*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I liked the cover.. The story was a good concept and I mostly enjoyed it overall. The characters were well developed and interesting. I do believe that including more of the scientific background for the time travel could have been beneficial and added to the overall story. Also the elements of time travel weren't very organized and were written in a confusing way.

The Quick Cut: A teen girl struggling with her brother's unexplained death starts at a new school created from an old military base that experimented with space and time.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Wattpad Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dealing with the death of a family member can be hard enough at any age, but combine that with your life being completely changed? It can feel like your entire life is being erased. How do you deal with the loss? Does it change your acceptance of your new environment? These are questions that Marina has to grapple with.

Marina still hasn't fully dealt with her brother Bobby's death when she starts at East Township High School. All she wants to do is move forward as she starts at a new school with a strange past. When she meets Brady though, she can't help but feel pulled towards him. Then Brady reveals a dark secret that involves her family far more than she knows: there are secret portals under the school that lead to a different world. Those portals are being thrown off balance and causing damage to their reality. Can she discover the truth behind her brother? Can she help put everything back in balance again?

I'm going to state the obvious here: messing with time travel is complex. This book definitely makes a strong attempt at doing so, especially with the world building done around this high school. However, the biggest struggle in the reading of this book is so hard it can get to keep track of where you are. While TV shows like Stranger Things do so by using visual cues, the author only allows you to notice that by the mentioning of the portals. The story would have been easier to follow if they busted up chapters by alternate and original worlds.

Marina is in that denial phase of her brother's death at the start of the book and seeing her transform as new information comes feels real. She grapples with the fact that her family members may not be who she thought they were while attempting to deal with the reality of what's happening in front of her.

The story also plays with romantic subplots but only in a very minor way. I wish the author would've either dedicated to them or not done them at all. By the end, I felt teased with the possibility without seeing them really play out.

A promising idea with a few weaknesses in the execution.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5

Plot

In the synopsis, Down World is compared to Stranger Things and I can definitely see why, there are some similar vibes between the two. I was impressed to find that the storyline/plot was easy to follow and nothing seemed to "get lost" which I feel is a problem for me in a lot of books that deal with different dimensions/worlds. I always find that in building different realities, some aspects of the realities are left under-developed, this was not the case here. Each different setting was developed fully, and I was very impressed.

Characters

I liked all the characters well enough, although none of them felt particularly unique. To me, they all seemed to have pretty much the same personality.

Pacing

This book took a very long time for me to get into, and at times, I felt a little bit bored reading it because not much was going on. However, once I reached about 60%, it picked up a little more and retained my interest until the end.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought this book was okay. The idea of Down World and the general world-building was fantastic and executed in a way that was easy to follow. And although the characters felt a little bland to me and it was a little bit slow at points, it's still well worth the read.

I received an ARC ebook copy for review, my rating and review honest, unbiased, etc.,

My very first NetGalley review! 😎

Down World is the debut novel by Rebecca Phelps.

It can be described as a YA coming-of-age science-fiction thriller in the vein of Netflix series Dark with a few elements reminiscent of Stranger Things.

I enjoyed Down World from beginning to end and though it had a few moments that felt exactly like what it is - a debut novel - I've decided on a 4.

I like the characters, the setting and the mystery this first book set up, and want to read the rest of the series (-- which should say a lot because I have so many books to read already!).

Down World centers on Marina O'Connell, the new kid in town. Her new high school a former military base with rumors of experiments with space and time.
3 Doors:

Door 1: Yesterday

Door 2: Today

Door 3: Tomorrow

Door 4: The Bathroom (naw just kidding!, but maybe!? :)

So, Marina and a couple guys she might like and a gal or two and a few adult peers get caught up in a time-travel version of the chicken and the egg story with a focused narrative on plot threads and teen romance.

I like Marina and her friends. They were all just likeable and frustrating enough to really believe they are teens. Their motivations, understandings and experiences age-appropriate.

This is not a straight Horror novel. It has a dark tone and though the science-fiction aspects are pretty frightening it reads more like a paranormal YA mystery-thriller in tone than Horror or Sci-fi.

