The Otherworld

by Abbie Emmons

Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth to experience the Otherworld-the mysterious "mainland" across the sea that her father has forbidden her from visiting.
Growing up in a lighthouse on a remote island, Orca has lived isolated from the world... until one day when she finds a cell phone washed up on the beach. Orca has her first conversation with Jack Stevenson, a young man whose older brother, Adam, has gone missing after crashing his seaplane off the coast. Orca becomes Jack's lifeline and his reason to hope that Adam is still alive. While her father is away, she scours the island for the missing pilot-determined to help Jack find his brother and prove to her father that she's strong enough to take on the world.
One stormy night, Orca finds Adam Stevenson collapsed on her doorstep. As she nurses him back to health, she finds herself spellbound by his inquiring mind and rugged good looks. Simultaneously, Adam is captivated by her wild beauty and pure heart. But with a ten-year age gap between them-and her father's determination to keep Orca protected from outsiders-Adam knows they can never be together.
Resigned to give Orca up, Adam returns to the mainland-but Jack refuses to leave her trapped at the lighthouse. Blind to the fact that his brother is in love with her, Jack offers to show Orca the world she's always dreamed of. But when she leaves her island for the first time, Orca begins to realize that the mainland may hold more dark secrets than she ever imagined... and the two brothers she helped bring back together may be the very people she tears apart.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

438 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2023

About the author

Abbie Emmons has been writing stories ever since she could hold a pencil. What started out as an intrinsic love for storytelling has turned into her lifelong passion. There's nothing Abbie likes better than writing (and reading) stories that are both heartrending and humorous, with a touch of cute romance and a poignant streak of truth running through them. Abbie is also a YouTuber, creative writing coach, traveler, filmmaker, big dreamer, and professional waffle-eater. When she's not writing or dreaming up new stories, you can find her reading a book or binge-watching BBC Masterpiece dramas in her cozy Vermont home with a cup of tea.

Reviews

[Abbie]

Want to be an ARC reader for THE OTHERWORLD? 😍 📖

Today is the day you all have been waiting for! I'm inviting YOU to be a part of my special ARC team for my new book, The Otherworld. ✨ That's right... you can read this book before the rest of the world does -- in exchange for an honest review on GoodReads and Amazon.

Learn how to sign up to be an ARC reader in the new video I just posted!

REQUEST TO READ THE OTHERWORLD ON NETGALLEY 👉 http://netgal.ly/krymTm

This book is rated PG-13 (appropriate for ages 13+) but if you're concerned about the content, please read the official content guide BEFORE requesting to ARC-read.

Remember, if you sign up for the ARC team I'm going to be looking for readers who will POST THEIR REVIEW ON GOODREADS BEFORE SEP 19!! And if you do this, you'll automatically be entered to possibly win a signed + personalized paperback copy of The Otherworld.

I'M SO EXCITED!

If you have any questions about the ARC reading process or NetGalley, don't hesitate to hit me up: authorabbieemmons@gmail.com

I hope to see you on the ARC team! 🥳📖

[anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

“perhaps we are all butterflies, and the world is our hurricane”


oh how it breaks my heart to do this since i love the author SO much, but this book was not what i expected.

i don’t think emmons understands how love works, or rather, when it happens. seriously. this is a reoccurring theme in both the otherworld and her debut novel. i was literally shocked to my core when i read a certain three words at only 38% into the book. i don’t know how much i’m allowed to share, but yeah. that’s not how love works at all. in three days, you don’t fall in love… you’re just horny. sorry. even he says they hardly know each other later on in what’s supposed to be a romantic scene. i was just yelling “YEAH. YOU DON’T!”

enter jack, the only character in this book who isn’t insufferable. jack’s the only one who reacts logically about papa. everyone else in the cast reacts cartoonishly empathetic towards papa and i’m like… why? even if he was a person who deserved to be defended, there’s no way in hell an outsider would feel that way after hearing about a dad who keeps his daughter on an uninhabited island. and the ENTIRE cast including his own family treats him terribly for whatever reason. at one point he’s forced to apologize when he did nothing wrong. i did not like neither his ending nor how he was treated throughout the novel.

orca, the main character, who i’d rather be an actual orca because ohmygod i did not like her. i’m not going to spoil the story, but i found myself sympathizing with someone who was supposed to be her villain, and i don’t believe that was the point at all. she’s the most basic betty but i’m supposed to believe she had two brothers fighting over her wildness and beauty. ( the older love interest refers to her as pure and unpolluted, and i believe i should be rewarded for continuing to read the book after that.) i cant believe, in the year 2023, there’s still age gaps like this being promoted. in reality, it usually doesn’t end in rainbows and babies for the girl, but like… a lifetime of trauma and misery to unpack. she couldn’t have made adam in his early twenties so i could SOMEWHAT not feel like he should be banned from my local high school? there’s a scene where a character goes into deep monologue about how she eats pizza shamelessly and that somehow makes her not like the other girls !!😜 ( kill me please)

i think you’ll enjoy this book if you’re looking a fast-paced book with disney princess vibes, with chapter titles ( which i found to be so cool!), and if you’re willing to put yourself through this book just to read about jack stevenson.

Thank you to Netgalley and Abbie Emmons for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[HuntersWithCellPhones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Abbie Emmons and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Otherworld before its publication date for free in exchange for an honest review.

After reading ‘100 Days of Sunlight’ and ‘Tessa and Weston: The Best Christmas Ever’, I picked up (or perhaps opened the PDF of) The Otherworld with high expectations and an open mind. For the first 30-50 pages, I was genuinely enjoying ‘The Otherworld’, but that’s where my enjoyment ended.

The characters of The Otherworld were greatly unlikeable and held next-to-no depth. Starting with Orca, the protagonist. She grew up in a lighthouse with only her father for conversation, cut off from the outside world, leaving her clueless to social etiquette. After living on a secluded island, you’d think she’d always be surprised by everything around her, rather than freaking out at car radios, but not penthouses and boats, but that wasn’t the case, and instead plot convenience seems to be the only thing important to the writer.

Moving onto Adam, my least favourite of the love interests. I found him tolerable as a person until his feelings for Orca became a thing. Which, despite him being 28 and her being barely 18, I would’ve been somewhat okay with, if not for the fact that, while being self-aware of the fact that his feelings are creepy, he choose to act on his feelings. But he does. He spends the entire book pursuing a girl 10 years younger than him while knowing it’s creepy. In his defence, he did attempt to hold off until his mother tells him to try and see how it turns out. Apparently, his mother approves of pedophilia.

As for Jack, who despite being the best character in the book, was treated like crap by literally everyone. He was the only character I liked, and yet by the end of the book he had completely changed as a character, but not in the good, character arc way, in the changing-as-the-plot calls for it way. Also, despite being the only one who actually acknowledged that Orca’s father keeping his adult daughter in a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere against her will is kidnapping, even though his family thinks otherwise.

Although I’m aware Orca’s father wasn’t a main character, I feel the need to talk about him because he is insane. Due to what happened to Orca’s mother when Orca was 2, her father made the reasonable and not insane choice to lock her on a random island her entire life. Also, even when his daughter was 18, he didn’t let her leave. That is kidnapping, but I guess we aren’t going to acknowledge that here.

Onto the romance, the only reason I wanted to read this book. Abbie Emmons always spoke about this book as having layers and many dynamics, so when I heard there would be a love trianlge, the trope I hate more than anything else, I figured that would be an aoppertunity for deep relatinships and interesting dynamics, but instead I found the bad love triangle to end all bad love triangles. Orca and Adam fell in love in about 4 seconds, which frustrated me, as it was really just a lot of lust, even if Ora didn’t realize it. As stated above, the age gap ot Orca and Adam’s relationship bothered me, but if it were to make a statement on age gap relationships, I would have accepted it more and thought it to be thoughtful, but instead it was merely a weird plot choice, that lead to Adam being creepy and weird for the rest of the book. On another note, if they had really good chemistry, I could look past the creepy-ness and be shipping it, but instead, Orca had more chemistry with her dog (who happens to be the only character likable troughout the entire book).

I felt this book had the pitfall of many love triangles, which is predictability combined with the MC cheating on them both with each other throughout the entirety of the novel. I suppose you could argue Orca didn’t know Jack liked her, as Adam argued in an oddly dramatic scene near the end of the novel, but she most definitely did, as Jack kissed her at some point and she pushed him away, not wanting to cheat on Adam. The entire love triangle made me want to pull my hair out.

Okay, and now for a paragraph on the cringe. The phrase ‘she’s not like other girls’ was used unironically. Multiple times. The love interest referred to Orca as ‘pure and unpoluted’, and the other love interest went on a rant about how she’s ‘not like other girls’ while she ate pizza. I feel I should be applauded for finishing this novel.

