Firstlife Review

Title: Firstlife

Author: Gena Showalter

Genre & Age Group: Dystopian, sci-fi, young adult

Goodreads Synopsis:

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…

Source: Public library

How I Found Out About It: Goodreads

I went into my first read of 2017 with rather high hopes. The concept looked super interesting, and it overall just looked like the type of dystopian book I’d admire with all my heart. Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t. It was a pretty dull book with unlikable characters and a plot that was being thrown all over the place.

Firstlife has a confusing plot that is kind of hard to explain, but I will try my best to smooth it out for you guys. Okay, so this book revolves around a girl named Tenley, who has been locked inside an asylum for a while, as she refuses to let her parents pick her home for when she dies and reaches afterlife. She is currently living her Firstlife, but legend in this book has it that life mostly begins after one’s first death. There are two realms that Tenley could potentially be sent to after she dies, and both of them really want her. Which realm would make for the most ethical decision?

Our protagonist Tenley was a whiny, annoying character who only seemed to care about herself. I truthfully couldn’t have cared less about her, as I could definitely tell why she was stuck in the asylum. Throughout the book, I just wanted to shake her so she’d let her parents make the right decision! I know how many teens often disregard their parents, but they always know best, and I believe that the Lockwood parents knew which realm was right for her- it’s just that Tenley, being the stubborn character she was, refused to let them make any decisions for her. She complained A LOT and placed the blame on others for being stuck in the asylum, but really, it was her actions that led to that.

The rest of the characters were quite bland, even Killian, the love interest. Ugh, the romance between them was so cringe-worthy and unnecessary! But hey, there was a minor character named Kayla, just like me!😜

The plot at first seemed like it would be pretty solid, but NOOOO! So many things were happening at once, and it was hard to keep track of who was from which realm. Minor characters came in and out of the story, and many events were barely resolved. Oh well, I guess that’s up to the next book to sort out. And speaking of the next book, Firstlife ended on a HUGE cliffhanger, and even though I didn’t love this book, it still left me wanting more.👌

All in all, this book wasn’t really for me, but I can definitely see how more avid lovers of action can find something they adore in it. For me, this book was like a mediocre version of Shatter Me, a series I really loved. Anyway, if you are a teen looking for some hardcore action, then Firstlife is probably the book for you!

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