Below: The Surface

by Abigail Ryan

Jen was a typical teenager. Her life may not have been perfect but she was generally happy until a hidden addiction took her mom’s life, and her dad was incarcerated for it. A chance encounter sees her easily tempted away from her somewhat troubled yet overall humdrum life by Fae trickster Puck into The Below, an uncanny parallel reality where everything and everyone that has ever been imagined actually exists. While seemingly idyllic and deceptively familiar at first, Jen soon runs afoul of rules that govern this world that, despite appearances, is not the one she knows and understands. Facing painful truths, personal trauma, and with no obvious way to return to The Above, Jen navigates her way through trials of young adulthood and law within a fantastical setting sprinkled throughout with historical and cultural easter eggs.

254 pages, Paperback

Published July 12, 2023

Reviews

[RatGrrrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to upfront and honest that I am not an unbiased source as the author happens to be my bloody brilliant girlfriend, but I absolutely loved this and am desperate for the sequel now!

This is a truly fascinating and original tale beginning in our realm Above, briefly stopping in the realm of the faer folk, and spending the bulk of its action in the Below. The Below being an endlessly intriguing realm of the Imagined, anything and everything imagined or Created by humans or the like in the Above.

Adventure and hijinks ensue as fae and human embark on an illegal and unintended jaunt to the Below, made more complicated by the act of Creation and the unexpected results on the Below.

What is a cracking romp through imagination is only made all the more compelling and effecting by the real world and autobiographical elements that lend a weight and pathos that make this a truly unique and meaty bittersweet story.

Absolutely loved it!

[Maria Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so much fun. Jen is very real and a very grounded character; she keeps it together remarkably well. Puck is chaos, largely well meaning but chaos none the less. This is a debut book and such a strong one, I'm hoping for more stories in this world.