I generally don't read YA, but this book was recommended to me so I gave it a try. The book is engaging and easy to follow. There were a few twists and turns along the way but I never felt lost or confused as the author did a good job leading the reader through the winding path of the story. The ending leaves a variety of possibilities and I look forward to reading the next two books in the series.

DNF. Thought it sounded like Stranger Things in the description but just couldn’t get into it and found a few YA elements like insta-love to annoy me. It clearly has an audience judging by 4 and 5 star reviews, just not my cup of tea.

This was a very interesting story and kind of filled a whole left by a certain sci-fi show in a way. I really enjoyed the slight touch of mystery with the academia/sci-fi tones.

This story was unexpected and the weirdness of it added to the creep-factor which offered some great "Oh shit" moments as a reader. Definitely a book for those interested in plot over sitting in moments with characters because it was very fast-paced. Great for fans of sci-fi/fantasy thrillers!

Some times I like this alternate reality type of books. This one was okay. I was engaged half way through it. The second half felt… meh, but the story overall was okay.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this title.

I tried to read this book many times, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. The story seemed promising, and I tried to give it a chance many times, but neither the style nor the development seemed right for me.

***NON-SPOILER REVIEW***
This book is one of the best sci-fi books I have read. The characters are well-fleshed out and most characters are grounded. I really liked the main character, Marina who is a strong headed female and her desperate search for her brother makes her real-life and relatable. The character development is one of the greatest aspects of the book. The story is fast-paced which keeps the readers at the edge of their seats and sustains the suspense in the story. As a result of the brilliant execution by Rebecca Phelps, the story ends on the satisfying note which makes it a fantastic debut novel to read

It's been four years since Marina O'Connell's brother, Robbie died in an incident on the train tracks, now Marina is starting school at East Township High with the senior class that her brother should be in. East Township High is a scrabble of mazes, fake doorways and hallways that lead to nowhere since it was once a military base for scientific experiments during World War II. However, the hallways hold a dangerous secret, hidden portals to other dimensions called Down World. After a chance meeting with senior Brady Picelli and Robbie's friend Kieran, Marina is pulled into the dangerous and mysterious Down World. Marina discovers that Down World holds many secrets including secrets about her own family.

Down World is an exciting and fast-paced young adult science fiction thriller. From the time that Marina discovered the doors to Down World I was hooked on the worlds, how they worked, where they came from and what could happen in them. Marina's character is a very typical teen girl, focusing on romance and what someone might think of her at any point; however, she is also dealing with a lot of issues. She is still carrying around grief from her brother's death as well as dealing with her parent's depression from the event, when her brother died she also lost her core friend group and now needs to rebuild. Because of all of this, Marina very easily grabs on to the first person to pay attention to her, Brady. I was intrigued by the different realms in Down World, how they were all different and the consequences of going into the worlds. I do wish there was more explanation of how the worlds were built in the 1940's and why. I would love to know if they helped to alter World War II. I enjoyed the ending, the solution was appropriate and didn't leave everything perfect, but did fix what needed to be fixed.

DNF @ 25%

Well, I really hoped I'd love this book since the plot sounded like something I'd enjoy reading, but here we are. I thought this was going to be kind of like Stranger Things, but a bit more YA, and it wasn't, not really.

The very first thing that bothered me about this book was the insta-love in the first chapter, but I continued on reading regardless. The biggest issue for me was the way the characters talked to each other. It all seemed so unnatural, and I really didn't like it. It bothered me to the point that I didn't want to continue reading the book. I guess this book just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Date Started: 4/1/21
Date Finished: 4/5/21
Rating: 5 of 5

Book Title: Down World
Author: Rebecca Phelps
Pages: 368

Note: Don’t read if you’re sensitive to horror and thriller-type books that get a bit dark from time to time. If you are into those kinds of stories, this book may pull you in and keep you consumed until the very last page.

This book is more considered science fiction than anything, but it is also classified as horror and thriller as well. It could have been a bit scarier in my eyes, but it was still intensely creepy. I really enjoyed it. If I hadn’t had a work schedule to read around, I probably would have finished this book in one sitting. It was a real page-turner.

The dialogue gets a little bit tricky in my opinion on this. Because sometimes the characters seemed like they knew each other all their lives and then other times they acted like complete strangers who didn’t know each other at all. I think it could be chalked up to nerves and stress with all of the secrets they were trying to keep though. Especially the adults.

While trying to figure out how to get her brother back, things start changing in her world. She and the group realize that the changes that keep happening between the worlds are causing major disturbances. It winds up leading to something major that happens that I really don’t want to get into too many details of because of spoilers. It’s really extreme and completely turns their world upside down.

I really liked Marina in this story. She comes off as really sheltered and dumb, but she was very bright and quick-witted. People around her seemed to think she was delicate and couldn’t take care of herself and never took her seriously. I think because of that she didn’t take herself seriously. There were many things that happened because of her that could have been played out before had anybody else paid attention like she did or bothered to take two seconds to listen to her.

