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barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
1.0
holy crap this was bad. it started okay, but I think the author tried to use every possible typical teen plot point in this one book, and they all failed. the end of it was just ridiculous!
kristid's review against another edition
4.0
finally finished the audio book today!
loved the narration! full review to come!
loved the narration! full review to come!
scythefranz's review against another edition
3.0
Finally, I am finished with this book. It came a lot longer to finish this one not because it's boring but because I am seriously?? reviewing for my fast-approaching board examination. Heck! I've just got the time to read it gradually when I felt like I need a rest with this review of mine.
Actually, Level 2 was a decent read. I liked how afterlife has been structured like beehives with those chambers for the dead to relive their memories on Earth. And how fascinating it was that reliving the memories is like watching a Youtube video with those ratings and tags stuff. All in all, I like it though there are events that I can't understand and made no sense at all.
Actually, Level 2 was a decent read. I liked how afterlife has been structured like beehives with those chambers for the dead to relive their memories on Earth. And how fascinating it was that reliving the memories is like watching a Youtube video with those ratings and tags stuff. All in all, I like it though there are events that I can't understand and made no sense at all.
beths0103's review against another edition
5.0
Felicia Ward lived a tormented life on earth. Before she died, she had many shameful secrets she'd rather not relive. So when she ends up in Level Two -- a strange, white place full of hive-like structures that allow its inhabitants to plug in and relive memories of their life back on earth -- Felicia of course, chooses only to relive the happy times. But soon Julian, a boy she knew on earth, with secrets of his own, appears in her chamber, calling for her to join the rebellion against the Morati -- the angels responsible for imprisoning souls in Level Two and preventing them from moving on to the next level.
Remembering how consorting with Julian back on earth led to the disgrace of her family, Felicia doesn't know whether she can trust him here in Level Two. But his promise to reunite her with her earthly boyfriend Neil has left her with no other choice than to join his fight. Told in a present-tense, first-person narrative as well as looking back at her past life through the memories Felicia watches in Level Two, Appelhans creates an engaging and highly original narrative that will leave you wondering: Will Julian and Felicia defeat the Morati? Will he fulfill his promise to Felicia? Or will he find another way to burn her the way he did back on earth?
OK, I'm just going to get this technicality out of the way right now so you can make your own judgement about the reliability of this review: the author is a personal friend of mine. Many of you already know that before Lenore received her book deal through Simon & Schuster that she was a book blogger. I have been following her blog for a few years now and even visited her last summer when I vacationed in Europe (it's a tad bit serendipitous that I'm posting this review today since it was almost this exact time last year that I visited her). Perhaps many of you will feel as if this will cloud my judgement in writing this review since I consider her a friend, and perhaps unconsciously it does. But everything I am writing in this review is my true opinion. There is no sugarcoating here in order to spare the feelings of a friend. Everything I write is how I truly feel.
Having said that, let me just amp this review right up with the superlatives: this is one of the most amazing novels I have ever read! Lenore has not only crafted an incredibly unique story in envisioning this white, Matrix-like place of Level Two, but she has also rooted it in theology and mythology. People have been categorizing this book as a dystopia, but that's a bit of a misnomer since the world Appelhans created isn't really a society in the human sense of the word. There are dystopian elements to it, yes, but I honestly see it more as a fantasy than sci-fi/dystopia.
Read the rest of my review on my blog
Remembering how consorting with Julian back on earth led to the disgrace of her family, Felicia doesn't know whether she can trust him here in Level Two. But his promise to reunite her with her earthly boyfriend Neil has left her with no other choice than to join his fight. Told in a present-tense, first-person narrative as well as looking back at her past life through the memories Felicia watches in Level Two, Appelhans creates an engaging and highly original narrative that will leave you wondering: Will Julian and Felicia defeat the Morati? Will he fulfill his promise to Felicia? Or will he find another way to burn her the way he did back on earth?
OK, I'm just going to get this technicality out of the way right now so you can make your own judgement about the reliability of this review: the author is a personal friend of mine. Many of you already know that before Lenore received her book deal through Simon & Schuster that she was a book blogger. I have been following her blog for a few years now and even visited her last summer when I vacationed in Europe (it's a tad bit serendipitous that I'm posting this review today since it was almost this exact time last year that I visited her). Perhaps many of you will feel as if this will cloud my judgement in writing this review since I consider her a friend, and perhaps unconsciously it does. But everything I am writing in this review is my true opinion. There is no sugarcoating here in order to spare the feelings of a friend. Everything I write is how I truly feel.
