weird to me. Also she comments a lot that he's just this hot death god who doesn't really have any purpose so I guess that fits...) I couldn't stand Lizzie as a character and I really hated the world Darcy created. It made no sense and it was really kind of weird.
All that aside, I ADORED Darcy's POV chapters. The few times she talks about her sexuality I did get a distinctly ace/demi vibe, so I really appreciated that. I loved how she was homoromantic and Indian at that! Going in no one told me it was such a diverse book, and I really appreciated that. Also all the Indian/Hindu religion references were super cool and unique. I also loved how this book tackled a lot of hard writing topics like borrowing other people's ideas and cultures and writing with white MCs so more people could relate to them. While the problems were never really solved or fully answered, they spurred up some great discussion and I think it made me consider a lot about diverse books. Also I LOVE LOVE LOVED the writing plot of this book - especially hearing about BEA. (Is it May yet?) The fact that Darcy did NaNo and got published was slightly unrealistic, but also really inspiring! It was so cool to see the publishing world laid out in a fiction book, and to see what it's really like to be a paid/published author. Since I'm finishing this Oct 27, making sure to finish it before Nov starts, I am HELLA PUMPED TO START MY NEXT NOVEL. I realized that this year's idea is actually loosely similar to Afterworlds (in that it's set in hell & there's kind of a god of death) but in my head I'm like "OKAY I CAN WRITE THIS IDEA BETTER THAN DARCY" so it's like a challenge.
Overall I loved half of this book desperately, but the rest of it left a lot to be desired.
Anyways, while I really enjoyed a lot of this book, I had a lot of problems with it too. My main issue was Lizzie's story aka all of Darcy's novel. It really read like a NaNo novel I would write myself, which I guess kind of matches Darcy's style and her character, but it was kind of frustrating to read knowing it was written by Scott Westerfeld, a legit published author. I kept getting annoyed with the plot and the characters in Darcy's story because it feels flat and poorly done and kind of lame, honestly. Also a little confusing. I guess it was cool because you did get to feel like you were in Darcy's world and you knew what she was working on, but I did not enjoy it much at all. The romance between Lizzie and Yama was super rushed and totally unbelievable. Yama honestly felt like this flat, undeveloped character who didn't do anything. (Which, could mean a number of things - women are objectified like this all the time in movies and literature, so it shouldn't feel so weird to me. Also she comments a lot that he's just this hot death god who doesn't really have any purpose so I guess that fits...) I couldn't stand Lizzie as a character and I really hated the world Darcy created. It made no sense and it was really kind of weird.
All that aside, I ADORED Darcy's POV chapters. The few times she talks about her sexuality I did get a distinctly ace/demi vibe, so I really appreciated that. I loved how she was homoromantic and Indian at that! Going in no one told me it was such a diverse book, and I really appreciated that. Also all the Indian/Hindu religion references were super cool and unique. I also loved how this book tackled a lot of hard writing topics like borrowing other people's ideas and cultures and writing with white MCs so more people could relate to them. While the problems were never really solved or fully answered, they spurred up some great discussion and I think it made me consider a lot about diverse books. Also I LOVE LOVE LOVED the writing plot of this book - especially hearing about BEA. (Is it May yet?) The fact that Darcy did NaNo and got published was slightly unrealistic, but also really inspiring! It was so cool to see the publishing world laid out in a fiction book, and to see what it's really like to be a paid/published author. Since I'm finishing this Oct 27, making sure to finish it before Nov starts, I am HELLA PUMPED TO START MY NEXT NOVEL. I realized that this year's idea is actually loosely similar to Afterworlds (in that it's set in hell & there's kind of a god of death) but in my head I'm like "OKAY I CAN WRITE THIS IDEA BETTER THAN DARCY" so it's like a challenge.
Overall I loved half of this book desperately, but the rest of it left a lot to be desired.