I feel the need to point out some subtly sexist things that bothered me while reading. There was a chapter where Orca goes swimming with a love interest, and, because she didn’t bring a swimsuit to the mainland, he buys her a swimsuit. Still, instead of being normal and just letting her choose whatever at the store, he chooses a skimpy bikini that she proceeds to spend the next 2 pages talking about how uncomfortable it made her, but doesn’t do anything about it. This felt out of character for the love interest and Orca, so I don’t know why that chapter was necessary. To top it off, when the love interest and Orca got back, Orca happened to still just be in the bikini, and the other love interest shows up and just starts lusting over her. Also, towards the end of the novel, Jack was having normal reactions to things that should have hurt him, and both his parents told him he wasn’t handling things like a man, and made him apologize. Neither of these events made me happy, and both of them made me consider closing the book and never picking it up again.

I just thought I’d comment on the fact that, even though Abbie talks about the importance of character voice a lot, Jack and Adam had very similar voices and I found myself needing to check which POV often.

Even though all my writing before has likely made this obvious, this book was exceptionally terrible, and I wouldn’t recommend, however, if you haven’t already, you should definitely pick up ‘100 Days of Sunlight’, and its sequal ‘Tessa and Weston: The Best Christmas Ever’. They read completely differently and have compelling, unique characters that, to this day, I still love.

[Brooke Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does one put all of their thoughts into words? Especially for a book like this?

First of all, I've been a fan of Abbie for many years. From her blogging days to her Youtube channel, I've been following her for a very long time. (All my OG blogger peeps, where you at?)

But somewhere in the past five or so years, I've had the wonderful honor of calling Abbie a dear friend. However, I promise I'm honest with reviews.

This book is Abbie's best book yet!

100 Days of Sunlight is a magnificent ray of sunshine and light, but this book... this is a hot mug of your favorite hot beverage, curled up by the fireplace while it rains, sitting on a comfy chair under a cozy blanket.

Books are meant to excite and captivate. This book brought me something I often don't have much of: Calm.

Maybe it's a bit cheesy to say, but this book helped me be calm. The descriptive, but not too descriptive, prose. The character arcs. The writing. All of it. Abbie has outdone herself with a book that this world needs.

You will be hard-pressed in figuring out who in the love triangle you want to win.

And if you're like me and you're not a fan of age-gap romance, please do not fear this book because of the age gap. You don't notice it all that much. It feels natural for the characters. It's not a big deal. And trust me when I say I am PICKY about my age gaps.

This book is so much more than a book. It is a warm hug on a cold day. It's a love letter to life itself. It's beautiful and magical.

There's so much more I could say, but I'm going on for far too long. So I will just say please give this book a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Five Stars!!

** putting a note because it was pointed out that I did not mention that I received an ARC copy in exchange for a review. I was given a pre-arc copy and asked to check for any last-moment errors that may have been missed. I was not asked to give a review. I do not tend to review books unless they impact me deeply. Abbie's books never fail to impact me deeply and therefore, I was moved to write a review. I wanted to clear that up for any confusion that may have occurred due to not putting a note in my review.**

[Courtney Ranger · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can read more about why I DNFed this book here: https://penspagesandpulses.wordpress....

I DNFed The Otherworld by Abbie Emmons at 23%.

While I definitely appreciated the Content Guide Abbie provided, I was still shocked by the amount of profanity in the book. There were 43 instances of either profanity or taking the Lord's name in vain in the short amount of the book that I read.

I think Abbie’s love of the movie Tangled came through a bit too clearly in this book. I found the similarities annoying, and it made the plot rather predictable.

I really did not like how families were portrayed in the portion of the book I read. While I understand each person grows up with a different family/family experience, I prefer books that support family, rather than portray them as controlling villains.

Many of Orca's decisions came off as juvenile. As soon as Orca turns 18, she feels she is ready to take on whatever the world throws at her. This belief made her seem quite juvenile. In the movie version of Prince Caspian, when Aslan refers to Caspian as a King of Narnia, Caspian replies that he does not feel ready. Aslan responds by telling him that Caspian IS ready because he knows he has room to grow, room to improve, flaws to perfect. A mark of TRULY being ready to face the world is being aware that you are not fully ready to face the world, you will still need help and guidance. While this could be an area where Orca grows throughout the book, I did not see any indication of it even being portrayed as a conflict she would need to resolve.

Another instance of Orca's immaturity is when she feels she can help Adam when he is injured. As well as he could be helped in a hospital. Orca had no way of doing an adequate health assessment on Adam. It was selfish of her to keep Adam to herself and not think of his need for hospital care. No, I did not complete the book, but Adam would've had a much better chance of making a full recovery if he had at least seen a doctor or something.

Overall, I did not think it would be worth my time or effort to continue reading this book. I believe it would benefit the author to do a thorough rewrite of the story to make it more suitable to readers of all ages (especially since she targets a teenage audience). While I do not hope to insinuate that her characters must be perfect, I hope she will also be able to improve her characters to make them more relatable.

I received an ARC from NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

[Jacob Kuntzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know how to begin. Just wow. I work as an assistant to a fantasy author, so this was a change of pace from what I usually read. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this story, but went in with no expectations, except to see how Abbie's YouTube tips and techniques all play out in the context of one of her actual books.

The result is utterly spellbinding from the first page.

The very first page has Orca, as a child, looking across the ocean and asking what's out there. When her father answers "Infinity," the next moment has her stretching out her hand and spreading her fingers, "watching infinity fill the spaces between them."

That enchanting imagery is just page one. And it's consistently just as beautiful throughout the entire book.

The story is gripping, raw, and real... soaring with hope yet devastatingly crushing in equal measure. Abbie's writing is absolutely masterful and exquisite. I kept hunting for something to critique, but I found nothing. Not one typo, not one plot hole, not one "but what happened to...?" As far as I'm concerned, this book is virtually flawless. I will say I had hoped the ending would stretch on a little further, to see how things play out for the characters, but where it ended was no less satisfying.

As a single man, I found myself uncomfortably looking at my own life and asking if I was more like Jack or Adam, seeing a little of myself in each. I feel like this is Abbie's greatest achievement with this title... making the reader reflect upon themselves and consider their lives. It's natural and easy because the characters are so real and relatable.

If you're here from Abbie's YouTube channel and wondering, "sure, she's got some fascinating suggestions in her videos, but do they actually make for a good book?" I can assure you the answer is most emphatically YES.

[Saraina Whitney]

Ahhhh I've been wanting to read "the lighthouse book" for SUCH a long time!!!! *prepares to have my heart torn apart by this love triangle and to fall in love with all the whimsy and the feels*

[Jessica Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a couple days, I’ve finally gathered all my thoughts, and I have A LOT. So, buckle up, because this is a long review, and there might be spoilers, so read at your own digression.

.

It really pains me to say this, but this book is a solid two star read for me. And I don’t think I’ve ever rated a book this low. Starting out, I loved the story! But around 25% of the way through, things started falling apart for me.

I don’t really know what I was expecting. I read the blurb (obviously), and I knew exactly what the content would be going into it (although Abbie definitely updated the content guide, so it doesn’t look quite the same as it did when I requested) but I wasn’t expecting this.
Let me break it down. Starting with characters.

Orca was a really lovely character, and I resonated a lot with her! Her emotions were so well written, as was her personality and thought process. I did not like how immature she was, both in her thinking and in her actions. Yes, she’s lived on a remote island with only her father and dog all her life, but I feel that’s not excuse enough. Besides that, it felt like her character arc never concluded. She changed a little, but it felt a bit flat. Another thing (which lots of other reviewers commented on) was the way Orca is described by the guys: pure, unpolluted and innocent; in other words, not-like-other-girls. And I agree because she is. She grew up on an island all alone and knows nothing about the world! But it was forced upon you to see her this way, and I didn’t like that at all.

It took me a while to decide whether I liked Adam or not, but he turned out to be a great character. He had a maturity none of the other characters had (at least for me) but at the same time, he was pretty immature too, especially in the way he handled his feelings for Orca. It’s not healthy to just suppress and hide them others, yet still keep acting on them!

Jack was likable for the first 20% of the novel, and then I just HATED him! He was selfish, immature, shallow, irresponsible, inconsiderate—I think you get the idea. I will admit he made me laugh a couple times, and his character arc had a good ending, but that’s all he has going for him, frankly.

I feel it’s only right to mention Orca’s dad, and I will say that he is a very complex character. I can understand and sympathize with his motives, even though his actions were wrong. He did not deserve to be the villain.

The content guide mentioned the depth/intensity of the romance, and yes, technically there was nothing more than kissing, but it was very graphic and more often than I was comfortable with.
Adam and Orca kissed more times than I could count, and this takes place within the three weeks that they know each other. She completely idolizes him and is “in love” with him after only three days! And her “love” is described in such a way that it feels more like a crush, which it very possibly is, considering that Adam is the first boy she’s ever laid eyes on!

