Mundie Moms

Monday, March 20, 2017

FIRSTLIFE by Gena Showalter / Book Review


By: Gena Showalter
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Released on: February 23rd, 2016
Series: Everlife #1
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4 Stars - I Enjoyed It
Source: arc/book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review

ONE CHOICE.
TWO REALMS.
NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…


I'm not a huge dystopian fan, but Showalter has made me a fan of her dystopian series. With suspense, romance (the best kind), danger, twists, betrayals, and action, this book had a little bit of everything I enjoy. This book was one that surprised me, and in good way. 


The characters are ones I really enjoyed getting to know. I loved the friendship and romance elements to this story. Tenley, who goes by Ten, is a character I really admire. She's got a strength to her that helps her endure A LOT. She also has the wit, and attitude I'd except from someone like her. At times it made me laugh out loud. You could also say she's stubborn. She knows she has a choice, and nothing, not even the torture she's forced to endure will make her choice where she wants to be in the Afterlife. 


Character wise, Killian, and Bow, are characters I enjoyed getting to know, as well as Archer. Things got a lot more interesting once Killian becomes apart of the story, and for good reason (no spoilers). Deacon, Clay and Sloan are other characters that all played interesting roles in this book. I'm hoping we get to see more of Deacon as the story goes. I really liked his introduction to the story. I had liked Sloan, but she does something really surprised me. I didn't see that coming. 


I loved the romance in this book. It leaves you wanting so much more. The romance definitely takes a back seat to everything else that's going, but it's there and at all the right moments. Showalter knows how to write my favorite kind of romance. Killian and Ten are the perfect recipe of character chemistry, swoon, snark, and touches that leave you wanting more between these characters. 


When it comes to the two leading men, it's obvious who the romantic interest is, and who's the one that she loves, like you would a good friend. I found myself loving these guys the exact same way Ten did. Make no mistake, Killian, and Archer are characters you'll find yourself falling for as well, and for different reasons.


Over all, this was a book that once I really got into, I couldn't put it down. There's a side to this story that really captured my curiosity right off the bat. I liked the theme friendship, and choice. Not all things nor is everyone, are as they first appear. I liked the twists that come with the some of the events, as well as characters in this story. 


While this story does start off engaging, there are a few slow parts, however Showalter rewards readers with a faster paced plot towards the middle of the book, that doesn't stop until the end. I couldn't put the book down. The end left me wanting more. I did not see that coming. I'd recommend picking this one up. I can't wait to read it's sequel. I need answers! 


Don't miss my review for Lifeblood later this week on the blog. 


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