I have to be very honest. I didn’t care for the ending at all. It wasn’t at all in the direction I wanted it to go in. I get why it had to go the way it did. It just really makes me sad. There was something that happened in the story that I was totally there for. I was so happy for it and I wanted to see how it was going to go from there. I just can’t even tell you. I really think that everybody should read this book!

Disclaimer: I received this arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: DownWorld

Author: Rebecca Phelps

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Half hispanic main character

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: sci-fi readers, ya readers

Genre: YA Sci-fi

Publication Date: March 31, 2021

Publisher: Wattpad Books

Pages: 368

Recommended Age: 16+ (language, suicide mentioned, gore, child death, romance)

Synopsis: As the site of a former military base, there have always been rumors that East Township High School was the site of experiments with space and time. For years, students have whispered in the hallways of a doorway created within the school, one that can access multiple timelines and realities, a place known as the Down World.

As the new kid in school and still reeling from the unexplained death of her brother Robbie, Marina O'Connell is only interested in one thing: leaving the past behind. But a chance encounter with handsome Brady Picelli changes everything. He will lead Marina to a startling discovery. The Down World is real and the past, present, and future are falling out of balance.

Brady is determined to help Marina discover what really happened to her brother. However, what is taken from one world, must be repaid by another. And Marina is about to discover that even a realm of infinite possibilities has rules that must be obeyed.

Review: For the most part this was a good book. It has an interesting premise which kept me motivated to read it and it had unique world building. I really liked the different universe theory and I'm a strong believer in parallel worlds.

However, the characters weren't strongly developed, the writing was a bit too jumbled and confusing, and the author didn't clearly distinguish the differences we were supposed to see throughout the novel of the changing world. It was a lot of telling and not showing as well. The ending was also confusing.

Verdict: It's cool but confusing.

If I had to describe this book in just a few words, they would be an instant hit. With an amazing and super in depth storyline, it's perfect for anyone fourteen years and up, and quickly became one of my new favourite books even at twenty four. It's just one of those books where every time I thought the story was coming to a pause or a good place to end, it ended up just being the beginning. And I just couldn't get enough of it.

Following a young girl named Marina from her viewpoint in first person, she's about to start grade ten in a small town in the United States. But after losing her brother to a train accident three years ago, her and her parents lives have become very grim and depressing. Blaming her brother's best friend, they despise him, and Marina lost her only friend because of it. And now she's starting at a new school. Could things get any worse? She probably would say no, but this is just the beginning of a much bigger and almost unbelievable picture. That is, if she didn't see it for herself she wouldn't believe it.

Originally an army base, the school is a labyrinth of twists and turns, and after getting lost on her first day, she meets a senior named Brady. He's a nice and very cute boy who genuinely just wants to help her out, and even though she doesn't see him again for about six months after her first day, she can't stop thinking about him. After all, everyone else that she grew up with acts like they don't know her. But when she finally sees him again, he's harbouring a deep secret and a mysteriously hysterical girl. And after following them to the train station where her brother lost his life, she learns that the secret really involves things that she could never imagine were real; parallel universes.

Not only is the army base turned high school confusing and filled with doors that have been bricked over, but living in it's basement is an Annihilation-like spiral staircase. And at the bottom are three doors, one each for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But only the today one is accessible. And when Marina goes inside it, she finds her brother in the flesh, happy and thriving. That can't be right, though, can it? He died. Little did I know, that this was just barely grazing the surface of what was really going to happen in this book.

This book is insanely in depth for how many pages it is. Jam packed with rich backstory, the characters really seem like they could be real people, despite the obvious differences between our world and theirs. Addicting and mysterious, I was pulled in from the second I started it, and I didn't want to put it down for a second. It's amazing without gore or romance, and I think that's something that's difficult to do sometimes. A perfect story in my eyes, I would be delighted to get this as a present, and it would make a really great addition to my bookshelf, with it's breathtaking cover. I think even if you're not super big into scifi, this is a really great story, and everyone should check it out and give it a chance to unravel itself. Even half way through the book I was thinking, this could be the end, right? But it wasn't there was more, and more, and more. I'll definitely be thinking about it for a long time.

(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

Marina’s brother died. Three years later she is still mourning him. With a job cut back, her parents can’t afford to pay her private school tuition and she must go to the local high school. There, she discovers a portal to alternate universes and sets out to save her brother.
Opinion
This book took a lot of planning and forethought. There were many alternate planes, each having their own personalities for the characters. Ms. Phelps certainly had to think this book through carefully. In some ways, it reminded me of the Back to the Future movies.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. Though it did not turn out how I expected, I did like the ending. Word of advice, pay close attention to details.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you to Smith Publicity and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Down World early in exchange for an honest review!

The premise - a teenage girl who lost her brother ends up at a new school that used to be a military base and then things go sort of sideways - was one that got me interested at the start. Even if it is unlikely that a military base would ever be turned into a high school - the similarities in design notwithstanding - that can be put aside in a world that also includes parallel universes. The start of the book was slow and a little jumbly for me and overall the character development was lacking, except in M (maybe this is a result of it being first-person narrative?), but about halfway through the story it got moving along and kept me interested through to the end. The end - no spoilers - was sort of a letdown for me. I suspect that it may be setting up for the rest of the trilogy, but it felt like a lot of build and then... not a lot of payout. I would imagine the rest of the trilogy will explore DW and it's science a bit more and I would like to read those upcoming books to find out more about how DW works and why, though I don't know where the next book will go with the story. Maybe a new storyline entirely? Maybe things didn't wrap up as neatly as it seems?? I look forward to finding out!

