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Afterworlds #1
Afterworlds
BELIEVING IS DANGEROUS...
Darcy Patel is afraid to believe all the hype. But it's really happening - her teen novel is getting published. Instead of heading to college, she's living in New York City, where she's welcomed into the dazzling world of YA publishing. That means book tours, parties with her favorite authors, and finding a place to live that won't leave her penniless. It means sleepless nights rewriting her first draft and struggling to find the perfect ending... all while dealing with the intoxicating, terrifying experience of falling in love - with another writer.
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, the thrilling story of Lizzie, who wills her way into the afterworld to survive a deadly terrorist attack. With survival comes the responsibility to guide the restless spirits that walk our world, including one ghost with whom she shares a surprising personal connection. But Lizzie's not alone in her new calling - she has counsel from a fellow spirit guide, a very desirable one, who is torn between wanting Lizzie and warning her that...
BELIEVING IS DANGEROUS.
In a brilliant high-wire act of weaving two epic narratives - and two unforgettable heroines - into one novel, Scott Westerfeld's latest work is a triumph of storytelling.
Darcy Patel is afraid to believe all the hype. But it's really happening - her teen novel is getting published. Instead of heading to college, she's living in New York City, where she's welcomed into the dazzling world of YA publishing. That means book tours, parties with her favorite authors, and finding a place to live that won't leave her penniless. It means sleepless nights rewriting her first draft and struggling to find the perfect ending... all while dealing with the intoxicating, terrifying experience of falling in love - with another writer.
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, the thrilling story of Lizzie, who wills her way into the afterworld to survive a deadly terrorist attack. With survival comes the responsibility to guide the restless spirits that walk our world, including one ghost with whom she shares a surprising personal connection. But Lizzie's not alone in her new calling - she has counsel from a fellow spirit guide, a very desirable one, who is torn between wanting Lizzie and warning her that...
BELIEVING IS DANGEROUS.
In a brilliant high-wire act of weaving two epic narratives - and two unforgettable heroines - into one novel, Scott Westerfeld's latest work is a triumph of storytelling.
599 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2014
About the author
Scott Westerfeld
82 books20.4k followersScott Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling author of YA. He is best known for the Uglies and Leviathan series. His current series, IMPOSTORS, returns to the world of Uglies.
The next book in that series, MIRROR'S EDGE, comes out April 6, 2021.
The next book in that series, MIRROR'S EDGE, comes out April 6, 2021.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,138 reviews
September 6, 2014
So, I kinda loved this book, its intelligence, its meta-awareness, and the way a lovely coming-of-age story is packaged inside a clever satire-bordering-on-love-story to the YA publishing world. It must be said that I love satire, even when it's subdued, because that love colors my entire opinion of this book.
As such, I’m baffled by the somewhat low reviews on this one. I could be completely off-base, and maybe I am seeing what I want to see because I want an excuse for liking this book as much as I did, but since this is my review, I’m going to use this review space to tell you why I think everyone else is wrong and you should bow to my opinion.
First, a little background.
The Plot: This book actually contains two books, neither of which can be fully realized without the other (more on that below). The main story revolves around Darcy. Darcy is 18, Indian, and, as she later learns, a lesbian. Borrowing secrets from her mother’s past and her parents’ religion (Hinduism), she wrote a manuscript during NanoWrimo when she was a senior in high school, and to everyone’s surprise, publishers loved it and gave her a fat, two-book publishing deal. She has almost a year to submit her final revisions before publication. Her story is a contemporary coming-of-age tale as she decides to defer college and live her dream by moving to New York to live as a novelist by immersing herself in the YA writing world.
The second story, entitled Afterworlds, is the novel that Darcy actually wrote. This story is presumably in its final form and is a fairly typical paranormal romance. Its main plot centers around Lizzie, who, after surviving a traumatic event, becomes a reaper, or psychopomp (note - that’s a real word, not one made up for the plot), whose purpose is to help guide the souls/ghosts of the recently deceased to the Afterworlds.
The two stories alternate chapters, and the brilliance of this is in seeing how the two stories intertwine. More specifically, the brilliance in this choice is seen in how the events in Darcy’s chapters affect the story that she writes and how she appropriates all her life experiences into the book’s narrative.
On to the review/condemnation of other reviews. I will put these under individual spoiler tags for length. Note, I am not disclosing any actual spoilers under the tags, other than a couple cute quotes and moments that don't spoil the plot.
This isn’t how publishing works!
But she’s only 17 when she gets a deal! That never happens! This is just wish fulfillment! So unrealistic!
But this book make it sound so easy and demeans the hard work of writers everywhere!
Lizzie’s story is so typical. I can’t believe Scott Westerfeld wrote this!
Reality check: this book is so fucking meta it doesn't even know how meta it is.
Other fun tidbits about the biz that evidence Westerfeld’s intent to satirize (but not to the point of parody) his livelihood:
How anyone else isn't seeing this as subversive satire is beyond me. There’s an entire character in this book that’s so obviously John Green he might as well have been wearing a blue "Okay? Okay" t-shirt in all his scenes.
Even the publisher’s name - Paradox - fits with Westerfeld’s overall themes.
There’s so much swearing! Who talks this way!? What lazy dialogue. Wrong.
I find it frustrating when who aren’t surrounded by the culture just write off a very visible and obvious part of the culture as a trend, as though the author wrote that way as a ploy for attention. That simply is not the case. This dialogue is realistic enough that it could have been me having a conversation with any one of you. This isn’t a trend - this is how people actually speak these days.
The same can be said for the fact that the lead character is a lesbian. That’s not the writer seeking attention, it’s not a damn trend, there are many people who happen to be lesbians, and the author is simply reflecting that reality by making his lead reflect reality. That’s to say nothing of the fact that YA PNRs typically have a Caucasian female lead and are almost exclusively heterosexual - points that Westerfeld subtly touches upon in Darcy’s chapters.
(As an aside, this same review also claimed it’s unrealistic that any teenager would even know what a First Edition is, much less have reading copies - uhhh, one of my good friends collected FEs from the time she was a teenager, and I recall her devastation after they were destroyed during a natural disaster. So I find this particular person’s perspective on what is realistic is bit dubious, to say the least)
He isn’t exploiting trends - he is using trends to make commentary. There is a difference and it again brings me back to the whole, how does not one else see the obvious satirical elements at work here?
Pfffffft, c’mon! Navigating into adulthood isn’t this easy! She found an apartment in, like, a day! That brings us to Darcy’s coming-of-age tale.
In the midst of it all, though, he has a great rolling commentary about cultural appropriation. Westerfeld is even satirical in his dialogue about cultural appropriation - I don't think it's an accident that due to the color of her skin, Darcy is "allowed" to use "her" culture, despite that she was raised as an American and has zero links to the culture of her parents' homeland (also, her parents don’t seem to be terribly religious themselves). I think he's making a legitimate criticism about the over-sensitivity some seem to haveabout flipping everything, and how hypocritical it is that Darcy can appropriate, but others cannot, just because of their skin color. That is, just because she's genetically Indian doesn't mean she's not appropriating.
Don't get me wrong, however, he treats the subject with the seriousness it deserves, he really does. Although he pokes a little fun, as he does throughout the book on its myriad subjects, he also presents different viewpoints designed to let you think on the subject and draw your own conclusions.
Ultimately, I loved this one. It’s smart, funny, has a lot to say about the reading world, and has some very fun bits in there about a debutante publishee navigating through the world of adulthood and newbie publishing. The PNR within the book is not nearly as enjoyable, but that seems an intentional choice to help drive home Darcy’s story and growth, as well as to enhance Westerfeld’s sociocultural commentary.
5 stars for Darcy's story, but only a 3 for Lizzie's, which, while necessary and important for Darcy, was lackluster enough to drive down the overall rating.
Thank you to Simon Pulse via Edelweiss for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book for review. All quotes are taken from an uncorrected galley subject to change before publishing.
As such, I’m baffled by the somewhat low reviews on this one. I could be completely off-base, and maybe I am seeing what I want to see because I want an excuse for liking this book as much as I did, but since this is my review, I’m going to use this review space to tell you why I think everyone else is wrong and you should bow to my opinion.
First, a little background.
The Plot: This book actually contains two books, neither of which can be fully realized without the other (more on that below). The main story revolves around Darcy. Darcy is 18, Indian, and, as she later learns, a lesbian. Borrowing secrets from her mother’s past and her parents’ religion (Hinduism), she wrote a manuscript during NanoWrimo when she was a senior in high school, and to everyone’s surprise, publishers loved it and gave her a fat, two-book publishing deal. She has almost a year to submit her final revisions before publication. Her story is a contemporary coming-of-age tale as she decides to defer college and live her dream by moving to New York to live as a novelist by immersing herself in the YA writing world.
The second story, entitled Afterworlds, is the novel that Darcy actually wrote. This story is presumably in its final form and is a fairly typical paranormal romance. Its main plot centers around Lizzie, who, after surviving a traumatic event, becomes a reaper, or psychopomp (note - that’s a real word, not one made up for the plot), whose purpose is to help guide the souls/ghosts of the recently deceased to the Afterworlds.
The two stories alternate chapters, and the brilliance of this is in seeing how the two stories intertwine. More specifically, the brilliance in this choice is seen in how the events in Darcy’s chapters affect the story that she writes and how she appropriates all her life experiences into the book’s narrative.
On to the review/condemnation of other reviews. I will put these under individual spoiler tags for length. Note, I am not disclosing any actual spoilers under the tags, other than a couple cute quotes and moments that don't spoil the plot.
This isn’t how publishing works!
But she’s only 17 when she gets a deal! That never happens! This is just wish fulfillment! So unrealistic!
But this book make it sound so easy and demeans the hard work of writers everywhere!
Lizzie’s story is so typical. I can’t believe Scott Westerfeld wrote this!
Reality check: this book is so fucking meta it doesn't even know how meta it is.
Other fun tidbits about the biz that evidence Westerfeld’s intent to satirize (but not to the point of parody) his livelihood:
How anyone else isn't seeing this as subversive satire is beyond me. There’s an entire character in this book that’s so obviously John Green he might as well have been wearing a blue "Okay? Okay" t-shirt in all his scenes.
Even the publisher’s name - Paradox - fits with Westerfeld’s overall themes.
There’s so much swearing! Who talks this way!? What lazy dialogue. Wrong.
I find it frustrating when who aren’t surrounded by the culture just write off a very visible and obvious part of the culture as a trend, as though the author wrote that way as a ploy for attention. That simply is not the case. This dialogue is realistic enough that it could have been me having a conversation with any one of you. This isn’t a trend - this is how people actually speak these days.
The same can be said for the fact that the lead character is a lesbian. That’s not the writer seeking attention, it’s not a damn trend, there are many people who happen to be lesbians, and the author is simply reflecting that reality by making his lead reflect reality. That’s to say nothing of the fact that YA PNRs typically have a Caucasian female lead and are almost exclusively heterosexual - points that Westerfeld subtly touches upon in Darcy’s chapters.
(As an aside, this same review also claimed it’s unrealistic that any teenager would even know what a First Edition is, much less have reading copies - uhhh, one of my good friends collected FEs from the time she was a teenager, and I recall her devastation after they were destroyed during a natural disaster. So I find this particular person’s perspective on what is realistic is bit dubious, to say the least)
He isn’t exploiting trends - he is using trends to make commentary. There is a difference and it again brings me back to the whole, how does not one else see the obvious satirical elements at work here?
Pfffffft, c’mon! Navigating into adulthood isn’t this easy! She found an apartment in, like, a day! That brings us to Darcy’s coming-of-age tale.
In the midst of it all, though, he has a great rolling commentary about cultural appropriation. Westerfeld is even satirical in his dialogue about cultural appropriation - I don't think it's an accident that due to the color of her skin, Darcy is "allowed" to use "her" culture, despite that she was raised as an American and has zero links to the culture of her parents' homeland (also, her parents don’t seem to be terribly religious themselves). I think he's making a legitimate criticism about the over-sensitivity some seem to have
Don't get me wrong, however, he treats the subject with the seriousness it deserves, he really does. Although he pokes a little fun, as he does throughout the book on its myriad subjects, he also presents different viewpoints designed to let you think on the subject and draw your own conclusions.
Ultimately, I loved this one. It’s smart, funny, has a lot to say about the reading world, and has some very fun bits in there about a debutante publishee navigating through the world of adulthood and newbie publishing. The PNR within the book is not nearly as enjoyable, but that seems an intentional choice to help drive home Darcy’s story and growth, as well as to enhance Westerfeld’s sociocultural commentary.
5 stars for Darcy's story, but only a 3 for Lizzie's, which, while necessary and important for Darcy, was lackluster enough to drive down the overall rating.
Thank you to Simon Pulse via Edelweiss for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book for review. All quotes are taken from an uncorrected galley subject to change before publishing.
November 17, 2015
I'm going to start this out with a plea that someone please tell me this book is a parody. It *must* be. Because I am a huge fan of Scott Westerfeld's writing, have been for years, and this book makes me want to cry :(.
It is a dual story line. The main character, Darcy, is an 18 yr old, just graduated from high school girl who had written a novel in a month, in November of course, not that NaNoWriMo is specifically mentioned, but any writer can put two and two together. She sent off her draft to a huge literary agent, got signed, immediately got signed with a publishing deal with an advance of several hundred thousand dollars, and then intermittently whines about how long it will take her manuscript to actually be published. She moves to New York, where her mega-agent allows her to borrow her apartment until she's able to find one of her own. The mega-agent's apartment is of course practically a mansion inside. And Darcy of course finds the "perfect" apartment in a single day of looking. Party, party, party, meet lots of cool, hip YA authors who do nothing but talk about their own books, and of course, there is an insta-love relationship between Darcy and one of the authors she meets.
The other story line is the actual book that Darcy wrote. It's mildly interesting, but slow. The first chapter was pretty killer, then it kinda nose-dived for me. It's a paranormal about a girl who can "cross over" into the afterlife and can see ghosts after a near-death experience at an airport under attack by terrorists. (Enter the other insta-love relationship.) I felt completely unconnected to her. I don't care how tough you are, you have issues when you see that kind of stuff, but Lizzie is just fine. Her mom is a complete moron. Seriously--please tell me this is a parody....
Westerfeld's characters in all his other books have been fully fleshed and interesting, but I did not find them so in this one. All the writers, as I mentioned, are two-dimensional and self-absorbed. There is so much writer speak thrown in--which seems like it would bore the pants off a non-writer, as being a writer myself I started getting tired of it. I really began to wonder--is this how the world sees writers? Or worse, it this how we see each other?
The writing often feels dumbed-down, while the characters all act years older than they really are. Naive at times, yes, but far too witty and mature with their dialog and habits. Also, Darcy is supposed to be Indian, and it seemed a bit of a contrivance that her family decided to reject their culture and Americanize. An easy way to feature a non-white character and be able to write her like a typical white American.
The thing that really bugged me though, and I haven't seen this mentioned in any other reviews--but surely someone has to have noticed--so much time is spent with people telling Darcy how amazing her book/writing is. Well, Darcy is not real, which means that Darcy's "book" was written by Westerfeld himself. So, his own made-up characters are raving about a book *he* wrote --> in other words, he spends a great amount of time essentially telling himself how wonderful his story is. Again, if this isn't a parody, it's total narcissism.
