Honestly mediocre is the best word I can think of for this. I had some high hopes for this given all the hype I've heard for FT Lukens' books but this really didn't live up. It felt more like reading a draft of ideas rather than a finished product. There are some interesting concepts and sweet ideas but the execution just didn't do it for me. It just felt very simple. Each chapter would have some random conflict that would then be resolved in a few sentences along with some perky banter and I just really wanted to see things actually fleshed out. For example (spoiler alert but I'm going to try to keep it vague) at the end, there's an ode to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth that I absolutely *loved* and I was ready for that to at least be its own chapter but NOPE we get a handful of short paragraphs only. By the time I read the sentence "the trek to the portal didn't take long" I was ready to throw my phone across the room.

Unfortunately, I don’t think Lukens is the author for me. I really loved So This Is Ever After, but haven’t enjoyed their other books anywhere near as much.

In the case of Otherworldly, I DNF’d at 20%. I found it odd how often and unnecessarily pronouns were used- not in a “woke” way, but simply saying he/she/they way more than needed. Ex: “they grabbed their shirt and their backpack,” when it should be “they grabbed their shirt and backpack.” It made the writing very stilted and disjointed.

I am beyond thankful to NetGalley and McElderry Books for giving me the chance to read this amazing book!!!

Grumpy black cat + Sunshine golden retriever is perhaps one of my favorite combinations when it comes to pairings, and it’s the perfect way to describe Ellery and Knox.

Ellery is just trying to survive in a perpetually wintery corner of the world that has been forgotten by the goddess, trying to overcome their religious trauma (way too relatable in my opinion) when they literally bump into and save Knox.

And Knox who is a creation the goddess of the Other World had been serving his new human master, by helping her create an elixir of life had his world turned upside down when the Shades come to collect his master’s soul. No one will answer his questions so he runs from the Shades when he bumps into Ellery.

From there these two make a bargain to try and stop the eternal winter, and give Knox a taste of humanity that turns into something more as the two grow closer and closer.

This story kept me entertained from page one with its eclectic cast of characters, human or other, along with the way it pulls from myth and legends from all over. The most notable being Orpheus and Eurydice, but I’ll leave who is who up to you to find out.

The only thing that kept me from giving this 5 stars was me wishing we could have seen more time with Knox and Ellery spending time together before the climax happened. It felt very rushed at that point and I just wanted to see it expanded on. But for a YA novel it was the perfect length.

I’m so happy to have read this and I can’t wait for the next one.

YA 2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Romance about a skeptic and a familiar, a supernatural magical assistant, strike a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for.

5/5 stars: Lukens is a favorite author and their newest YA 2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Romance stand-alone doesn't disappoint. Featuring Ellery, seventeen-year-old non-believer, and Knox, the “hot weird guy” who they've been crushing on and just so happens to be a supernatural being from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who've made crossroads bargains. The two wind up striking their own crossroads deal for very different reasons; Ellery's: to find information about the perpetual winter; Knox's: to experience human life, only to get more than they bargained for. As always, Lukens' writing and character work is stellar; the characters are well-rounded, complex and yet remain incredibly likable. Ellery and Knox are each dealing with difficult things but by believing and trusting each other tackle them together. Plus they are just so dang adorable together. Plus I have to say Ellery's cousin Charley and her girlfriend Zada are a couple of gems, love them! While there are no OPS scenes, the romance is very flirty and swoony. While there are plenty of sweet and humorous moments, Lukens touches on some very serious topics; so take care and check the CWs. You won't want to miss this terrific read, highly recommend!

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I am a F.T. Lukens stan. Nothing but hits for 4 books. I live for everything they put out. I was super psyched when this book got announced and it lived up to the hype in my head. First, the cover is perfect. Beautiful and whoever does this art deserves the world and more.

I love found family books and yes this counts even if it is their actual family. Charley and Zada seemed cool as heck and I’d love to hang out with them. Ellery seemed grumpy at times and there were times I thought it came off as annoying, but I also recognize that behavior in my own personality and I have to sit back. Knox was fun and he seemed like such a sweet and loyal guy. I also love how golden his eyes are on the cover.

The way the supernatural beings were described were super cool too. I would love to know that the world is actually just full of strange little beings I can be friends with. I wish we could have seen even more of them.

I will ALWAYS cry when the ending is adorable and this did not disappoint. Magic and love always win for me.

This one was a bit of a rollercoaster of enjoyment tbh. I really liked the first and last thirds but the middle was so painfully dull for me I almost gave up on it.

