Firstlife; The Light and Dark of the World

This book was part of my goal to read as many books as I can from my library. This one was a book that I didn't pick with any knowledge about what the book would be like, other than a part of the YA dystopian fiction that so many books fall into. The main character, Tenley Lockwood, Ten, is a prisoner in an asylum, an asylum for those who are not 'signed' to an afterlife region. This is where I feel the book could explain more, because we hear about the signing, but for the first few chapters, I did not know what the everlife meant, what Troika and Myriad were, and how they played into the divide between human and spirit. Something else that almost stopped me from completing the book was the fact that so much of the beginning was an email conversation, one that was expected to give a lot of background, but honestly just confused me. The strength of Ten over the two men assigned to convince her to join either faction is inspiring. Since I am still in the book, I am surprised that I am now hopeful that Ten makes the right decision, and that her choices can save two realms.

My conclusion of this book is that it is one that needs a bit of salt when you first read it, because the beginning may unnerve you about the plot speed of the book, but I do say give it a chance, because the book seems to blossom and grow like the flowers at the burgeoning of spring.