Please, please, someone tell me this is a parody so I can stop hating it.
**adding an amendment. That last point I made--let me clarify. I don't know SW and am not calling him a narcissist. But the way this book is written, it gives that *appearance.* The way the other characters gush over Darcy's books lays it out as though the readers have to believe that the other part of the story is like the best-freaking-thing ever written in YA.
There is a series by Cornelia Funke (Inkheart) in which the characters are in love with a book (also Inkheart), and eventually get to enter the story world of that book. But there are only a few passages actually quoted, it's more about the characters and setting, and the "book" inside the book is one that was not successful. It's more like you're reading about a very specific and niche group of fans of this one book, which completely negates any narcissistic feel. That, however, is lacking in Afterworlds.
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My YA fantasy series:
book 1
book 2
It is a dual story line. The main character, Darcy, is an 18 yr old, just graduated from high school girl who had written a novel in a month, in November of course, not that NaNoWriMo is specifically mentioned, but any writer can put two and two together. She sent off her draft to a huge literary agent, got signed, immediately got signed with a publishing deal with an advance of several hundred thousand dollars, and then intermittently whines about how long it will take her manuscript to actually be published. She moves to New York, where her mega-agent allows her to borrow her apartment until she's able to find one of her own. The mega-agent's apartment is of course practically a mansion inside. And Darcy of course finds the "perfect" apartment in a single day of looking. Party, party, party, meet lots of cool, hip YA authors who do nothing but talk about their own books, and of course, there is an insta-love relationship between Darcy and one of the authors she meets.
The other story line is the actual book that Darcy wrote. It's mildly interesting, but slow. The first chapter was pretty killer, then it kinda nose-dived for me. It's a paranormal about a girl who can "cross over" into the afterlife and can see ghosts after a near-death experience at an airport under attack by terrorists. (Enter the other insta-love relationship.) I felt completely unconnected to her. I don't care how tough you are, you have issues when you see that kind of stuff, but Lizzie is just fine. Her mom is a complete moron. Seriously--please tell me this is a parody....
Westerfeld's characters in all his other books have been fully fleshed and interesting, but I did not find them so in this one. All the writers, as I mentioned, are two-dimensional and self-absorbed. There is so much writer speak thrown in--which seems like it would bore the pants off a non-writer, as being a writer myself I started getting tired of it. I really began to wonder--is this how the world sees writers? Or worse, it this how we see each other?
The writing often feels dumbed-down, while the characters all act years older than they really are. Naive at times, yes, but far too witty and mature with their dialog and habits. Also, Darcy is supposed to be Indian, and it seemed a bit of a contrivance that her family decided to reject their culture and Americanize. An easy way to feature a non-white character and be able to write her like a typical white American.
The thing that really bugged me though, and I haven't seen this mentioned in any other reviews--but surely someone has to have noticed--so much time is spent with people telling Darcy how amazing her book/writing is. Well, Darcy is not real, which means that Darcy's "book" was written by Westerfeld himself. So, his own made-up characters are raving about a book *he* wrote --> in other words, he spends a great amount of time essentially telling himself how wonderful his story is. Again, if this isn't a parody, it's total narcissism.
Please, please, someone tell me this is a parody so I can stop hating it.
**adding an amendment. That last point I made--let me clarify. I don't know SW and am not calling him a narcissist. But the way this book is written, it gives that *appearance.* The way the other characters gush over Darcy's books lays it out as though the readers have to believe that the other part of the story is like the best-freaking-thing ever written in YA.
There is a series by Cornelia Funke (Inkheart) in which the characters are in love with a book (also Inkheart), and eventually get to enter the story world of that book. But there are only a few passages actually quoted, it's more about the characters and setting, and the "book" inside the book is one that was not successful. It's more like you're reading about a very specific and niche group of fans of this one book, which completely negates any narcissistic feel. That, however, is lacking in Afterworlds.
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My YA fantasy series:
book 1
book 2
August 25, 2014
3.5 stars I really enjoyed reading this. Despite its 600 pages, both Darcy's and Lizzie's alternating narratives flew by, and I enjoyed perching on the young debut author's shoulder as she navigates the writing and publishing world. The author's humorous, razor-sharp observations of YA culture are fascinating and feel familiar to anyone who's on Twitter, attended industry events, or even been present at business gatherings where there's frantic ennui and kindly condescension in the ranks, though I wonder how interesting that will be to those who aren't somewhat invested in publishing.
I was also surprised to find that Darcy the YA author's story arc, particularly her pre-pub debut year and her first grown-up relationship, was the one I responded to more strongly. Lizzie's paranormal plot has a fantastic opening chapter (so meta that this is mentioned in Darcy's story as well) and is unexpectedly creepy, but I wanted a bit more from the ending than what we got, and I was never really all that convinced by the romance in that timeline.
Still, a compelling read, and one I'd recommend. A bit more of a review to come at some point.
I was also surprised to find that Darcy the YA author's story arc, particularly her pre-pub debut year and her first grown-up relationship, was the one I responded to more strongly. Lizzie's paranormal plot has a fantastic opening chapter (so meta that this is mentioned in Darcy's story as well) and is unexpectedly creepy, but I wanted a bit more from the ending than what we got, and I was never really all that convinced by the romance in that timeline.
Still, a compelling read, and one I'd recommend. A bit more of a review to come at some point.
June 11, 2014
After reading:
It like physically pains me to say this, but ... I found this book disappointing. Look ... I love love love Scott Westerfeld. Like, so much. He's one of my favorite authors in the world and I recommend his books to people constantly. I love Uglies and Midnighters and goodness gracious I adore the Leviathan books and couldn't wait to see what Scott Westerfeld would do next. So naturally, I was excited for this book and I was ecstatic to receive an ARC––but honestly, it didn't live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly entertaining/addicting read and even though it's 600 pages it didn't feel too long to me. And there was some potential in the idea, particularly in the inclusion of Hindu mythology (which I've only seen very occasionally in YA books––or in any book, really)––but even that wasn't fleshed out all that much.
Over all, the whole dual-story thing didn't really work for me and I didn't really see what the point of it was. Both of the main characters were pretty dry and I didn't feel much for them ... in fact, Lizzie was kind of a horrible person but I'll get more into that when I write my full review. And mostly I just found myself really annoyed at Darcy's storyline––partly because I dislike reading about writers (which is weird because I am one, but ... maybe that's why) but also writing/publishing were portrayed so unrealistically in this book and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief about a lot of things.
... But once again, I'll go into more detail when I write an actual, full review of this book. So yeah, you can expect that some time in the near future.
Before reading:
OKAY SO. I went to BookExpo America and I managed to get my hands on an ARC of this! (It involved waiting in line for like an hour, but there was free beer and I met some cool librarian/reviewer people so it was a good time.) And then I actually met Scott Westerfeld and he signed the book so that was super exciting because I've wanted to meet him forever and he's one of my favorite authors in the world so AAAHHHH. And––get this––he said he was pretty sure he'd heard of me ... ?! Like, he knew about my review blog and stuff ... ! I just. I. WHAT. I like pretty much screamed "REALLY?" and probably made a total idiot of myself. Oh my goodness, what a beautiful moment. I'm never going to get over it. But anyway, here it is ... the book! It's beautiful! And HUGE.
I'm still not really sure how I feel about this story-within-a-story thing––and from what I've read so far the whole teenage-girl-publishing-her-book storyline is super unrealistic (as I kind of feared it would be)––but the other storyline (the plot of the girl's book) is intriguing so far. And over all I'm excited to see where this whole idea is going because right now I have no clue. This is the 14th Scott Westerfeld book I've read (if I'm not forgetting anything) and he's never let me down so yeah I have some pretty high expectations. ;)
-------------
-------------
Before reading:
WHAT WHAT WHAT. A NEW SCOTT WESTERFELD BOOK YOU SAY?!?! COMING OUT IN THE FALL?!
Ahhh I've been wondering when there would be a new Westerfeld book. I've read all his other YA books and loved all of them. The Leviathan, Uglies, and Midnighters trilogies are among my favorite series, and I'm always eager to see what he'll write next.
According to this article on the Publishers Weekly website:
Hmmmm. I mean ... part of me just kind of wishes the book would just be about that second plotline because that sounds SO COOL but the publishing part sounds ... ehhh. I'm not a huge fan of stories about writing/publishing ... but I don't know, hopefully it'll still be interesting.
Also, at least this is going to be a standalone which means no waiting for months for a sequel! Hooray!
So yeah, sounds kind of different from his usual stuff but I can't wait to read it.
Update 3/31/14: Oooh there's a cover. Hmm ... it's simple, but I like it. Kind of surreal/mysterious.
It like physically pains me to say this, but ... I found this book disappointing. Look ... I love love love Scott Westerfeld. Like, so much. He's one of my favorite authors in the world and I recommend his books to people constantly. I love Uglies and Midnighters and goodness gracious I adore the Leviathan books and couldn't wait to see what Scott Westerfeld would do next. So naturally, I was excited for this book and I was ecstatic to receive an ARC––but honestly, it didn't live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly entertaining/addicting read and even though it's 600 pages it didn't feel too long to me. And there was some potential in the idea, particularly in the inclusion of Hindu mythology (which I've only seen very occasionally in YA books––or in any book, really)––but even that wasn't fleshed out all that much.
Over all, the whole dual-story thing didn't really work for me and I didn't really see what the point of it was. Both of the main characters were pretty dry and I didn't feel much for them ... in fact, Lizzie was kind of a horrible person but I'll get more into that when I write my full review. And mostly I just found myself really annoyed at Darcy's storyline––partly because I dislike reading about writers (which is weird because I am one, but ... maybe that's why) but also writing/publishing were portrayed so unrealistically in this book and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief about a lot of things.
... But once again, I'll go into more detail when I write an actual, full review of this book. So yeah, you can expect that some time in the near future.
Before reading:
OKAY SO. I went to BookExpo America and I managed to get my hands on an ARC of this! (It involved waiting in line for like an hour, but there was free beer and I met some cool librarian/reviewer people so it was a good time.) And then I actually met Scott Westerfeld and he signed the book so that was super exciting because I've wanted to meet him forever and he's one of my favorite authors in the world so AAAHHHH. And––get this––he said he was pretty sure he'd heard of me ... ?! Like, he knew about my review blog and stuff ... ! I just. I. WHAT. I like pretty much screamed "REALLY?" and probably made a total idiot of myself. Oh my goodness, what a beautiful moment. I'm never going to get over it. But anyway, here it is ... the book! It's beautiful! And HUGE.
I'm still not really sure how I feel about this story-within-a-story thing––and from what I've read so far the whole teenage-girl-publishing-her-book storyline is super unrealistic (as I kind of feared it would be)––but the other storyline (the plot of the girl's book) is intriguing so far. And over all I'm excited to see where this whole idea is going because right now I have no clue. This is the 14th Scott Westerfeld book I've read (if I'm not forgetting anything) and he's never let me down so yeah I have some pretty high expectations. ;)
-------------
-------------
Before reading:
WHAT WHAT WHAT. A NEW SCOTT WESTERFELD BOOK YOU SAY?!?! COMING OUT IN THE FALL?!
Ahhh I've been wondering when there would be a new Westerfeld book. I've read all his other YA books and loved all of them. The Leviathan, Uglies, and Midnighters trilogies are among my favorite series, and I'm always eager to see what he'll write next.
According to this article on the Publishers Weekly website:
The story follows Darcy Patel to New York City after she lands a publishing contract for a novel she wrote for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) during her senior year of high school. As she becomes acquainted with the city’s charms and pitfalls, Darcy revises her manuscript and learns to navigate the publishing process along the way. ...
In addition to providing an insider’s look at the publishing industry, Afterworlds offers a second entire plotline: relayed in alternating chapters is Darcy’s book-in-progress, a paranormal thriller about a teenager named Lizzie who survives a terrorist attack by thinking her way into a mysterious “afterworld” between life and death. While in this limbo she embarks on myriad adventures, acting as a guide for lost souls and unsettled ghosts.
Hmmmm. I mean ... part of me just kind of wishes the book would just be about that second plotline because that sounds SO COOL but the publishing part sounds ... ehhh. I'm not a huge fan of stories about writing/publishing ... but I don't know, hopefully it'll still be interesting.
Also, at least this is going to be a standalone which means no waiting for months for a sequel! Hooray!
So yeah, sounds kind of different from his usual stuff but I can't wait to read it.
Update 3/31/14: Oooh there's a cover. Hmm ... it's simple, but I like it. Kind of surreal/mysterious.
May 13, 2015
Darcy is a YA novelist, fresh out of high school and deferring college (indefinitely?) because she sold her first novel to a publisher within a few weeks of sending a query. So this is clearly a work of fiction.
I didn’t care much for her book, with the premise being a girl who can see ghosts and falls in love with a Hindu death god. The passages where we see chapters from the book are dull, to be honest but I can see how they would have sold big in the book market (at least the way it was a few years ago).
But there’s another story here, one of Darcy adulting around New York; of her navigating new territory that she hadn’t given much thought to.
The author was trying to make several points in this book, but for whatever reason I wasn’t really feeling it.
I didn’t care much for her book, with the premise being a girl who can see ghosts and falls in love with a Hindu death god. The passages where we see chapters from the book are dull, to be honest but I can see how they would have sold big in the book market (at least the way it was a few years ago).
But there’s another story here, one of Darcy adulting around New York; of her navigating new territory that she hadn’t given much thought to.
The author was trying to make several points in this book, but for whatever reason I wasn’t really feeling it.
November 7, 2014
This is a big, fascinating, ambitious book, and if anyone could pull something like this off you'd think it would be Westerfeld. But . . . I was really a little shocked at the things that just didn't work for me. I wondered if it was just me, but a quick scan of other readers shows similar reactions.
So, back up, let me explain.
This is not one book, it's two.
The odd-numbered chapters are about a girl named Darcy Patel who wrote a book for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which is November, if you aren't in the know), actually sold it, and uses her advance money to move to New York and be an author. The even-numbered chapters are bordered in black and are Darcy's novel, which is about a girl named Lizzie who has a near-death experience and can now see the dead. So, pretty cool, right? And the novel-in-the-novel (entitled Afterworlds, of all things) is at times very creepy, and there is a hot romance, and it actually could have stood alone as a book.
But I almost wish it hadn't. Part of Darcy's story is that she's dealing with working with an editor for the first time. Freaking out over changes suggested to her ending, worrying that she's used the word "veins" too many times, that she's commandeered parts of her parents' Hindu faith for the sake of hot YA romance. I kept waiting to see changes to Afterworlds, like a character suddenly having an accent, or even reading the same chapter twice, but now it ends differently. But halfway through I realized that the Lizzie chapters were already edited, and what we were seeing were the final, polished, product. Which sort of robbed the book of some of its impact, for me anyway. Now I was just reading a straight up YA paranormal romance, which isn't really my thing. Also, Darcy freaks out over the fact that the copyeditor can find almost no physical descriptions for the characters in the books, and I agree. I couldn't picture most of the people (but the settings are great and very creepy) in Afterworlds, and didn't care that much about them by the end. Also, one of the characters is an eleven-year-old girl. It's a good thing that they keep saying her age, because from her behavior I would have pegged her as being six. It became increasingly grating to read about someone who acted like a six-year-old but kept stating her age as eleven. Did no one in or outside of the book notice this? Have any of them ever spoken to an eleven-year-old?
