Afterworlds by Scott Westerfield, is the tale of a young author getting her first book published. Darcy wrote afterworlds in a month and sent it out to publishers. She got an agent and her novel is ready to become a reality. Darcy drops everything and moves out of her parent's house to New York City where she meets another young adult author, Imogen. The plot follows Darcy and Imogen through re-writes and publishings, first love and first relationships. That is only half of the book though. The other half is the book that Darcy wrote. Afterwords by Darcy follows Lizzie. After a terrorist attack at an airport, Lizzie finds a way to think herself into the afterworlds. The afterworlds are worlds in between life and death where spirits go when they leave behind their bodies.

Obviously, this book was amazing. As an aspiring writer, I found this very informative and a plain out good read. I loved the idea of reading a book about a writer, but also being able to read their book. It would be confusing if it was any other way. The transition between Lizzie and Darcy's stories was extremely well done. The pages of Lizzie's story are black around the edges so you can tell whose chapter it is, and the black added to the dark mood of the story. The characters all seemed realistic, and the plot was well paced.

I enjoyed how the plot was never really boring. It would get slow, but the promise of the next chapter would keep me going. There were times when I wished that it was Darcy's chapter, other times when I longed for Lizzie's. I would say I preferred Darcy's, but Lizzie's was nowhere near bad.

The characters were wonderful. Darcy was dimensional and had realistic qualities. The only crazy thing was her lack of stress about her publication. Maybe it's just me, but I would be freaking out if I was in her situation. I loved her interactions with other characters. I especially enjoyed the LGBTQ+ level of her character. I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say I almost found a new OTP! Imogen was also a great character. I liked her emo touch. It didn't feel overwhelmingly emo. It was more of a hint of emo that almost every person has. She was easy to grow on to. Lizzie was okay. I kind of got annoyed by her and she seemed oddly fine about being in a terrorist attack. It was weird. She didn't think about it badly, just like an event that happened in the past.

Overall, the inclusiveness and enjoyment level of this book made me really happy. It was a long book, but it didn't feel like a chore. Sometimes you get large books that feel like an assignment, but this was fine. I hope it gets read more widely and appreciated more. I've also never read any Westerfield before and thought very highly of this book. His craft is good, but what he lacks in style (which isn't much) he definitely makes up for in characters, plot, and settings.