When Orca finds injured Adam, she brings him to the lighthouse and has to take off his wet clothes to give him medical care. Although it’s not described in depth, Orca is fascinated by Adam’s body. This scene made me really uncomfortable, and I don’t feel it was necessary to include it at all.
Jack and Orca almost kiss a couple times, and Jack kisses her once without permission. Throughout the story it’s made really clear that Jack is really interested in Orca, and he gives her a lot of affection/attention, but not once does Orca dissuade him even though Orca and Adam are basically already together. Jack also buys Orca a bikini that barely covers her (the book’s words, not mine) and he describes her as “sexy and otherworldly”. As another reviewer pointed out, the romance started feeling dirty from here.

Something else that felt gross/weird for me was Orca telling Adam she wanted to make babies with him. It wasn’t the idea of this that put me off (perfectly natural for a couple to want babies together), but it more the way it was said and the fact they only knew each other for three weeks. Adam also reads Orca a Greek myth about two lovers who would swim across the ocean each night to make love and compares it to their romance.

The language and profanity in this book bothered me a lot too. I knew there would be language, but it was WAY too much. In Jack and Adam’s POVs, there is a curse or profanity multiple times per page. I felt this was completely unnecessary, and it distracted me from the story.

My final thoughts are that I loved the premise of this story, and I feel like it could have been (and certainly will be to some readers) an amazing book. But for me, it just didn’t make the cut. I love Abbie Emmons, her YouTube videos, and her other books, so this is not an attack against her person. I simply feel the story isn’t what it could be, or, sadly, what Abbie made it out to be.
I wish her all the best with her writing career and the launch of this book. I look forward with hope to her future publications.

Note: I received an advanced reader copy from the author via Netgalley, and I was not required to leave a positive review. All views expressed are my own.

[Moriyah Cordova]

I’M SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK! <3

[Sammi Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting off with a thank you to NetGalley and Abbie Emmons for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I can say with full confidence that I still think that Emmons is a talented writer and I would give this book a 2.25 stars out of 5. It's not a 1-star book for me which comes from the actual prose that is present in the story. There were several moments toward the beginning of the book when I was able to just enjoy the language that she used to tell the story and how Orca sees the world and expresses it in a way that is completely unique to her.

That said... It's not a 5-star book either.

I will do everything I can to avoid spoilers and only pull specific details that appear in the summary here on Goodreads.

As I said, the start of the book was really well written, and I had thought that I would be able to anticipate where the story would go because of the kind of writing that Emmons has done in the 100DOS series so I didn't allow myself to be bothered by some of the plot points until they became very solidly the direction the story was going at about 40% of the way through the book.

I feel like Orca had a lot of personality in the beginning of the story, and then when the two brothers were introduced to her world, her character fell flat. Orca becomes this "pure and untainted thing" to the men in the story in a way that makes all of the interactions feel dirty. That combined with the fact that Jack seems to be the male equivalent of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl and Adam has barely any personality besides being plagued-by-philosophy and thinking too much. All of the characters slowly devolve into these tropes that are easy to predict and also a bit (if not a lot) problematic.

Putting a young (barely legal - 18-year-old) girl into a position where she has to choose between someone age-appropriate and someone who is, on multiple occasions and affectionately, described as a father figure to someone her age is not something that I would have ever expected from Emmons. But who am I to say, this is only her second world that has been published.

I found it very difficult to enjoy the story after the romance between her and Adam is introduced, especially with the way that Adam's internal monologue was telling him all of the reasons that it would be inappropriate. With his internal monologue reflecting my own personal views, it became more of a problem when there seemed to be a lot of justifications coming from other adult characters (I say "other" because Adam is in some ways on a similar level to the parental figures in this story) that were inappropriate and unsettling.

Outside of the romantic part of Orca's story, I thought all of her ~side quests~ were pretty interesting and gave way to the potential to make her a much more engaging character, but there wasn't as much effort put into those as I would have enjoyed.

There are several small details that I think could have made this story more digestible in the grand scheme of things.

For one - 10 year age gaps are not exciting. Especially in a YA story. They're predatory. Even if you make your character out to feel bad about doing something predatory, and "they don't mean to be bad" they are being predatory. I think a simple change that would have made this way more manageable and still give the same kind of drama is to make Jack 19/20 and keep Adam 28, but age up Orca to be in between at 24/25.

Her character would not have changed just because she wasn't "barely an adult" she would have just had to spend a few more years begging her dad to go to the mainland. And although that would move this story out of the YA category, it would be monumentally less detrimental to the young adults who could read this and think that if a man 10 years older than them thinks they're special, it's true love. It's been proven that the brain's decision-making processes aren't fully developed until age 25, so that would at least give her more autonomy over not diving headfirst into something she can't fully comprehend.

Another small detail would have to do with Orca's parent's relationship which ties back to the justifications I mentioned before. To avoid spoilers - I don't think that it needs to be as closely tied to Orca's story as it is.

I continue to be proud of Abbie for all the work that she puts into creating content, supporting other writers, and developing her own stories. I look forward to her next book still...but this one is not it for me. I don't think she'll read my review, and that's totally fine, but I hope that there are some other readers out there who take a peak at this and think slightly more critically about the work that's in front of them rather than the person that created it.

[Niharika✩]

I can't waitttttttt!!
I'm team Jack.

Also, no matter what this book is called, it's always going to be "The Lighthouse Book" to me 💝

[Lara Ayrolla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before anything, I would like to thank Abbie Emmons and NetGalley for the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy). I am extremely grateful and feel honored to have read this book before the release. I was really hoping to give it 5 stars, I'm sorry I couldn't.

For the first 30% of the book I felt like this was going to be a 5 stars review. After that, my excitement was fading gradually the more I progressed in my reading. For the last 30% I was only reading because of a sense of obligation.

The theme is well executed. The way the imagery is created, the beach related words being used to describe feelings and actions, the template of the back-and-forth between present and past... It was beautiful to read. However, the world-building only seemed to go as far as the island. The scenes in the Otherworld felt like they were a movie montage and only being thought as they were written.

The characters are interesting enough, having defining qualities and a very characteristic way of speaking and thinking. They feel alive, but not enough for me to care about them. The only character I could actually care about was Jack, and by the end of the book I didn't like even him anymore.

The romance feels rushed and forced, with a lot of telling instead of showing. Orca loves Adam for no reason way too quickly, and throughout the whole book I keep trying to understand why. I lost it when I read a passage from a few days after she met Adam in which she says she had never loved anyone as much as her father until she met Adam. That's not how love works at all.

I was constantly angry at the black-and-whiteness of the thinking, with Jack reproving Lawrence's actions and Adam embracing them when it obviously should be a middle ground. You can understand someone's reasoning without agreeing with them. Orca could still love her father and follow her own wishes. It was wrong of him to hide the truth about her mother, it was wrong of him to keep her in the lighthouse when she wanted to meet other places. Orca shouldn't feel any guilt at all for chasing after what she wanted and she had the right to be angry at her dad. She could be angry and do things putting herself first but also still love him and want to keep living in the island with him. It's not all or nothing and I hate how the ending of the book makes it seem like Orca was in the wrong for not complying with her dad's wishes when she obviously wasn't.

Jack was a great character at the beginning, making me laugh out loud and want to keep reading only to see more of him. He was ruined for me when he started being controlling and when he literally thought the sentence "She's not like other girls". I can't take a character — or a book — seriously when this phrase is used unironically.

Adam was bland and felt like every guy I went to high school with who thought he was deep for reading philosophy books and playing the guitar. Every time I saw his name under a chapter, I groaned a little bit. His thoughts were boring and his actions even more. He brought nothing to the table and I still don't understand why he was the chosen brother when Jack had so much more going on for him. He shouldn't have been a love interest at all, unless the intent was to convey a message at the end, which it clearly was not.

Is 2023, we should know better than to romanticize age gap romances like this. Orca had barely turned 18 while Adam was 28. The human brain is developing until 25 years old. Before then we're way more prone to make impulsive decisions and that's why is predatory in a way for an older adult to pursue a teenager, even when they're technically legal. Not only that, but Jack, who's the same age as Orca, says he sees Adam as a father figure multiple times, explains how he is a mentor to him in almost every aspect and go as far as to say he felt like Adam was a grown up his entire life, which makes sense considering Adam was already 10 when Jack was born.

The way both Jack and Adam keep describing Orca as pure, naive, and innocent should say it all. Adam even says he "loves her even more" after she does something that he thinks shows her innocence. I felt constantly grossed out by this almost 30 year old man talking about the pureness of the barely 18 year old girl he was pursuing. Adam himself keeps saying he's too old for her but still dates her regardless of that. His self-awareness doesn't make it any better, if anything it only makes it worse. He's aware that what he's doing is wrong but he still goes and does it anyway.

As a girl who was 18 and a month when I started dating a soon to be 24 year old, I know by experience the kind of power dynamic these age gaps hold. And ours wasn't even as big as theirs. And I haven't lived in a secluded island my entire life to aggravate it even more. It's just not okay.

I am very disappointed because one of the things I loved about 100 Days of Sunlight, Abbie Emmons' debut novel, was the fact that it was age appropriate. I even said on my review of that book that it was the bare minimum but it was still great to see, since it is uncommon to see in romance novels.