So the novel-in-a-novel was a bit disappointing, in that I would have loved to have seen the editorial process. And the novel-outside-of-the-novel, Darcy's story, was a bit . . . well . . . I loved some of it, and some of it annoyed me. I loved that she wrote and sold her NaNoWriMo novel. I loved that her sister, a math genius, figured out her budget so that she could move to New York and be a writer. That's the dream, right? I still have that dream! I loved her reactions to the publishing world, finding out about book tours, about editing, about sales numbers and all the nitty gritty that no one tells you about.
But then it was like Westerfeld pulled his punches. Yes, she's really seeing what's inside the writing world. But she's not failing, she's hitting one streak of awesome luck after another. She sells her novel in less than a year. Her agent lets her stay in her fancy New York apartment while she finds a place of her own. She finds an amazing apartment with awesome views in one day of looking. She falls in love. Even though she's repeatedly saying she's way over her budget, she just keeps going, shopping and eating out with her new friends. Despite her worries and her writer's block, her book is still getting great buzz. I just kept waiting for it to all come crashing down. And I couldn't believe that she was getting all this, at eighteen. Sure, maybe it was jealousy on my part . . . but still. It was like she never struggled with anything for more than five minutes. Her publisher has no qualms about throwing an eighteen-year-old out into the world of publishing, or that she can't follow through and do edits and turn out a second book in less than a year. She worries about breaking the news to her parents that she's not going to college next year, but they accept it. She puts off telling them about her relationship, since her partner (who pretty much moves in after one date) is FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN SHE IS AND SHE IS BARELY LEGAL (Sorry, sorry, Mom-instinct), and her parents smile and say, How wonderful you're in love! She drinks beer bought with her fake ID and never gets caught. The adults around her buy her drinks and see her in a relationship with an older, wiser person and living on her own in New York fresh out of high school and are like, Isn't this amazing? Yes, it's amazing, it's also, in a way, more of a fantasy than the story of Lizzie walking among the dead! It's also highly problematic in terms of audience: While "Afterworlds" is totally suitable for teens, Darcy's exterior story is . . . really pushing the envelope. She's a high school grad, eighteen years old, in a relationship with a twenty-something. There's plenty of profanity, as in, copious amounts of the f-word, underage drinking, and Darcy pretty much living as an adult in an adult world. I would hesitate to give this to a teen, just because of that.
So, to sum up, and I really didn't mean to get into this so much, but . . . I loved the idea of this book. I loved the insider look at publishing, which I do recommend (with a grain of salt) to those interested in publishing. But at the same time I just need you to remember: This is fiction. Also, swearing is bad.
So, back up, let me explain.
This is not one book, it's two.
The odd-numbered chapters are about a girl named Darcy Patel who wrote a book for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which is November, if you aren't in the know), actually sold it, and uses her advance money to move to New York and be an author. The even-numbered chapters are bordered in black and are Darcy's novel, which is about a girl named Lizzie who has a near-death experience and can now see the dead. So, pretty cool, right? And the novel-in-the-novel (entitled Afterworlds, of all things) is at times very creepy, and there is a hot romance, and it actually could have stood alone as a book.
But I almost wish it hadn't. Part of Darcy's story is that she's dealing with working with an editor for the first time. Freaking out over changes suggested to her ending, worrying that she's used the word "veins" too many times, that she's commandeered parts of her parents' Hindu faith for the sake of hot YA romance. I kept waiting to see changes to Afterworlds, like a character suddenly having an accent, or even reading the same chapter twice, but now it ends differently. But halfway through I realized that the Lizzie chapters were already edited, and what we were seeing were the final, polished, product. Which sort of robbed the book of some of its impact, for me anyway. Now I was just reading a straight up YA paranormal romance, which isn't really my thing. Also, Darcy freaks out over the fact that the copyeditor can find almost no physical descriptions for the characters in the books, and I agree. I couldn't picture most of the people (but the settings are great and very creepy) in Afterworlds, and didn't care that much about them by the end. Also, one of the characters is an eleven-year-old girl. It's a good thing that they keep saying her age, because from her behavior I would have pegged her as being six. It became increasingly grating to read about someone who acted like a six-year-old but kept stating her age as eleven. Did no one in or outside of the book notice this? Have any of them ever spoken to an eleven-year-old?
So the novel-in-a-novel was a bit disappointing, in that I would have loved to have seen the editorial process. And the novel-outside-of-the-novel, Darcy's story, was a bit . . . well . . . I loved some of it, and some of it annoyed me. I loved that she wrote and sold her NaNoWriMo novel. I loved that her sister, a math genius, figured out her budget so that she could move to New York and be a writer. That's the dream, right? I still have that dream! I loved her reactions to the publishing world, finding out about book tours, about editing, about sales numbers and all the nitty gritty that no one tells you about.
But then it was like Westerfeld pulled his punches. Yes, she's really seeing what's inside the writing world. But she's not failing, she's hitting one streak of awesome luck after another. She sells her novel in less than a year. Her agent lets her stay in her fancy New York apartment while she finds a place of her own. She finds an amazing apartment with awesome views in one day of looking. She falls in love. Even though she's repeatedly saying she's way over her budget, she just keeps going, shopping and eating out with her new friends. Despite her worries and her writer's block, her book is still getting great buzz. I just kept waiting for it to all come crashing down. And I couldn't believe that she was getting all this, at eighteen. Sure, maybe it was jealousy on my part . . . but still. It was like she never struggled with anything for more than five minutes. Her publisher has no qualms about throwing an eighteen-year-old out into the world of publishing, or that she can't follow through and do edits and turn out a second book in less than a year. She worries about breaking the news to her parents that she's not going to college next year, but they accept it. She puts off telling them about her relationship, since her partner (who pretty much moves in after one date) is FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN SHE IS AND SHE IS BARELY LEGAL (Sorry, sorry, Mom-instinct), and her parents smile and say, How wonderful you're in love! She drinks beer bought with her fake ID and never gets caught. The adults around her buy her drinks and see her in a relationship with an older, wiser person and living on her own in New York fresh out of high school and are like, Isn't this amazing? Yes, it's amazing, it's also, in a way, more of a fantasy than the story of Lizzie walking among the dead! It's also highly problematic in terms of audience: While "Afterworlds" is totally suitable for teens, Darcy's exterior story is . . . really pushing the envelope. She's a high school grad, eighteen years old, in a relationship with a twenty-something. There's plenty of profanity, as in, copious amounts of the f-word, underage drinking, and Darcy pretty much living as an adult in an adult world. I would hesitate to give this to a teen, just because of that.
So, to sum up, and I really didn't mean to get into this so much, but . . . I loved the idea of this book. I loved the insider look at publishing, which I do recommend (with a grain of salt) to those interested in publishing. But at the same time I just need you to remember: This is fiction. Also, swearing is bad.
June 10, 2014
I love this times infinity. I already love YA in general and Scott Westerfeld in particular (his Uglies series got me back into reading YA as an adult), but this book I love the most. I love that he wrote something so chancy and cheeky (and META!), and I love that someone published it. Basically I think it's brilliant and couldn't love it more, but I don't think everyone is going to feel that way.
Here's some of what I love and some of what sets this book apart, if you want to know if it's for you:
1. I wasn't kidding about the meta. Not only is this a YA book about someone writing a YA book, but the YA book she's writing is also included (in alternating chapters). There's also a lot of discussion about the challenges of writing (and publishing, and marketing, and selling) YA, some of which has already surfaced in the reviews of this book (one of the main story's characters - another YA author - is worried that her protagonist, a girl who likes girls who like to set fires, is too risky and won't be well received; lo and behold, several of the Afterworlds reviews I've read contain warnings about its violence and "homosexual relationship"). So while Westerfeld is writing about a fictitious writer and her fictitious book, he's also exploring some very real issues that very real YA writers face.
2. One of the most interesting of those issues is the matter of cultural appropriation. Darcy, the main character of the main story (the one writing the book within the book), has some misgivings about one of her main characters, who is based on a Hindu death god. She worries that she is exploiting her religion (one she doesn't really observe) "for the purposes of YA hotness" (the scary death god has been turned into a handsome love interest). I love all the discussions about this, and I especially love that this teenage gay Indian girl fretting over cultural appropriation is written by a fifty-something straight white man. Some people might take issue with that, but this book is so gloriously self-reflective that it hardly matters. It's kind of the point. (Also mad props to Westerfeld for whipping out Millenialisms like "squee" and "this is giving me all the feelings.")
3. There's a lot of focus on the YA writing/publishing community, particularly in New York. I enjoyed this because I live in New York and I live to read YA. Like Darcy I moved to NYC alone, young and clueless and ended up in an exorbitantly overpriced 4th floor walk-up in Chinatown (though instead of a $150K publishing deal I received $150K in grad school debt). The notion of a teenager landing said deal might rub some aspiring writers the wrong way, but it's what allows Westerfeld to acquaint us with his world in such detail. We learn and experience everything right alongside Darcy. This probably won't interest everybody. I've heard grumblings that Darcy's part of the story is unnecessary and that Lizzie's story (the book within the book) should have been the whole shabang, but for me it's the intertwining of the two narratives that makes this so special. You don't need to be a writer to appreciate the writing process. What reader hasn't finished an amazing book and then wondered about the mind that produced it? Afterworlds is a chance to crawl inside that mind and see the whole thing unfold.
Here's some of what I love and some of what sets this book apart, if you want to know if it's for you:
1. I wasn't kidding about the meta. Not only is this a YA book about someone writing a YA book, but the YA book she's writing is also included (in alternating chapters). There's also a lot of discussion about the challenges of writing (and publishing, and marketing, and selling) YA, some of which has already surfaced in the reviews of this book (one of the main story's characters - another YA author - is worried that her protagonist, a girl who likes girls who like to set fires, is too risky and won't be well received; lo and behold, several of the Afterworlds reviews I've read contain warnings about its violence and "homosexual relationship"). So while Westerfeld is writing about a fictitious writer and her fictitious book, he's also exploring some very real issues that very real YA writers face.
2. One of the most interesting of those issues is the matter of cultural appropriation. Darcy, the main character of the main story (the one writing the book within the book), has some misgivings about one of her main characters, who is based on a Hindu death god. She worries that she is exploiting her religion (one she doesn't really observe) "for the purposes of YA hotness" (the scary death god has been turned into a handsome love interest). I love all the discussions about this, and I especially love that this teenage gay Indian girl fretting over cultural appropriation is written by a fifty-something straight white man. Some people might take issue with that, but this book is so gloriously self-reflective that it hardly matters. It's kind of the point. (Also mad props to Westerfeld for whipping out Millenialisms like "squee" and "this is giving me all the feelings.")
3. There's a lot of focus on the YA writing/publishing community, particularly in New York. I enjoyed this because I live in New York and I live to read YA. Like Darcy I moved to NYC alone, young and clueless and ended up in an exorbitantly overpriced 4th floor walk-up in Chinatown (though instead of a $150K publishing deal I received $150K in grad school debt). The notion of a teenager landing said deal might rub some aspiring writers the wrong way, but it's what allows Westerfeld to acquaint us with his world in such detail. We learn and experience everything right alongside Darcy. This probably won't interest everybody. I've heard grumblings that Darcy's part of the story is unnecessary and that Lizzie's story (the book within the book) should have been the whole shabang, but for me it's the intertwining of the two narratives that makes this so special. You don't need to be a writer to appreciate the writing process. What reader hasn't finished an amazing book and then wondered about the mind that produced it? Afterworlds is a chance to crawl inside that mind and see the whole thing unfold.
December 31, 2014
Just a note, because I wish someone had told me before I began this book, it has a lesbian romance. That isn't the reason it got one star. Plenty of other reasons for that. Still. I wish I'd known going in.
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld dripped with potential. At least initially. I'm a big fan of the Leviathan trilogy. I liked Midnighters. The idea of a book intertwining a young author in New York City with corresponding chapters of her debut paranormal novel sounded like a must read.
And initially, it was.
Darcy, the 18-year-old authoress, is Indian. Her book borrows characters from Hindu religions. Sweet. Less Greeks! More myth variation! I was all aboard. And then...the two intertwining stories threads fall apart. Internally.
Let's begin with Darcy's story. First off, she sends in a rough draft of her first-ever writing and not only gets accepted by a publisher, they role out the red carpet. Okay. That's part of the initial pull of the story, right? Yet for Darcy there doesn't appear to be anything she can't succeed at. She goes apartment hunting on a budget. Finds something. Can't afford the apartment? Gets her aunt to co-sponsor the loan. Gets writers block? Can't figure out her second novel? She'll deal with it and you know she will because the book has to end at some point. Throw in some irritating misunderstandings and relationship drama and you have a completely uninspiring, uninteresting plot about a girl who practically gets everything, is told she gets everything, and doesn't learn anything painful along the way.
Frequent language. Lots of f-bombs.
However, for me I grew bored the minute Darcy got a girlfriend. A girlfriend 5 years older than her. They all but move in together right away.
Let's review, shall we?
Darcy grew in an apparently traditional, possibly conservative Hindu home. She's never been in a relationship. She just turned 18. she graduates from high school and that summer moves to NYC.
Now, Imogen (said girlfriend) is 23 and has had previous girlfriends. Imogen is all like "I like you." And Darcy, who apparently hadn't a clue about her previous personal lesbian tendencies, is all like...smooch.
So goes young adult fiction.
Yet even young adult fiction cannot get me to believe or accept that a girl like Darcy, at her age and life experience raised as she was, would within...what? a week? be sleeping with her girlfriend. It sort of gets shuffled around with what it means to lose your virginity, bleh bleh bleh. No biggie, aw how sweet her first. Everyone is totally chill. Parents, friends, etc.
Um, how about no?
How about we reverse genders a little here? Would it make sense for an 18 year old girl who has never been in a relationship to be sleeping with a 23 year old boyfriend in such a short amount of time? I feel like we'd be a little concerned there. Why is it okay if its another female? No specifics offered - thankfully - but still completely bizarre, out of character, and stupid. Their relationship drama bored me to tears.
I ended up skimming through most of Darcy's plot. I couldn't stand her, her relationship, or her life.
Now Lizzie's story, the "novel" of this...um...novel, is about this girl who nearly dies in a terrorist attack and subsequently becomes a grim reaper/valkyrie/psychochamp ('psycho', you think? Wait till you hear that connection made....a million times...in this novel) And of course there is a nice, hot psychochamp dude who helps save her and somehow they have this burning connection. For the first half (or at least, longer then Darcy at any rate), Lizzie interested me. I really thought it had potential. The writing was off but I thought that was supposed to be Darcy's...rough draft? but no, its her final draft. The rest of this paragraph will contain spoilers. I felt the plot takes a random turn when Lizzie picks up Mindy's defense and goes to fight the 'bad man'. The terrorist just got dropped. The FBI sort of flits off the pages. Everything that began this book sort of gets ignored. And I didn't like it. The Mom's illness is out of left field. Its lousily paced. And frankly, it goes teeny bopper. I was left skimming Darcy's bit and reading a stupid, paranormal teen novel. What was the point? I'm not sure which plot line I wanted to end more.
Self-mockery and critique of teen novels in Darcy's bit doesn't make Lizzie's story any better. If anything it continues to drag it down.
