As many of you know, I am a huge Gena Showalter fan. Firstlife has been on my tbr list since it came out. I truly love everything that Gena writes. This new YA series is included. It is incredibly imaginative, exciting and engaging. This is only book 1 and I can’t wait to get my grubby fingers on the next 2. For my full review keep reading after the book blurb. Keep an eye out for my reviews of the next books.
Book Blurb:
Step one…you die.
ONE CHOICE. TWO REALMS. NO SECOND CHANCE.
Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live — after she dies. There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.
In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, long-time enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms that will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t where the boy she’s falling for lives? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…
Review:
Ten is a typical teenager waiting to turn 18. The only difference is she is currently in an asylum. Her days are filled with beatings, starving and adding days to her calendar. She only had to make a choice to leave. Choose where she wants to go after her death. Easy enough, rt? Not so much. Choosing between Troika and Myriad isn’t easy for her. But, when she meets two laborers each having their own agenda. Can Ten really have what she wants? Real freedom to choose or will she be forced into a choice she doesn’t want? How do you choose how to spend your Everlife?
I have totally fallen for this new series. Could I love Gena Showalter more? I didn’t think so, but I do. This is one of the most creative stories I’ve read in awhile. This is a world that should be family but isn’t. The ideas of death, life after death and reincarnation are all subjects that not many young adult authors attempt to tackle. Ten, Killian and Archer are all dynamic and complex characters. Just when you think you know them, they throw you for a loop. The complex details of Troika and Myriad is astounding. I found myself imagining heaven and hell without the good/evil connotation. Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. Gena Showalter weaves a world that you can dive into. Like her White Rabbit Chronicles, the Everlife series will be engaging for young adults but adults will be drawn to the philosophical part of the world. If you haven’t read anything by Gena Showalter, I suggest picking up this gem…and while your at it you will want to pick of the next two because you will want to know what happens next for Ten.