Level 2: Book 1 of the Memory Chronicles

My feelings about Lenore Appelhans' Level 2 are divided... although I felt like this first book in The Memory Chronicles was interesting (enough so that I'll be reading the second book), I also felt that the pace was sometimes too slow or that nothing much was actually happening.Level 2 focuses on Felicia, who is, as far as she knows, dead and resides in hive-like structure populated by countless more drones (as these dead call themselves) who rarely interact, instead spending their days reliving their memories and the memories of the other drones. The memories are accessed via a pod and are categorized with tags, comparable to the shelf tagging system on GoodReads. In the hives, memories are both the currency and the product. Felicia and her fellow drones have no idea how they've come to be in this place after their deaths, nor do they know what their purpose is... and no one seems all that driven to find any answers.All this changes, however, when Julian, a boy from Felicia's life, shows up in her hive. It's clear to the reader that Felicia and Julian's past is complicated - and perhaps not all that positive - but Felicia leaves with him after he promises to reunite her with her boyfriend, Neil, who she misses terribly and thinks of constantly. While the readers know very little about Julian, they are well aware of how Felicia feels for Neil, as her favorite and most accessed memories all feature Neil.I really liked how Appelhans used the memories and tagging system to give the reader more information about Felicia. I felt this was a really creative execution of "show not tell" and allowed the author to give character history and detail while simultaneously explaining the world of Level 2. One of the only reasons that I didn't love, love Level 2 was the pacing. As I read, I sometimes felt like there was detail where it wasn't necessary. I could be remembering incorrectly, but I really felt that there were too many scenes of Julian and Felicia running and fleeing and describing the many hives they passed. There were times when I thought to myself: when is something going to happen?? Other than the pacing, I found Level 2 really interesting. I'm especially curious about Julian, who Felicia appears to think so little of, but I can't help but wonder about. Appelhans did a great job of giving just enough information about characters and events that the reader is left curious and hungry for more detail, so I'm hoping the second book answers some of my questions!

I thoroughly hated finishing this book. It is a YA Christian Fiction Dystopian love story. The dystopian world turns out to be the setting for a battle between good and evil in the afterlife. The bad guys end up being fallen angels. The good guys end up being actual good angels. The protagonist met her boyfriend at church and spent most of her time with him at church and youth group meetings and outings. The religious aspect of these encounters overtakes the rest of the book's theme. I really dislike Christian values, ideas, and rhetoric becoming part of the plot of YA novels. The love story was very unrealistic and unbelievable. The protagonist spends a lot of her memories with a guy named Julian, who is mysterious and exciting, but she is actually in love with her most recent boyfriend, to-be-preacher Neil. Julian interacts with her in the afterlife and is part of the rebels, but Felicia never trusts him and never admits that to herself or him that they had a relationship and that she had feelings for him. It feels very much like the author was trying to tell two stories, one about Felicia and Julian and angels and demons, and one about Felicia and Neil. They just don't mesh together. I haven't even gotten to the grammatical and story-telling issues. Too much telling instead of showing, very not-believable teenage dialogue, an extremely weak plot, characters that are caricatures.Overall I did not enjoy this book at all and would not recommend it to anyone unless they are in love with someone from their youth group.

Kind of not my thing, but okay.

No one is more shocked than me that I actually liked a book so steeped in Christian mythology (you'll remember I tried to get through Cassandra Clare's first Mortal Instruments novel and abandoned ship less than 100 pages in). I guess a healthy dose of "The Matrix"-like set dressing really helps the medicine go down. I liked Felicia; I thought that she was smart and strong in all respects except the idiotic love triangle that it seems all female YA protags are doomed to live through. The last 50 pages really move F A S T, though, and I was left feeling somewhat distanced from the conclusion because of it.

--Somewhat Spoilery Bit--

I both liked and hated that this book basically has the same ending/message as the anime "Neon Genesis: Evangelion." I guess in a book where the pivot could have been "God did it" there are worse endings than this, which avoids that most chliche of cliches.

