((Wow it's been a long time. I'm terrible at updating regularly and I guess that's okay. Laziness took hold of me over the summer))
School started and that's wonderful and all (I finally get to see my friends again), but the amount of work is killing me. I started this book maybe two weeks before school started and I was not able to finish it until just a few days ago. That's how bad it's been for me. Usually I'm just so tired at the end of the day that I just fall asleep and don't read anything.
The cover-
Darcy Patel is finally going to live her dream. After successfully writing 50,000 words over the span of a month, she got a publishing deal on her novel and is now going to be writing full time in New York City. Being a teen writer is hard, with rewrites and edits and not to mention managing a budget and living on her own. That is until she meets Imogen Grey, the smart, outspoken author who might just be warming up to her. And when Darcy finds herself falling in love with a fellow writer, she begins to question just what she is doing and why it is so important to her.
In another world, Elizabeth is on her way home from visiting her father in New York City and finds herself stuck in the middle of a terrorist attack at the Dallas International Airport. Miraculously she survives, but finds herself in a place called the "Afterworld" where the spirits of the dead come to rest and are guided by mostly human psychopomps (grim reapers). There she meets and falls in love with the stunning Yama- the king of the dead.
Able to see ghosts, Elizabeth finds that they are everywhere and are easily tricked by the monsters that lurk in the Afterworld. She accidentally sets one free when she takes his help in killing the man who murdered her mother's best friend and has to pay the ultimate price. He wants the soul of every child in Yama's kingdom to compensate for the ones lost in his own world.
Both the author and main character find their way through difficult changes and try to make up for what has been lost. They both navigate the minefield of love and realize that sometimes the best people are worth letting go and to follow only what they feel within themselves.
My thoughts-
Every night that I actually could get to read, I wouldn't be able to put the book down. It's addicting to the point where I spent about three nights in a row reading until 2 AM. Three school nights when I probably should have gone to sleep.
I loved the idea of not only hearing about Darcy's novel, but getting to read it too. It suddenly made the story seem a lot more personal than just talking almost constantly about a story that the reader never gets to read. But it does significantly increase the length of the book, and puts it at about 600 pages, rather than a typical novel length. But it does feel like getting two novel-length stories for the price of one. Which would be a nicer scenario if I wasn't getting in bed at 10:30 every night.
I also liked the juxtaposition of every other chapter being from Darcy's book. Once her world gets a little more complex, her story does too, but switching between both was a bit of a headache for me. Even though the book was probably made to have each read side-by-side, I found myself skipping through parts of Darcy's novel to get to what was happening to her. When the plot got thicker, I found myself shifting towards the more realistic story than the fantasy.
I wonder if this was a sort of exposition on how the writing world is like. Making relations with fellow writers so they blurb your book, the crazy parties and most of all the shameless promotion. If this is really accurate, I'm not publishing a book until I'm settled in a job and living a decent life. Darcy realizes pretty early on that being an author doesn't really pay too well unless your book gets really popular.
It also feels a little like a traditional coming-of-age novel where a young character is put into a more mature setting than they are able to handle and have to change in order to fit their new environment. Even with someone like her sister Nisha to keep track of her expenses, Darcy ends up running out of money too quickly. She begins to realize that living on her own is hard and that at her age, she's not ready for it. When she visits her home for Christmas, she actually starts questioning whether or not it is worth selling her apartment in New York City and moving back home. At least she wouldn't have to pay the ridiculous rent and other bills.
Age Rating: 14+
The book has a very truthful, unashamed tone that can really make it or break it for readers. I myself am a fan of sarcasm and dry humor, but some people are not. Especially when it comes to its more explicit nature. Characters often use swear words and speak to each other in very casual and almost derogatory manner at times. But the subject itself is not as mature as the way it is presented. Still, I would think that young adults would get the most out of the humor and life lessons that it masks within the story.
((More reviews will be coming as I start actually reading books, but I promise that I will have at least one more by the end of the month. Till then, Happy Reading!))