[Gio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Abbie and NetGalley for the ARC!

Before reading it, I thought this book sounded like a mix between Tangled and the movie Pearl Harbor (minus the war part). And, honestly, after reading it, I think that still fits.

This is the story about Orca, who has always lived on an island with only her father and her dog, Lucius. Orca has always dreamed of seeing the main land, what she calls the Otherworld, but her father has always forbidden it. Things change when a pilot from the Otherworld, Adam, crushes on her island and Orca finds his things and starts talking to his little brother, Jack, to help him find Adam. When she finds him - or, rather, Adam finds her, collapsing one her doorstep -, Orca's world gets turned upside down and the brothers become her opportunity to finally see the Otherworld.

I LOVED the characters, all of them. Orca, with her sparkling attitude, her kindness and sincerity, her way to look at the world as if everything is a wonder. You can really feel her struggle of not wanting to upset her dad but still longing to see the Otherworld.
Jack, with his wit, his spirit, his bantering and arrogance, his sarcasm that had me laughing out loud multiple times.
And Adam, oh my goodness. Adam. I fell in love with him as soon as I read his first pov. I fell in love with his way of thinking, with his calm and kind ways, with his rambling about chaos theories and alternative universe and I, too, would like to talk with him for hours. I also loved how he always put other first and stepped aside, sacrificing his own happiness for the ones he loves, but then in the end learns to accept and prioritize good things for himself, too.
And the side characters - Mrs Stevenson, Orca's father, don't even get me started on Lucius - all felt like real people, flesh out and with struggles of their own.

I loved the relationship between Adam and Jack, how they would do anything for each other and even when things got in the way, they always came back to one another. I loved their relationship with Orca, too. Each of them called to a different side of her, and I really enjoy this dynamic in love triangles. Both choices seem reasonable.
When I read the blurb, I was rooting for a team, but then I started actually reading and switched side almost immediatlely, and I was so happy I chose the right ship to sail with. (no spoilers from me)

I only wish there would've been more of a slow-burn between the main couple - again, won't spoil the brother. Although their relationship didn't felt rushed and I could understand where their feelings were coming from, I would have liked them to get to know each other a bit more before having feelings that strong. But this is probably my personal problem, because I like my slow burns really slow (like, multiple books in a series kind of slow).

And, finally, the writing. I think it was the best part, to be honest. I loved the story, but what really made it shine was Abbie's writing. It felt so vivid, so heart-wrenching at times... it's the sort of writing that makes you feel, that makes everything real, as if those characters are actual people you know in your life.

All of that said, I really enjoyed this book. I already miss the characters (and wish I could read a spin-off about the other brother, iykyk). It's the perfect cozy summer read, when it's raining outside. It'll leave you with hope in your chest and a smile on your face.

[Oosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book from the beginning. It felt like the story had somehow always been a part of me. Maybe it's the Rapunzel vibes with the whole lighthouse/tower thing and living in isolation (this book is perfect for lovers of Tangled). Whatever it is, I had a very hard time putting this novel down--and when I did, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I just love the premise of the story; the feeling of adventure and--well--"Otherworldliness," for lack of a better term. This novel prompts some deep reflection (both for the characters and the readers) about love--about what it is, and what it isn't. Each character has their own thoughts on this topic, and it is when their opinions clash that one can truly see, there is no easy "right" or "wrong" answer. The novel tells a beautiful story with a (somewhat) naive main character with an unquenchable curiosity about the world, and two distinctly different brothers. I usually don't like love triangles, and though I can't say I was happy to watch as one girl divided two very close brothers, I do think the author handed the conflict well. I found each of the brothers to be complex, real characters with plenty of cognitive dissonance, and although I really like the romantic aspect of this book, I also enjoyed watching how the bond between Adam and Jack grew and changed over the course of the novel.

This book wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn close. I can't wait to have a physical copy on my shelf--it's definitely a novel that I'll come back to again and again.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Abbie Emmons for giving me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!!!

[R.F. Gammon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up.

I really did like a lot about this book. The lighthouse vibes were amazing, and I really enjoyed the setting. I was entertained, as someone who hasn't been to the Pacific Northwest, by the fact that this did not feel like a Pacific Northwest story at all. Abbie is from New England; her new author photo is a New England lighthouse I've been to hundreds of times. That was what I pictured for this entire book. It may not have been correct, but it did make me ridiculously happy.

Orca, also, was a fantastic lead. This was a very Rapunzel-esque story, and I'm always a fan of the ingenue-type female lead who's a fish out of water. I loved how much she loved her father and her dog. I also, personally, really liked the ending of this book--it tied things up very neatly, but I thought it was earned and happy. No one in this book is a terrible person or a distinct villain, and that's okay. It was exactly what I wanted from a sweet contemporary.

I wasn't necessarily a fan of the love triangle. While I didn't really notice the age gap--it was not super prominent, if I'm being honest, and normally I'm super sensitive to that--I didn't like the instalove. I do entirely understand where it came from, and Abbie did a great job with motivations, but I didn't love how fast it all progressed. I think a slightly slower burn would've done the job better. But that's okay!

Adam was great and I loved him. He was that kind, rugged pilot type with the heart of gold. I do wish we'd gotten a little more of an internal struggle from him (and Jack) that didn't JUST revolve around Orca, but I did love that his fatal flaw was thinking too well of people. It was a great touch that I don't see often enough. Also Jack was a wonderful take on the younger brother character. I loved his arc.

I didn't especially mind the kissing or the swearing that a lot of people have complained about. Basically: this is a secular novel. That's okay. If you want a clean book, this one is not for you. I didn't find it especially gratuitous or bad on either count, but I'm also not especially sensitive to this stuff. Keep that in mind.

Romance is definitely not my genre, but I did enjoy this book and I look forward to more from Abbie!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for review. All thoughts are my own and no review was required.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

YOU NEED THIS BOOK IN 👏 YOUR 👏 LIFE👏


“The Otherworld” centers around a girl named Orca (18) who has lived her entire life in a bubble with her father on a remote island in the PNW. When she discovers a backpack washed up on shore, the contents inside lead her on a journey that changes her life forever.   


This is one of those books that, when I landed on the final page, I got hit with immediate remorse because it felt like I had just binged the last season of my favorite Netflix show and I didn’t know what to do with myself lol! It was that good!! 


Pros:

Fast read

Realistic/fleshed out characters

Unexpected plot twists

Beautiful descriptions


Cons:  

🦗🦗🦗



Here are my more detailed thoughts…


PROSE:

Emmons always does such a great job of crafting scenes that feel immersive and tangible, but in this book, I feel like she kicked it up a notch. Abbie took every opportunity to color mundane moments with artistic imagery but not in a way that caused me to get lost in a haze of unnecessary adjectives. I never once felt like I was tripping over a line or got so caught up in description that I forgot what the scene was about. **It was a perfect blend of poetry and succinctness.   


Also, I absolutely LOVE that she used music to enhance certain scenes in the story – it really pulled me into the time period (the mid-90’s) and gave those moments a real cinematic feel 🤌. 


POV:

We get 3 POVs in this one: Orca, Jack and Adam. I’ve read books before where I had to keep returning to the beginning of a chapter to remember whose head I’m supposed to be in because they all sounded exactly alike – in this book, that was not the case. Not only did each character feel unique and separate, but I also enjoyed reading each perspective equally. I never felt the urge to skip or skim a chapter because of POV preference. Like a good cookie recipe, they all added their own essential flavor to the mix.


PACING: 

The pacing was top-notch. How one writes a book this long without a “soggy middle” I’ll never understand. At times, it was fast-paced (without feeling rushed), and other times, it dropped back a gear and felt more relaxed and drawn out but always in all the right places. No matter where I was in the story, each chapter ended, leaving me thirsty for the next one. It was perfect.


LANGUAGE:

There are no F-bombs, but there is definitely quite a bit more cursing in this one than in her previous two. So, if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, just be aware of that going in. Her brand is PG, but this book is not. To give you a better idea in movie terms… it’s not as clean as a Nancy Meyers romcom, but it’s nowhere near a Quentin Tarantino film. So, just keep that in mind.


Overall, this was an excellent read! I flew through it in a few days (and I never fly through books). If you’re in need of a quick, fun, 90's romance, don’t pass this one up!


I was given an ARC copy of this book in return for my honest review.


** IYKYK 😉

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing I highly suggest this to anyone who likes romances and love triangles the plot twists are * chefs kiss* I will admit I was team jack in the beginning, but Adam won me over if your not sure if you want to read this just do it you won't regret it!

Definitely a new YA romance fav.

Thank you Abbie for letting me ARC read this I enjoyed it so much!

[Quinn · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/5 Stars

This review is based on my opinion which, it should go without saying, you are more than entitled to disagree with. If you loved this book, great! I’m happy for you and glad you had a positive reading experience. We can agree to disagree. Further, I can only imagine the amount of work that goes into writing a novel, and it is never my intention to devalue or dismiss the effort that writers put into their books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Abbie Emmons for providing me with an ARC of The Otherworld in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: I had a lot of issues with the book, but my big one boils down to this: I felt that the age-gap between the love interests in this book was unnecessary and created a problematic power imbalance in their relationship. Further, the romance felt rushed, the love triangle didn’t hold any tension in my view, and I didn’t root for either of the MC’s love interests. I’m sure this book will resonate with someone, but it definitely wasn’t for me.