Felicia Ward died in a car accident and now resides in Level 2, a place where the dead can access their own memories and those shared by others in machines and servers. The vast majority of the residents use these machines and ability to share memories to relive nice, pleasant memories instead of hard ones that would allow them to examine their lives. Felicia is pretty happy with this existence until a girl she's close to unexpectedly relives her death and gets hurt by the malfunctioning machine. Felicia is whisked away in the madness by Julian, someone she would rather not see from her life on Earth. Apparently, she can help with this rude faction of angels called Morati who want to harvest the humans for their energy. Can Felicia help them out and save the humans?The Memory of After is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed a lot of the concepts: the sharing of memories, the stages of the afterlife, and the faction of selfish angels that are jealous that humans can get to the true afterlife called the Morati. I also liked that people can create things just by thinking about them. Thought is very powerful in this world. If you think you will die or be hurt, you will be even though you are dead. If you think you will be fine, you will be. It seems simple, but it's hard to undo years of conditioning from living on earth. Felicia is an ok character. I like that she is fiercely loyal and unwilling to give up on her friends if there is any possibility that there is hope. Lenore Appelhans' prose is engaging and drew me into the story.Unfortunately, the book frustrated me in a variety of ways. The afterlife world is based around an odd mix of Christian and Greek mythology. It didn't mesh well with me that angels are totally there as well as the different rivers of the Underworld. The two are like oil and water for me. Having Greek mythological elements without also having anything about the gods was annoying and distracting. I didn't expect it to be quite so religion based even though it's about the afterlife. I don't tend to gravitate towards books like that and it was disappointing to have such an emphasis on it. On Earth, Felicia and her boyfriend Neil are quite religious. I do like that she made her own choices and didn't let him make them for her. For instance, when the church wanted to shame her into signing a purity pledge and she refused even though Neil had signed it. However, she made some mistakes in her past like dating a guy when her best friend was also dating him and running away when she found that same friend murdered. She acted like she literally killed someone and that she was the most morally degenerate person who ever lived. This is one aspect of religion I really hate. Many of them emphasize self loathing and self flagellation after transgressions. The religion and mythos of the world didn't seem to go together and it bothered me.Some of the the characters were just awful. Julian was a huge jerk even though he has some sort of magnetic connection to Felicia for no reason at all. The freedom fighters in Level 2 didn't care about civilian casualties or using people for their own ends. The Morati were basically a ripped off version of the machines from the Matrix except being addition jealous of humans and bitter that they can't go to the true afterlife. Neil is only slightly better than Julian. His sanctimoniousness makes him insufferable and instead of just refusing when she attempts to initiate any sort of sexual activity, he shames her because of his religion. What a nice boyfriend. Even her best friend Autumn just seemed like her life's work was to be better than Felicia and put her down in passive aggressive ways. There were very few people to root for or even like despite emphasizing morals and religion. The Memory of After doesn't deliver what I expected. Instead of an interesting afterlife story, we get a weirdly preachy book that fuses Christian and Greek mythology nonsensically with mostly awful characters that I cared nothing about. The only saving grace was the writing I don't really want to read the sequel, but unfortunately I already committed to reviewing it.

I thoroughly hated finishing this book. It is a YA Christian Fiction Dystopian love story. The dystopian world turns out to be the setting for a battle between good and evil in the afterlife. The bad guys end up being fallen angels. The good guys end up being actual good angels. The protagonist met her boyfriend at church and spent most of her time with him at church and youth group meetings and outings. The religious aspect of these encounters overtakes the rest of the book's theme. I really dislike Christian values, ideas, and rhetoric becoming part of the plot of YA novels. The love story was very unrealistic and unbelievable. The protagonist spends a lot of her memories with a guy named Julian, who is mysterious and exciting, but she is actually in love with her most recent boyfriend, to-be-preacher Neil. Julian interacts with her in the afterlife and is part of the rebels, but Felicia never trusts him and never admits that to herself or him that they had a relationship and that she had feelings for him. It feels very much like the author was trying to tell two stories, one about Felicia and Julian and angels and demons, and one about Felicia and Neil. They just don't mesh together. I haven't even gotten to the grammatical and story-telling issues. Too much telling instead of showing, very not-believable teenage dialogue, an extremely weak plot, characters that are caricatures.Overall I did not enjoy this book at all and would not recommend it to anyone unless they are in love with someone from their youth group.

This is one of the most interesting premises I have ever encountered in fiction, and I was immediately drawn to the book when I heard about it. An afterlife of limbo, where memories are a currency and everyone blisses on recollections of their lives? How awesome, right?Level 2 is told from the point of view of Felicia Ward, who died the day before her eighteenth birthday and has spent what seems like decades in the place between Earth and Heaven. She is content to relive the greatest moments of her life through the machines available to her, and this forms a creative device through which we find out about her life - her demanding parents, her needy best friend, her mysterious ex-boyfriend and her gorgeous and charming boyfriend. But her afterlife is thrown into turmoil when her ex-boyfriend, Julian, rescues her and shows her the dystopian nightmare Level 2 has become.The angels in this story aren't very nice at all - hell-bent (ha!) on controlling the poor human souls who make it to Level 2 for their own ambitions. I think this twist on the traditional law is really awesome! I also liked the slow unfolding of Level 2 to the reader's eyes: we get to explore the space alongside Felicia and feel her wonder, awe, and fright at it all.However, I didn't like Felicia very much at all. In the beginning there was just nothing to really make me feel for her because she was genuinely happy where she was, and then afterwards when she was told about the rebellion and the real purpose of Level 2, she was too busy being a brat to be helpful to anyone. In the face of all the souls who were essentially being tortured, Felicia is only interested in herself, how people treat her and talk to her, the quest to find her boyfriend Neil, wanting to rescue her friends, and so on. Even when she's called out on it, she doesn't really take the criticism seriously. I similarly found Neil really bland because he was just 'good little preacher's boy' through and through, and it was a little disappointing to be honest. But maybe there will be more revealed about him in the sequel.In contrast, I really liked Julian. I mean, I hated him for the most part because of how he treated both Felicia and her best friend, but over time I began to realise there is more to him then that. It doesn't excuse what he did, but in a book filled with cardboard cut-outs, he made an impression.I enjoyed the execution and premise of Level 2, and commend Appelhans on her awesome world-building. It's wonderful to see such a skilful début. However I was disappointed in the cast and feel they could all have been fleshed out more and the story could have been more entertaining if I had been able to connect with them more. However, this unique and refreshing YA novel will be enjoyed by those who are looking for a completely original book that puts a great spin on age-old archetypes.A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.