School started and that's wonderful and all (I finally get to see my friends again), but the amount of work is killing me. I started this book maybe two weeks before school started and I was not able to finish it until just a few days ago. That's how bad it's been for me. Usually I'm just so tired at the end of the day that I just fall asleep and don't read anything.
The cover-
Darcy Patel is finally going to live her dream. After successfully writing 50,000 words over the span of a month, she got a publishing deal on her novel and is now going to be writing full time in New York City. Being a teen writer is hard, with rewrites and edits and not to mention managing a budget and living on her own. That is until she meets Imogen Grey, the smart, outspoken author who might just be warming up to her. And when Darcy finds herself falling in love with a fellow writer, she begins to question just what she is doing and why it is so important to her.
In another world, Elizabeth is on her way home from visiting her father in New York City and finds herself stuck in the middle of a terrorist attack at the Dallas International Airport. Miraculously she survives, but finds herself in a place called the "Afterworld" where the spirits of the dead come to rest and are guided by mostly human psychopomps (grim reapers). There she meets and falls in love with the stunning Yama- the king of the dead.
Able to see ghosts, Elizabeth finds that they are everywhere and are easily tricked by the monsters that lurk in the Afterworld. She accidentally sets one free when she takes his help in killing the man who murdered her mother's best friend and has to pay the ultimate price. He wants the soul of every child in Yama's kingdom to compensate for the ones lost in his own world.
Both the author and main character find their way through difficult changes and try to make up for what has been lost. They both navigate the minefield of love and realize that sometimes the best people are worth letting go and to follow only what they feel within themselves.
My thoughts-
Every night that I actually could get to read, I wouldn't be able to put the book down. It's addicting to the point where I spent about three nights in a row reading until 2 AM. Three school nights when I probably should have gone to sleep.
I loved the idea of not only hearing about Darcy's novel, but getting to read it too. It suddenly made the story seem a lot more personal than just talking almost constantly about a story that the reader never gets to read. But it does significantly increase the length of the book, and puts it at about 600 pages, rather than a typical novel length. But it does feel like getting two novel-length stories for the price of one. Which would be a nicer scenario if I wasn't getting in bed at 10:30 every night.
I also liked the juxtaposition of every other chapter being from Darcy's book. Once her world gets a little more complex, her story does too, but switching between both was a bit of a headache for me. Even though the book was probably made to have each read side-by-side, I found myself skipping through parts of Darcy's novel to get to what was happening to her. When the plot got thicker, I found myself shifting towards the more realistic story than the fantasy.
I wonder if this was a sort of exposition on how the writing world is like. Making relations with fellow writers so they blurb your book, the crazy parties and most of all the shameless promotion. If this is really accurate, I'm not publishing a book until I'm settled in a job and living a decent life. Darcy realizes pretty early on that being an author doesn't really pay too well unless your book gets really popular.
It also feels a little like a traditional coming-of-age novel where a young character is put into a more mature setting than they are able to handle and have to change in order to fit their new environment. Even with someone like her sister Nisha to keep track of her expenses, Darcy ends up running out of money too quickly. She begins to realize that living on her own is hard and that at her age, she's not ready for it. When she visits her home for Christmas, she actually starts questioning whether or not it is worth selling her apartment in New York City and moving back home. At least she wouldn't have to pay the ridiculous rent and other bills.
Age Rating: 14+
The book has a very truthful, unashamed tone that can really make it or break it for readers. I myself am a fan of sarcasm and dry humor, but some people are not. Especially when it comes to its more explicit nature. Characters often use swear words and speak to each other in very casual and almost derogatory manner at times. But the subject itself is not as mature as the way it is presented. Still, I would think that young adults would get the most out of the humor and life lessons that it masks within the story.
((More reviews will be coming as I start actually reading books, but I promise that I will have at least one more by the end of the month. Till then, Happy Reading!))
