From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld comes a smart, thought-provoking novel-within-a-novel that you won’t be able to put down.
Darcy Patel has put college on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. With a contract in hand, she arrives in New York City with no apartment, no friends, and all the wrong clothes. But lucky for Darcy, she’s taken under the wings of other seasoned and fledgling writers who help her navigate the city and the world of writing and publishing. Over the course of a year, Darcy finishes her book, faces critique, and falls in love.
Woven into Darcy’s personal story is her novel, Afterworlds, a suspenseful thriller about a teen who slips into the “Afterworld” to survive a terrorist attack. The Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead, and where many unsolved—and terrifying—stories need to be reconciled. Like Darcy, Lizzie too falls in love…until a new threat resurfaces, and her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she cares about most.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
Opened my eyes to new writing style!
By Spiced Latte
Afterwords is definitely one of the novels with a different style that I haven't been in contact before. Yes, I've read books that have multiple POVs, etc. but I have never read anything that has two different stories - both fictional and nonfictional. Both could be set in reality but have the tendency to be fictional.On the first part of the book, we are introduced to Darcy Patel - she wrote the novel "Afterworlds" and was able to get a contract from a famous publisher. Now she has to move to New York and be the writer that everyone expects her to be. The second part shows us the actual book that Darcy wrote - "Afterworlds". When Lizzie has a near-death experience, she is transferred to the "flipside", the world of the ghosts and phychopomps. She has to learn how to control her abilities and of course, the hot Yamaraj can help her lead the way.I really liked that the story has this alternation in it and thought that Westerfeld pulled it off perfectly. The book mentions Darcy signing ARCs at the BEA, the whole publishing process, and we can actually see how novels get published. I'm kind of curious if the author took his personal experience and added it into the mix. Darcy mentions that "...feel like an impostor, like someone will tell me to get out because I'm not really a writer". Both Darcy and Lizzie had that mature/immature personalities where they still made the decisions like a teenager would but stood their ground and tried their best.Afterworlds opened my eyes to a different writing style and even thought I didn't love the book, I definitely enjoyed reading it. The whole concept of ghosts sticking around because someone remembers them is awesome and river was a clever addition. However, there are a lot of questions that I still have about the book. The way it ended wasn't necessarily a cliffhanger but it sounds like there's going to be a sequel which will hopefully clear some things out.*I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my opinion in any way.*
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Favorite YA read this year
By J.Prather
I selected Afterworlds before reading what it was about, as I am a fan of this author. I was a little dismayed after I read the synopsis, thinking that there was no way this was going to work. Wrong! I was completely taken by this novel, and enjoyed it from beginning to end. Westerfeld's masterful writing skills and his deft hand at creating characters are on full display in this work. It's the unique plotting however, that truly won me over.Westerfeld tells two stories and weaves them together into a single novel in a way that was surprisingly seamless. It took me awhile to figure out just why the author had decided to tell these stories this way. They are both compelling, but exactly how were they connected? I then began to see how Darcy's story was being reflected in Lizzie's tale. They are both distinctive characters, yet their lives began to subtly intertwine. It is a masterful example of how literature and life comingle to create beautiful results.I'm a book nerd, so I loved reading about Darcy. Point to any avid reader and I'm sure you will find a little bit of a frustrated author. Darcy is living the dream. Published at 18, living in New York, falling in love, she seems to have a charmed life. Even as she struggled with re-writes, her love life, and a publisher request for a "happy ending", I could see her changing and growing as she learned to cope with the fallout from achieving your dreams at such a young age. Her voice is strong, not always self possessed, and totally believable. It was fascinating to watch Lizzie's story change as Darcy learns and grows.Lizzie took a bit longer to warm up to, but I soon found myself fully engaged in her story as well. It offered up a fascinating mythology, some deliciously creepy moments, and a twist or two that I wasn't expecting. At heart, Lizzie's tale is a ghost story, and it's a good one. There are some genuinely suspenseful moments and enough compelling imagery to compete with any horror novel on the market. The romantic elements never became sappy, and the author took no shortcuts in delivering a complete, well thought out tale in this story within a story. Yes, I had to get over that ridiculous word "psychopomp", but since Lizzie had a hard time getting used to it as well; it kind of made it not so annoying.The most impressive part of this novel is that as the stories switched off in alternating chapters, I was never frustrated. I was interested in each story equally, eager to find out what would happen next. Lizzie's story ends with the promise of a sequel, much like Darcy's. Afterworlds offers up the chance to get a sneak peek into the life of a writer, as well as a compelling paranormal/horror/romance story. It's the complete package, or as Darcy would say, Afterworlds has got the "juice".
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Well, then.....
By Eohany
I was eagerly anticipating Afterworlds. After reading his previous works, my expectations were high. In hindsight, they were probably too high as I only loved half of the story. Alternating between the Afterworlds tale/Lizzie with Darcy's accounts in the real world could have been successful, but ultimately fell flat. I found myself bored with Darcy's almost-perfect life and how easily everything came to her. I even caught myself skimming the Darcy sections in order to get to the Lizzie tale faster. If Afterworlds had been only about Lizzie and expanded, I'd highly recommend this book. As it is, my meh reaction to the Darcy storyline drops it down a notch. I still recommend the author, but check out his other series instead.
