Monday, January 7, 2013

Review: Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: January 15th, 2013
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi
Pages: 288 pgs
ISBN: 9781442441859
Source: Borrowed from Kathy

Rating: 3.5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

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 Review:  
This book has been sought after in the blogosphere and when a super great Ottawa blogger Kathy from A Glass of Wine came back from BEA with this book I was super excited to read it. A group of us are having our own little ARC tour with this book and I was lucky enough to be the first to read it.
I have to start by saying that this book is unlike anything I have ever read before and I really don't know what to think of it. It is centered on Felicia who is living in Level 2. Level 2 seems to be a place you go to when you die and in this afterlife you spend your time reliving your memories. I think that the premise for this book is unique and it really starts getting you to think about what happens when you leave this world. Now, this is not to say that this "afterlife" is peaceful; in fact, this Level 2 is full of action and there seem to be some conspiracies going on. I don't want to give too much away but I have to hand it to Appelhans for creating such an interesting world.
I have to say that I loved reading about the flashbacks to Felicia's life on Earth. For some it may be confusing because you're never quite sure what the time frame is but for me, I really liked how it added to mystery of the story. The flashbacks were my favorite part and I kept trying to figure out which boy Felicia should be with. I kept going back and forth between Neil and Julian.
One thing that I have to say though is that this novel at times got a bit confusing. I found myself wanting to read too quickly to try to figure out what was going on and it distracted me from really taking the time to enjoy the book. There was a lot going on in such a short book and then it ended in a bit of a cliffhanger. I felt like I still didn't quite know exactly what was going on when the book ended. I suppose now I will just have to wait for the next book to come out. Overall I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

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