Debby's Reviews > Chasing Before

2.5 stars

I start this review with pain in my heart because I wanted to like Chasing Before so badly. I really enjoyed The Memory of After in spite of a few quibbles, and I've met Lenore on multiple occasions. She's awesome! So awesome that she's the one who gave me this audiobook! And sadly, I didn't really like it. I didn't hate it either, but it was just a bit meh.

First off, I shouldn't have listened to this on audio. I should have read it in print. Right away, I realized that Cynthia Holloway is not the narrator for me. Her voice is high pitched, whiny, and couldn't hold my attention. I've been listening to quite a few audiobooks this year, and for the most part, I've had absolutely no problem staying focused on them. Something about Holloway's voice made me want to tune her out. I got distracted really easily. And I don't know why, really. Partially it's the tone of her voice, I guess, and I may have been listening to it while having too many other things on my mind. I should have stopped and switched to print, but I don't own a copy and I'm on a book buying ban, so that wasn't really an option. If anything, I do want to try rereading it in print sometime, because Chasing Before definitely deserved more of my attention.

But the story wasn't that great either that it could save itself from the narration. Now, I'm willing to bet that that's partially because this was supposed to be the second book of a trilogy - but the third will likely never ever happen. I was confused, for the most part, about what happened in this book. Felicia and Neil got to Level 3, but apparently, this level of the afterlife involves training for a certain profession, which then becomes your role for the rest of your afterlife. Professions include muses, who travel to earth and inspire the people there (I...think...), or fighters, which I have completely forgotten the names of, who hunt down demons and send them to hell. Now, I'm very confused by this concept of afterlife professions. Shouldn't your afterlife be about... umm... "living" in peace? Getting to do whatever you want? For eternity? Granted, it may be boring after a while, but to be forced into a job, so that you'll retire one day and move on to Level 4? It felt like such an in-between step. To have multiple levels of heaven is okay, in fact quite creative when you think about the parallels to Dante's Inferno, but at the end of the day, it felt endless and repetitive, and I wish we could have seen more of what came after this. I'm still confused about this world and though I like a lot of its creative elements, I feel like it lacks a certain cohesion.

As middle books often do (though, again, a sequel to this is up in the air), this book focused on the characters and the love triangle of doom. And that, in combination with the grating narration, is what keeps me from appreciating this novel. Felicia is super annoying, because all of her life revolves around Neil. Neil wants to be a muse? I want to be a muse. Flashback: Neil, you won't marry me at 18?? WHYY??? In the afterlife: WE SHOULD LIVE TOGETHER. YOU DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITH ME? BUT TWO DOORS AND A HALLWAY SEPARATE US, NEIL, THIS IS ABSOLUTE TORTURE. Oh my god, Felicia was super annoying. And Neil is just boring as all hell. It's not that I hate him, he just bores me. Here he's keeping secrets from Felicia, and while she should be getting annoyed with him, she just keeps clinging to him and letting his lies and avoidance slide. That's so ridiculous. Meanwhile Julian is being awesome and all Julian-like, and she keeps herself from giving in because she's a dumb-ass who hates amazing kisses. *pouts* Though I will say that I appreciate the lady in the story being the lusty one - it was a nice switch from the usual YA.

Now, again, I do kind of understand the arc that she's going through. She's put Neil on a pedestal as the example of goodness incarnate, and because of her own past sins, she wants to follow his example and has some idea that being with him will make her good. It's an interesting theme of morals and righteousness and fighting your personal nature. But it's delivered in such a grating way, not only because of the narration, but because it just drags on too long, and we don't get to that conclusion - when she realizes that nobody's perfectly good, that Neil can't fix her, and that she should be herself and be with someone who complements her (FREAKING JULIANNNNNNNNNN). *cough* I have some harsh feelings about this. It makes me so sad, because I can perfectly tell where this book is going, but without a follow-up, it's just not there. And it's sad. Neil sucks. Felicia's annoying. Julian deserves better. *sigh*

Summing Up:

I wish I'd liked this better, and I still feel like I might in print. This narrator is one for me to avoid, so at least I've learned that much. I'm sad because Chasing Before has all the tell-tale signs of a middle book, but the sequel will probably never come. The world building left holes, the character arc has not come full circle, and the love triangle is still swaying to the wrong side. I appreciate the themes of goodness, forgiveness, and letting go of your past, I enjoyed the creativity of this afterlife of limitless potential, and I believe that these characters will ultimately grow in amazing ways. But I'm scared we'll never see that. And thus what I'm left with in this book is a bunch of little annoyances, which may have been necessary for the full journey, but none of the subsequent rewards. Should a sequel ever come, I will be first in line to read it though. It still has a ton of potential.

GIF it to me straight!

Dear Felicia, about Neil...


Recommended To:

Those who are a little more immune than I am to romantic melodrama.