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. I literally couldn’t put this book down and finished in one reading. Think stranger things and the Netflix show down. What if there was a mirrored life in another world? What if something tragic happened and you had an opportunity to bring back a loved one. But what would the consequences be?. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Argh. I wrestled between 1 and 2 stars this one because I honestly hate giving debuts 1 star, but the truth is that I just didn't like it at all. I can't put it on the same level as books I give 2 stars because usually there's something in there that I like or the writing just wasn't for me. In this case, I found the writing messy, the story lagged, it was really confusing, the characters weren't likable, and some parts in the story were just completely cringey.

Listen, there's a bunch of 4 and 5 star reviews for this book. I'm allowed to have a different opinion and not like it.

The whole premise of this story is that her brother dies and that tries to reunite with him by going through a portal that's located in the high school. I'm into parallel dimensions so I figured this would be a fun ride. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to understand the "rules" of these portals, the "payment" needed to get off the train (and why it was an acceptable form of payment and who the heck figured that part out), and these wayward mystics in Oregon. There was just so much going on and it was mushed together and did not make for an enjoyable reading experience.

And let's briefly touch on the cringey bits: hitting on Brady and getting annoyed that he doesn't reciprocate feelings after his girlfriend has gone missing, the excessive use of "baby" between Piper and Robbie, and pretty much every interaction between Marina and Kieren.

Not good, folks. Not good.

I have this thing. I find it really difficult to write about things I love without coming across as overly effusive and entirely not objective. It's the reason why I didn't write about Doctor Who for years. Fact: I really liked Down World, the debut novel by Wattpad author Rebecca Phelps. I'm not alone either; Down World won the Watty Award for Best Young Adult Fiction for 2019 and will be released on Wattpad Books on 30 March 2021.

Why is it so difficult to review this book? Perhaps because Down World isn't so much a literary experience as an emotion; an impalpable feeling, a shiver of foreboding, strange afternoons where nothing makes much sense and the light has an uneasy undertone. It is a book that is felt and which drags the reader deeper down into the possibility of it all.

It has been compared to Netflix giants like Stranger Things and Dark, but those comparisons weren't particularly helpful. There is a world where you can like all speculative fiction, believe fiercely in all the possible worlds and not have to choose one or love one more than the other.

Nevertheless, I have to concede that if you enjoy mind-bending alternate reality stories or time manipulation, like Tenet, Stranger Things or The Man in the High Castle, you are indeed likely to enjoy Down World.

Marina O'Connell is still reeling from the unexplained death of her brother Robbie. There one minute, gone the next, Marina would do anything to see him again. But what if she could? What if there are alternative timelines, other worlds, different realities? When Marina meets Brady Picelli, it all begins to seem possible until Marina learns the terrible price that has to be paid when something is taken from one world into the other.

Would you destroy another world to save your own?

Down World is an astonishing debut that takes readers on a journey into the halcyon days of Marina's mother's youth and into a surreal alternative reality that is at once utopia and glaring dystopia, depending on which side of the street you're standing on. Some of the scenes reminded me of the deserted Cittàgazze in Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife. I recall reading The Subtle Knife and the impact of the imagery on me; I could see it in my mind's eye as if it had been lifted off a surrealist painting or Salvador Dali film. I felt the same with Down World; I could see these other worlds as if printed on old reels of film and Instamatic cameras.

With such vivid and palpable imagery, it would be criminal if Down World were not brought to life on television or screen. Also, while I loved that this was a standalone novel, I would equally love to see more from this strange world. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more work from Rebecca Phelps.

Down World is an experience, one that you'd need to experience yourself to understand, and I give it a superb five out of five stars. Recommended if, like me, you're truly in the mood for something different.

honestly, i did not expect to like this book as much as i liked it. it was such a good book, and it was just such a cool book with the whole time travel element, which i actually really liked, which was a surprise. and with the whole romance was kind of cool, since it wasn't the main focus of this book, and like just this side plot. and i completely loved how everything all fell together and how it all wrapped up. but, i do wish there a a little something about all the characters remembering each other.

The beginning of this book confused me a little bit but I pushed through and am so glad I did. It was a whirlwind after that and I couldn't get enough of the story and the characters!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was so good! There were plenty of twists to keep my attention and the characters themselves were really compelling. I really enjoyed the nonlinear timeline, labelled "Before" and "After". The wasn't a lengthy focus on any one character, but rather the actual murder case. However, there was still plenty of character arcs. Each family member for the most part got a solid chunk of the story so we get a bit of the story from all their perspectives.

Overall, this was a solid mystery. Because of the flashbacks, there was never a boring lull in the book. I absolutely loved the ending twist. Finlay really knows how to lay out a compelling mystery with plenty of surprises.