[author:Rebecca Phelps|20202044] is a writer to watch. Her passion for her characters and for telling her story are her driving strengths here. I think her storytelling future looks even more promising.


Thanks NetGalley and [author:Rebecca Phelps|20202044] for the ARC. I look forward to obtaining the paperback edition when I can. The official release date is March 30, 2021.

Should go without saying, Recommended to fans of the Dark television series as well as the more YA-audience side of Stranger Things fans of teens and adults!

I'm not sure what to make of Down World. I loved the first half of it but the second half...not so much.
I don't really read YA novels anymore but because of Down World's premise I made an exception. I'm glad I read this book because this is a subject I'm interested in. And I love the cover.

I missed the science behind the story because that would've helped to understand how everything happens in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

I received a free ARC from net galley in exchange for a honest review.

This book was very fast paced and very easy to follow throughout the whole story. I thought that the multiple universe aspect of this book was awesome to read and is what kept me reading this story until the end.

Marina lost her brother Robbie in a train accident and soon finds out that there may be a way to get her brother back. When she meets some new friends at her new school she starts to find out about the portals under the school. Which leads her to believe she can get her real brother back alive. As the story goes on Marina goes through hoops to find out more about he portals and how to save her brother. Her mother also leaves and goes through a portal to find her brother and vanishes.

The only real problem I had with this book and it was a big one. Was how this book ended we go on this whole journey with the main character and learn about these multiple universes and how they work, in order to find her brother. But as the story goes on it just felt like a bit of a run on sentence that amounted to nothing. The ending really didn’t give any closure and left me with more questions then answers. Also Marina sets out to save her brother and loses so much more then that so I kinda felt a bit slated by this ending in a sense that everything she did was for nothing if not to lose more people in her life then she started out with.

THIS REVIEW MAY HAVE SOME MINOR SPOILERS

Call it Multiverse, Parallel Worlds, or Alternative Realities; it's all the same! These are the topics that fascinate me the most. I have read dozens of articles and theories about it but this is the first book I read which has its main theme build around Parallel Worlds. The story of this book revolves around Marina and her family. She lost her brother, Robby, in a train accident and after many years she discovers something that gives her hope to bring her brother back. Just after a while, her mother goes missing and Marina finds herself in a situation where she has to take risks of altering relatives to bring her loved ones back home.
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I enjoyed this book as long as it concerned parallel worlds and the author used all the facts and theories very intelligently to give justice to the theme of the book. It started just too casually and with every chapter, Marina discovered some hidden truths and revelations that played a very significant part to push the story ahead. The way the portals worked, how our choices and decisions affect and create realities, and how they bring unexpected consequences, the author used all these elements and built a very good premise. For some reason, I didn't find its characters very strong or anything, and also, for the first time I detested a protagonist. Even other side characters contributed their best to the story but they missed the spark that I seek in characters.
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I enjoy reading YA as long as they are friends or until they don't get too cringy to read. Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series and its characters are one good example where I genuinely loved all the characters who will remain my favorites for a very long time. But, I didn't like it when the author tried to add a love triangle aspect, and to be honest, it wasn't necessary. Maybe it would work for other readers but if Marina were just friends with Kieren and Braddy then I might have liked it more. WHY AM I SAYING THIS? here's a practical explanation: how likely a character supposed think about her chemistry with other boys, kiss them and share her bedroom when her brother and mother is missing, and her father is in police custody for the suspicions of her mother's disappearance? At least I couldn't get the point to add this love aspect to the story.

ANOTHER REASON: This book has an intense story pace and there's all seriousness around, realities changing, characters missing and many problems that the protagonist faced; somewhere between that this love angle kind of ruined the reading experience for me. I guess the authors should consider the seriousness of the plot and try to avoid such unnecessary elements.