My full review is below:

(Minor Spoilers Ahead)

I’ve put off writing this review for far too long, and now I’m not sure how to start. I suppose I’ll begin by saying that I really wanted to love this book. After reading Abbie Emmons’ debut novel (100 Days of Sunlight) two years ago, I looked eagerly for more of her work, and I was very excited when I heard about her upcoming release, The Otherworld. Unfortunately, my high hopes dwindled the further I got into this story, and by about the halfway mark, I could predict both the ending and how I would feel about it (spoiler alert: not good).

The story follows Orca Monroe, who has spent her entire life on a remote island, with only her father and her dog for company. Her lifelong dream is to see the mainland (which she calls “the other world”) but she is forbidden from doing so by her overprotective, verging-on-abusive, father. Just as it seems that Orca’s dream might never come true, the Stevenson brothers quite literally crash into her life, offering her a taste of the life and love (?) that lies beyond her island.

The premise of this book hinges on eighteen year-old Orca falling in love with the elder Stevenson brother, Adam. Adam is a twenty-eight year old bush pilot who ends up stranded on the island after his plane crashes nearby (Orca’s father is on a convenient trip to the mainland when this happens). With a storm raging, there’s no way for Adam to get home, or for Orca’s father to return to the island, which leaves Orca and Adam alone, together, for three days.

Something’s in the air. But if you ask me, it’s not love.

The three days Adam and Orca spend together are hardly enough time for them to scratch the surface of a friendship, let alone any sort of deep romantic connection. In spite of this, they both end their cabin-fever fueled isolation ready to declare their undying love for each other, which I found problematic on so many levels.

I suppose, from Orca’s perspective, it’s at least believable. She’s been imprisoned on an island for the first eighteen years of her life, so perhaps she would become infatuated with the first man she claps eyes on. Does it make her seem naïve and immature? Sure. But who wouldn’t be naïve and immature with such limited life experience?

Adam, on the other hand, is one great big bouquet of red flags. He’s a full grown, allegedly mature man, who should, at a bare minimum, understand the difference between love and lust. But after three days, a couple of vague conversations about the butterfly effect, and one kiss under the stars, this guy is convinced he’s found his soulmate. To me, it’s a very shaky foundation to build this so-called romance on.

As if the insta-love isn’t bad enough, this book takes things from unbelievable to straight-up problematic, by setting the love interests a decade apart in age, for no apparent reason. Adam could have been younger, or Orca could have been older, and it would have made almost no difference to the plot of this book. The age gap here felt unnecessary, and I’m not sure why the author decided to include this element.

To make matters worse, Adam himself acknowledges that the age-gap between him and Orca is problematic, especially given her sheltered upbringing and inexperience. He acknowledges the power imbalance it creates between them, he admits to himself that he probably shouldn’t indulge his feelings—and then he pursues her anyway.

I almost stopped reading at this point, because I was so put off by what seemed to be the central relationship of the book.

Which brings us to Jack Stevenson. Jack is Adam’s younger brother, a hotheaded eighteen-year-old who’s presented as the third point of our love triangle. For the first part of the book, Jack was probably my favourite character. I thought his over-the-phone meeting with Orca was humorous and cute, and I was excited to read more of their relationship. Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived. As soon as Adam enters the scene, you know that Jack doesn’t stand a chance. Orca and Adam are set up as “soulmates”, while Jack’s attachment to Orca is painted as an immature, superficial infatuation—and his feelings never seem to develop into anything deeper. As the book progresses, it feels like the author attempts to highlight Adam’s “maturity” by playing up Jack’s immaturity. But far from making me like Adam more, this just made me dislike Jack too.

Jack is never taken seriously as a love interest in this book, not by Orca or by the author. I felt no tension whatsoever in this love triangle, and I never once doubted that Orca would end up with Adam (although I did root firmly against it).

The romance in this book was a fatal misfire for me. I wanted to root for the protagonists, but I found their relationship fundamentally problematic, and I could not get past it.

Now, moving on to my smaller complaints.

The male love interests (yes, both of them) frequently compare Orca to “other girls”. They refer to “other girls” as if all other girls can be homogenized into one contemptible, inferior group who “wear makeup” and “worry about their diets when eating pizza” (both are things Orca is applauded for not doing). This promotes harmful stereotypes about women, and far from making Orca seem special, it makes both Stevenson brothers seem misogynist and narrow-minded. At one point, one of them even explicitly refers to Orca as being “not like other girls”, which prompted me to groan out loud. This kind of casual sexism is so frustrating to read, and I don’t know why it was part of this book.

Another complaint for me is an overall lack of nuance in this story. Orca’s predicament could have been a jumping off point to talk about blind loyalty, manipulation, and the importance of thinking for yourself, but instead, it’s all just an elaborate set up for the problematic love story outlined above. Orca’s father, in particular, is a character that I felt needed much more delicate handling than he was given. This character, I think, is indisputably morally grey. He’s not a cartoonishly cruel villain, but his decision to keep Orca on the island against her wishes is concerning to say the least. In spite of this, all of the other characters in this book seem to either grossly overreact or underreact to his actions. Jack, the younger brother, overreacts, treating Orca like a damsel that needs rescuing from her evil captor. Adam positions himself on the opposite end of the spectrum, and basically refuses to criticize Orca’s father, for fear of driving a wedge into Orca’s family. This dichotomy felt very forced, and as a result, neither reaction felt appropriate or realistic.

Finally, the ending (which I won’t spoil here) was a cherry on top of this very messy cake: far from leaving me satisfied as a reader, it made me feel quite unsettled, and even concerned, about our main character.

In spite of all of these issues, there were things I could appreciate about this book. I finished it in less than a week, which I think speaks to Abbie Emmons’ skill as a writer. I thought the pacing was great, and I enjoyed the atmospheric setting. Further, each character had a unique voice, and I thought some parts of this book were genuinely humorous. I just wish these moments of enjoyment hadn’t been overshadowed by the big-picture problems I’ve described.

In conclusion, The Otherworld was not for me. The relationships in this book struck me as fundamentally problematic, and made it impossible for me to fully immerse myself in the story.

[Sages_and_Pages · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Otherworld by Abbie Emmons is one of the most immersive stories I have read in quite some time. I was swept away into a world in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s.
It was a world both different and oddly nostalgic and familiar to me.
At first, I thought Orca’s background and sheltered life would be unbelievable. However, as I got to know her and her father and the deep dynamic between them, it became more understandable why they lived so isolated.
There were twists and turns in this story that I never expected. These surprises not only kept me always wanting to read one more chapter, they also added a richness to the storyline that explained a lot of the motivations of the characters.
Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the great, believable dialogue. It helped me as the reader tap into each character’s unique voice and uncover different facets of their personality. The dialogue also served to propel the storyline forward effectively, which is a main component of effective dialogue.
The overall flow of this book was also very good. This made for ease of reading. This book is not really based on external action scenes to move it forward. What makes this story such a page-turner is the wonderful depiction of each character’s internal struggles, their interactions with each other, and how it all comes together to ultimately allow them to grow both internally and also in their relationships with each other.
This is the first book I have ever read by author Abbie Emmons. I am very impressed by her masterful character development. It made me keep wanting to read more to see how the characters, and the story, unfolded. The characters were so multi-dynamic that I believe an entire book could be written about each one of them individually.
This book is an engaging, immersive experience filled with 90s nostalgia, great characters, a love triangle and even an adorable dog. I highly recommend this read.

[Bree Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Perhaps we are all butterflies, and the world is our hurricane."

I have a lot of mixed thoughts about this book, so please bare with me as I try to unpack them in a way that isn't just complete chaos.

Overall
The Otherworld is a beautiful book. Abbie's writing has improved so much since 100 Day of Sunlight. From the lush prose to the effortless worldbuilding and character banter, this book is really just the best, most cozy little book that made me want to sit with Orca inside the lighthouse drinking tea while we watched the rain outside. And, guys, I don't even like tea, so that should be a pretty good indicator about how much I wanted to crawl inside the pages of this book.

But, even amidst those feelings . . . I have to admit that this book does have some problems. So, let's get into the details, shall we?

What I Liked
-Orca. I know some people have expressed irritation with her, but I actually really liked her. She was a bit immature for an eighteen-year-old, but that didn't really bother me since it fit with her character and background. I think that her internal conflict and personality were well-written, and I genuinely just wanted to sit down and hang with her for a while.
-The BANTER. If there's one thing that Abbie has always done incredibly well, it's banter. Orca, Jack, and Adam all had such comedic moments that left me wondering how Abbie comes up with this stuff and MAKES IT SO ORGANIC.
-Sibling energy. Adam and Jack's interactions were incredible, and I will always be jealous of the way that Abbie writes brothers.
-The worldbuilding. I already touched on this, but seriously, it's so good. I cannot emphasize enough how much this made me want to LITERALLY JUMP INTO THE BOOK. It's been a long time since I've felt that way about a book, so if worldbuilding is important to you, this book will not disappoint.

