PRE-PUB Review: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

I have been a Westerfeld fan since before he was famous, so it was with great anticipation that I downloaded the e-galley and began reading his latest offering, Afterworlds.  It was with great disappointment that I forced myself to finish reading it.  Unlike earlier efforts such as the Uglies series or his steampunk series, Leviathan, or even the Midnighters, Afterworlds was a huge let down.  It could be because my expectations were high.  After all, Westerfeld had trained me to expect interesting social commentary and big ideas worthy of discussion along with solid writing in his earlier work.  Alas, though the writing remains solid, the subject matter turned to the pedestrian with Afterworlds.  This new novel tells a dual story—one of a teen author, Darcy Patel, and the other is the novel Patel has written.  Sections alternate between these two narratives.  In both stories, Westerfeld embraces the trend of the moment and delivers tired and trendy fodder for teen readers.  Ultimate wish fulfillment—teen writes best seller, gets huge advance and finds the love of her life, who is of the same sex and there are absolutely no members of her  fairly traditional Indian family who so much as raise an eyebrow at this.  Despite Darcy's spirited explanation of conflict in writing at a book store event in the novel, there just isn't much conflict going on in her story.  Much of Darcy’s story will be incomprehensible to average teen readers;  it seems to be written with librarians, prize committees, and other writers in mind.  What teenager in this universe collects first editions and has reading copies, or even knows what those are?  Let’s check off the trends.  Paranormal romance—check.  Lesbian love—check.  Extravagant use of the f-bomb—check.  It seems that teens and twenty-somethings cannot have a conversation without inserting it, multiple times.  That is, if we are to believe current writers, who for my money, are just too lazy to come up with something more meaningful in the way of dialog. 

I found myself hoping that maybe this novel is actually a parody of the current state of YA literature. I am still hoping someone will tell me it is. If it turns out not to be a parody, I will approach Mr. Westerfeld’s next opus with much more caution.

Afterworlds is scheduled for publication September 23, 2014

June’s Rating System:  Language—R; Nudity—PG;  Sexual Content—R;  GLBT Content—R;  Violence—R  The opening scene of Darcy’s YA novel is a terrorist attack which takes place at an airport.  Very bloody, somewhat graphic.  Later scenes in the Underworld are not as violent, but there is a sinister theme.  The main character of Darcy’s novel commits a murder for revenge, for which there are no consequences and no real questioning from a moral standpoint.  Apparently, being a bad person means it is okay to murder you.  Adult Themes—R, death violence, revenge, spiritual questions.  The story of Darcy’s novel borrows from Hindu religious themes, which may offend observant Hindus.

Robin’s Comments:  Disappointed just isn’t a strong enough word for this.  I did not find that the novel had enough literary merit to make up for the baggage.  I would definitely not recommend this for students younger than ninth grade.