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Firstlife
Firstlife
Firstlife
Audiobook12 hours

Firstlife

Written by Gena Showalter

Narrated by Emma Galvin and Zachary Webber

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Firstlife, an Everlife Novel
ONE CHOICE. 
TWO REALMS. 
NO SECOND CHANCE. 
Tenley "Ten" Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she'll liveafter she dies. 
There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death. 
In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she's drawn to isn't where the boy she's falling for lives? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 23, 2016
ISBN9781488201134
Author

Gena Showalter

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than fifty novels and multiple series, including the spellbinding Otherworld Assassins, Alien Huntress, and Lords of the Underworld series, her wildly popular young adult novels—Firstlife and Alice in Zombieland—and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series. Visit her at GenaShowalter.com.

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Reviews for Firstlife

Rating: 3.765217400434783 out of 5 stars
4/5

230 ratings15 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It was deffinetly different, but I loved it. Can not wait for the next book

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Firstlife
    by Gena Showalter
    YA Fantasy
    Science Fiction Dystopian
    Scribd Audio

    Two realms, Troika and Myriad, fighting for centuries with the Earth in the middle, which they rule, and those two sides try to get the humans, while they are alive, (their first life), to pick a side to fight on, doing anything to get them to pick their side, so when they die, (their second life), the human's spirit will belong to that realm.

    Tenley, or Ten, age 17, was placed in an asylum by her parents because she wouldn't pick a side, and the parents allowed those in charge of the asylum to torture their kid until she picked their side. Myriad.


    This book started with communication between two 'people', thus using a mix of numbers and letters, 'phone numbers' is the easiest way to explain it. This did not work well with audio, reading I would've skimmed it. It seemed to go on forever and I was afraid the entire book was going to be like that. But thankfully it didn't. And once we got to meet Ten, as this book was in 1st person, the story picked up, though some of the internal monologues got tedious. There was a lot of it.

    For the plot, it's simple religion. Good vs evil, this religion against that one, mine is better than yours, etc. But the spirits/angels have 'robotic suits' and wristwatch texting.

    It's an ok of a story. The characters are well done, though the boys all seem to be extra good-looking. Of course, there is violence but nothing too graphic, so kids 12 and up could read this, but those of heavy religion may not like this book all that well.

    I have a feeling of where the series is going.

    3 Stars
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It did not occur to me that this was a romance novel but when I realized it, I was hooked on the afterlife concept. I loved the concept of two waring realms and both had qualities both good and bad. I did get irritated with the heroine's decision because the choice was common sense 3/4th into the book. let's say that if she chose differently then I would have been done with the series. A little too mushy and cliche romance for my tastes but it's a personal preference. looking forward to the next installment.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Firstlife by Gena Showalter is book one of a new series. This is classified as YA, as it should be. This is the story of a teenager named Tenley Lockwood. She has been sent to a prison by her parents because she has so far, refused to choose where she will live after she dies. Her parents have a huge stake in this decision, because a lot of money and prestige will be lost to them if she chooses to go to Troika, when her parents have chosen Myriad. Children have free will to decide, but they spend their life with parents who have chosen one afterlife and typically, choose the same. Those that will not go to a place to be encouraged to choose. This encouragement takes many forms, all of them brutal. The level of brutality is chosen by and decided upon by the parents. Adding to the complication is that each family may have only one child. They have to pin their hope of salvation on that one child. Tenley goes into the prison, called Prynne Asylum, a coddled little rich girl. Her time there has turned her into an almost feral version of her old self. She has learned to fight, and learned to endure. She has also un-learned trust. She is more soldier than anything else, when you meet her at the beginning of the book. But there is more, in Tenley's case. She has a special skill set that is being sought by both Troika and myriad. Both places have sent out someone to try to convince her to join their cause. And they do have a cause, and they are at war with each other. Ten has no idea who to believe, or how to choose, and each day her decision becomes more difficult instead of more clear. And each day it becomes more urgent. Unique and fascinating storyline.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Never a dull moment. Adventure, Romance, Twists and Turns everywhere!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Firstlife by Gena Showalter 1st book in a trilogy. Young adult dystopian fantasy.Extensive world building. Extreme torture of the heroine trying to force her to make a decision for her Second life. Underhanded manipulations and deceiving friendships. Basically a super dark story where the heroine is under constant pressure and hardships in her “first” life on earth. Next book will be based on her decision as the worlds war.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very engrossing concept. Romance element is not terrible complex but it enjoyable, however the world is fascinating.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    It pains me to say this, but... I made in to page 300 and just can't go on. I've been fighting the words for 100 pages and it's just not worth my time.

    My issues:
    1. The plot was painfully slow and scattered.
    2. The main love affair was not romantic at all. (Killian is LAME and BLAH)
    3. The over the top puns and pokes were too much for me. It made the writing seem juvenile and cheesy.
    4. The numbers drove me nuts.
    5. Again, the played up banter. Like quirky is cool, desperate is not.

