I just could not get into this book. The characters had no development. The reasoning behind why events were happening weren't discussed very much. I couldn't make myself finish the book because I just disn't care about what was happening.

Thank you for providing a copy of this book for review however I was unable to open the file for this document unfortunately! Apologies.

* I received this book on Netgalley for an honest review* This was a rough book to finish. I used to see negative reviews on books and didn't truly understand how anyone couldn't find something to appreciate about a novel, but now I understand. I believe the main premise held SO much promise: guy loses father at an early age under suspicious circumstances only later to find out he's not wonky alive but leading a revolt in another world. It was just the execution of the story and those characters that really didn't have any spark to maintain a connection. Hopefully, the author will be able to spin a better world in the next installment because like I said the main premise was SO good and I truly had high hopes for it.

DNF Review - I haven't heard much about this book. I requested it when I was in a big reading slump and basically was requesting anything that seemed vaguely interesting. I didn't realize it was part of a series, and I don't want to commit to that. It also seems too short to deal with the multitude of things the synopsis seems to be alluding to and I just generally don't feel like reading this when I have so many other books I'd rather read.

I really tried to enjoy this unfortunately it bored me halfway through, so I stopped reading.

Netgalley was nice enough to give me an arc of this novel and boy was I surprised!

Traveling to another dimension, this book took me on an adventure of a lifetime. This was such an interesting and different story and it had cliffhangers and plot twists around every corner! It was fantastic!

It was fast paced, fun, and I honestly fell in love with Leland as he found himself and found out who he really was deep down inside.

The world, story, and characters were so well written, I felt as if I was following right next to Leland.

A line that really hit me, that I think a lot about from this book and about real life is, "Where's your heart?" Leland asked Yoink firmly. "How can you kill so easily? These are lives!" It hit me right in the heart, I've thought exact thought before and it really hit home for me.

Leland and all of the characters in this novel really made me feel strongly in many different ways and it tug at every string in my heart.

I praise you A.S. Altabtabai, honestly. You wrote a stunningly unique novel and I can not wait to read more from you!

Even though I’m a Slytherin, I don’t really enjoy being mean. But sometimes you just have to…

This was the story of Leland. Leland has lost his father when he was seven. The story starts when he’s seventeen and thinks he’s going insane, mostly because he’s been hearing voices… (and we all know that “hearing voices no one else can hear isn’t a good sign, even in the wizarding world.”)
But Leland apparently doesn’t know that, because he listens to the voices and goes to the basement on their instructions. He is then transported to another planet, along with his two best friends.

Let’s get the good things out of the way, shall we?
I liked the world in this book. It was interesting, original and pretty well brought up…

However, the plot was slow, predictable and somewhat cliché. There were so many point of views that it lost me too, a lot of them seemed useless and it rendered the plot even messier…

The writing seemed kinda immature at times and my eye turned upward in the sockets on their own…
An example, you say? Here is is :

“ Where’s your heart? ” Leland asked Yoink firmly. “ How can you kill so easily? These are lives! ”

Also we had the main characters screaming “Die!” before trying to kill someone.. I mean… Come on…

There was some useless gore and aggressivity too… For example, at some point, we get the point of view of some dude just so we can find out exactly how he gets tortured and dies… That chapter was as useless as they come… Except maybe for shock value?

I saw some sexism too… Despite the fact that all the soldiers are men, while the nurses are all women; there was this moment, where Leland is thinking of how his father is gone :

“He missed the presence of a family leader. Leland wasn’t just a seventeen- year- old spoiled kid; he was a son and a father- figure and a brother all in one.”

I’m sorry? Can’t women be family leaders?! Beside being disgustingly heteronormative, it’s also utterly sexist… A mother is a family leader for fuck’s sake!

Finally, the characters were two dimensional, it was impossible to form a connection, they were deeply unlikeable and uninteresting...

Basically, this brought no feelings (except annoyance?) throughout the whole thing... I simply didn’t care. At all.

This book was like nothing I've ever read before! A must read! Read it and pass it on!

Really enjoyable read, loved the cliffhanger reveal at the end. Even though I thought that would happen, but still liked it.

When I first read the blurb of this book, I thought that it was a middle-grade novel. The characters didn't sound like they were seventeen and the plot itself sounded like it was for younger readers. Let me just clarify this right now, this book is for older readers and I would definitely not recommend it to middle-grade children because of its mature content and gore.What seventeen-year-old Leland finds in the abandoned basement of his house is something he will never forget.

