It’s interesting how the tagline for Level 2 emphasizes the number two, two worlds, two lives, two loves, because I’m of two minds when it comes to this book. On one hand, I love Lenore Appelhans’s approach to the afterlife - I have to confess I’m one of those readers who read to think rather than to feel, so to get something so deeply philosophical that I was thinking about almost everything is an absolute treat. On the other hand though, despite my overwhelmingly positive response to how uniqu More...

Rating: 3.5 Stars

For me, the biggest appeal of Level 2 was the fact that it was written by a blogger. I was so enthralled that a blogger had been able to get her book published and, best of all, who else knew best the pitfalls that most authors stumbled across better than a blogger herself? Thus, Level 2 seemed like a novel that could do no wrong. In many ways, it couldn’t (although it’s synopsis seems to think it’s going to get more readers by hinting at a love triangle when there is no love tr More...

Originally posted here.

Anyone who reads my blog regularly probably already knows how much I wanted this book. It was one of my WoW posts, and has been on my wishlist from the moment I found out Lenore Appelhans, the wonderful blogger behind Presenting Lenore, had a dystopian novel coming out. I was so all over that, especially since Lenore is the creator of Dystopian August, which means she really knows her stuff. Also, oh hey, it's Dystopian August! Woo! Make sure you check out her blog as well More...

Seen at Scott Reads It
*Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC via mail*
I'll be honest I thought this book had something to do with video games and the afterlife when I picked it up. I saw the words "LEVEL 2" and that cover which instantly made me think of Street Fighter's Ryu. If you have ever played as Ryu you'll be familiar with that fire-ball move he has and that really reminded me of Level 2's cover.

Anyway I'm digressing because this is supposed to be a review of Le More...

3.5 stars


My thoughts were so jumbled after reading this. I liked it, but there we're some things I just did not understand.

This book is told from the setting of an afterlife location called "Level 2." This area is basically the waiting room of a doctor's office. The whole situation is very touch and go. Many of the, which seems like MILLIONS of people at times, are trying to reach "Level 3," or what we like to call heaven.

The people living inside Level 2 are controlled by an outside source t More...

Felicia Ward is currently located at Level 2. She lays in a device that allows her to search through and watch her favorite memories from earth. With credits she can also trade and buy more credits to view more memories. She can even organize the memories like YouTube videos with ratings and notes. Felicia has yet to watch the memory of her death but she loves to live through her memories of her true love Neil over and over. Felicia also hangs out in the hive visiting with her friends Veronica a More...

Felicia's death has left her stuck in a sort of limbo. As one of the residents of her hive she has friends and she has access to her memories from her life before. Those memories, happy and sad, set the stage for the larger conflict in the afterlife. That's the beauty of the story you see, it's not easy to discern what is really what. It's not confusing, mind you, but an action-filled and fast paced story filled with unexpected moments. A kudo to Appelhans for giving those surprises as it's a ra More...

My review can also be found on my blog Collections.

I almost thought Björk was on the cover.

Edit:

2.5 - 3 stars

It took me awhile to finish Level 2. I received an advanced copy back in October, started reading it, but put it down at around page 80 and didn't pick it back up until two months later. Needless to say I hadn't really enjoyed what I had managed to read.

The characters were unlikeable. Felicia was the narrator, but I could not connect with her in any way. Julian was a douche and so was Fel More...

Enter to win a copy of this book,signed postcards and LEVEL 2 nail instructions HERE.

SEVEN winners in total and the giveaway is international.

Giveaway prizes shown on the image below:



Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor! ;)

**UPDATE 1/9/2013**

That was bloody brilliant! xD Review to come...

**UPDATE 1/22/2013**

POST-READ REVIEW:

Originally posted at Daydreaming Bookworm



Duet review is a feature where I review a book along with my friend,Maliha.For more info. on this feature,check out my v More...

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2013/01/level-2...

I cannot tell you guys how awesome Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans is – I mean, awesome to the point that I’m practically giddy just thinking about it.

And, okay, I’ll admit my bias straight-up – I’ve met Lenore a few times and she’s super sweet and nice. But that’s not it, I swear. Level 2 is a creative, mind-blowing story – one that I would have loved either way.

