Thank you to Rockstar Book Tours and Delacorte Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

I'm not going to lie, it took me at least four tries to get into this book. But oh boy when I did, I absolutely devoured it. All I could think by the end was oh my god this book this book this book. So, dear readers, I present to you my thoughts on one of my favorite books of 2018.

Plot:

This is a book that you need to go into knowing as little about it as possible so I'm intentionally not going to talk about the plot in depth like I usually do. I will say that while it did take me several tries to actually get into Neverworld Wake, I'm so glad I pushed through and kept going. I can't exactly pinpoint what it was that caused me to keep putting this back down after picking it up and reading the first two pages, but I just could not keep going. But I was determined to get past it, and when I did, I found that I couldn't stop. I lost sleep because I just could not stop thinking about what was going to happen next. It's difficult to describe exactly how I felt about this book but one thing I will say is that it's unique. It does remind me of the movie Groundhog Day but it's just...so much more than that.

This is my first experience with a Marisha Pessl book (I know, I know I need to read Night Film!) and I was definitely not disappointed. I was amazed at how she was able to make me go from being iffy about reading to being unable to sleep because I could not stop thinking about her book. There was so much more to Neverworld Wake than what you see on the surface and the more I read, the deeper I wanted to dive. The book starts slow and seemingly innocent enough, but bring a flashlight because it gets dark. There are twists and turns and things that will occur when you least expect them. I never expected the plot to go to the places it went, but it did and by the end, I was an absolute mess. If I could say one thing about Marisha Pessl, it's that she knows how to write a frickin book. I'm now absolutely hooked and can't wait to read everything she writes!

Characters:
I will admit I wasn't a huge fan of really any of the characters at first except Beatrice but by the end, my soul was crying over Martha. Neverworld Wake really makes you realize that not all characters are what they appear to be at first. The bad characters might actually not be so bad, and the good ones may have more secrets to hide than you might think. I think the more that I read and the more that was revealed, I was able to understand the characters better. They all felt very flat or one dimensional at first and I found myself disappointed and not really sure I would end up liking anyone other than the main character, Beatrice. But Marisha Pessl did a fantastic job at bringing each of them to life and sharing their stories little bits at a time. They're all pretty unlikable at first, but the more you get to know them, the better you can understand their actions and the way they are. That's not to say any of them are necessarily good or bad or that anything they do is excusable by any means. I simply mean that the deeper you get into the story, the more you can see why they do the things they do or say the things they say. Each character brings something to the table and makes Neverworld Wake the incredible story that it is.

Writing:
Going into this book, I had some pretty high expectations from the writing. I had read rave reviews of Night Film and have heard Marisha Pessl's writing is fantastic, so I was expecting to be blown away. And I was! I raved about the plot and characters above, so obviously I'm going to do the same with the writing. I mentioned I initially had a hard time getting into this book, but the writing was something that helped me push forward. There's something so haunting and beautiful about Marisha Pessl's way with words that have stuck with me even after finishing this book. There were so many quotes that just hit me out of nowhere with feelings and I'd like to share some.



The writing in this book truly is otherworldly and unique. Not only was the plot an experience, but so is the writing. You're able to get absolutely lost in the Neverworld as you're following the story because it's so descriptive and flows like no writing I've ever read before. As soon as I finished, I wished I could go back to the beginning and read it again for the first time so that I was able to experience it all over again. As I was reading the final chapters of this book, I found myself at a loss for words. I was in awe that an author had made me unable to describe how I felt because of their writing and I loved every part of that unknown feeling.

Neverworld Wake is an experience you don't want to miss out on. It has an engaging and multi-layered plot, characters that are never what they seem to be, and writing that is sure to give you all of the feelings. It's easily one of the best books of the year and quite possibly one of my new favorite books of all time.