Originally posted here.

Anyone who reads my blog regularly probably already knows how much I wanted this book. It was one of my WoW posts, and has been on my wishlist from the moment I found out Lenore Appelhans, the wonderful blogger behind Presenting Lenore, had a dystopian novel coming out. I was so all over that, especially since Lenore is the creator of Dystopian August, which means she really knows her stuff. Also, oh hey, it's Dystopian August! Woo! Make sure you check out her blog as well as mine for reviews, giveaways and bookish talk!

Since Lenore is one of my favorite bloggers, and definitely the one I've been following the longest, I went into this with ALL of the expectations. ALL OF THEM. From that perspective, Level 2 wasn't quite everything I was hoping for, though, if you aren't expecting instant new favorite book of all time, I suspect this won't be an issue. Lenore's book definitely is delightful and unique, though, so do not let the fact that it didn't rise to my insanely high expectations put you off at all.

The first awesome thing about Level 2 is the world building, which is multi-faceted and complex. She reveals new layers of epic awesome as you read through the book, and I have no doubt this will continue in the next book. The world building was definitely my favorite thing, and I loved how Lenore could completely surprise me or explain something that I was at first skeptical of. She makes this work like whoa.

At the beginning of Level 2, I was a bit confused, as, indeed, you're supposed to be. You join Felicia in this weird afterlife; that's about all I knew going into it, and Felicia doesn't know any more than you do. In Level 2's version of the afterlife, you hang out in a room full of pods, spending most of your time watching the afterlife equivalent of YouTube (YouDead? lol), only you're watching your memories, pulled from your mind in high definition and with better detail than you could have done on your own. I totally wrote short story like this in college, though clearly not so detailed, and I loved seeing the idea really fleshed out. Not only can they watch all of their own memories, but they can share them with others, earning currency to buy new memories when people purchase theirs.

Why would you want to watch someone else's memories? To stave off boredom, of course! One small theme running through Level 2 which I really appreciated was the Fahrenheit 451 aspect to the printed word. In the afterlife, books only exist if someone read them closely enough that every word appears in someone's memory. Otherwise, it's gone. That is just so powerful. You'll all be glad to know that I've got Level 2 tucked away in my brain, so we're good. Also, bloggers would have so much currency in the afterlife, since we read so many things!

Of course, there are also MORE things going on, like I promised. I'm not going to go into great detail about the rest of the world building, because I think it's something best left for you to find. I will just mention that there's some awesome stuff that one can do with mind power. Also, Lenore has a wholly new take on angels. I, for one, am always skeptical of angels, because RELIGION, but no worries my agnostic and atheist friends, there's no preaching, I promise.

Felicia, our main character, is not the most likable heroine you will ever meet. I suspect some readers will have difficulties connecting with her. Partly, this is caused by what spending so long constantly replaying just one's best memories will do to someone. She's definitely not a perfect person by any means. She has made serious mistakes with painful consequences, mostly involving an unfortunate attraction to the not-so-trustworthy Julian. She's also one of those people who, if you tell them to stay in the car, will never EVER stay in the car.

Though there were some things I didn't like about Felicia, she worked for me as a heroine. Felicia has spunk and sarcasm, and she's not overly trusting. She does complain, but as soon as she finishes doing that, she throws herself bodily into a task. I don't begrudge someone a 'man, this sucks,' so long as they then do what they can, and she always does. In fact, my one complaint about the pacing of the novel is that Felicia seems to come by her defensive skills too quickly and easily. In this case, I would have liked a training montage or some way to mark time passing.

In addition to Felicia, we have two other super important people I must talk about: Neil and Julian. Yes, there's a love triangle. I know, I know. It's okay, though. This love triangle is made more interesting by the fact that we have a juxtaposition between past and present, and the fact that only Julian is actually present. Though I initially hated Julian, who is definitely too cocky and bad boy-ish for my usual tastes, I'm currently in his team, because he's complex and interesting. I want to know more about him. Neil is too perfect, too high school love, too religious, to hold much appeal for me, BUT I have yet to meet him except in Felicia's favorite memories of him. At this juncture, it's in no way clear which competitor will win fair Felicia's heart, which always helps in a love triangle.

So far as the dystopian stuff goes, Level 2 is not the most dystopian novel ever, but there's obviously some creepy stuff happening because of...whoever's in charge. There will be more dystopian goodness (errr...badness) in the coming books, I am sure.

Lenore Appelhans' Level 2 is a thought provoking read that will put you into an entirely new world. The images will stick in your brain long after you finish. In fact, rewriting this review just before it's meant to publish (since I managed to accidentally delete the original, because I'm an idiot), I find myself wishing I had time to reread Level 2, so that I could catch plot threads that I missed on my first read. I will definitely need to reread before reading the next book. You definitely don't want to miss out on Level 2.

