Book: Level 2 - Lenore Appelhans (The Memory Chronicles #1)

 

The Cover

It's quite appealing, it's simple, the colors are clean and there is not a whole lot going on that is distracting. I also find the red in combination with the silver and the white nice. However the cover doesn't really give much of an impression of what the book is about. It does have a bit of a futuristic look about it but still it doesn't give that much away.

The Story

The main character, Felicia, is dead and currently residing in Level 2.When people die they end up in level 2, which is sort of a gateway to the final place, which is level 3. In level 2, people live in so-called hives that group together groups of people that within those hives have their own pods, chambers in which they spend most of their time reliving their memories. Felicia does this as well and we quickly find out there have been two guys in her life, her boyfriend and the guy who broke heart. And the latter came to level 2 to get her. Which is when she finds out there's a rebellion out there and Felicia apparently is a key player in this rebellion.

Yay!

• I liked the concept, it was refreshing to read a novel dealing with what happens after death.
• It was interesting getting to know Felicia and the people in her life through various memories she relived throughout the story, all sparked by things happening in the current time frame of the story. Slowly the whole mystery of what happened to her unfolds.
• The Our Town references, I really liked how the play was thematically interwoven with the story of Level 2.
• Felicia lived in different countries during her lifetime, which was interesting to see in her memories. You don't get a whole lot about these countries but just the fact of it makes her more interesting.
• The novel is well-written. I'm definitely interested in seeing what Lenore Appelhans has to over after this series.

Nay...

• The religious aspects of the novel are not really my cup of tea but I guess when reading a book about afterlife that can be expected.
• Some things in the story happened way too quickly, Felicia adapted way too quickly to being away from her pod for example.
• The world itself, while craftily and well built didn't completely convince me.
• Once Felicia joined the rebellion there was a lot of the same things going on, which ended up being a tad boring.
• Besides Felicia and Julian, I found that the other characters weren't that well-developed. And none of them were really likeable.
• Some of the memories are a bit too long and not really relevant so they end up a bit boring.

All in all

3 to 3.5 stars

I did quite enjoy this book and it was an interesting and well-written read but it didn't convince me enough to really like or love it. What mostly bothered me is that some things were handled too quickly and the repetitions of certain things in the story. Also, while I liked getting to know Felicia through her memories, some of the memories where a bit too long and not really relevant for the story. I will definitely be picking up the second book in the series because I do want to see where this goes and that said I'm happy that the ending isn't too much of a cliffhanger, it could have also ended right there and then.