by Marisha Pessl
June 5, 2018
327 pages
Goodreads Summary:
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.
And so begins the Neverworld Wake.
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.
And so begins the Neverworld Wake.
Review
Neverworld Wake is one of those stories that stays on your mind long after you've finished it. I'm finding it a little hard to translate my thoughts into adequate sentences since it's a story better experienced first hand. It was a good read for sure.
I really love the central concept in Neverworld Wake. The world felt surreal yet completely possible. There are a lot quotable parts in the book. They have this depth that makes you think. In many ways the story was profound and in my opinion, best experienced as a whole.
I didn't particularly love any of the characters but I like how realistic they all were. Each had their own sad backstories; each had their own share of secrets. The reveals were paced just right. I was quite impressed with how everything came together in the end. What a bittersweet yet simple answer to the question that's plagued these kids for a year. We are all flawed after all.
Neverworld Wake conjures up possibilities. It gives off a Twilight Zone feel but less scary and more thoughtful. For readers of paranormal and sci-fi stories, this is definitely one book you need to try!
*I received a copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music Inc. in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way.
Ooh nice! I was debating over this one recently. It sounds oddly mysterious and that appeals to me. Glad to see you enjoyed it for the most part! Nice review!
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a different sort of story. I hope you try it Jessica!
DeleteI loved this book! It was my pick on Book Riot for best book of the year so far :) Glad you liked it too! I love Pessl.
ReplyDeleteNice! This was my first book by Pessl and I enjoyed it a lot. I'll have to keep an eye out for her future works :D
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