Do I sound like I am highly criticizing this book? I am sorry about that, I already mentioned all the best things that I loved about it but there's also something that I liked about this book. Just after disappointing me with that love triangle element, the author thrilled me the way she changed the course of the story. The most favorite part that has me the most goosebumps was when Marina discovered the train that travels in all the dimensions.

Here's why I will recommend this book:
I am impressed by the author's knowledge of the parallel universe and the way realities function in it. She thoroughly presented the ideas and put them into action very smoothly. It was gripping and very fast pace and every time the world or realities changed, it brought some kind of newness to the book. It can be a good read for someone who has interests in time travel and parallel worlds.

this read like a wattpad book. it was extremely melodramatic, especially the love story. still, I had a pretty good time reading it. the plot was quite predictable, but I actually enjoyed spending time with the characters. I also thought the setting was really unique. this is a book I would buy for a middle schooler and I think they would really enjoy it. in terms of wattpad books I've read, this one is pretty middle of the road.

I am almost on the wall with this one! It scraped 3 and that's not because I didnt like it but because as great and fast paced as the story was I just couldn't bond with the characters.

Mariana comes across almost childish and I didnt mind that at first as I assumed there would be room for growth but sadly there was none at all, for any of the characters and that can make or break a story for me, if i feel like a Im unble to relate or bond with the characters I really struggle to read and with Down World I kept reading merely because of the plot, its so fast paced that it keeps you there and wanting to read more.

If you enjoy fast reads full of the thrill then this is great for you

I read this book in just a couple of days as was sucked into the story! Marina is a young girl whose life was turned upside down when her brother Robbie was suddenly killed on the nearby train tracks. She is sent to a new school for a new start but that doesn’t put Robbie out of her mind, or out of her life.

Her crush on Brady (an older boy from school) leads her on a path of discoveries that she cannot turn back from. She is tangled up into Down World, disappearances, 3 doorways underneath the school, and versions of reality that are far worse than her own. Worse still, the planes of these realities are out of balance.

Can Marina stop these different worlds from merging, and what does she have to sacrifice to do so?

I loved the premise of this book and enjoyed the characters. However at times found myself wanting to have further clarity on things.

.Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! While it has a lot of the classic YA adventure style themes, the whole concept felt really clever and interesting, I was super intrigued by the possibility of how people could use the doors and Down World. I liked that the characters felt much more complicated and nuanced than the usual sort of 'heroes' of a story too. I definitely look forward to more from this author, if not more books set in this world.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's been four years but Marina O'Connell is still grieving the loss of her older brother.

Her new high school (East Township High) is on the grounds of an old military base and it hurts just a little every time she does something that her brother should have been by her side for.

While she may be "the new kid", she isn't blind. There's graffiti all over the school about the "DW" or the "Down World" and...she doesn't know what is up with it but it is weird.

Brady - the cute guy at her school - decides to help her out and brings her to the boiler room of the school.

There's three doors.

One labeled Yesterday. One labeled Today. One labeled Tomorrow.

She opens all three.

Yesterday and Tomorrow are bricked over...but Today?

Today opens a door into another world and her brother is in it.

Whewwwww! This was a weird one but a good one.

The characters well well-fleshed-out and interesting. I really liked Marina and the side characters held their ground.

The development worked really well in this book - it really felt like the characters grew from where they started.

The plot overshadowed all else and there were a few times that my heart was racing. There were areas that were confusing to me but the book rounded it out well.

The ending fit really well for the story.

thank you to netgalley for letting me review this book early. i am so glad i stumbled across this is the dashboard. i absolutely loved this one. i am a huge stranger things fan. i love watching scifi based shows. i normally dont read scifi though. but this cover and book description told me i must give it a try. loved it. it puts you in this whole new world and multiple universes. it is very fast paced. quick read cause you wont be able to put it down.

Though it took a couple chapters to really reel me in and get a feel for the story, Down World is easily amongst my top books now! I could hardly put it down once the story really started, and I found myself trying to figure out what would happen next to no avail. I really loved Marina as a character, and she felt like a relatable teenager that I grew fond of as the story went on. I loved the author’s way of revealing the complex personalities and hidden secrets of all the characters, but I especially loved Kieran. Marina’s discovery of what happened to her brother, Robbie, and uncovering the existence and deeply held secrets and complexities of the Down World was so entertaining.

