Gena Showalter

Locked in an asylum for her refusal to let her parents dictate her afterlife choices, Ten Lockwood finds herself caught in a violent power struggle between the two leading Everlife realms that would do anything to claim her powerful soul.

Firstlife

Melissa Palmer

Book #7 Read in 2016
Firstlife by Gena Showalter

This is the first in a YA fantasy series. Tenley has to decide between two factions before she turns 18. If not, her soul will be forfeited to Many Ends when she dies. Her parents institutionalize her to try to get her to make a decision. Turn out Ten is very important to both factions and therefore each want her to pledge to their faction. Archer and Killian, one from each faction, are guardian angels of sorts to her but will even they be able to save her? Lots of action, romance humor in this one. The book did bog down a bit and at over 400 pages it could have been shorter and sped up but overall, it was a good read. I will continue this series. I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.

Briar's Reviews

When I was in high school I LOVED Gena Showalter. I binged her YA and adult romance books like they were the air I needed to breathe. But not? Firstlife... Eh, it was NOT a winner. Like, hardcore not a winner. It had the coolest idea for the story and it sounded SO COOL... but the actual writing? So many short sentences... So many. And it also sounded like an eight year old was writing as a teenager, or a Boomer really trying to pretend they are a teenager in an online group chat.

I worked my way through the book since I wanted to see how it ended (typical cliffhanger), but... It's a no from me. I won't be able to continue on in this series. Hopefully my next Gena read will be better.

One out of five stars. Big NOPE from this previous fan.

this started out really great and then I realized how big of a red flag killian is sooo...

sophie <3

Emelie

1,5owls. I finished it, therefore a star For me :). The book 0,5stars!

Sonja H

Ich weiß gar nicht mehr, wie und warum ich auf dieses Buch aufmerksam wurde. Ich wusste auch nicht viel über den Inhalt, aber ab dem ersten Satz war ich darin gefangen.

Die Idee, dass es ein Leben nach dem Tod gibt und dass man sich für eine von zwei dort herrschenden möglichen Welten entscheiden muss, um nicht in der „Hölle“ zu landen, ist für ein Jugendbuchthema sehr faszinierend.
Ich konnte mir diese Welten zwar nicht gut vorstellen, da dafür zu viele Informationen fehlen, die es vermutlich im nächsten Band gibt und ich verwechselte auch immer das gute mit dem bösen Land (was eventuell an der Namenswahl der Autorin liegt, Wörter mit T am Anfang klingen „dunkler“ als solche mit „M“), doch es sind die Charaktere, die diese Geschichte so spannend machen.

Ja, die Figuren sind stark überzeichnet. Es sind Superhelden, die einen Superkampf austragen, doch sie sind nicht emotionslos. Sie mögen sich auf einer Mission befinden, doch sie stellen sich selbst immer wieder infrage und entdecken neue Seiten an sich und an anderen, die sie vielleicht für ihre Feinde hielten.
Selbst für die wirklich schlimmen Charaktere findet Ten „menschliche“ Erklärungen dafür, warum sie handeln, wie sie handeln.

Was mich stellenweise ein wenig abgeschreckt hat, war die extreme Brutalität, die sich durch das gesamte Buch zieht und von der man sich als Leser kaum erholen kann. Stellenweise erinnerte es mich an die Panemtrilogie, allerdings hat „Everlife“ seine ganz eigene Form von Gewalt. Etwas weniger davon wäre mir ganz lieb gewesen.

Mit „Everlife“ ist Gena Showalter ein fesselndes Werk gelungen, das Lust auf die nächsten beiden Bände macht.

Emma Motze

This is exceptional. I love the way it is written and is not really a coming of age book, but is very relatable to YA audience. The choices that the main character has to make are very similar to real-life choices. It is a choice that will decide her entire future, and she has to make it at such a young age. The ending has a twist that I did not expect, and I was very excited when I found out her choice between the two realms.

Flavia Louise

3 stars
I enjoyed this book at times. The writing style was nothing fancy but I kinda liked it. However this book followed a way to simplistic path. No turn surprising at all. I myself am kinda obsessed with numbers and despite what the author thinks the number obsession doesn't really flow naturally in this story. But somehow despite it all I do want to continue in this series.

Laura Yaneth Martinez

I'm not sure about this series, but I'm sticking to it.

It's growing on me and I think I might like it. 

Still confused about this universe- but .... I'll learn

Justine Rose

Probably a 3.5
I enjoyed much of this story, especially Tenley's obsession with numbers, but overall it wasn't a book that I'm itching to pick up again. Not sure I'll continue with the series at this point.

Step one...you die. 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, long-time 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 that 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 where the boy she's falling for lives? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision...

Ash Anderson

The concept of this book was so neat. This book drew me in. I read it in two sittings. Honestly, could not put it down. I adored the characters, they were all compelling in different ways right from the start. Ten was intriguing and I found her 'obsession' with numbers to be an adorable quirk. There was some great humour in Gena's writing and I enjoyed the politics within this book. This was a good book to get lost in.

Chelsea Breher

Audiobook:

Ugh those email type transactions just drove me bonkers. They made me develop a great dislike for this book anytime I started to vaguely enjoy it. I just cannot get past how much they annoyed me 😂

Otherwise, it was an intriguing storyline, not something you I'll re-read but I'll likely finish the series.

Step one...you die. 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, long–time 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 that 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 where the boy she's falling for lives? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision...

Nikki Fowler 

Tenley 'Ten' Lockwood is a seventeen-year-old girl, who is locked up in an Asylum because she won't decide which realm Troika or Myriad, to enter for her EverLife.

This book was a real disappointment. 
For an author who has written a lot of books, I would have expected a lot better. I was so excited for this book when I first read the synopsis, so excited in fact I went and preordered the book (which I don't usually do). I was like"'yes! this sounds so good and different!". But I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. 

Firstlife is full of insta-love, which was horrible to read. The writing was average, it was written in first person, though I think I prefer third person. Whenever Tenley swore, but instead of saying shit, she said 'Zero', which I don't feel made the sentence flow every well. I also didn't realise she would be swearing, I just thought she was saying zero for no apparent reason. 

Ten also doesn't know how to make up her mind. It took a whole 480 pages for her to choose (view spoiler)[Troika (hide spoiler)], which I still don't understand her reasons for choosing. And by the last 50 pages, I began to skim through the book because it felt if I just read a paragraph or two I would know what would be going on for the next 10. It felt like an episode of Home and Away, where I can watch one episode a month and still be up to date with what is happening in Summer Bay. 

I also didn't Ten very much. She came across as stupid, pathetic and a try-hard. She would also fall in love straight away with any guy that would show her any kindness. Take James and Killan for example. 

All in all, I was really disappointed. I'm not going to read the next book ever.

Charlot van Dijk

De wereld is weer geweldig bedacht, ik hou van Gena Showalter en haar manier van schrijven. Snel verder met het 2e deel. Ik zou zelf voor Troika kiezen.. en jij?

Ashlie Reifer

** spoiler alert **
           THE ENDING ASDFGHJKLGSKRDJDBDJ I AM SOOOO DONEEE I LOVE THIS BOOK EVEN THO IT RIPPED MY HEART OUT UGHHHH. THIS IS GOING TO LEAVE ME WITH A MAJOR BOOK HANGOVER

10/5 STARSS

Bianca

Katharina 

The instant New York Times bestseller! "Utterly unique and absolutely riveting—I couldn't put it down! What a marvelously cool world."—New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas From the author of the New York Times bestselling White Rabbit Chronicles series comes book 1 of a brand new series in which life as we know it is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death. 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 where the boy she's falling for lives? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…