Goodreads Book Description: In this gripping exploration of a futuristic afterlife, a teen discovers that death is just the beginning.Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.
Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.
Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My Review:
I've seen this book around the blogosphere quite a bit, and when I heard Lenore Appelhans was coming to visit my town, I knew I had to read it stat!
Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans is about a seemingly normal girl named Felicia, who has died recently, and lives in Level 2, which is a beehive like purgatory. In this Level, one can "plug" in and view old memories from life down on Earth. When she sees Julian again, a fling that she had back on Earth, in this Level, she knows there's more to this than she thought before. After Julian, she fell in love with a pure, handsome boy named Neil that she met at church. Her main goal? To find him again. Will Felicia be able to sort through her past and present to connect with the boy she loved and lost?
This book is a tough one to summarize and also a tough one to rate. The prose is beautifully written. The background of this story is fascinating. I loved the idea of "hives" and plugging in to a sort of "net" to review memories that happened back on earth. Felicia is a hard character to get to know, but I like that we can see both her present and her past via this method. I'm intrigued by some of the characters in her life-- not just Neil, but her father, and some of her friends. There is a wonderful twist at the end of the book, that raised my rating to a 4. Julian is probably the most interesting of the characters and is reminiscent of Cole from Brodi Ashton's Everneath.
That said, I had some issues with the book. The pacing is not perfect-- the middle of the book drags, and sometimes, I wonder the significance of the memories that we are shown. Felicia is not the most likeable of characters, and she keeps her secrets close to her chest until the end. I believe that secret revealing should be gradual, and if there is only one big secret, there should be others that sprinkle through the action. Neil seems like a nice guy, but I can't understand why he likes the prickly Felicia, except that we are told she is attractive and broken, and he likes to fix things. I wanted to care more about the characters, but we are given only glimpses of them through her memories. The other secrets that are revealed at the end are odd, and I still don't understand why Felicia is so important versus anyone else. However, this is the first book in a trilogy, so we have time to find out.
Overall, a fascinating depiction of Purgatory with beautiful prose and ideas, and I'm looking forward to the second installment to find out more about these characters.
And now, enter early to win some great prizes!
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My Review:
I've seen this book around the blogosphere quite a bit, and when I heard Lenore Appelhans was coming to visit my town, I knew I had to read it stat!
Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans is about a seemingly normal girl named Felicia, who has died recently, and lives in Level 2, which is a beehive like purgatory. In this Level, one can "plug" in and view old memories from life down on Earth. When she sees Julian again, a fling that she had back on Earth, in this Level, she knows there's more to this than she thought before. After Julian, she fell in love with a pure, handsome boy named Neil that she met at church. Her main goal? To find him again. Will Felicia be able to sort through her past and present to connect with the boy she loved and lost?
This book is a tough one to summarize and also a tough one to rate. The prose is beautifully written. The background of this story is fascinating. I loved the idea of "hives" and plugging in to a sort of "net" to review memories that happened back on earth. Felicia is a hard character to get to know, but I like that we can see both her present and her past via this method. I'm intrigued by some of the characters in her life-- not just Neil, but her father, and some of her friends. There is a wonderful twist at the end of the book, that raised my rating to a 4. Julian is probably the most interesting of the characters and is reminiscent of Cole from Brodi Ashton's Everneath.
That said, I had some issues with the book. The pacing is not perfect-- the middle of the book drags, and sometimes, I wonder the significance of the memories that we are shown. Felicia is not the most likeable of characters, and she keeps her secrets close to her chest until the end. I believe that secret revealing should be gradual, and if there is only one big secret, there should be others that sprinkle through the action. Neil seems like a nice guy, but I can't understand why he likes the prickly Felicia, except that we are told she is attractive and broken, and he likes to fix things. I wanted to care more about the characters, but we are given only glimpses of them through her memories. The other secrets that are revealed at the end are odd, and I still don't understand why Felicia is so important versus anyone else. However, this is the first book in a trilogy, so we have time to find out.
Overall, a fascinating depiction of Purgatory with beautiful prose and ideas, and I'm looking forward to the second installment to find out more about these characters.
And now, enter early to win some great prizes!
I would love the afterlife to be euphoric!
ReplyDeleteThe afterlife? ... Simple. A place where you can be free. There's no heaven or hell, no 'paradise' as religions say. Just a place where everyone can be as they like (:
ReplyDeleteI would love for afterlife to have no pain, no diseases, no corruption, no hatred, well just to summarise all the beautiful things in life without all the horrible things :D
ReplyDeleteI would want the afterlife to be peaceful. Something without pain like life sometimes is, but I guess you never know.
ReplyDeleteIt was an easy pick for me in the poll-Crown of Embers since you enjoyed the first book so much!
ReplyDeleteI've read some really interesting reviews of this books as the world building sounds very complex-I'm intrigued and hope my library will get a copy after I request it :)
I had a dream about 2 1/2 years ago and i was walking down steps and it was beautiful with grass and many flowers..im hoping it would be like that with everybody that had went up there too!!! thanks for the giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteI only know that I want the afterlife to be pleasant. Not horrible.
ReplyDeleteI would want the afterlife to be pleasant. Not horrible.
ReplyDeleteAny depiction of a glorious, sunny, everlasting heaven, with no human habits or instincts or drives (like hunger or sleep) :D
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I hope it that I can eat as much of whatever I want! I hope it is nice, too. I don't want it to be depressing!
ReplyDeleteI surely hope its peaceful haha
ReplyDeleteI think the afterlife is a different place for everyone. A reflection of the person's personality, or their dreams and desires. If someone wants rivers of sherbet, then that should be their paradise...or a house, of which every wall is lined with books (ME, ME, ME), then that should be their paradise...or simply a vast, expansive meadow full of green. I think it should be a place where anyone can be who they want to be, and they are surrounded by that which their heart desires.
ReplyDeleteA big buffet with all my favorite foods.
ReplyDeleteI would like it to be very calm and peaceful.
ReplyDeleteFun and with a lot of interesting people to meet!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
Pleasant, but other than that, I'm not sure!
ReplyDeleteWhat would I like the afterlife to be like? I would go with one big, happy party! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for a giveaway! :)