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A review by kambmoore
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
4.0
This was a really great book, and I am glad that I got the chance to read it. I loved Darcy's story, and how she grew so much; from an eighteen-year-old girl scared shitless about her book and daring herself to become more adult, to a courageous woman, writing freely. Her story inspired me so much, that now I am FINALLY going to start editing my book that I wrote last November!
I struggled more with Lizzie's story, and, honestly, could have done without it altogether. Her storyline, while gripping at times, lagged in some parts and felt kind of choppy. The characters were great and all, but they weren't as fleshed out as they could have been, in my eyes. Honestly, the book could have used another 100 pages or so to really flesh the story out and give it a new meaning. And towards the end, Lizzie's story felt really rushed, like the ending was the most important part and the book HAD to get there in a certain amount of time--that is, three chapters.
About that ending....I had a little trouble with it: there was this whole build-up to the epic ending in Darcy's chapters, and how she has spent so much time trying to figure out how the book would end...and for it to end like THAT? I'll talk about it more under the spoilers bar.
All in all, I loved this book and found it both an educational journey and a literary journey. I got to find out the inner workings of publishing--something I've been meaning to do--and I felt connected to Darcy's storyline more than anything else, because I am in the same boat...just without the whole $300,000 publishing contract for two books and moving out to New York and being eighteen...anyway, you get the picture! Solid 4/5 stars from me!
SPOILERS: PROCEED ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED ON THE ENDING OF DARCY'S AFTERWORLDS
Okay, the ending of Darcy's Afterworlds kind of felt redundant to me. Lizzie gets summoned by Yama to see Travis, the guy at the terrorist attack, to give him peace, and then Yama basically said that he would see her soon and that was that. I didn't very much like their romance anyway, but I was very frustrated by the fact that Yama was being so self-righteous and toying with Lizzie's emotions. And then, in the end, Lizzie goes to her friend Jamie and spills all the little beans about the afterworld. I did kind of like that, it is only that I predicted that from the beginning anyway...Unfortunately, I may have liked it more if Yama had died in the end, and there had been more build up to the ending than there actually was. At least if Yama had died, then there would have been something super exciting that happened in Lizzie's story!
I struggled more with Lizzie's story, and, honestly, could have done without it altogether. Her storyline, while gripping at times, lagged in some parts and felt kind of choppy. The characters were great and all, but they weren't as fleshed out as they could have been, in my eyes. Honestly, the book could have used another 100 pages or so to really flesh the story out and give it a new meaning. And towards the end, Lizzie's story felt really rushed, like the ending was the most important part and the book HAD to get there in a certain amount of time--that is, three chapters.
About that ending....I had a little trouble with it: there was this whole build-up to the epic ending in Darcy's chapters, and how she has spent so much time trying to figure out how the book would end...and for it to end like THAT? I'll talk about it more under the spoilers bar.
All in all, I loved this book and found it both an educational journey and a literary journey. I got to find out the inner workings of publishing--something I've been meaning to do--and I felt connected to Darcy's storyline more than anything else, because I am in the same boat...just without the whole $300,000 publishing contract for two books and moving out to New York and being eighteen...anyway, you get the picture! Solid 4/5 stars from me!
SPOILERS: PROCEED ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED ON THE ENDING OF DARCY'S AFTERWORLDS
Okay, the ending of Darcy's Afterworlds kind of felt redundant to me. Lizzie gets summoned by Yama to see Travis, the guy at the terrorist attack, to give him peace, and then Yama basically said that he would see her soon and that was that. I didn't very much like their romance anyway, but I was very frustrated by the fact that Yama was being so self-righteous and toying with Lizzie's emotions. And then, in the end, Lizzie goes to her friend Jamie and spills all the little beans about the afterworld. I did kind of like that, it is only that I predicted that from the beginning anyway...Unfortunately, I may have liked it more if Yama had died in the end, and there had been more build up to the ending than there actually was. At least if Yama had died, then there would have been something super exciting that happened in Lizzie's story!