Began reading: 22.6.2017
Completed reading: 28.6.2017
Overall rating: 4 stars
My Firstlife is over, but my Everlife is only now beginning.
With her last living breath, Tenley 'Ten' Lockwood made her choice and picked her realm in the Everlife. Now, as the war between Troika and Myriad rages, she must face the consequences.
Because Ten possesses a rare supernatural ability to absorb and share light, the Powers That Be have the highest expectations for her future - and the enemy wants her neutralised. Fighting to save her Secondlife, she must learn about her realm from the ground up while launching her first mission: convincing a select group of humans to join her side before they die. No pressure, right?
But Ten's competition is Killian, the boy she can't forget - the one who gave up everything for her happiness. He has only one shot at redemption: beating Ten at a game she's never even played. As their throw-downs heat up, so do their undeniable feelings, and soon, Ten will have to make another choice: Love...or victory.
Lifeblood by Gena Showalter is a fictional young adult novel that contains fantasy and romance. I have been waiting for so long to get into this book, and I’m glad that I finally knuckled down and read it! It was SO GOOD! I loved the book for the same reasons as Firstlife, but also found the same irritating things as in the first book. Let’s begin with the good stuff.
Tenley Lockwood has begun her Secondlife after pledging Troika, leaving Killian – the boy that she loves – in the rival realm. Upon her arrival in Troika, Ten discovers that she is a Conduit, the highest rank in the realm, with the power to attract light and wield it like a weapon; but with her lack of knowledge, Ten must train before she can fight for her new home. She joins her Troikan friends as they learn to fight and follow the kingdom’s laws; but can she trust them? When it is revealed that Troikan operations are being shared with Myriad, Ten discovers that there is a spy among her friends and grows increasingly determined to expose them. As Ten strengthens and sharpens her abilities, a dangerous disease has appeared in the Land of Harvest, forcing her to work on recruiting citizens as an amateur – a very risky task, with the two realms stepping up their war. Ten is going to have to work harder than ever to bring peace to the rival kingdoms, while trying to control her feelings for Killian. Despite Ten’s loyalty to Troika, she will begin to notice the down-side to equality, which will test her devotion – but is she strong enough to overcome all of these challenges, or will the betrayal of a friend push her over the edge?
The book was well-written, but I did spot a few spelling and grammatical errors. The structure was developed in a way that kept the plot interesting and made me continue to turn the page. There were literary techniques that added detail to the narrative, including sarcasm, tragedy and characterisation. These techniques allowed me to picture everything in my mind without difficulty, and added depth to the plot and characters. There were also some great quotes, including:
I’ve heard it said your entire life flashes before your eyes as you die. Those words comfort those who have loved and been loved but torment those who have failed and have been failed (p. 11).
‘What is explained is often forgotten. What is experienced is remembered forever’ (p. 131).
She hopes to ignite doubt. I have to be careful. Doubt is an insidious creature. It can creep in, set up a tent and ruin everything (p. 145).
Love is the single most essential part of our lives, a need we all share, and yet it’s always invisible to the naked eye (p. 264).
[…]our present will always be the sum total of decisions made in our past (p. 269).
More quotes from the book can be found here.
I really like a dramatic plot, even more so if it is unique – it makes everything unpredictable and exciting. I loved being able to explore Troika through Tenley’s eyes; more importantly, I loved the idea of the two realms fighting for possession of spirits, even fighting those who wanted to defect. It was creative and tense, which is something that I look for in a plot.
Showalter definitely knows how to play on her readers’ emotions, which makes me enjoy her novels so much more! Emotions are important for narratives because they add depth, encourage readers to feel something, and makes the story memorable. In Firstlife, there were a few character deaths that pulled on my feels, and I hoped that there would be more of that in this book. I wasn’t disappointed – I actually sobbed when one of the sweetest characters died! I’m still grieving, which demonstrates that Showalter knows how to build a character that readers can embrace, as well as make us feel the protagonist’s loss. I was surprised by how close I felt to this particular character because I didn’t even know that I had developed something akin to admiration for them until they passed away. Despite my broken heart, I want more emotion in the next novel!
I never really noticed it before picking up Firstlife, but I’ve grown to like unique chapter headings. In this series, each chapter begins with a quote from a realm and they contradict each other’s beliefs, which is interesting. When I first began reading, I’d agree with one particular realm and think ‘yeah, I totally belong in this realm’, only to agree with some of the sayings from the other realm – for the record, I’m Team Troika. I also enjoyed the little numerical facts throughout the novel. Most of the time, they related to the situation; at other times, these facts acted as a distraction, which kinda bothered me. I could definitely see why some people saw them as annoying, but overall I liked them. I wonder, is it easy for Showalter to find these facts?
Plot twists are a great way for authors to keep their stories interesting for readers. There needs to be a balance of predictability and unpredictability to the twist, and it also needs to leave readers wanting more. Showalter’s novels always contain a good plot twist, so I wasn’t surprised to find at least two juicy plot twists thrown into this book. The main twist (who the spy was) was predictable but not really for the reasons that I suspected. This character had a different motive for their betrayal, which left me low-key shook. The biggest and most unpredictable twist was an accomplice to the antagonist – I did not suspect them at all, but their motive made sense. Showalter knows how to create a good plot twist, so I’ll be looking forward to more of these in Everlife.
Something that can really get on my nerves when reading a book is repetition. In Firstlife, I grew irritated by all of Ten’s ‘Zero!’ outbursts because they were so frequent. It was a much better alternative than swearing, but she said it so often that I just wanted to punch her in the face. It didn’t improve in this novel, as she said it even more frequently, AND it was accompanied by a new outburst: ‘Lockdown!’. Really? Please stop. That’s all I have to say.
My favourite character is still Tenley because she is confident, courageous, ambitious and merciful. Overlooking her annoying outbursts, she’s a strong character and I can’t wait to see her fight for her man in the next book. Meredith is a notable character.
*WARNING: SPOILER* I ALWAYS SUSPECTED VICTOR! I knew that he had a real motive from the beginning! Of course, as I mentioned above, I thought his motives were going to be more honourable than they actually were. Even though I suspected his character from the beginning, I did doubt him every now and then but I was right all along! He should have been killed off when he faced off with Ten, but I’ll gladly wait for it to happen in the next book! Anyway, no matter how hard I try, I can’t like Killian – yes, he’s devoted to Ten but I’ll always see him as a ‘bad boy’ and Troika’s enemy. I don’t know why, but his character just doesn’t get me swooning.
My favourite parts of the novel were Ten’s arrival in Troika and Dior’s court appearance. I enjoyed reading about Ten’s arrival in Troika because we were able to finally see that realm, but also because it displayed Showalter’s creativity and ability to world-build. I loved reading about the various places within Troika, and I hope we get more of that in the next book! I also enjoyed Dior’s court appearance because it was tense, foreboding and dramatic. It also contains the major emotional part that I mentioned above, which made it so memorable.
Recommendation time! If you like the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, the Dreamfall series by Amy Plum, the Dream Walker series by Kit Alloway, and the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, you will love this book. Also, I recommend this book to anyone who likes Flatliners, If I Stay, The Lovely Bones, After. Life, Astral City: A Spiritual Journey, and The Discovery.
I will be reviewing the rest of the Everlife series, including Everlife, when the book becomes available. Keep an eye out for that!
My review for Firstlife can be found by clicking on the title.
Happy reading!
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