Lots of potential, doesn't live up to it. If anything, avoid for all the swearing. Or for the lousy plots. Or thin characters. Or the writing. Or...you name it.
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld dripped with potential. At least initially. I'm a big fan of the Leviathan trilogy. I liked Midnighters. The idea of a book intertwining a young author in New York City with corresponding chapters of her debut paranormal novel sounded like a must read.
And initially, it was.
Darcy, the 18-year-old authoress, is Indian. Her book borrows characters from Hindu religions. Sweet. Less Greeks! More myth variation! I was all aboard. And then...the two intertwining stories threads fall apart. Internally.
Let's begin with Darcy's story. First off, she sends in a rough draft of her first-ever writing and not only gets accepted by a publisher, they role out the red carpet. Okay. That's part of the initial pull of the story, right? Yet for Darcy there doesn't appear to be anything she can't succeed at. She goes apartment hunting on a budget. Finds something. Can't afford the apartment? Gets her aunt to co-sponsor the loan. Gets writers block? Can't figure out her second novel? She'll deal with it and you know she will because the book has to end at some point. Throw in some irritating misunderstandings and relationship drama and you have a completely uninspiring, uninteresting plot about a girl who practically gets everything, is told she gets everything, and doesn't learn anything painful along the way.
Frequent language. Lots of f-bombs.
However, for me I grew bored the minute Darcy got a girlfriend. A girlfriend 5 years older than her. They all but move in together right away.
Let's review, shall we?
Darcy grew in an apparently traditional, possibly conservative Hindu home. She's never been in a relationship. She just turned 18. she graduates from high school and that summer moves to NYC.
Now, Imogen (said girlfriend) is 23 and has had previous girlfriends. Imogen is all like "I like you." And Darcy, who apparently hadn't a clue about her previous personal lesbian tendencies, is all like...smooch.
So goes young adult fiction.
Yet even young adult fiction cannot get me to believe or accept that a girl like Darcy, at her age and life experience raised as she was, would within...what? a week? be sleeping with her girlfriend. It sort of gets shuffled around with what it means to lose your virginity, bleh bleh bleh. No biggie, aw how sweet her first. Everyone is totally chill. Parents, friends, etc.
Um, how about no?
How about we reverse genders a little here? Would it make sense for an 18 year old girl who has never been in a relationship to be sleeping with a 23 year old boyfriend in such a short amount of time? I feel like we'd be a little concerned there. Why is it okay if its another female? No specifics offered - thankfully - but still completely bizarre, out of character, and stupid. Their relationship drama bored me to tears.
I ended up skimming through most of Darcy's plot. I couldn't stand her, her relationship, or her life.
Now Lizzie's story, the "novel" of this...um...novel, is about this girl who nearly dies in a terrorist attack and subsequently becomes a grim reaper/valkyrie/psychochamp ('psycho', you think? Wait till you hear that connection made....a million times...in this novel) And of course there is a nice, hot psychochamp dude who helps save her and somehow they have this burning connection. For the first half (or at least, longer then Darcy at any rate), Lizzie interested me. I really thought it had potential. The writing was off but I thought that was supposed to be Darcy's...rough draft? but no, its her final draft. The rest of this paragraph will contain spoilers. I felt the plot takes a random turn when Lizzie picks up Mindy's defense and goes to fight the 'bad man'. The terrorist just got dropped. The FBI sort of flits off the pages. Everything that began this book sort of gets ignored. And I didn't like it. The Mom's illness is out of left field. Its lousily paced. And frankly, it goes teeny bopper. I was left skimming Darcy's bit and reading a stupid, paranormal teen novel. What was the point? I'm not sure which plot line I wanted to end more.
Self-mockery and critique of teen novels in Darcy's bit doesn't make Lizzie's story any better. If anything it continues to drag it down.
Lots of potential, doesn't live up to it. If anything, avoid for all the swearing. Or for the lousy plots. Or thin characters. Or the writing. Or...you name it.
June 5, 2015
***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato
I don’t know where to start with this book but I will say this, Scott Westerfeld is a genius. I love him to bits and pieces and this book reminds me why. When I first heard he had a new book coming out, I was over the moon, to the point where I didn’t pay much attention to the blurb just because I believed I’d love it and love it I did. This may not be his best work, and the novel may seem a little fluffy but there is so much more to it. It has so many hidden depths that come crawling out yet at the same time it makes you laugh. Who doesn’t love a book that can make you laugh yet at the same time makes you think?
Afterworlds, to me, is a work of art. The story follows two different timelines, one of the creator and the other of the created. A book about a book! BOOKCEPTION! Darcy is a young author, barely out of high school who got paid a huge advance for her book and can finally be an adult (YAY, Adulting is fun. NOT). Lizzie is the main character of said book. You’d think the two storylines wouldn’t have much connecting them aside from the fact that Darcy made up Lizzie but that’s not true. What really connects them, under all of that, is the fact that both are coming of age stories. Both these young women are thrust into situations out of their depth and as a result they grow. Darcy becomes a highly paid (unprinted) author at a young age and has to learn how to fit into the publishing community. She's also a tad naive so a lot of her journey is also about realizing that not everything is 'YA heaven'. Lizzie on the other hand has to learn to deal with all the death surrounding her and has to also learn all about this whole new world she finds herself in.
You know what’s brilliant though? I DON’T HAVE A FAVORITE TIMELINE! I loved both of them equally. There were times when I was more sucked in by one than the other but when I closed the book I didn’t have a favorite.
Darcy’s storyline was the one that made me ask the questions though. The glimpse we got of the publishing community left me hyper (I really do mean hyper... like jumping off the walls hyper) and just hungry to know more. It was so fascinating and even a little scary to see what authors (may) go through. The amount of hard work they put in, the problems they may come across and those bits broke my heart. Darcy herself was a wonderful, sometimes annoying but all around fun to read about character. I think what made her so realistic was that in spite of everything that had happened to her, she wasn’t a mature adult. She was out of her depth. She didn’t do things perfectly and carefully. She blew her budget, screwed things up but at the end of it all, she learned from her mistakes. She grew up. That’s what made her storyline beautiful.
Lizzie’s on the other hand was more complicated to discern because her story is a book inside of a book and the book is supposed to be deep. The problem is that I kept on imagining it as Darcy’s book so I had a different view of it while reading than I did after I finished the book and realized that it wasn’t Darcy’s book, it was Scott Westerfeld’s book. Lizzie’s storyline was written in a certain way to emphasize that it was Darcy’s book and we could see hints of Darcy’s personality in it. Basically, Scott Westerfeld is a genius. Are you guys starting to get the idea that I really love Scott? WELL IT’S BECAUSE HE’S A BLOODY GENIUS. Moving on. Lizzie’s character was similar in some ways to Darcy but at the same time, it wasn’t. Their situations were different and, in some ways, Lizzie was more mature. She made silly mistakes too but she dealt with things in a way I felt like Darcy probably wouldn’t have if she were in the same situation. It really was so interesting to compare and contrast the two and see how Scott created developed their characters.
The world building in this book is magnificent. It’s hard to write a book about a book. Especially when the writer of the book is also a character (of the book that is being written about… are you confused yet?). But he does it and he does it well. I don’t really know how to explain it to y’all because it’s hard. Scott’s world consists of the bookish community but it also consists of the world he created for the book that is inside this book. The world building of Afterworlds, which is (also) the name of Darcy’s book, is marvelous. Not going to elaborate but think psychopomps, a little bit of hindu myth and the afterworlds. But going back to Darcy’s timeline, you get to also see the ways in which Afterworlds isn’t perfect. You see criticism for the other timeline, something you might have been thinking yourself and that just makes this all the more interesting.
I am getting to the point of my review where I usually start to talk about the romances and you know what? I won’t. The romances don’t matter. I mean they do, but everything else that is going on in this book is so much bigger and better. I will offer one hint though; both romances have relevance.
I am not going to say anymore. I will shut up and all I ask of you is to give this a shot. Don’t be intimidated by the size, you’re going to love it and if not love it, at the very least, like it. It’s Scott Westerfeld after all.
I don’t know where to start with this book but I will say this, Scott Westerfeld is a genius. I love him to bits and pieces and this book reminds me why. When I first heard he had a new book coming out, I was over the moon, to the point where I didn’t pay much attention to the blurb just because I believed I’d love it and love it I did. This may not be his best work, and the novel may seem a little fluffy but there is so much more to it. It has so many hidden depths that come crawling out yet at the same time it makes you laugh. Who doesn’t love a book that can make you laugh yet at the same time makes you think?
Afterworlds, to me, is a work of art. The story follows two different timelines, one of the creator and the other of the created. A book about a book! BOOKCEPTION! Darcy is a young author, barely out of high school who got paid a huge advance for her book and can finally be an adult (YAY, Adulting is fun. NOT). Lizzie is the main character of said book. You’d think the two storylines wouldn’t have much connecting them aside from the fact that Darcy made up Lizzie but that’s not true. What really connects them, under all of that, is the fact that both are coming of age stories. Both these young women are thrust into situations out of their depth and as a result they grow. Darcy becomes a highly paid (unprinted) author at a young age and has to learn how to fit into the publishing community. She's also a tad naive so a lot of her journey is also about realizing that not everything is 'YA heaven'. Lizzie on the other hand has to learn to deal with all the death surrounding her and has to also learn all about this whole new world she finds herself in.
You know what’s brilliant though? I DON’T HAVE A FAVORITE TIMELINE! I loved both of them equally. There were times when I was more sucked in by one than the other but when I closed the book I didn’t have a favorite.
Darcy’s storyline was the one that made me ask the questions though. The glimpse we got of the publishing community left me hyper (I really do mean hyper... like jumping off the walls hyper) and just hungry to know more. It was so fascinating and even a little scary to see what authors (may) go through. The amount of hard work they put in, the problems they may come across and those bits broke my heart. Darcy herself was a wonderful, sometimes annoying but all around fun to read about character. I think what made her so realistic was that in spite of everything that had happened to her, she wasn’t a mature adult. She was out of her depth. She didn’t do things perfectly and carefully. She blew her budget, screwed things up but at the end of it all, she learned from her mistakes. She grew up. That’s what made her storyline beautiful.
Lizzie’s on the other hand was more complicated to discern because her story is a book inside of a book and the book is supposed to be deep. The problem is that I kept on imagining it as Darcy’s book so I had a different view of it while reading than I did after I finished the book and realized that it wasn’t Darcy’s book, it was Scott Westerfeld’s book. Lizzie’s storyline was written in a certain way to emphasize that it was Darcy’s book and we could see hints of Darcy’s personality in it. Basically, Scott Westerfeld is a genius. Are you guys starting to get the idea that I really love Scott? WELL IT’S BECAUSE HE’S A BLOODY GENIUS. Moving on. Lizzie’s character was similar in some ways to Darcy but at the same time, it wasn’t. Their situations were different and, in some ways, Lizzie was more mature. She made silly mistakes too but she dealt with things in a way I felt like Darcy probably wouldn’t have if she were in the same situation. It really was so interesting to compare and contrast the two and see how Scott created developed their characters.
The world building in this book is magnificent. It’s hard to write a book about a book. Especially when the writer of the book is also a character (of the book that is being written about… are you confused yet?). But he does it and he does it well. I don’t really know how to explain it to y’all because it’s hard. Scott’s world consists of the bookish community but it also consists of the world he created for the book that is inside this book. The world building of Afterworlds, which is (also) the name of Darcy’s book, is marvelous. Not going to elaborate but think psychopomps, a little bit of hindu myth and the afterworlds. But going back to Darcy’s timeline, you get to also see the ways in which Afterworlds isn’t perfect. You see criticism for the other timeline, something you might have been thinking yourself and that just makes this all the more interesting.
I am getting to the point of my review where I usually start to talk about the romances and you know what? I won’t. The romances don’t matter. I mean they do, but everything else that is going on in this book is so much bigger and better. I will offer one hint though; both romances have relevance.
I am not going to say anymore. I will shut up and all I ask of you is to give this a shot. Don’t be intimidated by the size, you’re going to love it and if not love it, at the very least, like it. It’s Scott Westerfeld after all.
July 28, 2017
I had a pretty good feeling I'd enjoy this book because I've very much enjoyed every other book by Westerfeld that I've read. But I didn't expect to fall head over heels in love with this book like I did! From the very beginning I was totally hooked and it only got better as it went on!
The concept and the way it's written is SO original and I really couldn't have enjoyed it more! I'm a huge YA fan so when I saw where this was going, I was so excited. Getting to read about Darcy going through the publishing process for her debut YA novel and then actually getting to read said debut YA novel was so damn awesome!
Both sides of the story were absolutely excellent! Getting a "behind the scenes" look at the publishing world was really interesting and I did very much enjoy that half of the story. But I definitely enjoyed getting to read Darcy's novel more, especially since it's totally something I'd pick up myself!
Really, I could go on and on about how much I loved this book! It's definitely made it into my top ten favourite books of 2017 so far, it's just that damn good! If there is truly a "YA Heaven" as joked about in this book, Scott Westerfeld has most definitely earned his place there!
The concept and the way it's written is SO original and I really couldn't have enjoyed it more! I'm a huge YA fan so when I saw where this was going, I was so excited. Getting to read about Darcy going through the publishing process for her debut YA novel and then actually getting to read said debut YA novel was so damn awesome!
Both sides of the story were absolutely excellent! Getting a "behind the scenes" look at the publishing world was really interesting and I did very much enjoy that half of the story. But I definitely enjoyed getting to read Darcy's novel more, especially since it's totally something I'd pick up myself!
Really, I could go on and on about how much I loved this book! It's definitely made it into my top ten favourite books of 2017 so far, it's just that damn good! If there is truly a "YA Heaven" as joked about in this book, Scott Westerfeld has most definitely earned his place there!
Shelved as 'unfinished'
October 19, 2014I think this is just a personality mismatch and since I realized that relatively early on (and quit reading), I'll refrain from assigning a star-score. The book is heavier than some textbooks I had in college and that made the reading awkward. I couldn't quite buy a new YA author making a six-figure advance on her first book, either. But the real roadblock to getting into the book was the two heroines. They both felt so passive, each waiting for things to happen to them, and/or what actions they did take were motivated by impulses that were either external, mysterious, or unacknowledged. Add that each section would interrupt what little momentum I had from the other and you have a book I put down and simply couldn't be bothered to pick back up again.
September 18, 2014
(I got an ARC courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)
Pretty interesting premise, but in the end I found the execution wanting, and the stories not that interesting, unfortunately.
I really liked the beginning: Darcy having to navigate her way in New York, meeting published authors as well as other "debs" like her (people whose book was to be published in the upcoming months), having to take editing and rewriting tasks into account... The first pages of Lizzie's story were gripping, too, and I appreciated how we're shown the final version of Darcy's book, running parallel to her own editing of the first draft, with all the pitfalls that were in it (exposition chapters, huge info-dumps...) and were then removed. As someone who likes writing, too,
I couldn't help but find this comment about the YA scene and authors' jobs quite interesting. The book is full of little allusions to similar themes: Darcy obviously wrote her novel during NaNoWriMo 2012, the Darcy/Lizzie hint at "Pride and Prejudice" is totally acknowledged, the authors debate about what's more important (plot? characters? conflict? setting?), and so on.
