Neverworld Wake, by Marisha Pessl

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

 

Life after death… the great unknown. What happens when we die? For Beatrice Hartley and her friends, life after death isn’t all pearly gates and angel wings. No, for Bea and her five once-upon-a-time best friends a fatal car crash doesn’t send them to heaven or hell but rather, the Neverworld Wake. Stuck in purgatory these six friends must come back together to make the ultimate sacrifice… of them, which one gets to return to the world of the living?

 

A year after graduation, Bea not only finds herself trying to make sense of the Neverworld Wake but also still asking questions about her boyfriend’s mysterious death. Does the Neverworld Wake hold the answers? Are her so-called-friends hiding something? Who is the mysterious old man, only known as the Keeper, and what does he want with Bea and her friends?

 

Neverworld Wake took me by surprise. I picked it up at the recommendation of a friend and found that it held a secret message for me. Hidden within its pages are messages from loved ones lost and the key to remembering that they will be with us always. It’s a mystery. It’s paranormal. It’s about friendship, love, and loss. But more importantly it’s about remembering. Not only who we are but where we come from and who we hold dear to us.

 

While you could spend years in the Neverworld Wake, you never know how soon your time on earth will end. With that, Neverworld Wake reminds us of the fragility of life and the importance of friendship. This is one of my favorites this summer and one I will recommend always. I would like to dedicate this review to my dear friend, Hannah James, who passed away recently. She was an integral part of this library and will forever be missed.

 

“The most we can do is hold out our hands and help each other across the unknown. For in our held hands, we find pathways through the dark, across jungles and cities, bridges suspended over the deepest caverns of this world. Your friends will walk with you, holding on with all their might, even when they are no longer there.” – Neverworld Wake