Afterworlds – Scott Westerfeld

Summary:
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 books 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.

Review:
So yesterday I made my first trip to my new local library since I moved her three months ago. I’ve been reading all the new books I’ve bought and rereading all the books I brought with me and I finally finished everything on my book shelf. So it was the perfect time for an adventure to the library. I’m glad I did because I picked up three new books which will all be reviewed here in the near future.
The first book I got was Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld. He’s an author I’ve read quite a bit of and I’ve liked everything I’ve read by him. When I read the description I was very intrigued. A book about a teenage girl successfully writing and publishing a book, who wouldn’t love that? And when I learned that we would get to read about our main character while also reading the story she wrote, I knew I had to read it.
I loved following Darcy as she came up into the publishing world. As someone who would love to be a successful published author one day, she was really awesome to read about. I loved learning more about the publishing world. Reading about Darcy’s struggle to make her editor happy by changing different parts of her story was really interesting to me because I know what the struggle of writing and not being happy with parts and rewriting. I liked Darcy. She was very unsure of herself for a lot of this book, while she knew what she wanted, she didn’t seem to have much confidence in herself. She was always second guessing herself, always wondering if her book was really that good, if she’s made the right choices. While I understand being eighteen and unsure of what to do with my life, I feel like she should have had more faith in herself, after all, she’s in the process of getting a book published at the age of eighteen. That’s pretty impressive. I loved all of the friends Darcy made once she moved to New York City. Imogen was definitely my favorite. I loved their blossoming relationship, but again, if Darcy would have been a little more confident the couple would have avoided more than one major blowout. But to be fair, every relationship has ups and downs, it wouldn’t be realistic if they didn’t fight a little bit. The rest of Darcy’s friends were awesome, they added a bit of hilarity to the story. I loved them all. I think I loved Darcy’s younger sister the most. At fourteen she’s a firecracker. She always has something witty to say and she’s Darcy’s biggest supporter. I loved how close these two were. Their love for one another was very clear and I really enjoyed their relationship.
Now, Darcy’s story was told in alternating chapters and I can’t decide which story I liked better. I loved being able to read the finished story as Darcy learned what she needed to change and how she was going to do that. Her story about Lizzie was fascinating, and very unique. I don’t know where to start. The story was gripping, every chapter change I almost just skipped to the next one to find out what happened next in Lizzie’s life. I’m not going to go into too much detail because I don’t want to give anything away. But I loved Lizzie’s story just as much as Darcy’s.
I really enjoyed this book. It took me less than a day to finish it because I just couldn’t put it down. Scott Westerfeld has outdone himself yet again. I recommend this book to anyone that likes to read. So go buy it, or get it from the library like I did.
Keep on reading lovelys, Amanda.