I’m glad I didn’t, though. The ending with the ragtag team of otherworldly creatures coming together to rescue Knox was the best part of the book and I loved it so much!

Knox was such a sweet character. I loved his love of human life, his genuine excitement at experiencing mundane human things, his TV obsession. I loved everything about him, honestly, and his romance with Ellery was so sweet.

Ellery, I struggled with. Their prickly persona made sense but it still rubbed me the wrong way on more than one occasion. I didn’t really warm to them until the very end, which is a shame because they were totally badass at the end!

All in all, a mixed bag, but if you’re looking for a YA urban romantasy, or if you’re a fan of Luken’s other books, I do recommend giving this a go.

So, I read this book after another book I really liked and assumed I wouldn’t be into it. I wasn’t in the mood to read it and yet it still pulled me in and made me care so deeply for the characters. This is the second book by this author and I’m quickly becoming a fan. Knox was so sweet and kind I didn’t want to put it down. The way the characters fell is so natural and subtle. When the story ended I almost wished for a second part because it was that good. This book is a must read if you want an adventure that pulls at your heartstrings.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

4.5 Stars!

I was ecstatic to see a new F.T. Lukens book coming out this year and I knew I had to see if I could get the ARC! I received it!! Woo!!
This book centers around two adorable main characters with themes of found family and finding joy in tough situations. I mean, the setting is an area of the world that has been stuck in a perpetual winter for 5 years. Also nonbinary rep in an MC! Love to see it!

I read Spellbound last year and didn't find there was that much a difference between the two MC's but in Otherwordly, you could really feel the shift when you switched perspectives; I found that lovely.

Reading how much Knox longs to live in the human world because everything is new and exciting for him was a refreshing perspective for me, a 30-something human who feels quite burnt out on reality a lot of the time. His love for humans permeates who he is as a character and it really worked for me.

Ellery's internal conflict with their rocky relationship with his parents and current life situation will be relatable to many, and I appreciated their no-nonsense personality.

Honestly, this book was great, I just wish there was a bit more time to lead up to romantic climax. It felt like the two had all the feelings but not quiteeee enough experiences with each other to 100% sell me on their relationship. Ultimately though, still loved the book, would easily recommend it to many in my life.

Thank you very much to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing and NetGalley, for this ARC!

A skeptic and a supernatural make a crossroads deal only they find themselves getting more than they could have ever bargained for, from falling in love, running from supernatural shades, trying to find a Goddess, and learning to enjoy the little moments. This was a touch of Hades and Persephone with a bit of Orpheus's story all mixed in with queer teen modern day romance in the best way possible. Ellery is a seventeen year old non-believer in a place where people believe the supernatural are real. Ellery gave up believing in the Goddess after they've been stuck in a five-year winter that has destroyed and ruined so much, particularly impacting their own family. Ellery works day and night to just make ends meet to send money to their family while living with their cousin and their cousin's girlfriend. Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. It's been years since Knox heard from his queen and after his last deal resulted in his charge creating the elixir of life and then being promptly taken... Knox ran away with the elixir in a panic and runs into Ellery in an alley. Ellery rescues Knox from the shades who wanted to abduct him and when Knox reveals who he truly is to Ellery they enter into a bargain: Knox will help Ellery find a way to end the winter and help them find a way to contact his queen (the very same Goddess in charge of the seasons and crops that abandoned Ellery) if he can and in exchange Ellery will become Knox's new tether to the human world as he needs a tether to work his magic. Knox begins living with Ellery and her cousin and for the first time he begins to actually experience life, having lived vicariously through tv shows and movies all his life he finally gets a chance to just be a teen. Knox's condition means anytime he returns to the Other World he loses his memory of the human one. The more time Knox spends with Ellery the more romance begins to bloom... yet when the truth of what is causing the winter reveals itself and the shades chasing after the elixir of life and Knox finally catch up... can Ellery save Knox before he is lost to them permanently? This was a magical and fun time, I loved the romance and the friendships in this story so much. It' was a really sweet read and I loved how everything wrapped up in the end. The story was a fun time and the characters were all well fleshed out. It's honestly a quick and easy read and you find yourself zooming through it to see how it all ends. I would absolutely recommend this for anyone looking for a magical queer read with a fun cast of characters and a modern day magical world and romance!

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I typically love anything written by FT Lukens, but Otherworldly was unfortunately a little underwhelming for me. While I loved the wintery/snowy setting and characters (especially Knox), the overall romantic element between the two kind of flopped for me.

