Sunderworld, Vol. I reads like a Harry Potter story set in an Alice in Wonderland world. I mean that in the best possible way. I absolutely adored this tale. It is empowering for any reader with low self esteem but it is also just pure fun!

Larry is a seventeen-year-old loser. He can’t seem to get anything in his life right. However, he does have his memories of his mother and the fantasy world of Sunder to escape to when his real life gets overwhelming. But what if Sunder is not just a cheesy old television show but instead a real hidden land nestled somewhere in Los Angeles? Will Larry be the hero he feels he should be there? Or is he just going to be disappointed again?

I truly loved Sunderworld, Vol. I. I both couldn’t stop reading it and didn’t want it to end. I can’t recommend it highly enough to both children and adults who want a little magic in their life. Hopeful Volume II will come out soon. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for Young Readers for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Following his beloved mother's death, fourteen-year-old Leopold Berry discovers discarded VHS tapes of a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld among his mother's effects. No one else seems to have ever heard of the show, but Leopold and his best friend Emmet enjoy creating their own fan episodes of the show. However, once Leopold begins having lifelike hallucinations that Sunder is bleeding into real-life Los Angeles, he and Emmet decide to end their pretend escapes into Sunder.

Now seventeen, Leopold has been deemed to be "remarkably unremarkable" and his academic coach reveals that Leopold is average in every way. However, his very remarkable hallucinations about Sunderworld have returned, and Leopold is convinced that the parallel world might really exist. With Emmet by his side, Leopold embarks on an adventure to uncover the truth behind Sunderworld and its mysterious connection to his mother.

The novel's greatest strength lies in its imaginative world-building. Riggs seamlessly blends the familiar streets of Los Angeles with the fantastical realm of Sunderworld, creating a unique and immersive experience. The city itself becomes a character, imbued with a sense of mystery and wonder.

However, while the setting is captivating, Leopold's character development felt somewhat limited. While his struggles with grief and self-doubt are relatable, his lack of any strong character traits made him difficult for me to connect with and really root for.

Additionally, I found the pacing of the novel to be uneven. The scavenger hunt sequence after the book's mid-point felt disruptive to the overall narrative. The sequence itself provides valuable backstory and further situates the reader to Leopold's LA. Introducing some of that information earlier through flashbacks or subtle hints could have smoothed out the flow.

Despite these shortcomings, Sunderworld offers a thrilling adventure for fans of urban fantasy and parallel worlds. The novel's imaginative setting, combined with its exploration of themes of loss and identity, make it a compelling read.

This review will be posted to Goodreads and Instagram (@goodquietkitty) on August 26, 2024.

This book would have had my younger self screaming! I love secret magic world books, and this one’s was perfect. Leopold “Larry” Berry is your average, run-of-the-mill teenager: “remarkably unremarkable.” In a note to readers, the author says his first book series (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children) was for, well, the peculiar kids. This one, though, is “for the normals, the absolutely average ones, the nothing-specials. The un-chosen.” And this alone had me rooting for Leopold. But then you learn how he lost his mother five years prior, and the pressure and scorn he receives from his father. So Leopold quickly became near and dear to my heart.

I loved that while this book has this secret portal fantasy world, there’s not so much world building that it slows down the pace. And it doesn’t follow the traditional “boy discovers he has secret powers and is going to save their world” narrative. This book was definitely a set-up book for the rest of the series, meaning there may have been a 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 cliff-hanger at the end. It definitely left me wanting more and excited to read the rest of the series, but not in an obnoxious way.

There were so many cute quirks in this book, it’s YA and a fast read, and makes LA seem like somewhere that magic is right there in plain view- if you just keep your eyes open. (I’ve never been but now I want to visit!) This is definitely one I’ll be recommending to any YA fantasy lovers, and anyone open to trying out that genre!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ransom Riggs for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry coming out August 27, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was definitely surprised to be approved for this book. I was excited to get it! I love his Miss Peregrine series. This was definitely in his usual writing style, but I loved that it was a fresh, new story. It was definitely an adventure of a book. It reminded me of a Wrinkle in Time in that it was a wild ride. I really enjoyed this story. It was weird and different. I loved the 90s feel. I would definitely read more in the series.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys unique stories!

