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Firstlife  By  cover art

Firstlife

By: Gena Showalter
Narrated by: Emma Galvin,Zachary Webber
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Publisher's summary

Firstlife, an Everlife Novel

One choice.

Two realms.

No second chance.

Tenley "Ten" Lockwood is an average 17-year-old girl...who has spent the past 13 months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers but her refusal to let her parents choose where she'll live - after 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.

©2016 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited. (P)2016 Gena Showalter

What listeners say about Firstlife

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    441
  • 4 Stars
    223
  • 3 Stars
    105
  • 2 Stars
    36
  • 1 Stars
    31
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    475
  • 4 Stars
    166
  • 3 Stars
    88
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    17
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    410
  • 4 Stars
    188
  • 3 Stars
    106
  • 2 Stars
    33
  • 1 Stars
    30

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I thought I was going to love this

This book had an amazing the beginning. I liked the characters, I LOVED the premise, but the further it went the further it fell.

I will admit I'm probably not this book's intended audience. I'm 25, and a pretty voracious reader of heavy books. However, I really feel like this great writer fell into the same trap so many other young adult authors fall into.

1) a heroine who falls a totally inappropriate, deeply questionable guy.

2) she then ignores all the good advice she was given because she wants to "make her own choices" at the extreme expense of others.

3) she is commended for this decision and saves the world

Adults do not act this way. Since the character isn't an adult, it's highly realistic. However, I don't love that this continues to be modeled for teenagers.

The premise was so, so good that I gave it four stars anyway, but this book could have been badass. I recommended it so highly based on the first 50 pages that I actually had to go around to my friends retracting my recommendation (or, at least, footnoting it) based on the gag-worthy love triangle BS.

Not to put too fine a point on it. I may still try the sequel with the home the character will grow up and stop annoying me.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Would have been a Five-Star Read...

Don't listen/read this title for the romance. I wasn't too impressed with the love interest Cilian. And one of his lines: "Challenge accepted" just reminded me of a character (from a TV show) who has a horrible record for treating women badly. In any case, I don't find the romance that enticing.

What really got me going was the other characters. I thought that Ten was commendable for staying true to herself regardless of the costs. She is not a girl whose happiness is solely dependent on her man. And I admire her for it. Snarky and witty but still having compassion regardless of what was thrown at her. Despite the fantasy/sci fi genre of the books, I'm sure a lot of people would relate to her.

Her interactions with her friends, particularly Bow/Archer and Sloane are the highlights of the book. And I feel that the book would have been better with more of it.

So long story short: I think the romance part of the book was a let down. But the book makes up for it with the concept of Everlife and with the likeability of characters such as Ten, Bow/Archer, and Archer's direct superior (he may be some sort of general but he has a great sense of humor)

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

this book was a struggle to finish

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The idea of a firstlife and a second life was intriguing. if I had been actually reading this book I would not have been able to finish. The story was slow and I had difficulty gaining interest in this fictional world. I also didn't feel any connections to the characters. I found Ten's obsession with numbers annoying. Her knowledge of numbers was trivial and childish.
I think this story was poorly exacuted. The realms were complex and poorly described. Ten was not likable. I didn't find myself in love with either male character. overall I am disappointed with this story and will not continue to waste my time with this series.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

No. Just... No.

Not sure what happened with this book. I'm a total fan of the author's other works. And the female narrator.. Yeesh.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not your usual Gena Showalter

Would you try another book from Gena Showalter and/or Emma Galvin and Zachary Webber ?

I would try a book from Gena Showalter again because her Lords of the Underworld series is amazing, but not another book from this series

Would you ever listen to anything by Gena Showalter again?

Yes

What about Emma Galvin and Zachary Webber ’s performance did you like?

Voices were great

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really

Any additional comments?

It is nothing like the Lords of the Underworld series. I realize that this is young adult so the steamy scenes will be missing, but this is just awful!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good read...for more mature YA audiences

I enjoyed this book. I am a big fan of YA books. I do find I have to preview them to deem age appropriate or not. I would put this as a high school/upper high school book. Frequent talk about "balls" and other stuff made me feel like it wasn't something to handover to a middle schooler. Great story though : )

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Upsetting

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Although I love Gena Showalter, this book was so much like Divergent that I could not finish it. I am returning the book. Very disappointing in my opinion. It was written well, loved the narration.

What could Gena Showalter have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

New Storyline.

Any additional comments?

I do not want to accuse at all, but to me this was too much like the Divergent Series.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but Odd

There's a lot going on and it can be a bit confusing at times. If you like numbers and a terrible love triangle you'll find this book interesting.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

What would have made Firstlife better?

Nothing.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not sure.

How could the performance have been better?

The performance was okay.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Irritation

Any additional comments?

I really tried to get into this story. But the longer it went on the worse it got. I was driving in a snowstorm and had to turn the book off because the longer it went on the more irritable I became.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Action...but confusing story

The story to me was very weak. I struggled to finish. You shoul skip this book.

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2 people found this helpful