Released on September 23, 2014, “Afterworlds” is Young Adult (YA) author Scott Westerfeld’s newest novel which juggles two plotlines, the first belongs to Darcy Patel, an up and coming YA author, while the second plot line belongs to Darcy’s own novel, also named “Afterworlds”. Lizzie, the other protagonist, lives in a world infested with ghosts and secrets.

“The book is about this weird and wonderful space which is the ‘YA boom’ of the last 10 years,” Westerfeld said in an interview with Publisher’s Weekly.

“Often in novels about writers, we see little snatches of their writing. But I figured it would be cool to see an entire fictional novel while it’s in the process of being rewritten,” Westerfeld told “Publisher’s Weekly”’s Alexis Burling when discussing his inspiration for the novel.

Darcy’s plotline follows her publishing journey, from querying to rewrite deadlines. Some may find that at times the drama wears a bit thin and doesn’t hold attention as well as Lizzie’s paranormal struggles.

“It sounds cool,” longtime Westerfeld fan sophomore Hope Murphy said, when hearing about the novel for the first time.

Both Darcy and Lizzie have very distinct voices, despite Lizzie being a figment of Darcy’s imagination, which may help readers imagine her as more than a character in a novel within a novel. However, others may find the constant flip-flopping of chapters disorienting and prevent them from fully immersing themselves in the story.

Afterworlds is not your typical Young Adult novel and worth checking out.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18367581-afterworlds

Afterworlds