Otherworldly makes my fourth read by F.T. Lukens and I think I can firmly say that they are the master of a low-stakes cozy young adult fantasy. All of the novels have a warm feeling around them and Otherworldly is no different. I enjoyed the found family vibes, the sunshine x grumpy aspects to the main relationship, and the fun of having an immortal obsessed with teen dramas living out his dreams.

Otherworldly touches on things like climate change, skepticism towards religion, found family, and prioritizing your mental health over the needs of others. It doesn't go into them as deeply as other books would, but they are there. There is also some really nice Non-Binary representation in Ellery. They're the grumpy aspect to Knox's golden retriever energy and I think they balance out nicely. I just wish the pacing had been a bit quicker so we could have had more cute moments with the two of them before the plot got in the way.

Overall, I think if you liked Spell Bound, you have a pretty good chance of enjoying this. Ellery and Knox are cute, it’s a fun supernatural world, and there is an Orpheus and Eurydice moment if you’re into that sort of thing. If you’re looking for something more serious and hard-hitting, but still queer, this is not it. This is low-stakes (though it may not always appear that way), warm and fuzzy. You go into this for the cute. Also, the cover is gorgeous. The covers keep pulling me in, however, once I get started I’m usually happy to be there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this novel, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you for the e-arc.

I think FT Lukens' books just aren't for me, unfortunately. This is the third I've tried, and while they're cute and charming, I always leave feeling that the execution didn't dive as deep as the premise's potential. That being said, I understand why the books have sold well and are popular among readers.

Light-hearted, cozy, and low-stakes with plenty of banter. I'd recommend to fans of Heartstopper looking to expand into fantasy.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was my first dive into a F.T. Lukens's book, and I was NOT disappointed! It started out a little slow, but I really fell in love with the characters, and their journey. The romance was incredibly well done, and the entire book had a cozy feeling, which helped make it a quick read. Can't wait to make my way through more of their books, I'm hooked!! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

4.5 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC!

I truly loved this book. Like. It was soft and sweet for the majority of the story with a little adventure and a little danger sprinkled in. I do wish that Ellery hadn't been thrown into the damsel in distress role for a lot of the danger, but I'll forgive Lukens for that. Knox was a pretty great hero.

I also loved the relationship between Ellery, Charley, and Zada. I love that their bond never wavered and not a single thought of "oh they hate me" rolled through their mind. I also love that for their backstory, we were mostly told instead of shown. We don't need to know how they left their family. We just need to know that was their life before and this is their life now.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, & Margaret K. McElderry Books for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

It pains me to say that my rollercoaster with F.T. Lukens’ novels continues.

I’ve read everything they’ve published so far, with my favorite being So This Is Ever After, which was actually my first 5-star read of 2024, in January! However, with how middling my feelings have been about their previous novels, I tempered my expectations going into this. To be clear: this is a finely written book, with sweet queer/non-binary representation, and is a cozy, fast-paced read for fans of light urban fantasy. This will definitely appeal to some people, but it fell below expectations for me.
I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of Lukens’s books that their style of writing tends to lean “straightforward”; with little to no prose, succinct, and very easy to read. I don’t mind that and appreciate it every so often between denser books. I think their writing style feels very appropriate for the genres and categories they write in. However, for this particular book, it felt much more spoon-fed-y than usual. Very much like: “They went to door. They picked up their keys and left. Then they went to their car, got in, and started up the car.” Which felt very out of the norm for Lukens and was surprised to see that kind of writing quality here. It felt like the type of writing you do when need to meet a word count minimum on an essay, which is something I don’t love to see in the books I read.

In terms of the concept for this novel, I’d say it was a just fine execution of the idea. A skeptic and and a magical familiar make an unlikely duo, creating a bargain in order to figure out the mystery of a five-year frost that has taken over the city their in. Great concept, and a good hook. The prologue and first chapter did such an excellent job of creating the atmosphere. It was magical and mysterious and got me pulled in. Ellery’s introduction in the first chapter was a welcome change of pace from previous characters in Lukens’s novels; Ellery is their most pessimistic by far, in my opinion, and was set up to be a great contrast to Knox. However, after the prologue and first chapter, things start stagnating. The atmosphere Lukens sets up seems to disappear while Knox and Ellery become less compelling. Great setup, with little payoff.