However, a lot of aspects in "Afterworlds" were problematic.
For starters, I'm not sure YA readers not specifically interested in writing would "get it". Clearly it's going to be a hit-or-miss here.
Also, the characters weren't that impressive. Those from Darcy's novel were rather bland in my opinion, and what I may deem "typical YA cut-outs". Yamaraj: the mysterious love interest without much of a personality. Jamie: the best friend who, in Darcy's copy-editor's own terms, "has car, lives with father", and not much more. In fact, Darcy's novel would have deserved to stand on its own, because it would've allowed the author to properly develop its world and characters, and make it the gripping idea it seemed to be in the beginning. (I'm still convinced that opening scene in the airport is a proper attention-catcher.)
Darcy was definitely annoying: totally immature, without any sense of responsibility (she missed so many deadlines, such as the ones for college applications, lease renewal, and her writing was two inches from going the same way), jumping to conclusions, thinking in terms of the world revolving around her... Defects I would've happily forgiven, if she had learnt from them, but she didn't. And in the end? In the end, Little Miss Lucky still got lucky, still landed an astonishing deal, still managed to waltz out of problems without that much of a hitch. All things that are potential insults at actual writers, the large majority that doesn't land an agent after just a few weeks of querying, nor a $300,000 book deal for his/her first novel. I'm all in favour of selling dreams, but those were too much a matter of dumb luck, not of work and personal improvement. I didn't root for Darcy at all. (I was also rather miffed at her plot taking a "let's focus on the love relationship" turn. There were so many other things it could have focused on...)
Mostly, I felt that this book had great potential in being a pretty good parody, but couldn't make up its mind about being one or not. Why a parody? For all the jabs at YA novels, at their shortcomings, elements I tend to notice as well when I read such stories. "Afterworlds" could be an excellent critique of the current market—a market I personally find saturated with cookie-cutter themes and plots (the same old kind of love interest, the same trend of characters whose questionable decisions put them in the too-stupid-to-live category...). Unfortunately, the way it is, it fell into the exact pit traps it (unconsciously or not?) denounced.
A note as well about a few questions raised throughout Darcy's narrative. There was an interesting discussion about culture appropriation, and how Darcy's use of Yama, an actual deity from Hindu mythology, amounted to erasing Hinduism, or at least part of it, from her world, by not openly acknowledging him as part of this religion. I found this point very valid. And yet, at the same time, Darcy herself represents a removal of cultural heritage: she's of Indian origin, but apart from her surname and physical description, she's the typical "white protagonist". (She's not religious, her family isn't particularly religious either, they all behave like standard Americans in novels... In other words: why make her from a different culture, if it's not to use it? Was it just for the sake of having a non-white protagonist... or, on the contrary, to point at how many other novels appropriate various cultures, only to "whiten" them?)
The underlying critique is definitely present, and something I can't help thinking about, wondering if it was on purpose, or totally accidental. I don't know how to take this novel, except with a grain of salt. I'm giving it 2 stars because of the parody it could be, one that made me snicker and nod my head in acknowledgment. But story-wise, I think it should either have been made a stronger read (as it was, it became boring rather quickly), or have gone all the way as a more obvious means of denouncing the many problems going rampant in the YA publishing industry. If it's one, I'm not sure that many people will realise it, unfortunately (and especially not younger readers—not because they're young, just because they may not have the necessary reading background to see the critique I mentioned).
Pretty interesting premise, but in the end I found the execution wanting, and the stories not that interesting, unfortunately.
I really liked the beginning: Darcy having to navigate her way in New York, meeting published authors as well as other "debs" like her (people whose book was to be published in the upcoming months), having to take editing and rewriting tasks into account... The first pages of Lizzie's story were gripping, too, and I appreciated how we're shown the final version of Darcy's book, running parallel to her own editing of the first draft, with all the pitfalls that were in it (exposition chapters, huge info-dumps...) and were then removed. As someone who likes writing, too,
I couldn't help but find this comment about the YA scene and authors' jobs quite interesting. The book is full of little allusions to similar themes: Darcy obviously wrote her novel during NaNoWriMo 2012, the Darcy/Lizzie hint at "Pride and Prejudice" is totally acknowledged, the authors debate about what's more important (plot? characters? conflict? setting?), and so on.
However, a lot of aspects in "Afterworlds" were problematic.
For starters, I'm not sure YA readers not specifically interested in writing would "get it". Clearly it's going to be a hit-or-miss here.
Also, the characters weren't that impressive. Those from Darcy's novel were rather bland in my opinion, and what I may deem "typical YA cut-outs". Yamaraj: the mysterious love interest without much of a personality. Jamie: the best friend who, in Darcy's copy-editor's own terms, "has car, lives with father", and not much more. In fact, Darcy's novel would have deserved to stand on its own, because it would've allowed the author to properly develop its world and characters, and make it the gripping idea it seemed to be in the beginning. (I'm still convinced that opening scene in the airport is a proper attention-catcher.)
Darcy was definitely annoying: totally immature, without any sense of responsibility (she missed so many deadlines, such as the ones for college applications, lease renewal, and her writing was two inches from going the same way), jumping to conclusions, thinking in terms of the world revolving around her... Defects I would've happily forgiven, if she had learnt from them, but she didn't. And in the end? In the end, Little Miss Lucky still got lucky, still landed an astonishing deal, still managed to waltz out of problems without that much of a hitch. All things that are potential insults at actual writers, the large majority that doesn't land an agent after just a few weeks of querying, nor a $300,000 book deal for his/her first novel. I'm all in favour of selling dreams, but those were too much a matter of dumb luck, not of work and personal improvement. I didn't root for Darcy at all. (I was also rather miffed at her plot taking a "let's focus on the love relationship" turn. There were so many other things it could have focused on...)
Mostly, I felt that this book had great potential in being a pretty good parody, but couldn't make up its mind about being one or not. Why a parody? For all the jabs at YA novels, at their shortcomings, elements I tend to notice as well when I read such stories. "Afterworlds" could be an excellent critique of the current market—a market I personally find saturated with cookie-cutter themes and plots (the same old kind of love interest, the same trend of characters whose questionable decisions put them in the too-stupid-to-live category...). Unfortunately, the way it is, it fell into the exact pit traps it (unconsciously or not?) denounced.
A note as well about a few questions raised throughout Darcy's narrative. There was an interesting discussion about culture appropriation, and how Darcy's use of Yama, an actual deity from Hindu mythology, amounted to erasing Hinduism, or at least part of it, from her world, by not openly acknowledging him as part of this religion. I found this point very valid. And yet, at the same time, Darcy herself represents a removal of cultural heritage: she's of Indian origin, but apart from her surname and physical description, she's the typical "white protagonist". (She's not religious, her family isn't particularly religious either, they all behave like standard Americans in novels... In other words: why make her from a different culture, if it's not to use it? Was it just for the sake of having a non-white protagonist... or, on the contrary, to point at how many other novels appropriate various cultures, only to "whiten" them?)
The underlying critique is definitely present, and something I can't help thinking about, wondering if it was on purpose, or totally accidental. I don't know how to take this novel, except with a grain of salt. I'm giving it 2 stars because of the parody it could be, one that made me snicker and nod my head in acknowledgment. But story-wise, I think it should either have been made a stronger read (as it was, it became boring rather quickly), or have gone all the way as a more obvious means of denouncing the many problems going rampant in the YA publishing industry. If it's one, I'm not sure that many people will realise it, unfortunately (and especially not younger readers—not because they're young, just because they may not have the necessary reading background to see the critique I mentioned).
April 10, 2017
Actual Rating: 3.5
I've read Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series, but it hadn't been as good as I had expected with all the hype around it. Now, Afterworlds didn't have nearly as much exposure, but I loved it a lot better.
It is written from two perspectives:
Darcy is an eighteen-year-old debut novelist who is waiting for her book Afterworlds to be published. She moves to New York to find a place where she can write, but there there, she finds love - and a little bit of herself.
Our second story is the story written by Darcy - it is about Lizzie, a girl who, after surviving a terrorist attack, finds out she has the ability to cross into the afterworld. But not all people are good, not all ghosts are good, and Lizzie's gonna need a little help learning what it means to believe.
I thought the voices for the characters were done very well for this book. I'm not a huge fan of multiple perspectives because it's oftentimes so difficult to differentiate between them, but Lizzie and Darcy were in such different worlds that it was very clear. (The different page styles did help too.) Admittedly, I was more interested in Lizzie's story just because there was a much more sense of fantasy and adventure, whereas Darcy's was dimmed down and mundane. Both characters definitely undergone character development, but I felt like Darcy's character arc was more fluid.
The plot for both were very interesting, but I felt like I liked the first half of the book more, for both. Lizzie's beginning was interesting, and I loved reading about how she ventured in the different worlds. There was great backstory about the ghosts that she met, and Westerfeld was great at the world-building. I feel like, in the second half, the story started to get a little messy, and I wasn't really sure where the story was headed anymore.
Darcy had development as well, but it was very closely tied with her journey as an author, which, while realistic, was a bit more boring. There were times where I felt like she was annoying and hypocritical, which added to the fact that I didn't like her as much despite her character progression.
The writing style was engaging; this was what had made me dislike Uglies, and it was why I entered this book with such hesitance, but the writing was surprisingly interesting.
One issue I have with this is the love interest; Darcy's was great, but Lizzie's was such a cringeworthy case of insta-love that I would have honestly preferred it to not be there at all. This was perhaps the only reason my actual rating for the book was a 3.5, not a 4.
Overall, this book actually reinstated my interest in Scott Westerfeld's other books, and I'd recommend Afterworlds to anyone into the fantasy, contemporary, and YA genres.
I've read Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series, but it hadn't been as good as I had expected with all the hype around it. Now, Afterworlds didn't have nearly as much exposure, but I loved it a lot better.
It is written from two perspectives:
Darcy is an eighteen-year-old debut novelist who is waiting for her book Afterworlds to be published. She moves to New York to find a place where she can write, but there there, she finds love - and a little bit of herself.
Our second story is the story written by Darcy - it is about Lizzie, a girl who, after surviving a terrorist attack, finds out she has the ability to cross into the afterworld. But not all people are good, not all ghosts are good, and Lizzie's gonna need a little help learning what it means to believe.
I thought the voices for the characters were done very well for this book. I'm not a huge fan of multiple perspectives because it's oftentimes so difficult to differentiate between them, but Lizzie and Darcy were in such different worlds that it was very clear. (The different page styles did help too.) Admittedly, I was more interested in Lizzie's story just because there was a much more sense of fantasy and adventure, whereas Darcy's was dimmed down and mundane. Both characters definitely undergone character development, but I felt like Darcy's character arc was more fluid.
The plot for both were very interesting, but I felt like I liked the first half of the book more, for both. Lizzie's beginning was interesting, and I loved reading about how she ventured in the different worlds. There was great backstory about the ghosts that she met, and Westerfeld was great at the world-building. I feel like, in the second half, the story started to get a little messy, and I wasn't really sure where the story was headed anymore.
Darcy had development as well, but it was very closely tied with her journey as an author, which, while realistic, was a bit more boring. There were times where I felt like she was annoying and hypocritical, which added to the fact that I didn't like her as much despite her character progression.
The writing style was engaging; this was what had made me dislike Uglies, and it was why I entered this book with such hesitance, but the writing was surprisingly interesting.
One issue I have with this is the love interest; Darcy's was great, but Lizzie's was such a cringeworthy case of insta-love that I would have honestly preferred it to not be there at all. This was perhaps the only reason my actual rating for the book was a 3.5, not a 4.
Overall, this book actually reinstated my interest in Scott Westerfeld's other books, and I'd recommend Afterworlds to anyone into the fantasy, contemporary, and YA genres.
January 10, 2020
2.25 stars
December 5, 2018
DNF'd at 48%
This had a lot of potential to be a really unique and profound story. It's told in alternating chapters: one of Darcy, the writer finding her way through the world of Young Adult literature in New York City as a teenage debut author; the other is of Lizzie, the main character in Darcy's urban fantasy book, who is the sole survivor of a terrorist attack at an airport and subsequently becomes a psychopomp and falls in love with the Hindu death good Yamaraj.
Unfortunately, it was boring af. Here's a list of problems:
- Darcy expects the world to be handed to her on a silver platter. She makes a lot of mistakes but never faces any consequences.
- Lizzie is the sole survivor of an American terrorist attack in an airport but 1) never experiences any PTSD or symptoms of trauma, 2) overcomes her trauma because she insta-loves Yamaraj in the first chapter when he kisses her even though he told her to forget about him and never come back, and 3) she's a freaking Mary Sue.
- The terrorist attack could have been a really profound part of the story, being post 9/11 but instead it was just the method of her meet cute with Yama. It could have shown the complexities of terrorism, fear mongering, and islamaphobia in America today, but it was just an excuse for Yamaraj to kiss her into another dimension.
- Darcy's story, well generally less stupid, is just plain boring. I'm not super into contemporary unless someone's dead or about to be, so I was out of my element.
- Given how cliché and illogical the book in the book is, why the actual f was it acclaimed in universe as being astounding, having "the juice" and worth thousands of dollars? It's post-Twilight trash. It's generic and soulless. Even Darcy knows (is that supposed to be meta or bad writing?)
- Lizzie lies to everyone all the time. She lies to her mother about experiencing PTSD. She lies to her best friend about Yamaraj and says instead that she's dating the FBI agent who's in charge of her security (at least she tells him about it). She lies to Yamaraj about exploring the Stranger Things Upside Down—I mean the flip side.
- Can Scott Westerfeld stop having teenagers say "[adjective]-making"?? No one talks like that!!!
- Also, goosepimples or whatever. Just say goosebumps like normal people.
And here are some stuff I actually quite liked:
- Darcy is Indian, which is unforgivably uncommon in today's YA literature, given that a significant part of the world's population is Indian. She's also queer, even though I don't like that her girlfriend is a lot older than her (that just makes me uncomfortable)
- Idr her name for some reason, but the little ghost girl who follows Lizzie around (my brain wants to say Mindy, but I'm not totally sure) is actually a pretty great character and added much needed depth to the story. She's paranoid that the man who kidnapped and killed her, burying her in her own backyard, is still out there and will find her when he dies. Like that's some intense stuff!!
- I liked the psychopomp stuff. I'm writing a psychopomp novel so it was cool for me
- I appreciated the guide through the world of authors, but it felt unrealistic tbh
Lol half of these have negative comments in them.
I might retry at some point to see if any of these are resolved by the ending, but honestly I kinda don't care.
This had a lot of potential to be a really unique and profound story. It's told in alternating chapters: one of Darcy, the writer finding her way through the world of Young Adult literature in New York City as a teenage debut author; the other is of Lizzie, the main character in Darcy's urban fantasy book, who is the sole survivor of a terrorist attack at an airport and subsequently becomes a psychopomp and falls in love with the Hindu death good Yamaraj.
Unfortunately, it was boring af. Here's a list of problems:
- Darcy expects the world to be handed to her on a silver platter. She makes a lot of mistakes but never faces any consequences.
- Lizzie is the sole survivor of an American terrorist attack in an airport but 1) never experiences any PTSD or symptoms of trauma, 2) overcomes her trauma because she insta-loves Yamaraj in the first chapter when he kisses her even though he told her to forget about him and never come back, and 3) she's a freaking Mary Sue.