I have to say that I was so excited to get this the other day. With an awesome cover and a synopsis that definitely got my attention, I had to start this the same day. It is told from Felicia’s point of view and takes us through her afterlife and glimpses of her time on Earth. Level 2 is one unique take on afterlife with a science fiction and futuristic feel to it.
Felicia is our protagonist, and even though she might not be the most likable girl. She is flawed and the makes wrong decisions but does take the consequences. And that is one admirable characteristic for her, not to mention that she wants to save people that she cares for. Felicia grew on me, and I really did learn to like her. Her memories that she watched the most were about Neil. She has such a deep love for Neil, who was her boyfriend while on Earth. Their relationship was absolutely adorable and so sweet.
Julian was the other guy in the story that was a love interest at one point and he was a mystery to me till the very end. I thought he had his own agenda all the way through, and boy was I right. But he played a massive role in Felicia’s life on Earth as well as on Level 2. I don’t want to give away to much about him, but I will say that he is one character that I am really looking forward to seeing more of in the next book.
The world building was both complex and fascinating. And the memoirs from Felicia;s life were weaved in so well, that you just wanted to know more. The hives that they lived in were creepy. Buying and living through someone else’s memory is something I couldn’t even imagine. The plot was interesting, with the mythology and religious aspects woven together very well, and characters that were enjoyable, this is a series that I am looking forward to continuing.

When I saw the summary for Level 2 back in early December, my reaction went something like this: “Yes! I have to have this ASAP! This is such a me book! Why has no one put this book in my hands yet? So, when is the release date? Still over a month away? How ever can I make it that long?”. As you might imagine, Level 2 quickly became one of the top books I was looking forward to this year, so I got a hold of it as soon as I could, and I’m so glad I did.

I was really hoping this would be a five star book, but it didn’t quite make it to that point. There were a few things I had issues with, so I’ll get those out of the way before I squeal over all the parts I did love. First, Felicia, our main character, doesn’t think highly of herself, and this gets quite annoying after a while. Her thoughts about her past seem to be completely self-deprecating and on the lines of “I’m the worst person ever!”. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Felicia’s made plenty of mistakes, including some pretty major ones, but her constant hatred of herself seems a little overboard and is hard to read after a bit. This gets better towards the end.

My final complaint is that while the book does suck you in, it takes awhile for the main plot to actually start. Most of the beginning is spent in Felicia’s memories. These become necessary to the plot later on, but when it’s not clear how, it seems a bit unnecessary to spend so much time reliving some of Felicia’s experiences. Once the plot really takes off, even the quality of the memories seems to improve.

All right, now that my complaints are out of the way, I can focus on what I do love about this novel. To begin with, the concept. Why aren’t there more books that take place in the afterlife? There’s so many things you can explore there. I’m now convinced that Lenore Appelhans must have found my 10th grade creative writing project in which I wrote a short story about a girl who dies in a car wreck to find the afterlife is a large room with a TV and a DVD player, and you watch a DVD of your life over and over until you get to the point of your death, then the cycle starts all over again, but you don’t remember you’ve already watched your life. Level 2 definitely has a similar vein, at least for awhile, which just made me love it even more.

I’ve read some reviews that state Neil, Felicia’s love interest, seems a little too perfect, and while I think that’s a valid criticism, I actually do know people like Neil, so I can’t say it’s exactly unrealistic. I really like the exploration of Felicia’s and Neil’s relationship. Felicia grows a lot during it, but I feel like there was a good balance of having Neil be a catalyst for Felicia to come to terms with herself while not being the only reason. It can be a bit dangerous to play with the “boy saves the girl” device, but I thought it worked fairly well in the story.

I’m not sure why, considering this story is about the afterlife, but I didn’t expect religion to play such a large role in the story. It fits well by the end, but Felicia’s memories of things like youth groups and meeting Neil at church just seem so normal despite the premise and setting of the story. I really like the plot about the war and the last fifty pages of this book definitely kept me turning the pages as new twists kept being revealed!

Final Impression: Despite a few things I disliked throughout the book, for the most part Level 2 kept me entertaining and wanting to know more. It was so refreshing and original with characters I really grew to care about. This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I ended up really liking it anyway. I think it’s a worthy read and has me excited to read Level 3. 4/5 stars.

Felicia's death has left her stuck in a sort of limbo. As one of the residents of her hive she has friends and she has access to her memories from her life before. Those memories, happy and sad, set the stage for the larger conflict in the afterlife. That's the beauty of the story you see, it's not easy to discern what is really what. It's not confusing, mind you, but an action-filled and fast paced story filled with unexpected moments. A kudo to Appelhans for giving those surprises as it's a rare book that I can't predict the larger plot points. Level 2 isn't all about the plot though, there's compelling characters too. Felicia is conflicted in a variety of ways (that I won't spoil you on here) so her strength and determination really shines through. She's flawed but in a way that makes her relatable and ultimately a person to root for. Then there are the two boys in her life (yes I said two!) Julian and Neil, who are equally interesting. Before you get your panties in a bunch this isn't your exhaustive love triangle scenario. In fact it's not even really a love triangle which I appreciated. You all know I'm not a fan of grey, I like to know what is going on and I like things straight-forward. What Appelhans has done so well is given me the ability to love all of her characters despite the fact that they are not painted so rigidly. We are lead to believe some are good and some are bad but that is ALWAYS in question. There is a sweet romance too -- for what it's worth, I'm Team Julian at the moment.If you're a fan of Lauren Oliver's Delirium series Level 2 is going to be right up your alley. Well written, well characterized and well plotted. A win to be sure!* note, I beta read this book and the author is a close personal friend.