I loved this book and am so excited for the rest of the series. It was reminiscent of childhood fantasy classics like The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, James and the Giant Peach, Percy Jackson, or even Harry Potter to some degree. But, unlike those other series, when the protagonist arrives in this fantasy world it seems to be falling apart.

I'm excited to see where it goes next.

Leopold Berry thought he had put and done away with childish things. His mom has passed away. He’s now living with an overbearing and self-important father who wants to map out every step of Leopold’s life. His friends are getting older and looking forward to their happier, brighter futures.

Leopold just spends every day in a daze, wondering if he’s losing his mind and if he’ll ever grow capable of standing up to his father. He just has this itch under his skin and in his hands telling him there’s something missing, or something is missing him, and he can’t go another minute without at least trying to figure out what’s humming inside of him.

From this point in Sunderworld, Vol. I, it’s an all-out roller coaster of urban fantasy, fantastic whimsy, a terrifically-constructed city layered over another city, great bits of Los Angeles lore, urban exploration, fun and imaginative world building, great pacing, teenagers acting like teenagers, explorations of grief, the beginnings of found family vibes, a fierce friendship, plenty of action, and a whole lot of fun secrets uncovered.

I wasn’t around for Riggs’ Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. Those came out while I was raising my kids, I think, and my kids weren’t readers (still aren’t). So I was only peripherally aware of Riggs as an author and his imaginative worldbuilding skills. This is why I wanted to read Sunderworld even though I knew it was going to skew toward a younger YA audience than I normally read. This book is labeled inside as being marketed towards those 14 and older, but I don’t believe in age-bracket marketing. I’m putting it here because someone reading this review might. I will say though that I think a kid as young as 10 or 12 could read this and be just fine.

I’m definitely sticking around for the next installment. This was a lot of fun to read and there are not enough books with whimsy in them, in my opinion. Give me all the whimsy.

I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Fantasy Series/First Book in a Fantasy Series/Urban Fantasy/YA Book Series/YA FantasyYA Fiction

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC of this book.

I had read the first couple of books of Miss Peregrine’s Home and really enjoyed them, the only reason I didn’t finish the series was life and my own attention span.

So I was really interested to read this book in a new series by the author.

The pacing was fast and sucked me in right off the bat. I enjoyed the premise and the characters. My only complaint is that it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. This book is definitely more of a world building and setting the stage for the rest of the series. I’d have liked a little more depth to it, but I’ll be anxiously awaiting the next book.

I was drawn in by the 90’s vibe, but wasn’t sure what to expect. Despite being beloved, this was my first book by Ransom Riggs. Though The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry started a bit slow for me, I was fully hooked after a few chapters. After ending on such a cliff hanger, I cannot wait for the next book in the Sunderworld series.

Thanks so much to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me this eARC to read. Wow, I blew through this novel in a matter of days and it's just Volume 1! Bring on Volume 2. Plenty of action, story development from the author of the Miss Peregrine series of young adult novels. So backstory still to unpack. Highly recommended.

This book really surprised me in a lot of ways and I loved it! I loved the character of Leopold and all of the things we learned about him on his journey. I'm a huge fan of the Miss Peregrine series and I'm thrilled to say that Ransom Riggs has hooked me with yet another story.

This book had its ups and downs for me, at some points making me lose sleep to find out what happens next and at other points feeling like nothing was actually happening for several pages at a time. The pacing isn't great, especially for the last several chapters when there are unnecessarily drawn-out scenes and a lot of details that feel like filler.
The story, though, makes all that worth the read. It has been over a week since I finished reading this, and I still have thoughts pop up randomly about it, wondering what the characters are up to or remembering certain parts. The world of Sunder is fascinating and really stuck with me. I never really understood the overlapping world scenario, or what's going on with that, but it's still entertaining to read about. I always love when books are set in L.A. since I live in the area, and I love specifically how this one draws attention to Angels Flight and Bunker Hill. I love that part of Downtown, and the history.
There's a mystery forming in the book, and my mind was racing to try and figure out the web behind the pages, who's responsible for what and how Leopold can ultimately set things right. Some seemingly "good guy" characters came off as a bit shady, and I'm curious about their motivations that I presume are nefarious. I would have enjoyed a book just about a boy discovering Sunder and exploring it, without major tragedy or drama that is going to unfold in this series, but I expect this mystery to be interesting as it's unraveled.
Other than the pacing mentioned already, I also would complain about the lack of magic use by the MC and people on his side. There's way less than I would have expected. I suppose it was this way in order for there to be more "disappointments" for Leopold Berry (per the title!), making it harder to escape predicaments, but I'd rather have seen more magic on his side. I think a lot of books do this, talking up magic and making the reader expect a character to have a lot of it, but not showing it much because it ups the stakes for them when they can't rely on magic. I understand the reasoning behind that way of writing, but I still want to see more magic!
I can't place my finger on the specific aspect that made me really into this story, but whatever it was, it overcame the negative feelings that I had from the inconsistent pacing and disappointing magic limitations. I very much look forward to reading future installments to find out what happens and have the mystery all made clear!