For one thing, the concept. There are some books that I just c More...

Short and Sweet:
Lenore Appelhans, the blogger behind Presenting Lenore, had a lot to live up to with her debut novel Level 2 but anyone that ever doubted she would write something less than incredible was so very wrong. Level 2 had me in tears within the first few pages, in love with both Neil and Julian, thrilled with the sci-fi aspects and absolutely has me wanting to read more by Lenore. There's a reason this is one of the most anticipated YA novels of the year and it's one I'll be raving ab More...

You bet I'll be reading this one. Not only is it ~DYSTOPIAN~, but the author is a standout blogger and she just straight-up rocks.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Level 2 promised a thrilling new take on the wave afterlife/angel novels which are currently trending and while Appelhans’ originality in this sense was wonderful, overall the novel left me wanting so much more.

Felicia Ward is trapped in a limbo known as Level 2, forced to relive her memories of life on Earth. She spends her time revisiting the memories of time with her parents, best friends, wishing she could see her boyfriend Neil again. When Julian, a boy from a part of her l More...

See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads
DNF Naturally, I don't review DNFed books, but there is something that needs to be said here.

"Don't! Just don't." How dare he? Does he think if he touches me, I'll give in? Tell him it's okay that he's a monster?
He puts his hands in a gesture of surrender and rocks back into his rigid pose. "Okay, clam down. I will not touch you unless you ask." His eyes going with mischief. "Unless you beg." page 69

*gags* I checked my friend reviews on this book, sever More...

Felicia Ward is dead, but she's still living, after a fashion. Trapped in the strange "Level 2," where the deceased endlessly rewatch the memories of their lives, Felicia soon learns she's integral to both the plans of the dark and dissatisfied angels called the "Morati," and those of the rebellion. Rescued by Julian, an ex with unfortunate connections to her life on Earth, all Felicia wants is to reunite with the boy she loves. Instead, she's thrown into a war between Heaven and Level 2.

The te More...

I was so excited to get my hands on an ARC of Level 2 that I just couldn’t wait to dive in and get reading. This is a wonderful debut--a fast-paced, absorbing mystery that seamlessly blends both speculative and contemporary YA.

After dying in our world, Felicia now belongs to Level 2--a kind of holding place in the afterlife where everything is calm and controlled and inhabitants spend their days reliving memories from their previous lives. But things in Level 2 are not quite as they seem…

This st More...

This was two books in one, and neither of them were good. The main problem is there was a disconnect between what this book wanted to be, and what it sold itself as. It was pitched to the reader as a sci-fi fantasy about a Matrix-like afterlife and a battle for Earth between rebels and evil-angels. Awesome! What it ended up being was a dull, introspective, contemporary novel about a girl sulking about how much her life sucks and how her boyfriend fixed it all for her. Um...awesome? I mean, if yo More...

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans is set in the afterlife and revolves around Felicia Ward. Felicia died a day before her eighteenth birthday and has been in the afterlife ever since. It’s a stark white world, made of pods where the inhabitants can access their memories, replaying them over and over again. Their peaceful existence is disturbed by a couple of odd incidents and then a boy she knew back on Earth, Julian, appears in their hive, and soon she learns the truth about Level 2.

Level 2 is a real More...

Not being sure what to expect by Level 2, I was pleasantly surprised by the fantastic book. It is an original book filled with a story that is both unique and relateable. Despite having a few issues with it, I enjoyed it and am highly anticipating the sequel.

One of my favourite aspects of the book was the memories that Felicia experienced. I love the idea of going through memories like normal files on a computer. They read 'number of views' and 'rating' which I really liked because I haven't rea More...

Review originally posted in: http://forget8me8not.blogspot.com/201...

Cover:
Looks amazing. I like how the cover gives off the feeling of this afterlife limbo because it's full of white colours. The circle dots surrounding the girl makes this light illusion and allows the focus on her too!

Story:

Stuck in the afterlife limbo, replaying memories sounds like you're still alive...right?

