I’ve been anxiously waiting to read Firstlife since it arrived in the mail and talked the girls easily into read it for bookclub. I found the concept unique an interesting play on what happens after you die and start your new life in one of two factions. It was an emotional read right from the start Tenley has a tragic past that only makes her stronger in resisting what’s really going on. I found her to be a likeable character even though she’s kind of in the middle of a love triangle between two unique guys. I’m not a huge fan of love triangles but I found this one works well together it’s filled with twists that kept me guessing till the very end. I’ve loved the author’s writing style it’s beautifully written creating a unique captivating story. I actually found Firstlife intriguing an action packed adventure that was hard to put down. I had to know what would happen next and I can’t wait for the next one.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

I requested this title back before my blogging break. I have ended up with a number of titles that are overwhelming to catch up on now I am back from my blogging break. I am regretfully not going to be reading and reviewing this title, but now I am back from my blogging break, I am looking forward to reading and reviewing some of your future titles. Thank you so much for the opportunity and apologies.

I couldn't get through this one, but Gena Showalter is usually a safe bet with our readers, so I'm sure this book found its audience without my help.

This was a DNF for me. I could not get into it as much as I tried. Rating only be cause NetGalley requires it as I usually do not rate books I do not finish.

I recently bought a new kindle after my old one broke. For some reason I was unable to download this title from the cloud onto my kindle, therefore I will be unable to review this title. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused

So, this series is my first foray with Gena Showalter and I am not disappointed. I'm excited to continue on with the series! I love the world and I love the characters!

I couldn't really get through this one. The world building was... Choppy? Incomplete? Dare I say, not there? I was interested in the factions and the mythological aspect to it, but seeing as the story was just so vague and a lot of things were not making sense, I couldn't continue.

I received this book as an ARC a long long time ago and never read it. I am not sure why other than I did read a few not so nice reviews. I decided to give the audio a try and I quite liked this book. It did have its slow moments and at times I was a bit confused. But all in all, it was an original read, very creative with the world building and I really enjoyed it.


In the world of this book, there are two lives. Firstlife and Everlife. First life is the life you live once you are born and until you die, once you die, you enter into your Everlife. Everlife is a choice. Kind of like Heaven and Hell but not quite. They aren't good vs evil. Just one is more relentless and a little quicker to do what they must. They believe differently on how you live and what happens after the Everlife. But neither one is evil or good. One is just bright and the other dark. Like a field in the day and a forest at night. This is the story about one girl and both Everlife teams want her to decide to join them. Ten is her name.

Ten hasn't decided to commit to either side. She is approached by a boy on both sides of the Everlife and they are trying to get her decision and commit while keeping her alive. IF she doesn't before she dies from her Firstlife then she will end up in a very not so nice place.

Ten and the boys run into lots of trouble. All three learn about love and betrayal and the truth of what they are fighting for.


I really loved this book. There were many things I really appreciated about this book. The world building was amazing and really thought through. I loved the Everlife realms and learning what they believed and why they believed it. I loved the writing. Part of the story was told in email format from the Everlife realms. These were fun. I liked the pacing, even though it was slow at times and rushed at others, I was interested the entire time and I always had something to learn about the worlds. I liked the characters. All of them. They all made me mad at times but they also made me love them. I also appreciated no love triangle. Ten had a relationship with both boys but one was romantic love the other was a strong friendship. No love triangle is a plus for me.

I don't know what I loved more the characters or the world building. So I will start with the characters. They were both great. Ten is a very interesting character. She isn't easy to love at first because she is hard. She has lived a very hard life and didn't have much love in her past. Her parents are both parts of the Myriad Everlife and they want her to choose Myriad, so they send her to a detention center to try and get her to choose. This place is rough. She has been there for a year and she has a few friends but is pretty much miserable. This is where she meets the boys Killian and Archer.

I did have a hard time liking Ten at first, but once the story progressed and she opened up she was so likable, snarky and brave and heartfelt. She didn't want to commit to either realm because she didn't want to make the wrong decision.

Killian is from Myriad and he is a little rougher out of the two boys. He is smooth and handsome and well bad boy but not really. He is sweet and loyal when it comes down to it. He tries to hide behind the charm and the bad boy vibes, but he is so much more.

Archer is from Troika and he is completely different then Killian. He is positive and he is sunshine, sweet and kind, and authentic from the beginning. He is brave but prefers to not take the risky moves. He is very loyal to his beliefs.

The two boys couldn't be more different than night and day or the realms they come from but both have an interest in Ten. They need her on their side. She is special and with her comes power. They fight for her and one ends up loving her while the other ends up respecting her.

The romance isn't fast really but its there from the beginning. At least the attraction is. I liked the love story here and I am so glad there isn't a love triangle. The love story does make it even harder for Ten to decide where she wants to sign.

There are a lot of different relationships going on in this book. there is also a lot of secrets, and betrayals, big adventures, and risks.

The world building is just phenomenal in this book. It does read like a dystopian and a fantasy. Which I loved. From the realms of the world of Everlife to the world of Firstlife. The belief systems, the rivalries. There is so much to it and it was, like I said, so well thought out and played out. I really felt I was a part of this world and was quite sad when the book ended. I still need to read the second and will as soon as I get a chance.



I really enjoyed this book, much more than I anticipated. It was a very pleasant surprise.

DNF. The book had too much of an info dump at the beginning and an overly complex setup. I also couldn’t connect with the characters. No rating.

I absolutely loved Firstlife, I couldn't put it down! So much happened throughout the story, it never stopped, there were never any dull points, the whole story just kept making me want to turn the page to find out what happened next.

I loved all the twists and turns and it was so refreshing to read a story that stepped out of the typical YA story plots and characters, just when I expected one thing to happen, something completely different happened instead! A definite 5/5 stars!

And this one is officially going to the DNF pile at 40%. I have read Gena Showalter before and I don't remember her writing being like this. Part of me really enjoys the story, but I can't deal with the dialogue and interaction between Tenley and Killian/Archer. Both boys are trying to be that cute annoying stereotypical sexist pig and it's rough, guys. I want to like this book. I want to finish it, but I cannot do it. I have never felt so compelled to highlight passages that I was rolling my eyes at. That were so bad that I wanted to share them. I think a lot of this could have been edited to make it more readable, less eye-rolling. The bones of the book have such potential.

Update-Waiting to read this until all the books in this set are out.

I love Gena Showalter, but for some reason I had a hard time connecting with the characters in this book. I was not able to finish reading it.