What I Didn't Like
-The insta-love. I don't remember Abbie pitching this as an insta-love, so it caught me really off-guard when characters were confessing their love after only knowing each other for like, three days. For most of the novel, it felt like certain characters were either "in like" or "trauma bonded," which made the whole romance feel superficial and unrealistic. I did enjoy the romance, but it definitely required a certain level of suspension of disbelief that was, at times, a little annoying.
-The predictability of the story. I called the major plot twist at about 30%. I know that this might just be because I understand Abbie's tendencies and how a lot of plot twists work, but it did take away a little from my ability to be surprised by the latter part of the book.
-The age gap romance. I've never really read an age gap romance before, but it generally just gives me big "ick" energy. I will say that I think Abbie handled it better than I expected, but it's still not totally something I liked.
-The way every single character seemed to take the Lord's name in vain every 5 seconds. If this was written by someone else (or most other people), I probably would just roll my eyes and be like "Yeah, of course they did that." But, I thought Abbie was a Christian . . . and Christians are called to a higher standard. As a writer and a Christian, I cannot condone this kind of swearing because it goes against what we, as Christians, are called to do. Abbie's other characters in 100 Days of Sunlight did the same thing, but I guess I was hoping that she wouldn't do it here . . . and unfortunately, I think she did it more in this book.
-The ending. Don't get me wrong: I did enjoy the ending. But . . . it felt rushed. Everything wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly for me. I would have loved an epilogue or something to give things a chance to slow down and really soak in those final moments.

At the end of the day, this was a solid 3.5-3.75 stars for me. It had its moments that made me want to scream at the characters for being idiots and whisper "please, Abbie, don't." But, it was also delightful, fun, and ultimately felt like watching a trainwreck that made me giggle with evil reader glee.

So, if you like gorgeous prose/worldbuilding, angsty YA energy, brotherly bonds, dreamer girls, insta-love, and wanderlust, definitely check out The Otherworld.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Content warning: Abandonment, alcohol, cursing (strong and frequent, including taking the Lord’s name in vain), grief, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, and sexual content (there is a lot of kissing, and some of the kisses are a bit more sensual/descriptive).

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely fell in love with this book from the opening pages! The Otherworld is like an enchanting fairytale, urging you to lean in closer and listen to its whispered magic. It’s one of those rare books that’s luxuriously relaxing and cozy, yet so mysteriously intriguing I stayed up WAY past my bedtime reading it. I had to know what would happen as one chapter pulled me into the next!

Even though it’s set in the realistic world of the Pacific Northwest during the 1990’s, the story loosely echoes aspects of Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid in a way that feels fresh and creative. Since childhood, Orca Monroe’s father has kept her isolated in their lighthouse home, nestled on a remote island paradise, hoping to protect her from the dangers of “civilization” and humanity’s less savory side. When a cell phone washes up on the beach after a plane crash, Orca’s quiet life is changed forever. The phone connects her with Jack, who desperately needs her help finding his missing brother. Until now, she’s had no contact with the “Otherworld” (aka the cities and suburbs across the ocean from the island) and everything from pizza to swimsuits holds a foreign fascination for her. I had so much fun seeing everyday items and foods from “our world” through Orca’s point of view!

Abbie’s writing talent shines, showcasing her gift for crafting emotionally gripping characters, well-paced plots, and gorgeously described, atmospheric settings. The island, with its idyllic beach views, cottagecore vibes, and glimpses of whale pods swimming through the ocean, reminded me just how wondrous nature can be when we pause to notice.

As for the romance, even readers who claim they’re “over love triangles” would struggle not to be invested in this one! I honestly couldn’t decide which brother I was cheering for until more than halfway through the book and, even then, I was in constant suspense over the outcome! The book rotates among all three points of view, so I enjoyed the chance to dig into their distinct personalities and understand what they were thinking as events and feelings unfolded.

Yet, the romantic tension is only part of what makes The Otherworld engaging. It’s a philosophical character study, exploring deeper questions about life, love, family dynamics, and the ways in which the choices we make cause a chain reaction that effects the people around us. It’s one of those books I didn’t want to end and I’m excited to revisit it when I want to escape into an immersive comfort read!

***Thank you to NetGalley and Abbie Emmons for providing an ARC copy of The Otherworld in exchange for an honest review.

[hirumei · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s been a few days since I’ve finished reading this book and I’m still struggling to decide what rating to award it. I’m still a little bit torn between a one and a two, mostly because of writing and just overall plot, which I’ll explain (as much as Goodreads allows) below.

But first things first: thank you to Netgalley and Abbie for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. Having heard about it from my friend who is a big fan of Abbie’s writing vlogs, I was definitely looking forward to it.

You can mostly guess how my experience looked like based on the first few lines, however, I hope you’ll still have the patience to go through the entire post and see exactly why that is. So let’s dive in! (Please beware of the spoilers!)

THE COVER
Blue is definitely my favorite color and having this as an accented top behind the title made me a little happy. What Abbie did with the cover design (spoiler: it’s a butterfly once you fully open the book) was definitely a nice surprise, and the title’s typesetting was interesting as well. However, if I were to just come across this book in a store or library, I wouldn’t have picked it up. It doesn’t stand out much due to the lack of contrasting colors or points of interest.

THE TITLE
Looking back at the plot, the title seems rather unfitting. Simply based on it, I’d have expected some sort of exploration of the mainland, some sort of conflict that would bring the mainland forward and accent it. Instead, it was only presented as an obsession our main girl has, due to her circumstances. The marvel and highlights that I was expecting to see coming from Orca in relation to the “Otherworld” thus fell short.

THE PLOT
The storyline, overall, is rather simple: Orca, a girl who has just turned 18, lives on a small island with her father, a light keeper. Naturally, the young girl has no “real life experience” and all she relies on is her knowledge from the few books her father allowed her to read, daily observations and morning walks on the beach. Of course, having lived in isolation, while looking through the spyglass at the world revolving around the lighthouse on the island, the girl gets curious of what she continuously calls “the Otherworld”. Then, one day, while her father is away, on a short trip to resolve some administrative matters, Orca finds a small backpack containing a cellphone, a compass and a journal on the shore. As you might expect, the phone is fully functional and it begins ringing in the evening. On the other end of the line, the desperate brother of the owner tries to figure out what happened to his sibling—is he dead or alive?

Orca is thus tasked with finding the missing brother who crashed his plane in the vicinity of her island. After around two days of searching the land, which she describes as being small enough to go through within a day, she reaches a forest where she finds traces of blood. Unfortunately, due to the bad weather conditions, she has to give up the search and return home.

Later on, someone comes banging on the back door and by the time she finally decides to check what is happening, the mysterious visitor disappears. Instead, in a matter of minutes, the banging resumes on the front door, so the girl rushes to open it.

It is no surprise who she finds: Adam, the missing brother, who instantly collapses and Orca has to drag him inside and strip of his wet clothes. She then quickly loses focus and instead of mending the man’s wounds, she proceeds to staring at his naked body (this kind of made me laugh due to how absurd it was, though I do understand how this being her first time seeing a man may stir some curiosity).

What’s definitely surprising here, however, is her medical knowledge which wasn’t hinted at much, previously. The reader can only trust her words when she matter-of-factly states she is prepared to treat whatever wound, due to her living conditions.

And yet, the plot becomes problematic. The author describes the man being horribly bruised, cut across the face, having a punctured torso, a few broken ribs and a sprained ankle. What I fail to understand here is how would a man be able to survive without food and water in such a state, while, at the same time, wandering a small island, for around five days. Then, I was completely startled by the way in which Orca heals his wounds: with aloe vera and witch hazel, without even stitching the punctured torso which was still oozing.

Now, the way, I understood Adam’s route is this: he crashed somewhere in the sea, his plane was taken away by the waves, in the opposite direction, closer to the mainland, while he was thrown onto the small island. The island has a lighthouse, we know that, to guide the air and sea travelers in the dark. We can assume he gets wrecked somewhere in the middle of the island, since Orca finds his backpack around that place, and some indentations in the sand that seem to indicate footprints. However, instead of going towards the lighthouse, Adam heads for the woods, basically, in the opposite direction. To me, this looks highly illogical and unrealistic but if I got this wrong, someone, please explain to me how this whole thing works!

Additionally, while Adam still bleeds from his torso cut (again, five days have passed since he disappeared), Orca rules out a bigger wound and says “the bruise is worse than the cut”. So, in the end, which one is it? Did he bleed a lot or not? Was it just her imagination in the woods? Also, I’m still skeptical of the witch hazel and aloe vera usage in this case.