Leland lost his father when he was seven. Since then, he has successfully adapted to the awful life of being a student, the man of the house, and a father figure to his two younger siblings. All of that changes when he and his best friends stumble upon a secret in his deserted basement, and fall into another dimension with three moons, foggy woods, and an ancient castle-Oremanta.

Learning who he really is, how he came to this remote planet, and the shocking, ugly mystery of Oremanta aren't as bad as the quest he finds himself obligated to complete-killing someone he never thought he'd meet in Oremanta to save everyone.

As aforementioned, when I first started reading this book, I did think that the characters were younger than seventeen but when I was introduced to their every day environments, I quickly realised that I was wrong. The story instantly caught my attention; it had this very dark underlying theme to it at the beginning of the book and there's one scene that seemed just like it had stepped out of a horror movie like The Grudge.

Then, as the story begins to develop, we are sent to another galaxy and I found the world so interesting. It reminded me of Game of Thrones in the sense where you shouldn't really get attached to any of the characters because, without spoiling anything for you, let me just say that a lot of people die in this book... like... a lot. As soon as I had gotten over one death, I was mourning the next, it was crazy. And I do feel like that craziness is one of this book's downfalls. In some parts, the plot was just way too quick and I couldn't keep up with what was going on.





"In this life, we lose people we love, and we endure a lot of hardships. What I've learned in those years is that emotions are dangerous. When you lose something you loved, it's the memories that remain, and they haunt and suffocate and bury you alive. But it doesn't really matter. What counts is what you did during that time. Were you able to carry on? Were you able to keep on living? As long as you're keeping the necessary elements in your life alive, it doesn't matter what brutal realities you go through."

- A.S Altabtabai, Nostalgic Rain: Galaxies Away






However, another thing that I absolutely loved about this book was that with every chapter, the POV changed, so we got to see different sides of the war, different character's opinions and their strength and weaknesses. Which brings me onto my next point: the characters were enjoyable to read, sometimes they came across as a bit flat, but most of the time, they seemed like well-rounded characters. Leland annoyed me sometimes; I feel like he got a bit 'too-big-for-his-boots' at times and pushed Jennifer aside when he didn't need her. Also, I didn't see the point in Jennifer actually staying behind when Leland went on his adventure? If it was because she was supposed to have her own character arc whilst he was away, that didn't really pan out did it, to be honest... So, when Leland and all of the other male characters wanted Jennifer to stay in the Castle, I just got angry.

But...! THAT ENDING! WHAT IS GOING ON THERE?! Is there going to be a second book? Because I really need to see what that ending is all about because I literally finished the book with question marks hanging over my head.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book to read. It did have its problems like the ones I have mentioned above, but it's such a thrilling, gory, and exciting read. Remember, it may read like a middle-grade novel, but the content is bloody and stabby stabby most of the time!

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Released 1st July

Nostalgic Rain is a spectacular debut for A.S. Altabtabai will take you on a journey in another dimension.

Seventeen year old Leland has been the man of the house ever since his father’s passing. One day he stumbles upon secrets in his basement that will uncover his shocking truth, falling into a world of Oremanta. Leland and his friends embark upon a bittersweet quest of legend and bravery.

"Fear can paralyze one's mind and create thousands of fake barriers"

Nostalgic Rain is perhaps one of the most elegantly written book. The author seamlessly creates a new world with just enough words. All the characters are cleverly developed, especially Leland as we experience his growth while he is facing his blood ordained destiny. With great plot twists and cliff-hangers at the end……We are left craving for more. Book 2.

"Good men want to change the world, but hurt men are the ones who actually change it."

Thank you Netgalley and A.S. Altabtabai for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

I received an ARC copy of this book via Netgalley and the author in exchange for a fair review.

I wanted something original with this book but it also seemed familiar enough to have maybe certain things I could enjoy about it. It definitely didn't disappoint and I felt like this was a mashup of certain things but also fresh and entirely new in terms of world building and creation and was definitely new and welcome to read by a "new" author. The POV changes were hard to follow once I started but by the end I found them seemless. Will definitely be looking forward to a sequel.

The idea for this story is brilliant, and contained some brilliant ideas, with some intriguing mysteries to unravel. But I sadly couldn't get into this book, the writing style really wasn't for me. The pieces I wanted to have more detail, didn't have it, and the pieces that had detail didn't necessarily need it. I also couldn't warm to the characters either, which was a real shame. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but just couldn't get into it. It was a brilliant idea, but personally I felt it needed more padding out in places.

This book was an adventure! It delved into family, friendship, war, loyalty, etc, with suspense steadily building throughout. Despite an entertaining climax, I cannot help but await a sequel!