The world building was also so amazing! The author really created a whole new world in a way I’ve never read before, yet it felt so familiar. The Down World itself was such a complex world full of mystery that I found myself wondering what more there could possibly be, and with every chapter there was more to find.

Overall, it’s safe to say I found the dystopian feel of this book to be my thing. I loved unraveling the mystery with Marina, and I found myself wishing I could never find the end of the book. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rebecca Phelps for giving me the opportunity to read Down World in exchange for an honest review, and I can’t wait to keep reading in this series!

I ended up DNFing this book after reading three chapters. I really don't even think it had anything to do with the author's writing. It just felt a little too contemporary and not enough sci fi, dystopian, weirdness for me. I also was really having a hard time caring about the main character. It might be a great book for someone else it definitely wasn't the right one for me.

If you like mysteries, sci-fi, and YA, Down World is a good fit. The teen protagonist Marina is trying to sort out the truth of her brother’s death and her mother’s disappearance in parallel universes and learns how these multiple dimensions are interwoven. Down World is a fast-paced read with plenty of twists; I found it hard to put down and look forward to book 2.

Imagine Stranger Things crossed with Back to the Future all tied together with teen angst and the guilt of loss and secrecy. That’s pretty much the premise of Down World.

This is the story of Marina, a girl who lost her brother to a train accident four years previously. She is starting her sophomore year at public school; having gone to private school previously.

As the story unfolds, we discover that the high school, formerly a military base, has portals to different planes deep in its bowels that people have been using for years to visit alternate realities. That’s where things start to get very interesting, and Marina’s world changes drastically.

Ms. Phelps does a great job at world building and character development in this quick read. The foibles of high school life, and the navigation of potential romance make the “normal” portions of this book seem very believable.

Where I was disappointed, however, were the leaps in trying to rush certain portions of the story along to get to the next waypoint. Concepts and situations were introduced, not really ever resolved, and that stuck with me. For me, there is a wide swath of the “Down World” story that would have benefited from a better introduction, or even just an in-story summary of the bigger situation. There were opportunities to expound on this, but it was a path just not taken.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read Down World!

What a story!
Rebecca Phelps' debut novel Down World is about a teenage girl named Marina. Her brother (and best friend) Robbie, has been killed by a train accident and Marina and her family struggle to move forward. She starts a new school and meets senior hunk, Brady, who helps her get situated to her new school. The school is a little odd--because it used to be a military base, it has corridors and hallways that make zero sense. When Marina stumbles upon a secret and initials DW, she becomes determined to seek the truth about her brother's death. Did his best friend, Kieran, truly push him or is there more to the story? This is definitely a sci-fi mystery that involves multiple dimensions, different realities, and one truth.

Is Robbie really dead? What is Kieran hiding? Why does it seem like the world is falling apart? It is up to Marina to latch on to reality before it disappears forever.

I really loved this. I did see the likeness to Stranger Things but it was different enough to still hold it's own. The author, Phelps, must have experience with loss or she really did her research. The way Phelps described the emotions and reactions to this devastating loss the family was going through was just so on the mark. I felt a connection to Marina's character the whole book even though she is so young, I felt like she was very truthfully described, very relatable. I definitely suggest this to scifi fans and YA fans!

This was well written and quite original. I was relieved to see that a novel up-voted on a social networking writing site (Wattpad) actually avoided many of the common YA cliches (though there's a fairly undramatic love triangle). The plot is complex and suspenseful, more SF than fantasy. The premise is intriguing, even if some of it doesn't entirely make sense and there are a few inconsistencies (that I will avoid detailing for the sake of spoilers). I enjoyed it very much, but confess that I was sorry to see that it's to be a trilogy. I thought the ending was effective and _was_ an ending. Opening up possibilities for further developments actually might enhance the aforementioned inconsistencies.