I'm so grateful to have gotten this ARC to read. I was really looking forward to this book, and was thrilled to read it a bit early.

This book initially drew me in because of it's awesome retro VHS cover, but it kept me there by taking me on a wild ride through Sunderworld. This YA urban fantasy was so much fun, but also deals with deeper topics like grief, friendship, and figuring out where you belong in this world when you are at the challenging age of seventeen. I can't wait to see where this series goes!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the free book. All opinions are my own.

This was the strangest story I have read in a very long time. It was a wonderful start to what I hope will turn into a great series. The world building was strange especially since Sunder was described both as the tv show and the reality we eventually step into. the magic is interesting and fairly unique. Leopold has always been called Larry despite his preference not to be Larry Berry. His mother died when he was 12 and after she was gone he discovered a box of VHS tapes of an old show about Sunderland that only had one season. He started to see things that weren’t there but no matter how much he searched the fantasy world never became real for him. He gave up all hope and left the fantasy world behind while he tried to struggle through disappointing everyone. Larry is the most average child who has existed. Until one night he’s given a token to enter Sunder and he knows he’s finally found what he was meant to do. I enjoyed this one quite a bit, I gave it 4.5 stars rounded up for being creative.

Leopold "Larry" Berry is "remarkably unremarkable. Average absolutely to the decimal." Which pretty much sums up this book.

It starts off strong—Larry’s seeing things no one else can: a flaming raccoon, a parking lady with wings, a tooth-activated parking meter, glowing trapdoors—all ripped straight from a bizarre fantasy TV show called Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld.

Then, Larry manages to stumbles into Sunder and discovers it’s not only real, but he might just be the one to save it from destruction due to a dwindling supply of Aether. But here’s the kicker: shortly after entering Sunder, Larry finds out he’s NOT the chosen one. He’s too average for the job, so they kick him out. So now we’re left with a "hero" who has zero clear motivation.

From there, the story felt aimless— there was suddenly a treasure hunt subplot, a save-your-friend-who’s-suddenly-in-danger (but it doesn’t really make sense why) subplot, and a maybe love interest subplot thrown in for good measure.

It was also hard for me to root for the characters. They’re supposed to be in their late teens, but they act more like 9-year-olds. Larry? Forgettable. Emmet? Gone too soon. Isabel? Shows up too late to even matter.

Nothing stood out about Sunder either, except for the fact that they had some cool weapons. None of Larry's "visions" were in this world. There’s talk of an Aether shortage, but no one seems all that concerned about it. Plus, there's only one notable creature, which was hyped up as a threat but turned out to be not much of a problem at all.

It felt like the author set up a bunch of interesting parts but forgot to tie them all together. I was really hoping for something along the lines of Miss Peregrine’s or Stranger Things, as some other reviewers suggested, but sadly, this didn’t come close.

Leopold Berry is just your average teenager living an average life, except for his strange visions that distract him from everyday life. He is either losing touch with reality or discovering that maybe he is extraordinary and not just average.

I’m not going to lie, I was a big fan of the Miss Peregrine series, so maybe I just had really high hopes for this one. It definitely gives a Stranger Things vibe (which I love). However, I just struggled getting immersed in this one. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t pick it up in the future and give it another go!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the chance to read this eARC! Receiving this in no way changed my review.