I've heard of Lenore Appelhans before I actually know that she has a debut novel coming out in 2013. Lenore is a lovel More...

Level 2 promises to be a thrilling and unique debut, an exciting ride in an unusual world. Unfortunately, I found myself less thrilled and more disappointed while reading. I did not enjoy this book at all. In fact, after roughly sixty pages, I skimmed through the rest of the book because I just couldn't sit through it anymore.

Level 2 does fulfill it's promise to be unusual, only I didn't find this such a positive thing. When the story starts, our main character Felicia is in a bizarre facility w More...

So, I got an advanced reader copy of this book and when I first picked it up, I was a little iffy about it. That changed pretty much as soon as I began reading. It was fantastic.
I read a lot of young adult fiction and it tends to be fairly predictable, but this wasn't and it was pretty much impossible to put down.
Felicia Ward was a compelling main character and while I didn't always agree with her and her choices, watching her life unfold was incredible. Everything was timed so well, information More...

Check out more of my reviews at ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***!

At first, I mistook Level 2 to be a dystopian novel but in fact it's an afterlife story structured in a dystopian story: learn the governing body has foul intentions, join a rebellion, find eternal peace and happiness after battle.

What I really liked about Level 2 was the fact that it was an afterlife story and you didn't feel that there was a strange absence of any presence of earlier experience. What I mean by that is you di More...

I wish there was a 3 1/2 stars rating option because while I enjoyed the story, I felt it wrapped up a little quickly and easily for my taste.

I am sure many people will take issue with the religious aspect to the book. It is not a religious fiction book but does deal with aspects of the religious world to make the plot make sense. The characters are stuck in the waiting room of afterlife and things are not going as they had hoped or were told by religion. There are mentions of church youth grou More...

Why hello you interestingly beautiful book.

The thing about Level 2 that surprised me was that it was balanced somewhat between fantasy and sci-fi, mythology and religion. It was...impressive, yet odd at the same time. It seemed sci-fi because of the "hives" and the gases, the reason why these rebels had had "powers", and all that, but at the same time it was fantasy because, well, angels. That is all I'm saying because you'll just have to read and find out for yourself! The religious/mythology t More...

Originally posted on Bookworm Recommendationst.

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Wow. I’m still trying to organize my thoughts for this review. Right when I thought dystopias were starting to get cliché, Level 2 brings in a fresh and intriguing new world, and I loved it! And along with awesome world building, Appelhans doesn’t mind developing characters that’ll pull at your heartstrings. Level 2 was one hell of an adventure and I enjoyed every second of it.

The concept of re-living your memories in a sort of afterli More...

Level 2 is the kind of book that wraps you up in its tension so seamlessly and slowly that you’re barely aware it’s even happening until you’re having heart palpitations. And just when you think you’ve gotten your bearings, Appelhans turns the plot in a way that makes it impossible to know exactly who or what to believe.

Appelhans premise taps into a primal human question—what happens after we die—and delivers the answer through a sharp and twisty plot. Told through the POV of 18-year-old Felici More...

Lenore Appelhans’s debut novel Level 2 is one not to be missed. The originality of the afterlife-limbo while waiting to enter Heaven is an aspect of Level 2 that will have paranormal-, and particularly angel-, obsessed readers reeling for more. This uniqueness stems from the slight science fiction/dystopia that Appelhans uses to characterise Level 2, the place between Earth (Level 1) and Heaven (Level 3). There are contemporary and romance elements that come from the reliving of memories, too, w More...

I'm not a sci fi/fantasy person, but I couldn't put this down. It's truly unlike anything out there, with a really beautifully-written contemporary thread written as an alternate timeline. Very Matrix-meets-Inception I can't wait for the next one!

After reading the first page or so of Level 2 I thought to myself "How is this going to go anywhere". She is dead for one. Second she is trapped in the limbo world with seemingly no escape. And besides going over memories from her life on earth what else is there to do? Well, I have to say there is LOTS to do. The plot was a great full of twists and terns. You want to find out whats happening on level two almost as much as you want to know all about what happened in Germany and Africa.
The charac More...