Neverworld Wake
Author: Marisha Pessl
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Formats: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 336
Synopsis: Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her six best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim—their creative genius and Beatrice’s boyfriend—changed everything.
One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft—the seaside estate where they spent so many nights sharing secrets, crushes, plans to change the world—hoping she’ll get to the bottom of the dark questions gnawing at her about Jim’s death. But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted jokes and unfathomable silence, Beatrice senses she’s never going to know what really happened.
Then a mysterious man knocks on the door. Blithely, he announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions. Now Beatrice has one last shot at answers–and at life.
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When I first read the synopsis for Neverworld Wake, I thought it was going to be this really surreal, almost subtly creepy kind of book – a thriller with some weird elements that made it unique and exciting. While I didn’t find it creepy at all, I did find it a bit unsettling and kind a bit weird, and I really liked the way that the author wrote the book so that it was practically dripping with suspense from the first page through the end of the book.
Neverworld Wake was a lot of fun. For a bit, I was a little confused, but it was cleared up quickly because the story was just so much fun that I couldn’t put it down. I had a hard time figuring out what was happening, but once I kind of got the hang of things, I really enjoyed the book.
The characters were easily likable and I found that their personalities were pretty well fleshed out, bringing them to life in the story. The conversations between the characters flowed well and I think brought new depth to the book. While the story wasn’t entirely character driven, I do believe that the book deserves a lot of points for how well things all worked together.
The story in Neverworld Wake was the kind of story that’s so unique you’ll wonder how no one else had come up with anything like it. In all my years of reading, I have never come across something like this, and I was really thrilled to have the chance to read something so original. It’s kind of hard to pick a genre for this book because of all the elements going on, but I think it really breaks through because of that.
I think this book is perfect for summer – the mysterious air that it has going on adds so much to it, and I think it’s perfect for lazy afternoons, because once you start reading this book you aren’t going to want to put it down. The author’s writing really captures your attention (I know it did mine), and it drives you to keep reading until you’ve turned the very last page. The book is interesting and full of mystery the entire way through, and I wasn’t bored for even a single page. Definitely pick this up if you’re looking for something different, you won’t regret it.
Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Marisha Pessl grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and now lives in New York City. Special Topics in Calamity Physics, her debut novel, was a bestseller in both hardcover and paperback. It won the 2006 John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize (now the Center for Fiction’s Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize), and was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review. Her new novel, Night Film, comes out August 20, 2013.
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3 winners will receive a finished copy of NEVERWORLD WAKE, US Only.
Week One:
6/1/2018- YA Books Central– Excerpt
Week Two:
6/4/2018- Two Chicks on Books– Excerpt
6/5/2018- Bookish Lifestyle– Review
6/6/2018- Tea With Mermaids– Review
6/7/2018- Trendy Simple Life– Review
6/8/2018- A Dream Within A Dream– Review
Week Three:
6/11/2018- Books Coffee and Repeat– Review
6/12/2018- Nerdophiles– Review
6/13/2018- Life of a Literary Nerd– Review
6/14/2018- Jena Brown Writes– Review
6/15/2018- Once Upon a Twilight– Review
Week Four:
6/18/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review
6/19/2018- Book-Keeping– Review
6/20/2018- A Gingerly Review– Review
6/21/2018- Cindy’s Love of Books– Review
6/22/2018- RhythmicBooktrovert– Review
Week Five:
6/25/2018- BookHounds YA– Review
6/26/2018- Under the Book Cover– Review
6/27/2018- Smada’s Book Smack– Review
6/28/2018- Hauntedbybooks– Review
6/29/2018- The Cover Contessa– Excerpt
I picked up a sample of this book my last trip to B&N!! I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but now I’m really excited! Great review!
Jenn @ Bound to Writing recently posted…One Down Six to Go: An Editing Catch-Up
Great review! I never heard of this book but it does sound interesting.
Raven @ Dreamy Addictions recently posted…Always Never Yours By Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka [Review]
Night Film was super interesting, so I’d love to read this!