Early ARC Review - Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles, #1) by Lenore Appelhans

Title: Level 2

Author: Lenore Appelhans

Series: 1st

Pages: 288

Published:  January 15th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 9781442441859

Source: Around The World Tours

Description: Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours downloading memories and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.  Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, she learns the truth: a rebellion is brewing to overthrow the Morati, the guardians of Level 2.  Felicia is reluctant to trust Julian, but then he promises what she wants the most—to be with Neil again—if only she’ll join the rebels. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself in the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

I Give This ...

I think I had this built up in my head as what might be the perfect book.  It's written by a fellow blogger who knows what the constant complaints are in young adult books.  My expectations were high, but I forgot the most important rule.  Not everyone can like it.  I struggled with my thoughts while reading it, for a few days after, and now while writing this review.  It's still a good book.  I just wasn't blow away by it.  And I really wanted to be.

I think what I liked most about this book is our lead character Felicia.  She's lead a very interesting life as the daughter of a US diplomat.  She's smart, friendly, and has traveled the world over. When we meet her she's already dead and we learn about her life through the memories she accesses in the pods of Level 2.  It was intense watching her life spiral out of control.  As we learn what really happened before she died, it's not wonder why she doesn't trust Julian when he shows up to rescue her from her mundane afterlife on Level 2.

I really enjoyed the flashbacks (or memories I guess) in this story.  But, I just did not get into the storyline that revolved around Level 2.  I came to concluded it was a sort of purgatory level.   People are forced to relieve their lives over and over, but nobody moves on.  I just didn't get this world of whitewashed room after room with nobody understanding what was really going on.  What the purpose was of having the people trapped in this level on how it got back at God.  Was Felicia the only one with the power to overthrow what the Morati was doing?  What made her so special, because she could remember and function longer before she had to plug in?

It was a fascinating concept that I really wanted to like.  I felt like I should like it.  But in the end, the book just didn't do it for me.  I think many will enjoy this though!  I might give the squeal a try.