Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Afterworlds alternates chapters between the story of a young author, and the book she’s writing. You get to see how her real-life experiences affect her manuscript. The issue is that neither of the stories are even mildly interesting enough.

Darcy Patel is afraid to believe all the hype. But it's really happening - her teen novel is getting published. Instead of heading to college, she's living in New York City, where she's welcomed into the dazzling world of YA publishing. That means book tours, parties with her favorite authors, and finding a place to live that won't leave her penniless. It means sleepless nights rewriting her first draft and struggling to find the perfect ending... all while dealing with the intoxicating, terrifying experience of falling in love - with another writer.
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, the thrilling story of Lizzie, who wills her way into the afterworld to survive a deadly terrorist attack. With survival comes the responsibility to guide the restless spirits that walk our world, including one ghost with whom she shares a surprising personal connection. But Lizzie's not alone in her new calling - she has counsel from a fellow spirit guide, a very desirable one, who is torn between wanting Lizzie and warning her that...
BELIEVING IS DANGEROUS.

Darcy has hooked a publishing contract over her senior year. Now, instead of going to college, she’s decided to move to New York to work on writing. Why the hell does she need to go to New York? Why can’t she live at home and save money? Why can’t she live somewhere cheaper? For whatever reason, she’s decided to blow money on rent by living in New York. And of course she can’t live somewhere cheap. For some reason, she is hell-bent on living in an illegal dance studio. Why??? She literally sleeps in a locker room.

She spends the entire book fighting her parents who are telling her that she’s wasting money. Honestly, I agree. She spends eighty dollars on noodles nearly every day, and is on track to blow all three hundred thousand dollars of her contract in a year. She voluntarily chooses to buy flight tickets to tour the country in a book tour where she’s planning on … handling lines for another author’s fans. *sigh*

Speaking of her parents, they’re apparently extremely traditional Gujarati Hindu parents that are freaking out about her taking a gap year and don’t consider writing an actual career. Yet they named their first born child DARCY. Explain por favor.

Darcy is hell-bent on focusing on her writing, yet she randomly gets a girlfriend (?) that seems lowkey forced to include diversity. Her girlfriend is also extremely sketchy and is writing a book about a guy who’s mom is a crazy cat lady and then he begins to develop cat powers and turns into a cat burglar.

Darcy’s writing is also not the greatest. Her story about a girl who is wills herself into the afterworld after a near-death experience starts off random, gets a little thrilling and goes back to random.

The book touches on cultural appropriation, which is only fitting as you have a white guy writing about a hindu girl writing about the Vedas. It seems so whack that I was honestly wondering if was some sort of satirical commentary about the publishing world. Nope, it’s just whack.

The only meaningful point of this book is the discussion between authors about the “Sophomore slump” and how they feel like they can only write one good book. This seems to apply to Scott Westerfeld. Verdict: read Uglies.