The basics: Level 2 is the story of Felicia who died when she was seventeen and is stuck in Level 2, which is a sort of limbo between life and afterlife. In Level 2, drones can access their memories, but they also serve as a type of currency: if others watch your memories, it generates credits for you to watch more memories. When Felicia recognizes Julian, someone she knew in her life, and he tries to break her free from Level 2, she begins to learn more about what exactly Level 2 is.My thoughts: From the first pages, I was fascinated by the world of Level 2 and by Felicia's story. She's a young woman who lived in and traveled to many cities and countries. She's articulate and loyal. Appelhans smartly tells Felicia's story in concurrent narratives: the reader is plunged into the world of Level 2, which Appelhans adds detailed observation into as the novel continues. The emphasis is on plot and character building rather than dystopian world building, yet the details of Level 2 are fleshed out a slow and satisfactory pace.The reader gets to know Felicia and her past as she accesses her memories. I was struck by the haunting details of each memory. Appelhans includes metadata in the form of user tags (and metadata makes this librarian swoon.) Also included are the video owner's rating and viewer ratings. It's at times heartbreaking to see the difference between those two ratings.The verdict: Level 2 is an inventive dystopian novel and a fascinating glimpse into memories and their meanings. It balances the puzzles of Level 2 with strongly developed characters who would not be out of place in any world. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing Felicia's journey with her, and I look forward to the next installment of The Memory Chronicles.

I had high expectations for Level 2, and while those hopes weren't completely crushed, they weren't met nor exceeded. Level 2 is an okay book with an incredibly unique premise. The main character, supporting characters, lack of character development, and poor execution kept this from being an A read for me, but the idea and weirdness surrounding Felicia kept me reading. While this isn't one of my favorite books of the year, I am interested to see what Level 3 is like. Felicia is a drab character. She doesn't have much of a personality, yet guys supposedly fawn all over her. I don't get it. I mean she may be pretty (I couldn't see her, though the girl on the cover is kinda creepy looking with that make-up), but her personality SUCKS. Yes, it's completely believable that two guys love her *eye roll*. Only if those two guys have no depth, which I guess they don't because they're pretty drab, too. And one is a Christian goody-goody. Not the recipe for a best seller, in my opinion. The Christianity aspect and the "goodness" of Neil really turned me off. I mean what people choose to believe is their business, but I don't want to read about virtuous, boring characters. Yawn. The concept of the net and everything to do with Level 2 is pretty intriguing, but the execution kind of sucks. I mean I had no idea what was going on and I was curious because, let's face it, this place is weird. However, the idea kind of fell apart, and I didn't feel like the author even knew exactly where she was going. The whole ending made no sense whatsoever. I mean I get it, I know what happened, but a hint or two would have been nice, that way it didn't feel like the whole thing came out of nowhere. Also, the world-building was kind of nonexistent. I still have no real idea what Level 2 looks like or what it feels like to be there. I have no idea how people "plug in," though I assume it has something to do with their hands. The "addiction" sequences and the weaning off parts don't show any form of withdrawal, but rather tell about it. The entire world was very abstract, and I would have preferred more clear cut imagery, such as what the "plugging in" consoles actually looked like, felt like when rested upon, etc. As it stood, even though the narrative is first person, I felt like an outsider looking in. Also the parts in which Appelhaus attempted to show were in Felicia's hokey memories, which were not half as bad or touching as the author hoped. The "bad" memories made me think the girl needs to get a real problem. Only one is truly horrifying, but she views that one from outside her body because she's too weak to deal with it. That means that I felt like an outsider twice removed. Way too much telling and no showing for that one. The "good ones" are idiotic and childish, even though the dialogue was more adult (Appelhaus loved her GRE words that no teenagers use) Not good. Overall, I'd say check this one out from the library before you buy it. The idea is intriguing, and the plot is mysterious enough to keep you reading, but the execution, writing, characterization, and world-building are sub-par. Nothing in this book is complex, everything is just vague. I can handle complicated, but vagueness is irritating.