- The terrorist attack could have been a really profound part of the story, being post 9/11 but instead it was just the method of her meet cute with Yama. It could have shown the complexities of terrorism, fear mongering, and islamaphobia in America today, but it was just an excuse for Yamaraj to kiss her into another dimension.
- Darcy's story, well generally less stupid, is just plain boring. I'm not super into contemporary unless someone's dead or about to be, so I was out of my element.
- Given how cliché and illogical the book in the book is, why the actual f was it acclaimed in universe as being astounding, having "the juice" and worth thousands of dollars? It's post-Twilight trash. It's generic and soulless. Even Darcy knows (is that supposed to be meta or bad writing?)
- Lizzie lies to everyone all the time. She lies to her mother about experiencing PTSD. She lies to her best friend about Yamaraj and says instead that she's dating the FBI agent who's in charge of her security (at least she tells him about it). She lies to Yamaraj about exploring the Stranger Things Upside Down—I mean the flip side.
- Can Scott Westerfeld stop having teenagers say "[adjective]-making"?? No one talks like that!!!
- Also, goosepimples or whatever. Just say goosebumps like normal people.
And here are some stuff I actually quite liked:
- Darcy is Indian, which is unforgivably uncommon in today's YA literature, given that a significant part of the world's population is Indian. She's also queer, even though I don't like that her girlfriend is a lot older than her (that just makes me uncomfortable)
- Idr her name for some reason, but the little ghost girl who follows Lizzie around (my brain wants to say Mindy, but I'm not totally sure) is actually a pretty great character and added much needed depth to the story. She's paranoid that the man who kidnapped and killed her, burying her in her own backyard, is still out there and will find her when he dies. Like that's some intense stuff!!
- I liked the psychopomp stuff. I'm writing a psychopomp novel so it was cool for me
- I appreciated the guide through the world of authors, but it felt unrealistic tbh
Lol half of these have negative comments in them.
I might retry at some point to see if any of these are resolved by the ending, but honestly I kinda don't care.
October 30, 2016
Plot - 14/20
Characters - 11/20
Creativity - 16/20
Writing - 12/20
Pace - 7/10
Ending - 8/10
66/100 = C-
2/5 stars
Okay I didn't hate this book. But it defiantly wasn't my cup of tea. I had trouble caring about any of the charaters and the fantasy part started as my favorite then ended very weird and confusing. The writing at times over did itself, esipecally in metaphors.This book had a ton of creativity and potential the way it was plot out is really new and interesting but the way it came together was dull. The pace wasn't the best, there was a lot of chapters that felt unnecessary, this also contributed to the 'not caring about the charaters'. I won't recommend this book but some people might enjoy, I just didn't.
Characters - 11/20
Creativity - 16/20
Writing - 12/20
Pace - 7/10
Ending - 8/10
66/100 = C-
2/5 stars
Okay I didn't hate this book. But it defiantly wasn't my cup of tea. I had trouble caring about any of the charaters and the fantasy part started as my favorite then ended very weird and confusing. The writing at times over did itself, esipecally in metaphors.This book had a ton of creativity and potential the way it was plot out is really new and interesting but the way it came together was dull. The pace wasn't the best, there was a lot of chapters that felt unnecessary, this also contributed to the 'not caring about the charaters'. I won't recommend this book but some people might enjoy, I just didn't.
May 9, 2014
I have been a Westerfeld fan since before he was famous, so it was with great anticipation that I downloaded the e-galley and began reading his latest offering, Afterworlds. It was with great disappointment that I forced myself to finish reading it. Unlike earlier efforts such as the Uglies series or his steampunk series, Leviathan, or even the Midnighters, Afterworlds was a huge let down. It could be because my expectations were high. After all, Westerfeld had trained me to expect interesting social commentary and big ideas worthy of discussion along with solid writing in his earlier work. Alas, though the writing remains solid, the subject matter turned to the pedestrian with Afterworlds. This new novel tells a dual story—one of a teen author, Darcy Patel, and the other is the novel Patel has written. Sections alternate between these two narratives. In both stories, Westerfeld embraces the trend of the moment and delivers tired yet trendy fodder for teen readers. Ultimate wish fulfillment—teen writes best seller, gets huge advance and finds the love of her life, who is of the same sex and there are absolutely no members of her fairly traditional Indian family who so much as raise an eyebrow at this. Much of Darcy’s story will be incomprehensible to average teen readers; it seems to be written with librarians, prize committees, and other writers in mind. What teenager in this universe collects first editions and has reading copies, or even knows what those are? Let’s check off the trends. Paranormal romance—check. Lesbian love—check. Extravagant use of the f-bomb—check. It seems that teens and twenty-somethings cannot have a conversation without inserting it, multiple times. That is, if we are to believe current writers, who for my money, are just too lazy to come up with something more meaningful in the way of dialog.
I found myself hoping that maybe this novel is actually a parody of the current state of YA literature. I am still hoping someone will tell me it is. If it turns out not to be a parody, I will approach Mr. Westerfeld’s next opus with much more caution.
June’s Rating System: Language—R; Nudity—PG; Sexual Content—R; GLBT Content—R; Violence—R The opening scene of Darcy’s YA novel is a terrorist attack which takes place at an airport. Very bloody, somewhat graphic. Later scenes in the Underworld are not as violent, but there is a sinister theme. The main character of Darcy’s novel commits a murder for revenge, for which there are no consequences and no real questioning from a moral standpoint. Apparently, being a bad person means it is okay to murder you. Adult Themes—R, death violence, revenge, spiritual questions. The story of Darcy’s novel borrows from Hindu religious themes, which may offend observant Hindus.
Robin’s Comments: Disappointed just isn’t a strong enough word for this. I did not find that the novel had enough literary merit to make up for the baggage. I would definitely not recommend this for students younger than ninth grade.
I found myself hoping that maybe this novel is actually a parody of the current state of YA literature. I am still hoping someone will tell me it is. If it turns out not to be a parody, I will approach Mr. Westerfeld’s next opus with much more caution.
June’s Rating System: Language—R; Nudity—PG; Sexual Content—R; GLBT Content—R; Violence—R The opening scene of Darcy’s YA novel is a terrorist attack which takes place at an airport. Very bloody, somewhat graphic. Later scenes in the Underworld are not as violent, but there is a sinister theme. The main character of Darcy’s novel commits a murder for revenge, for which there are no consequences and no real questioning from a moral standpoint. Apparently, being a bad person means it is okay to murder you. Adult Themes—R, death violence, revenge, spiritual questions. The story of Darcy’s novel borrows from Hindu religious themes, which may offend observant Hindus.
Robin’s Comments: Disappointed just isn’t a strong enough word for this. I did not find that the novel had enough literary merit to make up for the baggage. I would definitely not recommend this for students younger than ninth grade.
August 21, 2016
Afterworlds is 2 stories.
The 1st story is about Darcy, who in her senior year of high school took the month of November to write a novel titled Afterworlds (sound familiar?).
She gets a 2-novel book deal with a huge advance, and persuades her family to let her live in New York while she edits Afterworlds and writes the 2nd novel.
The 2nd story is Afterworlds, the novel Darcy has written.
Afterworlds is a supernatural thriller about Lizzie, who discovers that she can slip into the space between life and death.
I really liked this book. I liked Darcy's story, because I felt like it was a glimpse into the real-life adventures of a novelist on her path to getting her first novel published.
But I thought Lizzie's story was more interesting.
This book really shows how creative the author is.
In one section of the book, we read the opening paragraph of another character's novel, and it was just as compelling and interesting as the 2 stories we already have in this book.
In another chapter, 2 published authors and Darcy are giving an author event at a high school, and they are asked which is most important: plot, characters or conflict.
The 1st author tells a short story with a cliffhanging ending to emphasize that he thinks plot is most important.
And again, this short story draws us in -- I wanted more!
I really enjoyed these short insights into the author's creative mind.
But overall, the book was just okay.
Here's a link to my YouTube review.
The 1st story is about Darcy, who in her senior year of high school took the month of November to write a novel titled Afterworlds (sound familiar?).
She gets a 2-novel book deal with a huge advance, and persuades her family to let her live in New York while she edits Afterworlds and writes the 2nd novel.
The 2nd story is Afterworlds, the novel Darcy has written.
Afterworlds is a supernatural thriller about Lizzie, who discovers that she can slip into the space between life and death.
I really liked this book. I liked Darcy's story, because I felt like it was a glimpse into the real-life adventures of a novelist on her path to getting her first novel published.
But I thought Lizzie's story was more interesting.
This book really shows how creative the author is.
In one section of the book, we read the opening paragraph of another character's novel, and it was just as compelling and interesting as the 2 stories we already have in this book.
In another chapter, 2 published authors and Darcy are giving an author event at a high school, and they are asked which is most important: plot, characters or conflict.
The 1st author tells a short story with a cliffhanging ending to emphasize that he thinks plot is most important.
And again, this short story draws us in -- I wanted more!
I really enjoyed these short insights into the author's creative mind.
But overall, the book was just okay.
Here's a link to my YouTube review.
October 14, 2014
Three and a quarter stars? Three and a half?
Darcy Patel has won the writing jackpot: $300,000 for a two-book contract for her NaNoWriMo novel, Afterworlds, written during her senior year of high school. So instead of going to college, upon graduation she moves to New York, determined to live the glamorous lifestyle of the full-time author.The catch-phrase on the cover of this book is "Darcy writes the words. Lizzie lives them." Readers get both the story of Darcy's first year in NYC, and the published version of her novel. So it's two! two! two books in one. And wow, does it feel like it. It's 600 pages long, and weighs 2-1/2 pounds (over a kilogram!). Every other chapter alternates between Darcy and Lizzie, which seemed interesting to me at first, but by the end was just distracting. Someday if I decide to reread this, I'm going to read each book separately.
Lizzie Scofield nearly dies during a terrorist attack at the Denver airport -- and discovers that she is a psychopomp, someone who can lead newly-dead souls to their proper afterworld. But the "flipside" is a tricky place, occupied not only by the handsome and helpful Yama, but also by other spirit guides who have their own agendas.
This book is so meta that I don't even know where to begin in trying to describe it. (Crickets have been chirping for a while as I try to get past that sentence.) Scott Westerfeld has created a volume that's determined to please everyone -- readers who love meaty yet unresolved contemporary stories, and readers who crave the action and worldbuilding of genre novels.
Darcy's story is a sort of insider love letter to the YA publishing industry and its authors. There's a John Green character. There's a guy named "Coleman Gayle." There's lots of talk about agents, and sales, and revisions, and writerly insecurities. There's discussion of cultural appropriation and diversity and genre. As a writer, I found most of this both entertaining and fascinating. But as a reader looking for a plot? Maybe not so much. There's some mild tension as Darcy frets about what she can possibly write the promised sequel about, worries about telling her family she's fallen in love with a woman, and goes way, way over her budget. But honestly, this stuff all felt kind of adult to me. Darcy might as well have just gotten out of college, not high school.
I found some fail as a writer, too. The first chapter TELLS all about Darcy's query letter to an agent, but doesn't show it. Why not? It's revealed pretty quickly that Darcy got this huge advance for the rough draft of her novel -- and before she even starts the revisions, everyone who has seen her book raves to her about what great writing she does and how fantastic the novel is. I just can't believe this. Nobody's first drafts are that good.
Which brings me to the Lizzie part of the book. It's a sort of paranormal romance/ghost story with a few revenge, suspense, and horror elements mixed in. It started off very strongly, only to meander a bit, lose some focus, and end on a bit of a whimper -- which I think may have been deliberate, seeing how many YA paranormal novels do just that. I did really enjoy this part of the story, although (a) I do not believe it for one second as having been written by a 17/18-year-old, and (b) I'm not sure how it would seem alone, and not as this living thing tied into the events in Darcy's story.
So, tying this all together, I'm not at all sure how I feel about this book. On the good side, Scott Westerfeld is a terrific writer, and I really enjoyed both parts of this book (plus one chapter from Darcy's girlfriend's book) as I was reading. On the not-so-good side, I don't know what to make of it all as a whole. It all started out strongly and excitingly, but by the end both stories felt a little awkward and unsatisfying.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who writes and aspires to be part of the traditional YA publishing world. But I'm a little mystified as to who else this book was written for. I can't tell if it would have held my interest if I weren't a writer and following the YA scene fairly closely.
If you're at all curious, give it a shot! It's definitely made me want to read some other Scott Westerfeld books.
April 29, 2015
Every lover of YA, publishing nerd, and... okay, EVERYONE needs to read this book. It's fantastic and cute and smart and wonderful and thought-provoking. I've only read one other Scott Westerfield book (one in the Midnighters series), but I've heard great things about his writing. I went into this book with that level of expectations and it was met with two wonderful stories.
Also, I'm pretty sure Guinness beer represents wanting to look like you know your beer when you have no idea. At least in this book. HA! Also, I loved Darcy and I'm pretty sure if she were real, we'd be friends. Heck, I'd be friends with all of these characters.
Also, I'm pretty sure Guinness beer represents wanting to look like you know your beer when you have no idea. At least in this book. HA! Also, I loved Darcy and I'm pretty sure if she were real, we'd be friends. Heck, I'd be friends with all of these characters.
September 29, 2020
Watch my video review here:
https://youtu.be/ZtwrVrPeAIw
https://youtu.be/ZtwrVrPeAIw
June 25, 2014
Nose Graze — Book reviews & blogging tips
Let's clarify some terms
Before we begin, I need to set down some terminology for my review. As you probably know, the book Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld is two books in one, told in alternating chapters. One story is that of Darcy, a soon-to-be-published YA author. The story is about her selling her book, doing rewrites, and drafting the next book in the series. The other story is about Darcy's book. We actually get to read it. However, just to confuse things, that 'story within the story' is also called Afterworlds.
From this point on out, please abide by the following definitions:
This book — Refers to the 'real' published book Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld.
Afterworlds — Refers to the 'story within the story', which is the YA paranormal book that Darcy writes.
Uggghh!
This book had a lot of potential. For the most part (except towards the end), I liked the contemporary, YA author story. It was cool to watch an author go through the world of publishing. But, for the most part, I hated the story she was writing (Afterworlds).
The paranormal ghost story (Afterworlds)
I hated it. Every single time I got to one of these chapters, I asked myself the same question:
I never did skip a chapter, but much to my dismay, I could have. Now, looking back, I'm screaming at myself for NOT skipping because IT WAS POINTLESS! Even at the end, the Afterworlds part of the book never actually felt important. Everything still would have made sense if that part of the book was stripped out.
But anyway...
I don't like ghost stories
To be fair, I never gave the Afterworlds part of the book much of a chance. I did like the first chapter with the terrorist attack, but once it turned paranormal, I wasn't interested anymore. But, I think a large portion of that is on me: I don't like ghost stories. That's just a preference I have. Some people don't like sci-fi, some don't like contemporary, some don't like romance... I don't like ghost stories. And Afterworlds was definitely a ghost story.
Lamest Twilight-inspired romance ever
But on top of that, it was also a romance... sort of. I got the idea that it was supposed to be a romance. Lizzie meets a "hot, shiny boy" and gets a bit gaga for him.