After a few hours of rest, now fully bandaged too, Adam wakes up, gets up, and sits on a chair with little pain, despite the bruises, blood loss and broken ribs. To me, this sounds utterly unrealistic. To top it off, he’s also pretty chill, unguarded, and very lucid, conversing with Orca about all sorts of things, and even helping direct her how to charge his phone, all while drinking coffee, which Orca brews for the first time (?).

Once the phone is charged, they inform Jack, Adam’s brother, about the miracle and make plans for picking up the injured person from the island. However, since the storm is still raging on, they are both stuck on the island, in a confined space, together. Well, aside the occasional walk in the garden, during the second day (or was it third?), where we get a very Rapunzel like image of Orca’s braided hair with flowers and butterflies, and the chopping wood in the rain scene (on day two, after Adam awakes and he follows Orca around, offering to chop the wood himself).

There’s a lot going on and, at the same time, nothing much. Adam and Orca have philosophical conversations sometimes interrupted by Jack’s phone calls. Orca drags Adam (no mention of it being mended though) up the stairs, to the light room, he randomly remembers he shouldn’t be walking too well because his leg’s supposed to hurt, they have their first kiss while staring at the stars and BAM! They’re in love. How am I supposed to believe all this?!

On the third day, Adam leaves the island after a brief encounter with Orca’s father. Jack comes to pick him up. They have a little run in and seemingly decide to never see each other again, even though Adam leaves his journal and love confession behind. On the same day, Orca lies to her father and later on gives herself away. Thus, the family relations are strained.


After a while, Orca leaves the island. Jack comes and picks her up, as a thank you gift for saving his brother and because he also likes her. He decides to take her along his small town, in the Washington area, show her the big Seattle, and then, finally, take her back home, unless she decides otherwise. This entire adventure lasts for a little bit over a week, during which time, Adam constantly thinks of her, pushes her in his brother’s direction, then wants her back, decides to find her lost family (the ones her father never talked about, but she suddenly knows the name of her grandfather), and she goes on a few dates with Jack.

Naturally, the brothers become rivals although there is not much competition to begin with. Everything’s mostly settled.


THE CHARACTERS & NARRATIVE VOICE
There are three main characters and Abbie goes around exploring each of their point of views by writing from a first person perspective. However, this turns out to be rather ineffective since all the character voices sound rather similar. I strongly believe this would have been more effective if told from a third point of view, instead of moving from one character to another and telling about the events around them.

In any case, we have Orca, who has just turned 18. Definitely an interesting name, but with no background for it. I’d have honestly loved to see how her name was picked, what the history behind it was. She’s mostly cheerful and very talkative. She has a dog, Lucius, and loves her shells on the beach. She also talks about things like she doesn’t know them, but on the other hand, she admits to knowing them. She says she doesn’t know what flirting means—understandable, her father seems to have forbidden all love related materials and talks, but she knows about romantic love and how to make babies.

Then, we have Jack, the younger brother; also 18. He’s a rebellious teen with lots of dating experience, mostly known for his flings (just implied, there is no antagonist or conflict coming from this direction). Owns a Mustang and a cellphone (and a bomber jacket). The way he looks and talks about Orca didn’t even scratch the surface of love. Although he did try to be romantic, he still ended up objectifying the girl.

Finally, there’s Adam, the older brother. He’s a 28 year old pilot and the owner of the flip phone Orca finds. Being the older brother, he is mostly on the giving side. More introverted and prefers philosophical talks. Owns two planes and a truck (and a bomber jacket). He, too, had some romantic experiences, however none came to be. There is no love rival coming from him either. Similarly to his brother, objectifies the girl.

THE GOALS AND MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THE PLOT
These were very unclear. I originally thought we’d get to explore the mainland, live through Orca’s excitement and end up seeing everything in a new light by the end of the book. Instead, we got a little bit of everything: we go to the mainland, get through the mainstream with no excitement, discover old family secrets, all these while witnessing a 28-year-old secretly making out with a girl ten years younger than him.

THE WRITING
There’s a lot of “tell, don’t show” going on, and the main focus are the actions of the characters (e.g. I laughed, I left the island, “Lucius, come”, we kissed, I called, I killed the engine etc.), however, there are a few instances of nicely described environments too.

On the other hand, some of the conversations are okay, while most of them seem choppy, especially when it comes to philosophy, talking about the butterfly effect, or Orca’s explaining of events, where she word-vomits.

To take it further, I was very much bothered by the repetitions and the descriptions of irrelevant objects (like that one bomber jacket! Especially in sentences like “I grabbed my bomber jacket” uttered specifically by the two guys). Orca also missed a lot of vocabulary, her main objectives and nouns being “the Otherworld”, “otherworldly” and “love”. Finally, there are a lot of italics used for emphasis, and at times, it looks like the reader is… lacking understanding or the ability to read the way the scene should be read. Honestly, overuse damages the goods.

REALISM
Overall, most character actions or situations seemed unrealistic and forced for the sake of having a plot going on. For example, when her father has a heart attack at the end of the novel, during all the peace and calmness, instead of when Orca leaves the island or argues with him, Orca does not know how to act and calls Jack instead of the coastguard!

The romantic aspect is also rather hard to believe, especially since all characters experience some sort of insta-love and all they express throughout the book is something closer to lust. No action truly indicates the care and the more tender aspects of love. Just some sort of carnal desire and random fluffy moments.

Lastly, there’s also that mention of the Stevensons being more on the average / poor side of life, though they all have their own house, two planes, at least two cars, flip phones, bomber jackets and all the other stuff, while also still affording to take Orca out on dates and buying her swimsuits.

There are a lot more instances that I could talk about, however, I feel this has already become rather long, so I will stop it here. At least for now.

[Saloni Porwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seeing Abbie ramble about her new book baby is so cute <333 Just finished her 100DOS and the sequel and can't wait for this one. The vibes are so different but cool, love the teaser and blurb and 100% the cover. The butterfly looks elite! Now gonna hang in there for three weeks for the ARC to release and try to get my hands on it...

[Lisa]

SO. FREAKING. PUMPED. YOOOOOO!

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from the author on Netgalley; thank you, Abbie Emmons, for allowing me to read your book!

"What is out there, Papa?"
With a smile, he answered, "More ocean. Thousands of miles of it. Waves and waves into infinity."
"Infinity," I whispered, reaching my hand out as far as I could.
We were standing at the railing around the top of the lighthouse. I spread my fingers and watched infinity fill the spaces between them.

This book was entirely unexpected in more than one way.


CONS OF THE OTHERWORLD

First off: I completely missed it, but in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Ar6...), Abbie Emmons included content warnings in her description box. I completely missed that till I was committed and had the ebook, so allow me to warn you in advance:
-A male character is completely naked in a scene with a girl studying him. (I understood that it was necessary to get the wet clothing off of him, but the way in which she then proceeded to look at him made me wildly uncomfortable and I didn't think added anything to the book whatsoever, so it easily could have been left out and skimmed over)
-A character gets drunk (off-page)
-Language (including using God's name)
-A ton of kissing and descriptions of 'passion' and 'desire' (which to me seemed to be very much so creeping into a realm of lust and, again, made me wildly uncomfortable)

The... theme?? I don't have any problems with the theme she was trying to convey. But that's mostly because I couldn't find it? Abbie Emmons talks so much about theme and "why it matters" in her videos, and I was stoked to hear she was coming out with a book because I love reading books with theme! But I struggled to find it. *cri*
-I THINK that it was about having courage and going out to be who you are but also being with those you love??
-But like I'm not sure. It was hard to discern it.
-This book was designed to be more thought-provoking, but if the goal was to make the theme woven in so deeply and barely touched upon to make the reader unable to put it into words, then it succeeded. (That sounds really brutal, but I don't mean it to be. Genuinely just confused over here. X'D )

Adam had so much potential as a character!! It was mentioned once (maybe twice?) how he puts others needs before his own to a fault, but the idea - to my distress - was never explored further than those mentions. That hurt my soul. He cared so much about others, but this was a very controversial idea that I feel could have been explored so much further!! How do you talk about the need to take care of yourself when it's always good to be kind to others?? SO MUCH POTENTIAL. WASTED.

Jack?? His character was full of so much fire and fight and I loved him at first - but then in the second half of the book, he just felt like some shallow antagonistic force who was a selfish jerk. *waves hands wildly in front of myself* WHICH LIKE I KNOW WAS THE POINT. He was young and needed to learn how to do what Adam did: put others before himself. But it was to the extreme of him becoming unlikeable, which was disappointing since he started out so good.

The structure of the book really felt off-kilter to me? Again: I KNOW THAT WAS THE POINT. It was supposed to show the dichotomy between the island and the otherworld. But the entire mood and vibe of the first half of the book really didn't flow over into the second half, which resulted in it feeling like either one half or the other didn't belong there in the same book.

Orca's decisions and actions at the very end felt very out of character for her? They lead into the 3rd Act and darkest part of the novel for the characters, but it just felt off. I'm sure that was part of her growth, but ummm... again: I missed that part.

