Seen at Bookish Antics! 
 Do you devour books like your life depends on it? Do you use frequently refer to your reading pile as your TBR pile? Do you feel as if you love fictional characters more than the majority of people you know? Then, Afterworlds is the book for you; this is the book that booknerds have been waiting for and it definitely delivers. Westerfeld has written such a creative novel and the way he meshes Afterworlds and Darcy's story into one cohesive whole is just amazing. 
 In one month Darcy Patel wrote Afterworlds, a paranormal romance, but what she didn't expect was that a publisher would buy it in such a hurry. Patel receives a huge advance and defers college for a year to move to NYC to work on revisions for Afterworlds. Readers will read Patel's Afterworlds alongside her life story and will be swept into Lizzie's story, one filled with love, death and everything in between. 
 Both stories start off excellently: Darcy is querying her novel to literary agents and the airport Lizzie is in experiences a terrorist attack. As an excellent novel should, Afterworlds hooks readers in immediately and establishes each story clearly. Each story is told in alternating chapters and I really found it interesting seeing all of the parallels between the two stories. Readers will be able to see bits of pieces of Darcy and her life in her debut, which made Afterworlds feel even more special to me. 
 This book is really meant for those who are die-hard book nerds and those who are involved in the publishing industry. I don't think average people will get the same reading experience out of Afterworlds and will really get this novel. Will laymen understand abbreviations like TBR or ARC or even what Book Expo Of America is? Even if they do, I don't know if they will get how big of a deal getting published and how big of a honor it is. Westerfeld does explain the publishing industry in-depth and I even learned a few new insider tidbits. I'm still questioning whether average people will get the publishing aspect of this novel. 
 Darcy's story was really fascinating to me as a reader and as an aspiring author. Westerfeld gives readers an insider's look on the evolution of a book from its completion to revisions to its publication. I loved watching Darcy interact with other authors and the nervousness she felt when reading an author friend's book was a familiar feeling that I've experienced as a book blogger. It was an enlightening experience watching Darcy hit different milestones in her writing career and indirectly, finding herself. 
 I loved Darcy, she was such an intelligent and snarky protagonist that I felt a strong connection to. Darcy chased her dream which takes a lot of guts and I admired her for taking her life by the reins. It's frightening to just leave your home and everything you know and to abandon it for your dream, but Darcy does it and hardly ever looks back. Though Afterworlds is a book about writing and the publishing industry, it's also a coming-of-age story. Darcy finds herself in her work and she learns so much about herself from being exposed to such a different atmosphere. 
 Lizzie's story isn't quite as exciting as Darcy's, but did keep me engaged and interested for the most part. Some of the imagery in Lizzie's story is so chilling and vivid, especially the black oil sections. Westerfeld wrote a refreshing take on ghosts and tackling one's past; I loved meeting the various different ghosts and watching them interact with Lizzie. In addition, few of the twists in Lizzie's story were a bit predictable, but I really enjoyed the world-building of the afterworlds that was included in it. Lizzie's story is well-drawn out, but I expected so much more from Westerfeld because I hold him in such high regard. 
 There are two relationships in Afterworlds: Darcy's relationship with an older, fellow author named Imogen and Lizzie's relationship with Yamaraj, the Hindu god of death. I enjoyed Lizzie's relationship with Yamaraj, but it wasn't all that different from your average paranormal romance and it had a pretty basic structure. Darcy's relationship with Imogen is such a mature, appropriate look at first-love and what it means to make sacrifices for the ones you love. This romance is extremely realistic and I shipped this couple so much even when they were experiencing relationship issues. 
 I know there's a lot of stigmas in the publishing industry that books about GLBT and people of color don't sell well, which made me appreciate Westerfeld's bold decision to write about a lesbian Indian even more. We need greater diversity in our books and this is just one small step in the right direction. 
 Afterworlds is an intelligent, well-thought out coming-of-age tale that is so out-of-the-box and unique. This book is extremely long and drags in a few sections, but for the most part it reads much faster than I expected. Darcy's story outshone Lizzie's story by a long shot and I wasn't totally impressed with the plot progression in Lizzie's story. No matter what, Afterworlds is still one of the most clever novels of the year and it's totally worth reading especially for the trunk research scene.