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.I kind of feel like I skimmed most of Level 2, because as unique as the concept was, it honestly wasn't very well executed. I loved the idea of a dystopian world after death, where you could relive your memories forever and ever, but it lacked the imagination and prose that I was expecting. The only thing that I did like about this book was the premise. And it failed me.The memories just weren't vivid enough when Felicia is reliving them, and I honestly didn't care for Felicia in general, even without her memory flashbacks in the hive. She just didn't jump out at me as a character, because she seemed so...shallow. I don't mean to put her down or anything, but...ugh. There's this big huge dramatic mystery just surrounding her, and so many bad things have happened to her...and I just didn't find her believable as a character. Plus her taste in love interests sucks!I really disliked both of the boys in the quasi-love triangle. Which is really weird for me, because in the case of a love triangle, I usually like to pick a side. (For those of you wondering, the guy I pick always loses.) Anywho, as I was saying, I like to pick a favorite boy. But I can't choose someone that I don't like, so no one wins.Neil was simply way too goody-two-shoes. To the point that I started to wonder if the boy ever had any fun at all, and we only see him through Felicia's memories. But he was way to clean cut. In a "never-does-anything-wrong-and-is-perfect" kind of way. Which just doesn't work for me, because everyone has flaws. Except Neil.On another note, where Neil is way too good, Julian is way too bad. He's a total creep, and I can't reevaluate my opinion of him, because he basically lies and cheats his cold and calculating way to the top, so that he can get what he wants. And I just get a really bad book boy vibe from him, so I'm not a fan, because...*siren noise* CREEPER!Now that I'm mostly done ranting about love interests, I can move on to...less green pastures, I guess. I didn't think that the plot had any real direction. Picture this: I'm trying to explain this book to my sister, so I'm telling her what I've gotten from it. After a long rambling speech about the book, she and I both realize that I've said almost nothing to give her a clue about the book, but I was telling her the entire plot. This is not a good sign, people. It is a very bad sign. It means that I didn't understand where I got from one point to the other sometimes. It means that I spent countless minutes examining plot holes...like how can they remember stuff that happens after their deaths? It seems really...I don't know, strange? Considering that they're stuck watching their memories for eternity, it doesn't seem like they would retain memories that happened while they were watching memories. And how did they learn how to watch their memories with the hives? Do you see where I'm going with this?If you don't, it's alright. I'm done now, because I hate tearing books apart. All in all, Level 2 just wasn't for me, for the reasons outlined above. But I'd love to hear your opinion!

Level 2 is a book that left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I appreciated that it was written by a blogger - I always love when people I'm familiar with make it in the publishing industry - and I was also intrigued by her idea of the afterlife and found the premise of this book to be very different. But at the same time, I found myself strangely disconnected from the characters and even the plot; while the book was compelling enough in that it kept me coming back and turning pages, I was oddly uncaring about how things would end up. I haven't ever really had that very shrug-like response to a book before, which makes this a review that's a little difficult to write.First off, let me say that, even though the synopsis promises "two loves," there really is no such thing. That's right: There IS no love triangle. While Felicia has a history with the two boys, and Julian is with her in the afterlife, she is very much in love with Neil. In fact, she finds herself disgusted and annoyed with Julian due to some circumstances that happened in the past, and would never actually get back together with him. So no cookies for the summary writer, because it's very misleading and might put off some people who are thoroughly fed up with love triangles.What I enjoyed the most from this book wasn't the promised rebellion (which earned a very blah response from me, particularly the fact that Felicia plays such an important role) or even Felicia's moments in the actual afterlife. Instead, I found her journeys into her memories when she would relive her life to be the most compelling. You'd think that a book essentially filled with flashbacks would be clunky, but it really wasn't; everything seamlessly flowed together and you finally saw how Felicia's life was lived. I have to say that Felicia isn't the best character - she did some things in her life that were downright terrible - and I actually didn't find her to be very likable in the slightest. My feelings for her definitely didn't help me connect with her and her plight, and were probably a major contributor to my mixed feelings about the book.You also have her constant memories of Neil, the too-perfect, church-singing, guitar-playing boy who captures Felicia's heart. While I appreciate that their love wasn't confused with lust, I found Neil to be too unrealistic, because no one is that perfect (and the whole purity pledge conversation and Neil's concern over the town's feelings about Felicia not wanting to sign it also set my teeth on edge, as it felt very judgmental and definitely rubbed me the wrong way). That being said, I did enjoy some of the church-y memories, and couldn't help but enjoy the Underground Church game; I kind of wish our youth group had done something like that when I was growing up!All in all, Level 2 is a mostly-compelling read. While I personally wasn't really invested in the story, there were aspects that I enjoyed, and I've seen plenty of other starred ratings that place it firmly in the "good" category. If you're looking for a different sort of spin on the afterlife, then check this one out. It's not perfect, but it's still a decent way to spend a few hours. I do wonder about this being the first in a series, though, because things are decidedly wrapped up in this book; I'll be curious to see what the author has planned for the other two installments.

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

Felicia Ward is dead, but she's still living, after a fashion. Trapped in the strange "level 2," where the deceased endlessly rewatch the memories of their lives, Felicia soon learns she's integral to both the plans of the dark and dissatisfied angels called the "Morati," and those of the rebellion. Rescued by Julian, an ex with unfortunate connections to her life on Earth, all Felicia wants is to reunite with the boy she loves. Instead, she's throw into a war between heaven and Level 2. The text spent in the stark white world of the after-life tends toward exposition, with Felicia mostly learning about the world passively, as members of the resistance tell her about the realm that has trapped her with memory-addiction. These so-called allies are The memories Felica re-experiences, out of order, throughout the story prove somewhat more active, but likewise do not flesh out the cast enough. The mix of technology and Christianity, somewhat at odds, could raise interesting questions, but remains unaddressd. The book meanders through the majority of the story, slowly revealing pieces of Felicia's life, and the rebellion's plans for her, before throwing out several abrupt twists all at once in the last chapters. Text on the cover and word from the author indicates this to be the first of a series, which may explain why several plot points remain unresolved, but the climax seems very close-ended, raising the question as to how the author intends to hook readers for the next installment. Overall, the books suffers from a lack of clarity of purpose, and the underdeveloped world and relationships reduce the impact of this unique take on life-after-death.

