Wow, this book is excellent. Terrifically imaginative, slightly sad, and wholly human.

At fifteen years old, Marina O'Connell is still learning to navigate a world overshadowed by the death of her brother, Robbie. Her entire world was shook when his best friend, Kieren, pushed him in front of a train four years ago. She had always been close to her brother's friends, but now they went to great lengths to avoid each other. Her parents even transferred her to a private school to keep her distanced from her brother's friends and their mischievous adventures. But when her father loses his job, private school tuition is suddenly an impossibility and she ends up at the local high school with Kieren. There, he and her new friend, Brady reluctantly introduce her to a new world down below where maybe, just maybe, she can see Robbie again.

Marina is sharp and caring, simultaneously childish and fiercely an adult, in the most beautiful way that teenagers truly inhabit both of those spaces. The way she navigates her feelings for others in the novel is compassionate and connection-oriented, not driven by the teenage lust that seems to permeate most YA novels. She is truly the warrior her mother makes her out to be, and an easy heroine to get behind.

The world of DW is fantastically complex and yet bound by heavy realism. It is well-considered, multi-layered, and on the whole, exceptionally consistent. Every chapter brings new developments in how the world came to be and how it operates, what it means for Marina and her friends, and what the price is to restore the world to its nostalgic baseline as you know it--if it's even possible. And the conclusion to this story is so believable and complete that the few minor plot holes and unfollowed threads that had risen up just melt away.

Truly a phenomenal story that I enjoyed thoroughly as an adult and would readily recommend to just about any teenager as well. I've already recommended it to many of my friends.

As an aside, the kindle edition does have some weird formatting issues, but nothing too distracting.

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.- Goodreads

I DNF this book. For starters, there is way too much inner monologue. When authors decide to stay in the MC's head for chapters at a time, it gets boring and stale. The other reason why I DNF this book is because the MC was just not likeable. You don't follow someone who is having private moments with someone else just on a wimp and because you like them and then feel some type of way when they are upset with that you saw or didn't see. Her actions made no sense and there wasn't a lot of accountability either.

I tried to read this book. I put it down and picked it up but it was not for me.

Content warning: death

The writing in this book was lovely - the descriptions made it clear about the dystopian style the author was going for, and it made reading about the down worlds interesting. However, my main issue lies with the structure and plot of the book. It was very jumpy, almost as if it were going for a quick pace but was unsuccessful in doing so. I found it hard to really engage in the plot and be interested in it because half of the time, I didn't fully understand what was going on.

As for the characters, I didn't seem to care for any of them. In the first few pages of the book, our main character declares herself in love with someone she just met, and then goes on to try and convince him to leave his girlfriend of multiple years for her: she was just unlikeable. She also seemed to always know everything, which was frustrating to read. How did someone who has only just been introduced to the down worlds suddenly know everything about them and how to deal with them?

Ultimately, I think I was just not a right fit for this book. I think the author had a good premise, but ultimately failed in the execution.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book and am truly saddened that it fell slightly flat for me. This book started off interesting but quickly took a turn for the boring. The plot was interesting but the characters just didn't do it for me unfortunately.

I got a digital copy of this book to review from Netgalley. I was intrigued by the title of the book and the cover image. Unfortunately it set an expectation of Stranger Things even before I started with the first page. In reality it is so much different from Stranger Things. I liked the style of Rebecca's writing - so much that it mirrored my way of thinking - too many questions running in the mind, but then there is the need to act as well.
I loved the storyline, and it kept me guessing and when I thought the story will end it would carry on with another part. I couldn't put it down and finished it in two sittings. The scientific curiosity generated by the author kept me moving on.
All in all I would recommend the book for everyone who is interested in science fiction, fantasy style.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book! Looking forward to more.

#DownWorld #NetGalley

I received a copy of this title from Netgalley, jn exchange for an honest review.

Wow, from the first page, I was hooked. Down World is such a unique read, it transports you into a place where multiple universes aren't something to be messed with. And how they can change everything.