They never really have a "we are now dating" or "will you go out with me?" moment; they just kiss a few times and then suddenly that's the norm. It was horrible! It was so insta-lovey, but without any actual love. It was more like "insta-kiss-and-now-our-lips-are-glued-together-but-we-aren't-in-love". How's that for confusing?
Look at that: first kiss on page 31. And that's after like two chapters of the contemporary story (so more like page 15).
Is there a personality in there?
But for me, I think the worst part of this Lizzie/Yamaraj romance was the fact that YAMARAJ HAD NO PERSONALITY!!! The guy was such a polite, faceless blank slate. He had no emotion, no personality, nothing! He just existed, spoke a few words now and then, and sparkled like a Twilight vampire.
The contemporary "YA Author" story
I started out quite enjoying the "YA author on the rise" part of this story. I thought it was really cool to see a young author enter the world of publishing. I loved reading about the "YA drink night" she was invited to, receiving the notes from her editor, being on deadline. I have no idea how accurate it was, being that I'm not an author myself, but it was fun to read about nonetheless.
Then a romance kicked in.. out of NOWHERE! I didn't see it coming. There was no build up, no flirting, no hints, nada! Then it just slammed into the story full force. For a while, that turned me off the contemporary part of the story because at first there was just no chemistry; it was so insta-lovey (again). Eventually it did win me back over.. for a while.
The fact that I hated the paranormal story weakened the book overall
Really disliking the paranormal "story within the story" made me like the "YA author" story even less. The YA author part was about this girl writing, selling, and publishing her book Afterworlds. At first I loved this because it was so interesting to read about an author's journey through the publishing world. But as the book went on and as I read more of Afterworlds, I began to hate Afterworlds more and more. That made it almost awkward to read the contemporary part of the story. How could I be excited with Darcy if I hated her book? Had I actually picked up her version of Afterworlds at BEA (without the contemporary YA author chapters), I would have DNF'd it. It almost made me laugh that she sold her duology for $300,000 and it was a freaking shit book.
Then as the book came to its final 100 or 200 pages, I realized two things:
1. Sometimes it felt like the romance had a bigger focus than the writing/author part of the story, and that annoyed me.
2. Darcy was young and immature.. and that annoyed me even more.
Why did the romance have to take over?
This is rare for me to actually say, but I was pissed that the romance started taking over. The big, central conflict of the story wasn't really about writing or publishing; it was about the romance having a hitch. Ugh.
Darcy is too young and careless to be living on her own
And Darcy started a pathetic spiral down into "idiot" territory. At the beginning of the book, her sister gave her a budget. She had $100,000 from her advance and two years to live in New York. Her sister said: spend $x on rent and $x per day on living (food, etc.). Well, Darcy did the following:
Got an apartment out of her price range (like $1k per month over or something)
Ate out at expensive restaurants like EVERY FREAKING NIGHT. So she went waaay over her "spend $x per day on living" budget. Seriously, have you heard of cooking?
Missed her writing deadlines and begged for extensions.
Missed her uni deadlines.
Missed her lease renewal deadline.
Seriously, is she trying to prove to the world that she's too young to start a career and live on her own? Her lack of common sense and independence started to really piss me off.
Give me another book about the life of an author
I absolutely LOVE that idea for a book, and there were certainly bits in this book that I enjoyed. It was a lot of fun to read about the writing process, meeting (or missing) deadlines, having ARCs for BookExpo America, and so on. But I was disappointed to see the romance take over that awesome part of the book. And even more so, I was disappointed to find that half the book was both boring as shit and completely unnecessary.
Review originally posted on Nose Graze
Let's clarify some terms
Before we begin, I need to set down some terminology for my review. As you probably know, the book Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld is two books in one, told in alternating chapters. One story is that of Darcy, a soon-to-be-published YA author. The story is about her selling her book, doing rewrites, and drafting the next book in the series. The other story is about Darcy's book. We actually get to read it. However, just to confuse things, that 'story within the story' is also called Afterworlds.
From this point on out, please abide by the following definitions:
This book — Refers to the 'real' published book Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld.
Afterworlds — Refers to the 'story within the story', which is the YA paranormal book that Darcy writes.
Uggghh!
This book had a lot of potential. For the most part (except towards the end), I liked the contemporary, YA author story. It was cool to watch an author go through the world of publishing. But, for the most part, I hated the story she was writing (Afterworlds).
The paranormal ghost story (Afterworlds)
I hated it. Every single time I got to one of these chapters, I asked myself the same question:
Can I skip this chapter? Will the book still make sense if I don't read the whole 'Afterworlds' part of the book?
I never did skip a chapter, but much to my dismay, I could have. Now, looking back, I'm screaming at myself for NOT skipping because IT WAS POINTLESS! Even at the end, the Afterworlds part of the book never actually felt important. Everything still would have made sense if that part of the book was stripped out.
But anyway...
I don't like ghost stories
To be fair, I never gave the Afterworlds part of the book much of a chance. I did like the first chapter with the terrorist attack, but once it turned paranormal, I wasn't interested anymore. But, I think a large portion of that is on me: I don't like ghost stories. That's just a preference I have. Some people don't like sci-fi, some don't like contemporary, some don't like romance... I don't like ghost stories. And Afterworlds was definitely a ghost story.
Lamest Twilight-inspired romance ever
But on top of that, it was also a romance... sort of. I got the idea that it was supposed to be a romance. Lizzie meets a "hot, shiny boy" and gets a bit gaga for him.
Even in that awful moment, I could see that he was beautiful. He shone somehow, as if sunlight were breaking through the mist, just for him. He was one of those boys with a perfect jaw, who looks stunning when he's clean shaven, but just that little bit more handsome with the barest shadow of stubble.
Afterworlds, page 24
They never really have a "we are now dating" or "will you go out with me?" moment; they just kiss a few times and then suddenly that's the norm. It was horrible! It was so insta-lovey, but without any actual love. It was more like "insta-kiss-and-now-our-lips-are-glued-together-but-we-aren't-in-love". How's that for confusing?
His lips pressed against mine, and a wave of heat floored into me.
Afterworlds, page 31
Look at that: first kiss on page 31. And that's after like two chapters of the contemporary story (so more like page 15).
Is there a personality in there?
But for me, I think the worst part of this Lizzie/Yamaraj romance was the fact that YAMARAJ HAD NO PERSONALITY!!! The guy was such a polite, faceless blank slate. He had no emotion, no personality, nothing! He just existed, spoke a few words now and then, and sparkled like a Twilight vampire.
The contemporary "YA Author" story
I started out quite enjoying the "YA author on the rise" part of this story. I thought it was really cool to see a young author enter the world of publishing. I loved reading about the "YA drink night" she was invited to, receiving the notes from her editor, being on deadline. I have no idea how accurate it was, being that I'm not an author myself, but it was fun to read about nonetheless.
Then a romance kicked in.. out of NOWHERE! I didn't see it coming. There was no build up, no flirting, no hints, nada! Then it just slammed into the story full force. For a while, that turned me off the contemporary part of the story because at first there was just no chemistry; it was so insta-lovey (again). Eventually it did win me back over.. for a while.
The fact that I hated the paranormal story weakened the book overall
Really disliking the paranormal "story within the story" made me like the "YA author" story even less. The YA author part was about this girl writing, selling, and publishing her book Afterworlds. At first I loved this because it was so interesting to read about an author's journey through the publishing world. But as the book went on and as I read more of Afterworlds, I began to hate Afterworlds more and more. That made it almost awkward to read the contemporary part of the story. How could I be excited with Darcy if I hated her book? Had I actually picked up her version of Afterworlds at BEA (without the contemporary YA author chapters), I would have DNF'd it. It almost made me laugh that she sold her duology for $300,000 and it was a freaking shit book.
Then as the book came to its final 100 or 200 pages, I realized two things:
1. Sometimes it felt like the romance had a bigger focus than the writing/author part of the story, and that annoyed me.
2. Darcy was young and immature.. and that annoyed me even more.
Why did the romance have to take over?
This is rare for me to actually say, but I was pissed that the romance started taking over. The big, central conflict of the story wasn't really about writing or publishing; it was about the romance having a hitch. Ugh.
Darcy is too young and careless to be living on her own
And Darcy started a pathetic spiral down into "idiot" territory. At the beginning of the book, her sister gave her a budget. She had $100,000 from her advance and two years to live in New York. Her sister said: spend $x on rent and $x per day on living (food, etc.). Well, Darcy did the following:
Got an apartment out of her price range (like $1k per month over or something)
Ate out at expensive restaurants like EVERY FREAKING NIGHT. So she went waaay over her "spend $x per day on living" budget. Seriously, have you heard of cooking?
Missed her writing deadlines and begged for extensions.
Missed her uni deadlines.
Missed her lease renewal deadline.
Seriously, is she trying to prove to the world that she's too young to start a career and live on her own? Her lack of common sense and independence started to really piss me off.
Give me another book about the life of an author
I absolutely LOVE that idea for a book, and there were certainly bits in this book that I enjoyed. It was a lot of fun to read about the writing process, meeting (or missing) deadlines, having ARCs for BookExpo America, and so on. But I was disappointed to see the romance take over that awesome part of the book. And even more so, I was disappointed to find that half the book was both boring as shit and completely unnecessary.
Review originally posted on Nose Graze
October 26, 2014
I remember I was quite excited when I first heard about this book. I've enjoyed everything by Scott Westerfeld that I've read, and the concept for Afterworlds sounded ... different, and potentially very interesting indeed.
And then, when I had the book, I just... kept putting it off. It didn't feel right. I'm very much a mood reader, and I know myself well enough by now that if I'm in the wrong mood for a book, I'll end up not enjoying it in the least. So I kept putting it off, week after week.
Well. I've read it now. And it took... a lot longer than it should have.
Hence the three stars. Three and a half, I suppose - the last third or so, I liked quite a lot.
The very first bit, too.
It's that part in the middle that I had trouble with. It's still an interesting concept, as I had hoped, but somehow... I'm not sure, really. I loved the idea of a book that's half set in the YA publishing world, with bloggers and agents and editors and ARCs and signings and tours, and in the end, it worked well enough.
For quite some time though it was just... a bit too meta. A bit too fourth wall breaking. A bit too knowing, and nodding, to the real world. A bit too carefully constructed, for example not only with an eye on diversity but the way the issues of diversity and cultural appropriation were handled in the book.
At times, I felt like reading a social justice blog or tumblr. Not exactly a bad thing, and I applaud the idea, since these are issues that need to be discussed, but ... as I said, it felt too meta. It took me a long time to feel immersed in Afterworlds, both Darcy's story and Lizzie's story, and to stop feeling like I was reading blogs or articles instead.
In other words, I suddenly wasn't at all sure if the concept itself worked for me - and it didn't help that for quite some time, Lizzie's story - the book Afterworlds within Afterworlds - didn't engage me either. And then both Lizzie's story and Darcy's story became, for a while, too focused on all the various kissing, none of which appealed to me or interested me, because I didn't feel anything whatsoever for Yama and Imogen bored me as well.
It got better, though. I don't know when exactly, or how, but at some point, about two thirds into the book, it took on a life of its own, leaving the feeling of meta behind, and I finally felt interested in the protagonists of both stories. Their lives started feeling real, and I was intrigued at last. So in that sense, I suppose I should say it did, in the end, work for me.
It's definitely a book worth reading, especially for anyone who doesn't mind such a somewhat more experimental structure and concept, and it certainly gives some interesting insight into the world of publishing.
* ARC of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thanks!
And then, when I had the book, I just... kept putting it off. It didn't feel right. I'm very much a mood reader, and I know myself well enough by now that if I'm in the wrong mood for a book, I'll end up not enjoying it in the least. So I kept putting it off, week after week.
Well. I've read it now. And it took... a lot longer than it should have.
Hence the three stars. Three and a half, I suppose - the last third or so, I liked quite a lot.
The very first bit, too.
It's that part in the middle that I had trouble with. It's still an interesting concept, as I had hoped, but somehow... I'm not sure, really. I loved the idea of a book that's half set in the YA publishing world, with bloggers and agents and editors and ARCs and signings and tours, and in the end, it worked well enough.
For quite some time though it was just... a bit too meta. A bit too fourth wall breaking. A bit too knowing, and nodding, to the real world. A bit too carefully constructed, for example not only with an eye on diversity but the way the issues of diversity and cultural appropriation were handled in the book.
At times, I felt like reading a social justice blog or tumblr. Not exactly a bad thing, and I applaud the idea, since these are issues that need to be discussed, but ... as I said, it felt too meta. It took me a long time to feel immersed in Afterworlds, both Darcy's story and Lizzie's story, and to stop feeling like I was reading blogs or articles instead.
In other words, I suddenly wasn't at all sure if the concept itself worked for me - and it didn't help that for quite some time, Lizzie's story - the book Afterworlds within Afterworlds - didn't engage me either. And then both Lizzie's story and Darcy's story became, for a while, too focused on all the various kissing, none of which appealed to me or interested me, because I didn't feel anything whatsoever for Yama and Imogen bored me as well.
It got better, though. I don't know when exactly, or how, but at some point, about two thirds into the book, it took on a life of its own, leaving the feeling of meta behind, and I finally felt interested in the protagonists of both stories. Their lives started feeling real, and I was intrigued at last. So in that sense, I suppose I should say it did, in the end, work for me.
It's definitely a book worth reading, especially for anyone who doesn't mind such a somewhat more experimental structure and concept, and it certainly gives some interesting insight into the world of publishing.
* ARC of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thanks!
Read
May 25, 2016I am so, so curious who the intended audience was for this book. On the one hand, you have a wholly contemporary storyline about a YA writer who gets a huge book deal and moves to Manhattan (which is one of those things I'll never understand - why do people think they need to move to NYC to write? I live here and I don't get this) and falls in love with another YA writer. Then you have the other POV, which is wholly paranormal.
So, take me for instance. I am an author. I am a contemp YA and NA lover. I am particularly fond of LGBT romances. And I live in NYC. For me, the contemporary storyline was fantastic - I enjoyed the hell out of it, and all the familiar references and experiences and the romance itself. But I kept thinking, "What would I think of this if I *weren't* a writer? Would this be anywhere near as much fun if I weren't so conscious of how meta it is? This feels like it was written for me, but...current me. Would I have liked this in high school? Do teens like this?" And I'm still really curious about those answers.
As for the paranormal chapters...well, while I ended up enjoying plenty about AFTERWORLDS by Scott Westerfeld, I actually DNFed AFTERWORLDS by Darcy Patel. Like, just straight up skipped those chapters after a while so I could keep reading the contemp. There just wasn't anything in them I found appealed to someone whose primary book of interest were exactly what Westerfeld had done in the Darcy chapters.
As such, I can't really rate this, and I won't, but I will say this: If Westerfeld had done a contemp NA with just the Darcy chapters, and fleshed out the romance/first love/sexual orientation question some, since I think that stuff fell to the wayside in order to accommodate this book's already being a leviathan, I would've five-starred it in a heartbeat. And yes, NA, because in a world where all marketing categories were viewed as equal, that's exactly what this should've been - it's got nothing to do with the high-school-aged adolescent experience and everything to do with figuring out what comes next professionally and personally. Nothing about it really felt YA to me, and it made me feel like this isn't going to find the right readers. But then again, as the ARC loudly declared on the back, they're spending a crapton of money to market it, so WTF do I know.