I actually finished this last night, but I needed some time to process everything.

Felicia is dead. That's not a spoiler, nor a huge cliff hanger reveal. She hasn't gone to heaven or hell, she's stuck in a giant waiting room. She spends her day watching and sharing her memories on a sort of in-house Youtube with her pod mates. As Felicia starts to get restless for what seems like a future of eternity in this pod, weird things start happening. A friend goes missing, she notices glitches in her memories, she sees a boy she once knew walk by a window that wasn't there a moment ago. Soon after, Felicia finds herself wrapped up in a war between heaven, and those who run Level 2.

Throughout the book we revisit Felicia's life through her memories. She visits them out of order so every time a question about Felicia is answered, three more questions pop up. I found myself much more interested in learning about Felicia and her story over the war.

Level 2 ends with a pretty definitive final note so I'm curious to see how this turns into a series.


Note: I received an ARC of this book from Simon and Schuster.

When Felicia is killed in a terrible accident, her bright future is cut short. But death isn’t the end for Felicia, as she has woken up inside a hive of blinding and pristine whiteness. There are others inside the hive, and as they stumble about numbed and forgetful, it seems the only thing that keeps them going is plugging into their separate memory chambers to relive bits and pieces of their lives over and over again. Though Felicia can’t remember much outside of her chamber, she forms a bond with two girls inside her hive and tries to understand what has happened to her. One day, after groggily exiting her chamber with her companions, a stranger with a familiar face seems to penetrate the very walls that are keeping the hive together. It’s Julian, a boy Felicia never expected or wanted to see again. When Julian tells Felicia that she must escape, she’s taken on the most dangerous of journeys, hunted by the beings who are prospering from her and her friend’s memories. As Felicia and Julian get further and further away, the danger becomes more and more apparent, for the sheer unstoppable forces that the enemy are using to hold her will do anything to keep her. But as Felicia and Julian advance, memories of her life come more clearly into focus, and in a place where she can trust only one person, can it be that Julian cannot be trusted at all? In Level 2, Lenore Appelhans gives us a frightening look into the world between here and heaven, and takes us to the brink of uncertainty through the use of magic, myth and religion in a potent and terrifying thriller that guarantees you will never think of heaven in quite the same way again.In a white and sterile world, there is life. This is where the story begins, and through flashbacks the author sets up a vast and foreboding set of circumstances that will gradually reveal how Felicia died and where she ended up. As the energy from her memories is being siphoned off, it’s almost like a puzzle to decipher why someone would want to do something like this and why the people around her can’t remember even the basics about themselves or how they got to where they are.In Applehans’ world, there is a deep symbiotic relationship between the darkness and the light, the powerful and the powerless, and the agents of evil and peace. As Felicia becomes more and more aware of what’s happening around her, she suffers terrible losses and must learn to cooperate with the devil she knows versus the one she doesn’t. This is a complex tangle of science, mysticism and spirituality that seems to defy any box that you can put it into. It’s textured and layered storytelling of the best kind, the type of tale that both compels you to delve deeper into chasm it’s created and to pull away from the darkness that is engulfing everything that Felicia knows and loves.Even as Julian is saving Felicia, one wonders what his true motives are and what he’s hiding. He seems amiable and sincere, but there’s something hiding underneath, and the group that he has allied with aren’t the nicest sort. As I read, I wondered if there was more to Julian’s saving Felicia than he had asserted, and surely it seemed as though the more I learned about him, the easier it was to distrust him. But the author has a few aces up her sleeve when it comes to the true motives of this character, and the circumstances get even more surreal by the end of the novel.In Felicia’s heart, there’s only room for one: the one whom she left behind. But the closer she comes to the terrible beings that are holding her and innumerable others prisoner, the closer she comes to the truth about the love she left behind and her life before Level 2. In the perfectly pitched and highly tense narrative, Felicia will find out more than she ever wanted to know, and she’ll have to make a choice that will affect not only her own soul, but that of those around her who are still slumbering in their hives, dreaming of the lives that they will never be a part of again.I enjoyed this book to the fullest and found myself speculating on character motives, wondering what was coming next, and actively engaging with the cast of very three-dimensional characters that Appelhans created. I was sucked into this white world that suddenly turned vivid and uncannily haunting, and was just as ensnared with the careful and compelling rendition of the plot. I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing what the author brings me next in her second installment, Level 3. A top notch YA novel. Highly Recommended.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: A girl joins a rebellion while also living though her memories. Opening Sentence: I’ll sleep when I’m dead. The Review: Felicia is stuck in a “hive” where everyone lies around and watches clips of their past life or clips from other people’s lives. But she knows there has to be more than that. Felicia and her two friends are the only ones that spend time outside of their memory chambers. But then Julian shows up and everything starts falling apart. Should she join this brewing rebellion if it means rescuing her friends and finding her boyfriend Neil? Twists and ingenious writing mix to create this wonderfully creative and modern story of romance and betrayal, letting go and holding on, and the past and the present. I love this book, not because it has a creative story plot or shows great writing technique, but because this story paints a perfect picture of modern churches (not the cathedrals and classical stuff). Also, Appelhans uses “memories” as a way to see someone’s life before they died. It’s like flashbacks, but more creative and actually affects the current story. Although you don’t see actual Neil very much, you do see him in the memories. The perfect golden boy, with an absolutely amazing voice, and his own share of hurt makes a dreamy (ha ha no pun intended) boyfriend. Although there is hardly any competition in the present, Julian presents a threat in her memories. He seduced Felicia into cheating on her best friend and in general, is a creepy maniac that doesn’t understand the definition of love. So, no angst in this book. It’s Neil all the way! The book kept a consistent pace from beginning to the beginning of the end (did you get that?). Appelhans does a great job of spreading out the twists and revealing secrets…until the end. All of a sudden I’m bombarded with revealed secret after revealed secret and happy ending after happy ending. It made me pause and go back and read parts again because they went by so fast. A little more description or character response please! I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for fresh ideas in literature. Although the main theme isn’t romance, the main drive of “loyalty” and “letting go when you need to” overshadows everything anyway. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next book! Notable Scene: “So why isn’t the underground helping people cross over? That would reduce the Morati’s power.” “It could,” Julian says, “but people access only their happy memories. Or rent the enjoyable moments of others. Not what they need to confront to move on.” He stands up and moves closer until he’s towering over me. “You were no different, Felicia.” Julian’s right, of course. I did skip over everything unpleasant. I didn’t want to face my pain. My weaknesses. My fear. But his patronizing tone annoys me. “Still sore that I spent all my time on the net with Neil instead of with you?” To my surprise Julian folds his arms across his chest and squeezes his hands until his knuckles are white. Is he jealous? I can’t fathom it. After all, he’s the one who ditched me. Mira squints at him and suppresses a smile. “To move on you must embrace both the good and the bad parts of yourself. And you have to stop pining for earthly pursuits.” She shoots me an especially pointed look. “And people you left behind.” “What do you mean?” I ask, though I suspect I know what she’s insinuating. But Julian’s the one to rub it in. “To move on, you’ll have to give up Neil.”FTC Advisory: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing provided me with a copy of Level 2. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