Having said that, let me just amp this review right up with the superlatives: this is one of the most amazing novels I have ever read! Lenore has not only crafted an incredibly unique story in envisioning this white, Matrix-like place of Level Two, but she has also rooted it in theology and mythology. People have been categorizing this book as a dystopia, but that's a bit of a misnomer since the world Appelhans created isn't really a society in the human sense of the word. There are dystopian elements to it, yes, but I honestly see it more as a fantasy than sci-fi/dystopia.
Read the rest of my review on my blog
heather4994's review against another edition
4.0
So I am so happy for Lenore Appelhans first off, a book blogger that took the time to explain what a dystopian novel was to me when I first started blogging back in 2010. She won't remember me, but I totally remember her blog, it was kind of pea green with a woman floating at the top drawn with a single line. It didn't look very dystopian but it was simple. And Lenore was as gracious as she could be. Little did I know I would be reading her novel a few years later! So congratulations Lenore!
The way the novel is set up is perfect. Felicia wakes up on Level 2. We already know she's dead but we don't know why or what's happened in her past. The way the story is built though, a delicious kind of tension is built up between the past and the present. The past starts in Germany with Felicia and her friend, Autumn meeting Julian and the story moves back and forth between the Julian/Autumn/Felicia story to the Felicia/Neil story to the present. The present is Level 2 and the past is accessed through memory screens almost like video's of Felicia's life. She can view them over and over again. And other people can view them as well. Other people can even view her videos. She labels them and rates them and other viewers can rate them as well. It's kind of like reviews, label, rate.....
Felicia is a wonderfully layered character. We see her complexity on every page as she works through her memories, her past, coming to terms with what happened both because of her and to her. And what's happening now. There is a point where she is going to church a lot and involved with youth group. I was afraid this book was going to be preachy, but no, this has nothing to do with God. There isn't any preaching or anything, just one of the characters is closely related to the church. I can't take religion in books. I don't want anyone telling me what to believe or what to think, but that's not what this book does. It's just not. So don't be scared away when religion come up.
The thing is, I felt like the ending was very easy and almost too perfect. I loved the book! The tension build up was almost unbearable. But then in the end, it was almost too good to be true. And there are so many ways to look at that. Maybe that's what Heaven is, too good to be true. Or, a character told her on Level 2 that someone could plant memories in her mind. So is that what's happening and she's going to wake up and have to start all over again? After all, this is a series. I just have no idea what's going to happen. If I was going to choose and ending, I would have chosen the one I got only made it last a bit longer. Appelhans did such a great job building the tension to Felicia's death, to what she was so ashamed of, I think she could have built the tension to the ending more. I'd really love someone else's take on this one! It seems that people either love it or hate it. I loved it!
Buy it! Because if this is the first one....Enough said!
Happy Reading!
Heather
The way the novel is set up is perfect. Felicia wakes up on Level 2. We already know she's dead but we don't know why or what's happened in her past. The way the story is built though, a delicious kind of tension is built up between the past and the present. The past starts in Germany with Felicia and her friend, Autumn meeting Julian and the story moves back and forth between the Julian/Autumn/Felicia story to the Felicia/Neil story to the present. The present is Level 2 and the past is accessed through memory screens almost like video's of Felicia's life. She can view them over and over again. And other people can view them as well. Other people can even view her videos. She labels them and rates them and other viewers can rate them as well. It's kind of like reviews, label, rate.....
Felicia is a wonderfully layered character. We see her complexity on every page as she works through her memories, her past, coming to terms with what happened both because of her and to her. And what's happening now. There is a point where she is going to church a lot and involved with youth group. I was afraid this book was going to be preachy, but no, this has nothing to do with God. There isn't any preaching or anything, just one of the characters is closely related to the church. I can't take religion in books. I don't want anyone telling me what to believe or what to think, but that's not what this book does. It's just not. So don't be scared away when religion come up.
The thing is, I felt like the ending was very easy and almost too perfect. I loved the book! The tension build up was almost unbearable. But then in the end, it was almost too good to be true. And there are so many ways to look at that. Maybe that's what Heaven is, too good to be true. Or, a character told her on Level 2 that someone could plant memories in her mind. So is that what's happening and she's going to wake up and have to start all over again? After all, this is a series. I just have no idea what's going to happen. If I was going to choose and ending, I would have chosen the one I got only made it last a bit longer. Appelhans did such a great job building the tension to Felicia's death, to what she was so ashamed of, I think she could have built the tension to the ending more. I'd really love someone else's take on this one! It seems that people either love it or hate it. I loved it!