I love our protagonist. She is brave and funny and honest. She has survived so much in her short life and you can see that it grates on her. Kieran is amazing too, in the beginning I was team Brady, but once we got to know Kieran, I was sold. He is stoic and gentle and kind. Not to mention fiercely protective.

Down World is fast paced and well written. If sci-fi is your go to, then pick up this book.

This one is a twisty book, You will have to pay attention in order to understand everything going on. At first I was getting very annoyed that M knew the name DownWorld without ever being told, while at the same time she knew nothing about it. I honestly was driving me nuts how she would seem to know things without ever being told, but at the same time kept going on and on about knowing nothing. The mystics response to these kids coming in and out annoyed me. The secretive and vague responses made me want to throttle them. I guess we know how the kids felt, huh?
all in all an enjoyable book to read once. probably wont be a repeat read

This is a portal fantasy set mostly in modern times. There were times in this story it was edging into 5 star territory for me, and other times it was more like a 3 star, so I settled on 4 star for the overall experience. Because of the setting, I feel like the characters were more relatable then a more stereotypical portal fantasy set some time in the past. The feel of the story of a whole screamed Netflix adaptation to me, in that the characters were young adults/older teenagers, mild sci-fi/fantasy premise mixed in with family and personal drama. I liked how the story spun out the mystery in pieces, building into a more full reveal as the book went along-the pacing of that was great. There were times at the beginning of the book where I definitely wanted to say that the book shouldn't only be marketed as young adult, as me, middle aged man, was really enjoying it, but I think because the protagonist was a 10th grader teen, I totally get it. I would just tell people who like portal fantasies to not be 'scared' off by the young adult moniker.
I found myself engrossed for most of the book, but lost some investment during the resolution, which felt a bit rushed or untidy. I can't really put my finger on it as it was satisfying but my personal reaction took me out of the flow a bit. This is a talented writer, and I thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley, who provided an e-copy of the story in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

This book had such an interesting premise but when it got right down to it, I couldn't get into the book. The characters fell flat fast and at the beginning I couldn't even get into them because no one acts the way they did. It threw me. The ideas of changes made in one reality would affect the main realty was something I really wanted to love but overall it was sort of impossible for me. Also, making all the struggle sort of pointless was a let down.

I do appreciate the scientific explanation for what was going on but I'm not sure how well researched it was. It came across as hard to follow and sort of took me out of the story.

It wasn't a long read for me and that's always a bonus but there were just too many things I couldn't connect with and with characters feeling flat, the struggle sort of being undone, and a few other problems, I can
t rate it higher. I absolutely loved the premise and hope to see more from this author soon.

Marina's brother died 14 years ago, and nothing really seems to make sense anymore. Not at least until she goes to high school and meets Brady, a boy she inmediately falls in love with. But this is not an ordinary love story and it definitely is not an ordinary high school, so things start to complicate soon after. She first finds some notes regarding something called DW, which some people seems to know about but prefere not to tell in order to not put her in danger (Kieren, who was there when Brady had his accident, Brady himself); then she follows Brady to the train station and in return he shows her a door in the high school basement that seems to lead to another dimension... And it all seems somehow connected to Robbie's, his brother's, death.

Down World is a very interesting title among young adult fiction. The plot is highly original and almost all its pieces seem to e very well thought and connected (The scientific explanation is a complete mess which would be better out, and I'm always of the opinion that no story with dimensions/time travel could ever be perfect, paradoxes and all that)
Apart from that, I think it is quite refreshing that, at least so far, romance/ choosing between two lovers dynamic does not really fuel the story but just appear as very light brushes thorought the always more interesting story..

It is true, however, that the characters could be better designed or given more depth. Some examples are more clear than others (Piper comes to mind), but on the other hand this simplicity makes it easier for the reader to really imagine how they are almost from the beginning, which makes it easy to concentrate in all the levels of the plot. The story paces in an irregular pace, with some fragments being amazing and some others dragging for pages and pages, There are also moments where too many twists and turns could make one lost. Anyway, this could be made in purpose, a là Dark (the Netflix tv series), with which it shares a lot more than what it seems at first glance, and did not specially bother me.