The plot was…confusing? Confusing as in, my expectations were not the reality. I came into this novel expecting to follow a story that was much more high stakes (though, that’s not really Lukens’ MO from what I observed, so I don’t know why I expected that) and this ended up feeling like more of a cozy story. It felt high stakes in the beginning when Knox is in danger, and once the bargain is struck between Knox and Ellery, it’s kinda just us as the readers following them around as check things off the bargain list. Which, yeah, that’s the point, but also, weird to set up high stakes and then forget about them until the end. Which, by the way, we get sort of Eurydice and Orpheus-eqsue towards the end which is random! I did gasp a little bit at that, I won’t lie, but also, very random.

However, one thing I really appreciated this time around with F.T. Lukens is that their side characters were much more distinct and present in this book! I’ve struggled to connect to some of their side characters, and a lot of them have been wildly underdeveloped (I’m looking at you, random babysitter from the last 30% of Spell Bound. I don’t even remember your name.) But! I could very clearly see who Charley, Zada, Lorelai, Bram, and even Hale were! They brought color and life to the world, and that was great to see.

Ultimately, while this has some excellent improvements from previous novels F.T. Lukens has written, it fell short for me in so many ways, especially in their writing. This is certainly an anomaly for me, and I hope their future books resonate with me more. Again: if you want a lighthearted, romance-focused urban fantasy, with queer/non-binary representation, this will probably work better for you.

This just wasn't for me, Very slow in my opinion. Thank you net gallery and the publisher for letting me read this.
Had to dnf.

This definitely a solid for 4 star book, I think that the romance was nicely done. I really did enjoy Knox’s character a lot even though I did find his love interest, Ellery to be too pessimistic at time which is why I think it took me a bit to get into the story since it did have dual POVs. I liked how the ending of the story was paced out nicely so it did not feel rushed at all. I do which we had gotten to explore more of the Other World, but overall this was a nice fantasy love story and I loved the representation.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review,

F.T. Lukens is such a good writer. To take ordinary people and put them in this magnificent circumstances and watch them stumble and thrive is a feat. This one was such a fun read with high stakes in a campy environment that made it feel like fun. It's not a middle grade story, but it has some of the vibes of those books or adventure and a journey full of twists and tricks.

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.

Got an arc from netgalley and i was to review it honestly. Fun as alwaye from F T Lukens, loved reading about knox and Ellery and their little adventures (ALSO finding love i think love is neat)
Honestly it's still missing something in deeper waters had and for that i gave it 3 stars but it's still an enjoyable medium paced story with beautiful worlds(yay!) and wording<3

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Margaret K. McElderry Books, for the chance of reading this book in exchange of an honest review.

Ellery is a seventeen years old and they are a skeptic in a place where everyone believes in gods and goddesses. Living in a city cursed five year winter, they are sure there must be a scientific explanation, or the supernatural abandoned them to scrap by, like Ellery's family and farm, forcing him to move to the city in order to help it.
Knox is a familiar and he lives in the Other World. He has to assist humans who made crossroad bargains, but when his charge is murdered at the end of one, he escapes in order to live his own life in the outside world. Without any news from his queen, fearing his coming back home, Knox is determined to live a bit, before facing the consequence of his actions, hiding from the demons bent of catching him, he meets Ellery. Ellery's world and beliefs are turned upside down when they meets Knox, saving him from supernatural being bent of kidnapping him and in order to tether him to the earth realm, they make a deal. Ellery will help him experience humans things and Knox will find a way to stop the winter in the region and help Ellery's family and farm.
But the growing connection between them will change everything.

Otherworldly is a lovely supernatural romantic story between a skeptic and a supernatural being and I loved every single page of it. The story is told by Ellery's and Know's POVs and I was so in love with everything. F.T. Lukens wrote a story set in a place cursed by a supernatural winter and a young Ellery, forced to move to the city in order to help their family's farm and their being cautious, skeptic and struggling with thoughts, anxiety and duty. Everything is changed when they meets a supernatural entity, Knox and the whole world of beliefs is turned upside down.
I loved how the author was able to describe Ellery's sense of duty, their rage and vulnerability, their feeling trapped and too responsible for their own age. feeling to be too much, too of a burden to their cousin and her girlfriend and their, slowly, realizing how much they are loved and cared for.
Knox, on the other hand, comes from a place of duty and rules and his desire to experience human things, things he learned from TV movies or series, brings him to be more and more confident in himself and in what he deserves.
F.T. Lukens wrote a romantic story about two young people falling in love, growing up and their psycological journey is mixed with a physical ones and I truly loved how the supernatural is mixed with the "normal" life.
A wonderful and brilliant story!