Buy it! Because if this is the first one....Enough said!
Happy Reading!
Heather
cjyu's review against another edition
4.0
Level 2 is a funky twist of mythology/paranormal underworlds.
I liked the thought of heaven and the Greek Underworld mixed with a middle "waiting room" idea behind the story, but I felt like the story just lacked a little... depth. I wanted to know more about the characters, the idea and workings behind everything- I do like how Lenore kept us in the dark about Felicia for a bit, but there just some depth lacking and at moments Felicia's character felt a little off. Like at one point I felt like she was really bratty, another point really strong. I don't quite know who she is... Could use a bit more fleshing out. She's a great character but her conflictions just weren't justified greatly.
For what it's worth, the writing is pretty good, the plot funky and twisty, having a strong first sentence and beginning that sucked me right in, no slow draggy parts, and I loved the sci-fi aspects that gives it a bit of the dystopian feeling to the story.
However, I did like the book overall and let me just say: I'VE BEEN BLINDSIDED!!! JULIAN!!! Like. What. Why. How. Mindblowned!!! The romance was not anything amazing, weirdly not really a love triangle, but kind of at the some time..? Like a couple, and one guy with a one sided love for the girl..? But guys: the end kinda broke my heart.
I felt like the book could've passed as a standalone (second one in a row this week) so I'm not quite sure what you could do to extend the plot. I'll be curious to know what Level 3 will be about.
I liked the thought of heaven and the Greek Underworld mixed with a middle "waiting room" idea behind the story, but I felt like the story just lacked a little... depth. I wanted to know more about the characters, the idea and workings behind everything- I do like how Lenore kept us in the dark about Felicia for a bit, but there just some depth lacking and at moments Felicia's character felt a little off. Like at one point I felt like she was really bratty, another point really strong. I don't quite know who she is... Could use a bit more fleshing out. She's a great character but her conflictions just weren't justified greatly.
For what it's worth, the writing is pretty good, the plot funky and twisty, having a strong first sentence and beginning that sucked me right in, no slow draggy parts, and I loved the sci-fi aspects that gives it a bit of the dystopian feeling to the story.
However, I did like the book overall and let me just say: I'VE BEEN BLINDSIDED!!! JULIAN!!! Like. What. Why. How. Mindblowned!!! The romance was not anything amazing, weirdly not really a love triangle, but kind of at the some time..? Like a couple, and one guy with a one sided love for the girl..? But guys: the end kinda broke my heart.
I felt like the book could've passed as a standalone (second one in a row this week) so I'm not quite sure what you could do to extend the plot. I'll be curious to know what Level 3 will be about.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
1.0
sometimes a book being confusing at first and telling a story through flashbacks can really work. But this one, I unfortunately didn't like.
It was just too hard to understand what was going on. I didn't connect with Felicia or Beckah or....Julian. And the world was so jumbled - memories while I'm trying to figure out why it's all white. She's looking for Neil but all her memories are of Julian. After 100 pages of confusion, it got tough to care. By 100 pages, I'm hoping to be drawn into the story and understanding what's going on.
I didn't understand why all her memories were centered around church and youth group with Neil. Maybe to REALLY point out he's the "good guy". I've never had it so heavy handed in trying to make it obvious.
And Julian. why was he so bad again? it sounded like most of the decisions that upset Felicia about him were ones she made herself when she was around him. I don't blame that on Julian. Shame on Felicia for the choices she made.
*sigh* and I'm so sad. Because the cover is so cool. and I wanted to love this book.....
It was just too hard to understand what was going on. I didn't connect with Felicia or Beckah or....Julian. And the world was so jumbled - memories while I'm trying to figure out why it's all white. She's looking for Neil but all her memories are of Julian. After 100 pages of confusion, it got tough to care. By 100 pages, I'm hoping to be drawn into the story and understanding what's going on.
I didn't understand why all her memories were centered around church and youth group with Neil. Maybe to REALLY point out he's the "good guy". I've never had it so heavy handed in trying to make it obvious.
And Julian. why was he so bad again? it sounded like most of the decisions that upset Felicia about him were ones she made herself when she was around him. I don't blame that on Julian. Shame on Felicia for the choices she made.
*sigh* and I'm so sad. Because the cover is so cool. and I wanted to love this book.....
lisamparkin's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the non-linear storytelling style - it added a lot of mystery and suspense. So many questions still aren't answered, and I cannot wait for Level 3!