New Release Review & Giveaway: Firstlife by Gena Showalter

BookCrushin regularly devours Harlequin Teen titles and Firstlife by Gena Showalter was no different! I am very thankful for the review copy from Harlequin Teen and to be able to share my thoughts with you today! This book has been on my radar for months now! That cover was more than crushable, it was covetable and I wanted it, now we all can have it! I am giving away a signed bookplate from Gena Showalter & some Firstlife buttons, so just comment below about the your thoughts on the review or the book!

 

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Series: Everlife #1
Category: Young Adult, Upper YA, Fantasy, Dystopian
Publication: February 23rd, 2016; Harlequin Teen
Purchase: Amazon

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…

 

Review:

[book rating=4/5]

“I will choose my path. Me alone. My choice will affect no eternal future but my own.”

As soon as I finished Firstlife, I had some really confusing feelings. It was different, weird, and thoroughly enjoyable! It was fast-paced and had tons of action! However, some things were really confusing. I loved the concept, but I felt some plot points fell flat. Lots of drama and action for no real reward after all that suffering. Again, I read this book so fast as it drove me into the ‘need to know what happens’ zone so that’s definitely a bonus. Reviewing this title is going to be difficult due to immense subject matter; please read the synopsis first, and I will also need to give some actual plot details, which could be possible minor spoilers.

Tenley (Ten) is our heroine and I loved her zeal, her obsessions, and her steadfast beliefs. No one was going to coerce her into making a brash choice about her Everlife! From what I gathered, in this world, your Firstlife is the set up to help you live towards the rest of your Everlife. Everlife is split into two very different realms, Troika & Myraid, light & dark. Many people use their choices to bargain for a better Firstlife, for example, things like power, money, or the perfect job. They also sign incentives for you to raise your children right, and right being the same realm as you, so you can spend your Everlife together, and the Laborers (ones who take your contracts during your Firstlife) don’t have to work so hard to recruit so many people. So clearly, Tenley has been set-up her whole life to choose one realm, but as she grew up she can’t agree to those terms for her Everlife, mostly just because at face value she doesn’t think that is really her choice, and your Everlife should be your own personal choice.

Confused? Yeah, like I said, super creative and really freaking interesting but damn is it hard to understand or explain. Also, why is her choice so important?! It gets deeper.

There is a war going on between the two Everlife realms and its effects can be felt on the current world. Each realm is fighting over many things, including recruits to build their armies to continue fighting each other. Her parents are running out of time to fulfill their contract, as it pertains to Ten, as she approaches 18, so they decide an asylum would be the perfect place to torture her into making her decision. Sounds like a solid plan for a headstrong girl who 100% doesn’t want to be coerced. *snort*

So now both realms want to hardcore recruit Tenley, she’s special, and she is clearly not going to make this easy. Since the asylum isn’t working, the realms decide to send super intense Laborers, Archer & Killian, into the asylum to persuade Tenley to choose. Archer was introduced to us as Bow, and he may have tried to use wisdom and friendship to talk to Ten about Troika. Flip-side is Killian, the hot, Irish bad-boy, who tried to use his hips & lips to convince Ten to go with Myriad, because clearly lust was her driving factor instead of torture. I am pretty sure that was my personal sarcasm, but I think Ten would agree.

“Will I always be a commodity to win rather than a person to love?”

Well as it goes, these two Laborers are more than just from different realms-they are intense enemies. At this point in the book there was so much fighting and action that the little swoon worthy moments were a breath of fresh air, except that it felt so contrite. I felt so bad for Tenley and that she still feels used, but it spurs her into such a crazy adventure, that she comes to discover some really monumental things about herself and helps her friends into make some serious life choices too. I am pretty sure if I experienced half of what she did I would have signed really quickly and I don’t think I am weak minded either, but damn Ten really gets the shaft.

Some of the most stand out aspects of this adventure were the strong cast of characters, Ten’s crazy number obsessions, and all the off-the-cuff poems. The imagery was crazy, the world intense, and often confusing. I really enjoyed this book but it left me so on edge.

As more and more of the story was presented to me, I kept thinking what would I do, and which realm would I choose? Well as much as I love the easygoing pace of Myraid, I am positive I would have signed up for Troika, like as soon as I was threatened with a torturous asylum, because I would never want to see my parents again, especially in the Everlife!

So to sum how I felt about Firstlife: very strong cast of characters, crazy action, extremely fast paced, and an entirely unique page-turning story. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something fresh and engaging. Firstlife is definitely one of those books you just have to experience yourself. I have a feeling lots of people will experience it differently, since there are clearly two sides to every story. Two choices, Troika vs. Myriad.

Giveaway:

I have a signed bookplate from Gena Showalter & some Firstlife buttons to giveaway (thanks to Harlequin Teen) so just comment below about the your thoughts on the review or the book! I will pick a winner from the comments in 10 days after post date. Open Internationally!