Read this because it was the Once Upon a Book Club selection and I actually enjoyed it despite some of the frustrating plot holes or flaws in the logic of how the down world worked. The explanations of how it worked just had too much going on in my opinion. While I liked that it wasn’t a traditional happy ending where everything is okay and back the way it should be, it still seems overly complicated. ( )

Marina lost her brother 4 years ago in an accident on the train tracks and now she is about to start as a Senior at the local government school. The school is on the site of an old military base and she befriends a cool boy who somehow shows her the entrance to the DW (Downworld) - three doors in the basement labelled "yesterday", "today", & "tomorrow". Marina goes into the only one not bricked up "Today" and finds a version of her life where her brother is still alive - she comes back but soon realises going into Downworld is addictive - and when a girl in town disappears , Mariana also learns that there is a price to be paid for these visits.

A fairly complex yet satisfying science fiction novel that I think teens will enjoy as it logically makes sense for the most part. I did find the end bit with the hippy commune a little strange and wasn't sure that I quite understood what was going on at the end but I think it will reach a teenage audience with its romance undercurrent and twists and turns of betrayal as well as the teens trapped in a science fiction world no-one believe element. ( )

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.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/book-birthday-review-dow... ( )

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.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I'm not usually a fan of horror or spooky reads, but this one borders along the lines of mystery, science fiction and a touch of high school romance, too. That balanced out the darker side just a bit. But yes, this is creepy.

After switching schools for the years after her brother's sudden death, Marina returns to her earlier school and students she once knew but has drifted more than a little bit apart from. She immediately meets Brady and finds herself drawn to him. She also notices the letters DW engraved or graffitied everywhere. After watching Brady accompany a girl, who takes off on a train and doesn't return but is claimed missing soon after, she wonders what's going on. When she finds doors in the school's basement marked present, past, and today with only today not bricked closed, she's soon swept off to an alternate reality. Brady and others have already been visiting it, but what it holds may be more than any of them can handle.

This one starts with a bang and doesn't let go the entire way through. Something unexpected happens around every corner, and the mysteries pile up quick. Add the rich world building and hints of science fiction, and there's never a boring moment...barely time to breathe. That drives this read forward and makes it quick and easy to digest. It also left a few spots in a little bit of blur on the logic end, but these passed as fast as they came.

The world building is also well done and was more than just a little intriguing. The flip-flop with the alternate world...one based more on reality (no aliens or anything)...was well woven with more than a few chills and spooky thrills.

The characters offered a variety of personalities, and there was quite a bit of potential on this end, but these didn't sit quite as well for me as the rest of the book. Much of this was due to the very fast-pace. Little time was spent on allowing the characters to gain depth or even allow relationships to truly build. Characters follow other characters or suddenly entrust them with supposed secrets without any real reason to do so. This was also noticeable on the general character arcs, which offered little development.

But for those who love action pure with chills and goosebumps and amazing parallel worlds, this is definitely a read and an exciting ride.

I received an ARC and enjoyed the dive into the darker, alternate reality. ( )