    I really wanted to like this one because the Author will be at a signing I'm attending, but I guess I will be skipping that line. Sad, but there are so many books and so little time. Best to DNF the meh ones.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I understand those who don't like when a person reviews a book that they didn't finish, I really do, but it's also helpful to know why a person could not finish a book.In this case I could not force myself to continue this book because of how confusing the premise was. I didn't understand why the main character was a special snowflake. It was a vague description that doesn't become relevant even half way into the book. I literally kept holding out hope that I would be able to find the reason that she was so sought after by the two sides that really wanted her.Another reason was because I didn't understand the setting either. I got the whole "choose where you want to go after you die" thing but their current place was confusing and I didn't understand why they got to where they were. The whole firstlife thing didn't make much sense when I thought about it even when I tried to place it along with that one episode of Doctor Who where 10 finds a way to keep River Song alive but when I thought about it some more it made the book seem much lamer in comparison. Oops.Lastly, the love triangle was ridiculous to the point where I was rolling my eyes the entire time because the main girl was so boring and annoyingly stubborn that I couldn't fathom why the two guys that were assigned to recruit her ended up falling for her anyway.This just wasn't for me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm not sure if I like this book or not. The world or two realms, are the focal point of this story. The tale is filled with a lot of unexplained holes in it. Very violent. The heroine Ten is interesting, I can relate to wanting your choice to be yours alone. I'm just not buying into the Troika, Myriad and Harvest. I can't see regular humans standing for that without an aggressive intervention. It just doesn't make sense. I don't think enough time was spent making the world in which Ten lives convincing to the reader. We're given a bit of info here and a bit there as the story unfolds. In this case it doesn't work very well.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I both liked and disliked this novel. The story opens up with an exchange between someone who is a recruiter and a "general" that occurs via email. And let's just say, the language used by both characters is extremely childish. I mean, why would a general say things like "grrr..." via email?! Especially if it is regarding an important mission?! Why is no one taking this seriously?! I liked the character of Tenley a lot because of that spunky attitude and her perseverance. Throughout most of the story, however, I felt like the dilemma with the decision was not really the focus; it always seemed like her mind was made up, and yet she just refused to say anything and kept running and running. Also, she made stupid stereotypical choices - which were to be expected, so I'm not going to dwell on those for too long. The story had a great pace and really dove into this awesome world. I liked the details about the different realms and the way in which it was all depicted. I wish the author had spent more time establishing the positives and negative of each realm; by the middle of the novel, it just seemed like one was good and one was evil, which I don't think was the point. Either way, the story has me interested enough to read the sequel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The most interesting thing about this story was the tension between light and dark. It seems so obvious, and yet the darkness had much to offer. Ten is stubbornly determined to make her own choices, even at great personal cost.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed the fantasy realm created by the author, but really got bogged down by the back-and-forth, forth-and-back between Ten, Killian and Archer when Ten is attempting to make her Everlife choice between Troika and Myriad. Man, this girl Ten just can't get a break from people trying to kill her off!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Firstlife by Gena Showalter features a tough, almost wild, soldier-like teenager, Tenley, who is imprisoned in Prynne Asylum because she refuses to sign a contract which will lock in where she lives after her Firstlife. Her parents really want her to choose Myriad but she hasn't ruled out Troika. Both places have enlisted someone to try to sway her decision. Interestingly, Killion and Archer know each other and are NOT friends! Tenley is attracted to both of them, but still can't figure out how to choose or even whether she can trust and believe either of them. I found this book painfully slow after the first couple chapters and, although it almost never happens, I actually stopped reading around page 300 because I just couldn't stand Tenley's indecision a moment longer. For a tough, powerful female, her inability to make up her mind either to not choose, or to pick one place was just too hard for me to believe, and it ruined the book for me. Although I enjoyed the idea of a life after a first life, I won't be picking up book two.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There were a few things that I didn't love, but I enjoyed FIRSTLIFE and plan to read more.Tenley is extremely strong willed and stubborn. I personally thought her decision was obvious early on, yet she was still unwilling to choose a side—even when it cost lives— until it was almost too late. She just didn't want to pull the trigger JUST IN CASE she was wrong or in case her decision was too influenced by others. Unfortunately the way she argues with herself was one of the things I didn't totally love about FIRSTLIFE. It was annoying and took up a lot of the book. On another note, I thought she grew a lot from the beginning of the book and I loved the way she was willing to help others even at her own expense. Lets talk about her parents for a second. I wanted to jump into the book and strangle Ten's parents. Her father is just a grade A douche, but her mom seems to really love her and yet she let her be tortured. I could never imagine a mother letting her child go through what Tenley was put through with her parents blessing.The romance was a bit blah for me. There is a love triangle involved in FIRSTLIFE, but thankfully one of the prospects becomes more of a big brother/best friend pretty early on which makes it a little more bearable. I was looking for more romance out of the other prospect though. Ten can't really trust him because she knows he wants her to join his 'side', but I still wanted more out of it.The world is by far my favorite thing about FIRSTLIFE. There is so much involved and the author did a great job of bringing it to life for me. There is a lot of action and danger involved in Ten's journey to choose a side. You never knew what would be thrown at her and her allies and it made for some great suspense. I am very interested in seeing what will happen next.* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.