Otherworldly by Lizzie Pook
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Special thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
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 (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
After months of bad books and disappointment, I have finally found a promising book.
I loved this book. Every part of it was wonderful, especially the plot. The book follows the characters, Knox and Ellery, in a dual POV where Knox is a “familiar” from the Otherworld and Ellery is human. In the story, there are 3 major Gods: the God of the clouds, the Goddess of the rivers, and the Goddess of death (aka the Otherworld). There is a hierarchy for all the supernatural beings, and this is explained through how magic works. There’s enough to understand, but the author left enough details out to keep the world mysterious and whimsical, and it was all so fascinating and original.
Even with the serious plot, this was an entertaining and fun read, and I finished it quickly because of the characters. A big problem I’ve run into lately are characters with no personality, but that is not the case for this novel at all. The characters were rounded with interests, faults, and passion, and all in all, weren’t just there to help the protagonists. I loved the chapters that show the group hanging out and being silly. Character dialogue is another flaw I’ve seen recently, and this novel does not have this problem. The dialogue was witty and hilarious. I especially loved how realistic the author made the conversations between Ellery and her cousin, Charley. The two make fun of each other just like how any related teenagers do. Speaking of, these characters actually act their age! This may not sound shocking, but it is for me!
The romance between Knox and Ellery was just adorable. They were so cute together, and I just love them. The best part was their reactions to any small touch from the other, whether it was their legs touching or their hands when they gave each other something. The small grins and blushing were so cute and perfect. Even though there were a lot of cliched romance tropes that I normally have a disdain for, this book does it well and doesn’t dwell on it too much. The banter and flirting between them was perfect. They didn’t fall in love immediately (even with them already having crushes on one another), and they didn’t officially get together at the very last second either. Half of the book contained witty banter between them, and the other half showed them being cute. It was perfect, have I said that enough?
I really couldn’t think of any flaws with the story. I enjoyed every part of this. The only issues I have are more with the format since I am not a fan of long chapters or third-person POVs, but it was still amazing, and I stopped noticing how long the chapters were after getting so into the plot. This novel would be a great TV show, and I truly hope this book gets big enough for the author to get to do that because it’s wonderful. Get a copy of this novel the SECOND it is released! I know I will also be at the store to get all the other novels this author has written.
Reviewed by Lilian L.