I fucking adored this book. Much more than expected as well. I mean, I love the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series by this author so I was hoping to really like this one as well, but the amount of love I have for it was just completely unexpected for some reason. I just immediately fell in love with this one. There was just this thing about it that immediately gripped me, and it did not let me go until the very end.
I absolutely adored our cast of characters. Leopold was such an interesting main character. I thought his personal journey throgughout this book was absolutely incredible. I can also tell it is only the very start of his journey though, so I am extremely excited to see him grow even more throughout the series. On top of that we have an amazing cast of side characters. Not including Leopold's dad though, he can choke but that is his purpose in the story so I guess that's greatly done then. The friendship between Leopol and Emmet is everything to me. They just have such a great dynamic, and I love how they could joke around with each other so much but also looked out for each other in a deep meaningful way. There are also some other side characters I really loved but can't really discuss because they came out pretty late in the book, and I don't want to spoil anything.
Sunderworld is also just so incredibly interesting. I feel like we get such a small part of it in this book, but the magic is so whimsical and fun. However, through the journey of this book you can tell some things are not right either. This first book feels very much like an intro though, so I am extremely excited to learn more about the world in upcoming books. Especially with the cliffhanger that this book ends on. It opens up so many interesting things, and I can't wait to see how they are going to play out. Ugh, I need the second book like right now.

I had extremely high hopes for this book since I loved the Peculiar Children series, and this story was super unusual but just not as fun and addicting as the PC series. This is definitely more for the YA audience, which there is nothing wrong with that, I do enjoy a good YA, but as an adult wanting a story that’s super addicting, keeping me on the edge of my seat and not wanting to put it down, this just wasn’t that for me.

This idea was super unique and I loved about the first 50% but then the story fell flat for me and became a little less entertaining than the first half. I would say give this book a chance because this may be for you, this is just my opinion. I’m also assuming this will turn into a series, but I probably will not be continuing this series if it does continue.

This is my first Ransom Riggs book and definitely won’t be my last. In fact, I am going to read the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series next.

Leopold (Larry) Barry is just an average kid with a lot of teen angst. He has recently lost his mother and his father considers him to be an extreme disappointment. Some time after his mother dies, Larry discovers a box with old VHS tapes of a ‘90s fantasy TV show called Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld. Larry along with his best friend Emmet fall in love with the one season show and recreate episodes in their spare time.

Larry begins to see strange things in his daily life, like a raccoon on fire in a tree, which seem to be glimpses of Sunderworld. These hallucinations become more frequent and he is starting to believe that Emmet is right - that he needs to get help again with his mental health. While Sunderworld is an escape from his ordinary and unhappy life and grieving his mother, it suddenly becomes a real place and Larry finds himself in Sunderworld with Emmet. Larry believes that this is the moment he has waited for his whole life - he has finally been chosen for greatness. But is he right?

This is a coming of age and search for self story with a fantasy element that includes magic. Larry is a likable and relatable character as is his bestie Emmet. You will root for these two to succeed on their extraordinary adventure. We also meet some interesting characters in Sunderworld, who I expect will be back in future stories. All of the characters are likable except for Larry’s judgemental dad but he doesn’t seem to figure too prominently in the story. I read Sunderworld quickly — it was a captivating read that will hold your attention. I can’t wait until Volume 2 but I will be busy in the meantime reading Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin YA Reading Group/Dutton Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ransom Riggs has a talent for creating complex worlds that feel real set within the boundaries of our own world. Sunderworld was one such place and being able to become lost in the wonder, and terror, was an unforgettable experience.

At times I felt like the pacing was off in the book and I would have to push through certain sections. Overall though, this is a solid read that readers will end up falling in love with once they take a trip to Sunderworld.

As a long time fan of Ransom Riggs I was so excited to see that he was publishing the first book in a new series. This book may be called "The Extraordinary Disappointments" but it was far from disappointing.

We follow Leopold - unfortunately nicknamed Larry by everyone in his life - still navigating the grief of his recently passed mother and coming to terms with the lack of relationship with his father. After his mom passed he found a mysterious box of video tapes which unveiled a place of solace for young Leopold - Sunderworld.

Enter Emmett, Leopold's best friend. Throughout their childhood and early teen years, Leopold & Emmett recreated their favorite Sunderworld scenes and stretched their imagination to hope one day to enter Sunder.

Cut to several years later, Leopold is at a forced job interview with his dad (who doesn't hide his distain for Leopold by the way) when he looks out the window and sees a flaming raccoon. Madness, of course, ensues.

Sunderworld Vol. I was a beautiful introduction to this new universe Riggs is sharing with us, I honestly forgot it was the first in a series until the insane cliffhanger at the end. I cannot wait to see where this story goes and hope that we get to see Leopold come into himself like never before.