I think I need to start with review by leveling with you a little bit. When I first heard about this book (and after being a follower of Lenore's blog), I was excepting this book to be a certain way, to have certain elements since it was being touted as a dystopian novel. And I won't skip around this, I'll say say it: Level 2 is not a dystopian novel. (And, let the angry comment war begin. I don't really care if you agree with me or not, but in my frame of reference, Level 2 is NOT a dystopian novel.)Okay, I feel better now that I got that out in the open. Why, do you ask, do I not think of Level 2 as a dystopia? Well, let's start by going through, what I feel, are key elements of a dystopian novel and see how many Level 2 has. A: Is it dark and gritty? (No)B: Does it involve some sort of struggle against authority (usually a government entity)? (Kind of)C: Does it take place in the future? (No)D: Does it offer some sort of commentary on current society or give a warning about the future? (No)E: Does it have parallels with Orwell's 1984, the quintessential dystopian novel? (No)F: Does it offer a logical progression for how the world got a certain way? (No)G: Is this world presented as a utopia that has been turned on its head? (Kind of)But bottom line -Level 2 just doesn't fit the dystopian bill. The biggest hindrance? It takes place in the afterlife and centers around a war between angels. Yeah -angels. As soon as I got to the angels I completely gave up my hope for a dystopian novel. Level 2 is really just a science fiction/fantasy novel with angels.But that, by any means, does not mean it's a bad novel. I enjoyed Level 2, it offered a unique take on the afterlife, with a compelling and twisty plot that kept me glued to the page. And the writing -the writing style was completely engrossing. Newcomer Lenore Applehans knows how to paint an atmosphere and make a world come to life with some truly refreshing techniques and elements that I've never seen before.There are, however, still a few cracks that came through in the ARC I read (and these could be cleaned up before they get to the final version) -this seemed to mostly come from the fact that this is a debut novel. Some of the minor characters could use a little more fleshing out, some of the descriptions could be a little stronger, and most importantly -the tension could have been built better, especially just before the big reveal at the end. But it still works for the most part.Please, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not hammering this book. I liked this book, I really enjoyed reading it -in fact, I devoured it in just one sitting. I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA science fiction/fantasy and is looking for something different. It's just not a dystopian novel, I did feel like I was betrayed by all of the marketing around this book because I did not get what I was expecting from it. Is that bad? I enjoyed the book once I got over my disappointment at the betrayal, but it did take a little while to get past that.