When I looked at some of the other reviews on here about Firstlife I had some misgivings about picking it up to read. As of late, Gena Showalter's writing style has gotten "preachy" out of lack of a better word. To me, it feels like lazy writing. That's not to say that her stories aren't good or imaginative. In fact, that aspect of her work remains superb and Firstlife is a great example of her strength in world building and her action scenes are amazing. The issue I've been having is that she beats the reader over the head with her message. Like it just gets constantly repeated in slightly different ways over and over. To me, that's lazy writing. Instead of repeating yourself like your beating a dead horse, just move on. Either use that time to develop other aspects of the story or just make the book about 20 pages shorter. In the end I think the narrative would have been far more successful. 
 The basic plot is that the afterlife is real. There are two realms, Myriad and Troika, and they try to recruit people to join their respective realms. The kicker is that the realms are at war with each other so picking sides is a rather enormous and permanent decision to make. Our heroine, Tenley (Ten for short,) refuses to choose a side because she doesn't know where she belongs. Then there's ensuing drama as both sides want her to join because she's a special little snowflake... obviously. This is where it starts to go off the rails...She's a "Conduit" which is someone who gets power from the sun and like it helps power the realms somehow...? 
 Were there problems in the story? YES. I'll list them: 
 1.	Why do the realms even need conduits? Like why do certain people need to absorb the sun? None of this scenario is explained besides Ten is a conduit and powerful to the realms and both sides want a conduit. 
 2.	It's unfathomable how Ten can't decide between Myriad and Troika. As a reader the choice is blatantly obvious and the fact that Ten can't seem to figure it out makes me think she's pretty dumb. (view spoiler)[ Seriously, how could she even think she might belong in Myriad? Myriad is responsible for her being in the mental hospital from hell, her torture, the many attempted assassination attempts, and coercion. WHY ON EARTH WOULD SHE THINK "HEY, MAYBE I BELONG THERE...?" The only thing Troika has done is ask her to join. How can she be so blind and dumb? (hide spoiler)] 
 3.	Was Killian supposed to be likeable? Was it just me or was he just flat out unlikable for 80% of the story? By the end he started to get better but it doesn't make up for all the rest of the times where he was a violent, manipulative, lying, man-whore! So he was hot, brooding, and kind of protective to Ten... I need more than that in a romantic lead. In the end he was a lot better and I started to like him. I just didn't like him enough. Perhaps in the next installment the likeable momentum will pick up pace. 
 4.	(view spoiler)[ THEY KILLED OFF ARCHER!?!?!?!?!?!?! He better not be actually dead. I won't stand for it! He was my favorite part of the story and that's how they play it!? At least he and Ten always had a best friend kind of relationship and it didn't spiral into a stupid love triangle. (hide spoiler)] 
 5.	What about Aunt Linda? We never really find out what her deal is. There is definitely something to her story because she's all psychic and junk... 
 Ok... enough with being a negative Nancy. Firstlife was successful in some ways as well: 
 1.	The world building was incredibly detailed and thought out. (Except for the whole Conduit nonsense.) Not only were there three different realms that we got detailed glimpses of but also the cultural climate of the Earth itself was new. People seem to have entirely different sets of morals due to this being an alternate reality. 
 2.	The action sequences were richly detailed and suspenseful. Gena Showalter always excels at action scenes. They are always so exciting and a nail-biting experience. She's able to put in a real sense of danger that hooks you so you aren't able to put the book down! 
 Overall, Firstlife was action packed and a fun read. It's a really imaginative story line. Are the characters incredible? No. Ten was pretty dumb and Killian was unlikeable. Was it suspenseful and fun? Yes. I will continue on with the series. However, my continuation may be biased as I'm a Gena Showalter fan to begin with.