So, take me for instance. I am an author. I am a contemp YA and NA lover. I am particularly fond of LGBT romances. And I live in NYC. For me, the contemporary storyline was fantastic - I enjoyed the hell out of it, and all the familiar references and experiences and the romance itself. But I kept thinking, "What would I think of this if I *weren't* a writer? Would this be anywhere near as much fun if I weren't so conscious of how meta it is? This feels like it was written for me, but...current me. Would I have liked this in high school? Do teens like this?" And I'm still really curious about those answers.
As for the paranormal chapters...well, while I ended up enjoying plenty about AFTERWORLDS by Scott Westerfeld, I actually DNFed AFTERWORLDS by Darcy Patel. Like, just straight up skipped those chapters after a while so I could keep reading the contemp. There just wasn't anything in them I found appealed to someone whose primary book of interest were exactly what Westerfeld had done in the Darcy chapters.
As such, I can't really rate this, and I won't, but I will say this: If Westerfeld had done a contemp NA with just the Darcy chapters, and fleshed out the romance/first love/sexual orientation question some, since I think that stuff fell to the wayside in order to accommodate this book's already being a leviathan, I would've five-starred it in a heartbeat. And yes, NA, because in a world where all marketing categories were viewed as equal, that's exactly what this should've been - it's got nothing to do with the high-school-aged adolescent experience and everything to do with figuring out what comes next professionally and personally. Nothing about it really felt YA to me, and it made me feel like this isn't going to find the right readers. But then again, as the ARC loudly declared on the back, they're spending a crapton of money to market it, so WTF do I know.
April 2, 2017
3 stars. Afterworlds is about Darcy Patel, an author in New York. The other half is narrated by her debut novel's main character, Lizzie.
Darcy's chapters are undoubtedly the strength of this novel. I love how meta this book is. Darcy's character arc is solid and believable. Getting into the world of writing was entertaining as well. Her relationship with a fellow author was especially sweet.
In contrast, Lizzie wasn't a great character. She's flat and underdeveloped. Her romance plot is full of instalove. Here, the writer's arc was better than her book's arc. This may have been an intentional decision on Westerfeld's part, but it's difficult to read a book that's half good and half bad.
Another one big con is that Afterwolds is about 100 pages too long. It seriously drags on after a while.
This book has both pros and cons. I'm glad I read it, but it's not a must-read for sure.
Darcy's chapters are undoubtedly the strength of this novel. I love how meta this book is. Darcy's character arc is solid and believable. Getting into the world of writing was entertaining as well. Her relationship with a fellow author was especially sweet.
In contrast, Lizzie wasn't a great character. She's flat and underdeveloped. Her romance plot is full of instalove. Here, the writer's arc was better than her book's arc. This may have been an intentional decision on Westerfeld's part, but it's difficult to read a book that's half good and half bad.
Another one big con is that Afterwolds is about 100 pages too long. It seriously drags on after a while.
This book has both pros and cons. I'm glad I read it, but it's not a must-read for sure.
October 12, 2014
I've never met a Scott Westerfeld novel I didn't like. Interesting premise that offers two unique, but interconnected experiences. Readers will love the insider glimpses into the YA lit world and Darcy's fantasy novel, Afterworlds is compelling.
September 11, 2019
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.
August 2, 2014
I was really excited to read this book. I’m a big fan of Scott Westerfeld’s work. In Afterworlds we read two stories in one. The first is Darcy’s story. She is an eighteen-year-old girl who sold her first book to a New York publisher for a ton of money. And we follow her life in New York as she attends parties and tries to write the sequel. The second is Lizzie’s story. She is the protagonist of Darcy’s novel. She survives a terrorist attack and gains the ability to see the dead and travel to the Flipside, where she can talk to ghosts and interact with others like her.
What I liked:
I liked the concept. This type of story has been done before, but what hasn’t? I thought it was fun to go back and forth between Darcy’s life and the book she wrote.
I liked the book she wrote. That story was intriguing and different. In hindsight, I kind of wish that would have been the whole book.
What I didn’t like:
I just didn’t care about Darcy. She was living this fairytale life that was completely unrealistic and just plain boring. I didn’t care that she couldn’t write because she didn’t ever sit down and try. I didn’t care about the relationship with her girlfriend because all she did was whine. Everything happened to Darcy. And everything conveniently worked out for Darcy without her having to do anything.
Darcy’s publishing experience was unrealistic. I know many writers—many teen writers too—and no one gets it this easy. No one gets paid that much for a first book. And if it does happen, it’s a one-in-a-million type of thing. This book mocks the hard work of writing, the struggle that writers go through to get published, to deal with rejection, to want to quit, then deciding to persevere… It's an insult to hard-working teen writers. If you want to read a good book about a teen writer who gets published, check out The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet. That book tells it like it is.
The book was preachy. Every character was the same, spoke the same (with the exception of Sagan, but even he thought the same as everyone else). Every character had the same quirky swearing, the same views on Darcy’s love life, the same worldview, the same robotically faithful attitude toward anything she did. It was patronizing. Life is full of conflict. People don’t agree on anything. I felt like the author was trying to push his views onto young readers.
This book was such a disappointment. It almost felt like someone else wrote it and put his name on the cover. I do not recommend it. And I will be leery of what Westerfeld writes in the future.
For parents and librarians, I rate this book R for language, violence, sexuality, and GLBT content. A main character commits premeditated murder and her only consequence is that she loses her boyfriend for a while. This was not a book I’d want my elementary school son, who so loved Leviathan, to read.
*I received a free copy of this book from the Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
What I liked:
I liked the concept. This type of story has been done before, but what hasn’t? I thought it was fun to go back and forth between Darcy’s life and the book she wrote.
I liked the book she wrote. That story was intriguing and different. In hindsight, I kind of wish that would have been the whole book.
What I didn’t like:
I just didn’t care about Darcy. She was living this fairytale life that was completely unrealistic and just plain boring. I didn’t care that she couldn’t write because she didn’t ever sit down and try. I didn’t care about the relationship with her girlfriend because all she did was whine. Everything happened to Darcy. And everything conveniently worked out for Darcy without her having to do anything.
Darcy’s publishing experience was unrealistic. I know many writers—many teen writers too—and no one gets it this easy. No one gets paid that much for a first book. And if it does happen, it’s a one-in-a-million type of thing. This book mocks the hard work of writing, the struggle that writers go through to get published, to deal with rejection, to want to quit, then deciding to persevere… It's an insult to hard-working teen writers. If you want to read a good book about a teen writer who gets published, check out The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet. That book tells it like it is.
The book was preachy. Every character was the same, spoke the same (with the exception of Sagan, but even he thought the same as everyone else). Every character had the same quirky swearing, the same views on Darcy’s love life, the same worldview, the same robotically faithful attitude toward anything she did. It was patronizing. Life is full of conflict. People don’t agree on anything. I felt like the author was trying to push his views onto young readers.
This book was such a disappointment. It almost felt like someone else wrote it and put his name on the cover. I do not recommend it. And I will be leery of what Westerfeld writes in the future.
For parents and librarians, I rate this book R for language, violence, sexuality, and GLBT content. A main character commits premeditated murder and her only consequence is that she loses her boyfriend for a while. This was not a book I’d want my elementary school son, who so loved Leviathan, to read.
*I received a free copy of this book from the Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
February 20, 2023
Reakce po dočtení:
bavilo mě to číst a bavilo mě to propojení - že se třeba o nějaké části knihy mluvilo, a pak jsem si ji mohla přečíst.
Jak jsem už předpovídala, Darcyina "kniha v knize" mě nebavila. Ovšem jak jsem taky předpovídala, zkušenosti se spisovatelským světem mě bavily moc a ty části jsem si skutečně užila.
Ale upřímně? Bylo to na mě moc dlouhé a natahované. A stejně se mi ten román nezdál jako pořádný román, takže by se to vlastně celé dalo ještě zkrátit. A taky bych ráda věděla, kterou z verzí Zásvětí jsem vlastně četla.
Bylo to tedy příjemné čtení, ale rozhodně ne dokonalé. Ovšem styl psaní byl na jedničku!
~~~
Hodnocení: 3,5 hvězdičky
~~~
Recenze na blogu: http://marky-books.blogspot.cz/2017/0...
bavilo mě to číst a bavilo mě to propojení - že se třeba o nějaké části knihy mluvilo, a pak jsem si ji mohla přečíst.
Jak jsem už předpovídala, Darcyina "kniha v knize" mě nebavila. Ovšem jak jsem taky předpovídala, zkušenosti se spisovatelským světem mě bavily moc a ty části jsem si skutečně užila.
Ale upřímně? Bylo to na mě moc dlouhé a natahované. A stejně se mi ten román nezdál jako pořádný román, takže by se to vlastně celé dalo ještě zkrátit. A taky bych ráda věděla, kterou z verzí Zásvětí jsem vlastně četla.
Bylo to tedy příjemné čtení, ale rozhodně ne dokonalé. Ovšem styl psaní byl na jedničku!
~~~
Hodnocení: 3,5 hvězdičky
~~~
Recenze na blogu: http://marky-books.blogspot.cz/2017/0...
July 26, 2016
This is a very charming and endearing book, which is good, because it is also implausible and silly and so otherwise it would be terrible. Afterworlds is a very tongue-in-cheek novel about writing and publishing novels, with a novel within the novel, because yo dawg, I heard you like novels in your novels so I novelled a novel novel for you. Novel novel novel….
Darcy Patel is an eighteen-year-old high school graduate whose NaNoWriMo novel gets accepted for publication. She moves to New York (parents love that idea, not), gets an apartment way too expensive for her despite her six-figure advance, and struggles with rewrites while falling in love with fellow debut writer Imogen Gray. Along the way, Darcy discovers a literary community and tries to figure out who she wants to be as an author even as she hides from actually growing older as a person.
Like most writing about writers, Afterworlds is rather navel-gazing. What rescues it from mediocrity is the YA-twist Westerfeld puts on it. This isn’t some twenty-thirty-forty-something male writer with two days’ stubble working on the Great American novel and reflecting morosely on how no one seems to recognize his genius. Darcy is about as young and naive as it gets when it comes to, you know, actually living. She leans on her younger sister for budgetary help, and her naivety in negotiating her first relationship is a constant source of tension in an otherwise effortless life with Imogen. And even if the premise of an eighteen-year-old getting a novel she wrote in thirty days accepted for publication seems unlikely, Westerfeld delivers plenty of doses of reality, from the tight deadlines to the excruciating waiting to the exhaustion built around the transition from writer to published writer. There are quite a few lampshades hanging around by the end of the book, and it’s this self-awareness that makes Afterworlds work.
Alternating between Darcy’s story and chapters from her work (also called Afterworlds, probably just to make these reviews more confusing) is another fascinating twist on the typical novel about novelists. Lizzie’s story, albeit more fantastical than Darcy’s, is not quite as captivating—I kept wanting to get back to Darcy’s life, to see what happens next on her journey to becoming a published author. That might seem strange given that Lizzie turns into a reaper and can see ghosts! It comes down to the writing, though, and the fun Westerfeld must have had trying to make his writing seem less polished and “worse” when he writes as Darcy. The version of Darcy’s novel that we read is the final draft—we witness her agonizing over edits, particularly to the ending, throughout her side of the story—but even so the writing is rougher and less experienced that Westerfeld’s ordinary style. I hope this was fun for him and not, say, nerve-wracking in the extreme—but the result is great.
Afterworlds also reminds me of the immense joy of the writing process itself, and of its wondrous complex parts, from drafting to editing to copyediting. I don’t write fiction as much as I did when I was younger, but it’s not something I have ever or will ever give up. And reading Afterworlds inspired me to open up an old WIP and noodle around in it for a while. I can only image what it would do to members of its target audience who harbour writerly aspirations—and that can only be a good thing!
In the end, this is not an amazing novel (either of them), and it’s far from my favourite thing Westerfeld has done. But that’s OK. It has an interesting niche, and it was a lot of fun. I laughed at parts, and sighed a little bit when Imogen goes off on Darcy and tells her that Darcy is basically too young to understand how to handle love—because it’s both true but also very harsh, and it’s a sharp demonstration of how we wound those who are closest to us. By far my favourite character has to be Nisha, Darcy’s smart-as-a-whip sardonic sister:
So much yes!
Darcy Patel is an eighteen-year-old high school graduate whose NaNoWriMo novel gets accepted for publication. She moves to New York (parents love that idea, not), gets an apartment way too expensive for her despite her six-figure advance, and struggles with rewrites while falling in love with fellow debut writer Imogen Gray. Along the way, Darcy discovers a literary community and tries to figure out who she wants to be as an author even as she hides from actually growing older as a person.
Like most writing about writers, Afterworlds is rather navel-gazing. What rescues it from mediocrity is the YA-twist Westerfeld puts on it. This isn’t some twenty-thirty-forty-something male writer with two days’ stubble working on the Great American novel and reflecting morosely on how no one seems to recognize his genius. Darcy is about as young and naive as it gets when it comes to, you know, actually living. She leans on her younger sister for budgetary help, and her naivety in negotiating her first relationship is a constant source of tension in an otherwise effortless life with Imogen. And even if the premise of an eighteen-year-old getting a novel she wrote in thirty days accepted for publication seems unlikely, Westerfeld delivers plenty of doses of reality, from the tight deadlines to the excruciating waiting to the exhaustion built around the transition from writer to published writer. There are quite a few lampshades hanging around by the end of the book, and it’s this self-awareness that makes Afterworlds work.
Alternating between Darcy’s story and chapters from her work (also called Afterworlds, probably just to make these reviews more confusing) is another fascinating twist on the typical novel about novelists. Lizzie’s story, albeit more fantastical than Darcy’s, is not quite as captivating—I kept wanting to get back to Darcy’s life, to see what happens next on her journey to becoming a published author. That might seem strange given that Lizzie turns into a reaper and can see ghosts! It comes down to the writing, though, and the fun Westerfeld must have had trying to make his writing seem less polished and “worse” when he writes as Darcy. The version of Darcy’s novel that we read is the final draft—we witness her agonizing over edits, particularly to the ending, throughout her side of the story—but even so the writing is rougher and less experienced that Westerfeld’s ordinary style. I hope this was fun for him and not, say, nerve-wracking in the extreme—but the result is great.
Afterworlds also reminds me of the immense joy of the writing process itself, and of its wondrous complex parts, from drafting to editing to copyediting. I don’t write fiction as much as I did when I was younger, but it’s not something I have ever or will ever give up. And reading Afterworlds inspired me to open up an old WIP and noodle around in it for a while. I can only image what it would do to members of its target audience who harbour writerly aspirations—and that can only be a good thing!
In the end, this is not an amazing novel (either of them), and it’s far from my favourite thing Westerfeld has done. But that’s OK. It has an interesting niche, and it was a lot of fun. I laughed at parts, and sighed a little bit when Imogen goes off on Darcy and tells her that Darcy is basically too young to understand how to handle love—because it’s both true but also very harsh, and it’s a sharp demonstration of how we wound those who are closest to us. By far my favourite character has to be Nisha, Darcy’s smart-as-a-whip sardonic sister:
“Just numbers?” Nisha snorted, and her face took on a look of adamantine certainty. “The universe is math on fire, Patel. That’s my faith.”
So much yes!
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