Saturday 1 January 2011

Afterlife - Book Review

First of all a happy 2011 to all!
Now on to my review:

Afterlife (Resurrection Chronicles #1) by Merrie Destefano

What is it about:
Chaz Dominguez is a professional Babysitter in New Orleans, helping to integrate the recently deceased into their new and improved lives. Though Fresh Start has always been the only game in town, resurrection isn't all it's cracked up to be. Nine lives are all a person can get—and a powerful group of desperate, high-level Nine-Timers will stop at nothing to possess the keys to true immortality.

Now the only hope for Chaz and his family—and the human race—lies in the secrets locked away in the mind of Angelique, the beautiful, mysterious Newbie he must protect . . .


What did I think of it:
A very original story in a well thought-out setting. The world building is very good: it paints a future that's dark, sinister and gritty. Destefano doesn't leave it at that though, she really thought about how the world would be affected by an invention like resurrection and integrates this in the story seamlessly. The story is written from multiple viewpoints, but all are very interesting and each has it's own voice. (My favourite was Neville's viewpoint as he's got an almost poetic way to describe things.) The use of multiple viewpoints does blur the lines between good and evil as you get insight in the minds of all major characters and I really liked that as it makes for a more nuanced story. So all in all a very good story and I'll certainly read the next book once it's released.

Why should you read it:
It's a suspenseful UF story in a complex, cool setting.



2 comments:

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

awesome review!! happy new year!

Nina said...

Sounds great! Happy new Year. :)