Afterworlds

I listened to the audiobook of Afterworlds and since it's a story withing a story I'll give it two ratings. The author's story, Darcy Patel, I'd give two stars. I really didn't enjoy it. Maybe I should preface this by saying I don't write and have no desire to write. I am only a reader so following an author's journey of getting published, at least Darcy's journey was the weak part of the book. I was almost offended in parts like being a YA author was being mocked, being a reader of YA was made fun of- didn't enjoy it. How am I suppose to care about Darcy and Imogen and their relationship when little details are given? This is not a love story. The characters are written like acquaintances. Afterworlds, the book Darcy wrote, I'd rate a 2.5 so this entire book gets an average of 2.25 rating. Lizzie is the main character in this story and what starts out as a good plot, being the only survivor of a terrorist attack quickly goes downhill. Lizzie has a love interest too which lacks any chemistry (maybe Scott Westerfeld doesn't write romance well? This is my first book of his.) I never felt Lizzie was in peril. Her whole story lacked depth. I hope this is a standalone and there is no more because I am not interested.

[[ASIN:1481422359 Afterworlds]], by Scott Westerfeld is a strange amalgam of a book. It’s half a story of a young writer come to New York to write on the strength of her first YA novel and half the story she wrote, featuring a young girl who escapes terrorist attacks at her local airport by pretending to be dead…a little too convincingly. She finds herself in a sort of between life and death world, from which she is (eventually) able to come and go as she pleases.

The book seesaws between the mundane business of publishing (I am sure no first-time writer has it as easy as she does) and the horror-suspense of the Afterworld in a way that is surprisingly well balanced; each chapter moves the story along a little ways, sometimes in a connected way, mostly not. This is not as jarring a transition as you might imagine: Westerfeld is an excellent writer, and the character of each of the two protagonists is well-developed enough that you hardly notice how slow the book really is.

That was intended as praise. I like a book I can linger over.

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. Her novel 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 Westerfeld 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.
Sheetal Sheth and Heather Lind were solid narrators making the stories easy to listen
.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.