The idea of the dimensions is really well put as well, but it lacks the big climax one expects once things start to get... messy. The idea of the train to nowhere could be better used as well, but it did say Book 1 of the Down World Series back in Wattpad, so maybe they will revisit the idea in the future.

To sum up, and even with the parts of it that make you claim for the missed opportunity of having a great young adult novel in your hands (and, at the same time, bearing in mind that this is a first novel, which means the author has room for improvement and could easily surprise everyone with her next novel), this is an unique addition to the young adult aisle, one that could eally reach a great variety of readers given the opportunity

Down World is a sci-fi thriller targeted towards young adult (YA) readers. It follows the adventures of Marina, a young student, as she transfers as a sophomore into a new high school in her hometown. Three years prior, Marina lost a beloved brother to a fatal railroad train accident. Now a stranger in her own town, lost in a weird disconnected school patched together from old military buildings, she tries to find her way to her first class. Of course, she just happens to meet a cute new boy, a senior, who volunteers to help her get there. As you might surmise, we readers are now on our way to the action promised by the title! Oh, and, by the way, the school site was once a secret military laboratory that researched certain odd space-time effects of nuclear reactions.

To avoid spoilers, I will skip further plot details and share some general thoughts and feelings about the story and the characters.

The farther you get into the book, the weirder, stranger, and even creepier it gets, but in a good way. It's not a twisted Halloween kind of feeling. As I kept on reading, I found myself recalling a TV series that the intended readers, young adults, may never have experienced: “The Twilight Zone.” It was one of my all-time favorite TV series. Each show presented a highly unusual and thought-provoking story, usually featuring plots that twisted your brain and left you with a sense of wonder. To me, Down World is like a novel-length upgrade of one of those stories, one that should qualify for several awards.

I found the characters to be entirely appropriate for the intended audience. They were believable. The adolescents were adolescent and the adults were adults. I personally might have wanted to see more development in a couple of them; but, author Rebecca Phelps artfully fit in enough description to give the reader a clear picture of each character without destroying the flow of the action.

The relationships among the characters are really the heart of the novel. I found them quite intriguing and important to the plot. There are many surprises for the reader as the tale evolves. Phelps presented all romantic encounters in the story well within the boundaries of the intended readership.

In summary, I fully understand why Wattpad Books gave a very respectable award to Rebecca Phelps for Down World and also selected it for publication. Job well done!

Strongly recommended!

**Special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.**

This book started off interesting but soon trailed off because it lagged and dragged and I found myself not wanting to go any further. I always feel guilty when I can't give a book more than two stars - a great effort and the plot/idea was interesting enough, I just couldn't get into the characters.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This is a hard book to rate it’s a soft 3 but I can’t bring myself to mark it that way in the official tally.

“Dark World” follows Marina as she works to overcome the grief of losing her brother when he mysteriously died on the train tracks when he was 14 and when she returns to high school she finds notes written about something called the DW and finds herself face to face with the possibility of finding out what happened to her brother that night and faces the consequences of what it means to mess with fate.

I think this was a nice idea that needed a little more ironing out especially when it came to the science. I appreciate the attempt to explain this odd occurrence and parallel universes as a whole with actual science, whether any of it is based on fact I don’t know, but it was nice to see that effort however it was hard to follow.

The back and forth between entering this world and how it could affect the “main” reality was fascinating especially when it all began to unravel though I am sad that with the ending it made it so that it was all pointless and what the characters truly wanted was erased entirely which sets a lot of their own growth/arcs back quite a bit.

That being said I think the characters were extremely lacking in actual depth at times the main character and the female characters in general came across as very childlike apart from the mother who even when she was center stage never had too much to do other than be a commanding presence for a few beats before shuffling offscreen which was a shame.

I don’t know what to make of this one there were a lot of those Buffy the Vampire Slayer “Dopplegangland” meets Flatliners like moments which I think could have been something if the character work was handled better but unfortunately I can’t judge it on potential.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**