There was a lot - a LOT - of passionate kissing scenes. Basically to the point of characters making out at one point. (Again: wildly uncomfortable.)
-This is extremely sad for me, because I heard Abbie describe this book as being the book she would want to read; one of her points was how it was about true love.
-That makes me sad, because despite the cool discussions about fate, destiny, and soulmates, the way love was portrayed was as some physical attraction full of passion and a lust for one another. Maybe it wasn't intended to be that way, but that is what I got out of it based on all the character's thoughts and actions.

There also was a scene where a character was in a bikini and it was described as being very skimpy; I didn't really enjoy having that mental image going on even though - AGAIN AGAIN - I understand it was there to show the differences between what Jack wanted her to become and what she was - and the fact that Adam liked her as she was - but, once again again: wildly uncomfortable.

There also were some typos; nothing super bad, but a consistent amount of misused "it's". I took note of each one in case Abbie might want to know where those are, but there were a lot that should be broken down into "it has" instead, as the sentence doesn't make grammatical sense if you thought of it as "it is". That one is a smaller thing for me, though.


PROS OF THE OTHERWORLD

Perhaps we are all butterflies, and the world is our hurricane.

There were a couple of very fascinating conversations in the first half of the book about fate, destiny, and the butterfly effect. I loved the way the butterfly effect came up every once and a while in the book after that. I wish it had been explored further, though, and given more weight.

The cover is really cool! I wasn't overly impressed with it at first, but once the hidden image in it was pointed out to me, I found I did quite like it.


OVERALL

This book could have been so much more than what it was. It had so much prose in it that it's definitely an acquired taste to read it; the themes were lost among it all, and the storyline felt disjointed. There were a lot of good ideas in place that could have been further drawn upon, and I felt like were just left in the one scene or other that they made an appearance in.

Once again, I will caution what I completely missed: that there are a lot of content issues in this book. I have given an extensive list above, so I won't go over them again.

I would say that, overall, I was just disappointed with the book? I expected so much more from Abbie Emmons, and this really wasn't that.

[allison riera :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

i received an e-arc from net galley in exchange for a honest review.

this is really hard bc i love abbie. i was obsessed with her blog, and i love her youtube videos, and i adore 100 Days of Sunlight .

firstly, abbie is an incredible writer. i love her writing style, and how cozy the book is. she also did a great job with the three POVs. each character's voice was so unique, and i could tell the difference without even seeing the chapter indications. also the chapters all had titles! and i loved the rapunzel vibes. but, there were some aspects that i did not enjoy.

the age-gap romance. this was communicated up front, so i was aware of it going into the book, so i'm not reducing my rating bc of this alone. i personally am not a fan of age-gap romance, but i wanted to still give it a chance bc it's abbie. however, i still found the age-gap problematic, especially since orca is so naive. adam is fully an adult (28!), while orca (18) has had no experience at all with men other than her father. she doesn't even know how to kiss?? all of their scenes (especially the first kiss scene) were uncomfortable for me, as she would ask "am i doing it right" etc. 🥴 also, adam kept describing her as "pure" and "untouched", which is true (bc hello, real life rapunzel), but also gave me uncomfy vibes.

i will say, the insta-love makes sense in this book bc of orca's character and her secluded life on the island.

i also really did not like orca's dad, and how adam (and his parents!) kept defending him. yeah, he may have a good reason to keep orca secluded on an island, but it's still wrong to shelter her that much, especially without any explanation. and of course orca is going to want to experience the real world. it's perfectly natural. idk, just really didn't like how adam kept defending her dad despite jack making some valid points.

i also was very team jack for the first half of the book, bc he felt the most normal? like, he met a girl secluded on an island who desperately wanted to experience the real world, and he wanted to help her. i feel like that's a very natural reaction?? but then he became a jerk and a douchebag when he tried to 'make' orca fall in love with him. also, kissing her without her consent? not cool, especially since he thought it was the first time she kissed anyone. like, dude, ask her first. c'mon. and don't get me started on the bikini scene.

lastly, this is a major spoiler so i'll mark it w/ tags, but i really did not like how orca's mom was portrayed as a villain merely for wanting a career. like yes, she was cold and cruel to orca when she came to see her and that's wrong, but miriam's implication that orca's dad basically tricked her into having a child? idk if that was how it happened, but that's what i got from it. and that is not okay. and orca kept saying that her mom was unhappy and unfulfilled, merely bc she decided she didn't want to live as a recluse and instead wanted a career? not okay.

all in all, i was not a huge fan of this book, which is really sad bc i wanted to love it. but i will continue to read abbie's other works, as she is an incredible writer. and just bc it wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean it's not yours!

[Alexia Kyriacou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite simply, this book is outstanding. From the first page, it grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. The pacing is perfect, the plot is gripping and so, so relatable and familiar, and the characters are personable and real to the extent that I fell in love with all of them at their first mention. Abbie has such a unique way of creating suspense, too, suspense that grabs hold of you and forces you to read into the wee hours of the morning because you just cannot put the book down. This is an excellent read, and I say that as someone who never reads romance. As much as I would have loved to give this book five stars, though, there was one thing that ruined the immersion for me: the excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and similes. I feel that these parts and figures of speech have their place and can make a book a fun read, but when used too often, they can rip the reader out of the immersion of the fictional world and back into the real world as they struggle to form the simile image in their minds, especially if they are fast readers. Other than this, though, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thrilling tale of a love triangle and a girl trapped in a world that she doesn’t feel like she belongs to.

[Anna Ellia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters: 8/10
Romance: 8/10
Writing: 7/10
Adam: 100/10

I INHALED this book in one day, three sittings.
Let me just start off by saying the vibes in this book are IMMACULATE! Seriously, the way this is written, with the lovely descriptions and metaphors, really sells the whole seaside vibe of this book, which I adored. I loved Orca and Adam's relationship, and though it was corny, it's a breath of fresh air to read something that's so sweet and light compared to other romance books out there.

Honestly, I think this was mismarketed as a love-triangle romance. I'm sorry for saying this, because every other character was loveable, but anytime Jack's name popped up I wanted to put a bullet through his skull. If that was Abbie's intention, she did it amazingly.
God, he was such a manipulative asshole who I felt saw Orca as so much of an object- a collectible- and his feelings towards her were so shallow. He was willing to have her destroy her relationship with her beloved Papa just to drag her out somewhere she was reluctant on going when he asked. Seriously, I could go on about my intense hatred for him for another three paragraphs, but I'll just list his horrible traits. He's manipulative, impulsive, violent, selfish, arrogant- ugh. I liked that he acknowledged how much of a jerk he was at the end, but I honestly still hate him. He was…okay, in the first few chapters.

The first few chapters! Another thing I'd like to talk about. I felt (and I'm sorry for this, but I promised an honest review) that this book began in a way that made me cringe pretty hard. The way she kept repeating how much she wanted to see the outside world and everything- it's probably just me, but I felt that she came off as a five year old in a Disney show who's trying to be cool but is not. I also felt that the pacing was slow, but the amount of time the story itself took place within was incredibly little. I'm swooning over how sweet and how in love Orca and Adam are, but I felt it happened extremely quick. This book would've definitely had a higher score for me in terms of writing had the events developed a little less quick, as I felt it was unrealistic to catch such strong feelings. Not just Adam and Orca, the way Jack talked about her around chapter 10 I believe. Where he kept gushing about how smart and strong and funny she was- but they had only talked over the phone, like, once? Another thing I noticed was how often the characters' names and last names were said (not in the narrative itself, in the dialogue). Honestly? It degrades the quality of Abbie's pretty writing- and makes everything feel as though it was written for children. Dialogue I also felt was unrealistic and clunky at times.

While I understand Orca didn't have prior experiences with dating, and she didn't really know what she was doing- I don't like how she sort of lead Jack on. That was another thing I kind of frowned at.

I loved that this book had a small cast of characters; that made it feel very cozy and closed off. A lot of books have my brain working overtime with a LOT of characters every which way, and it's a pain to remember who did what and what's going and blah blah blah. Just a personal preference, but I liked it :).

This book was not perfect, but a good, enjoyable read and an experience that'll leave a fuzzy feeling in your chest afterwards. I'll definitely be buying a physical copy when it comes out, and rereading it some time. One of my comfort books, now!
Compared to other books I've read, the amount of things that pissed me off was relatively low. Pat on the back to the lovely Abbie.

Plot was a little lacking, not much going on externally, but a book that was more character driven was nice!! Oh, and I forgot to point out: I LOVE ADAM. ADAM #1 FAN FOREVER.
Seriously, he's so considerate and sweet and caring and lovely- I can see how Orca fell for him quickly. Did I mention how poetic he is? That's lovely, as well. Not everyone wants a man that's like 👹…but softer men, you know? Adam was wonderfully written.
Note: the ten year age gap was a little uncomfortable for me, would've been nicer if it was a little closer, but it was a very minor issue and didn't affect the book much at all.

To wrap up this review, here are some of my favorite lines/bits of nice writing:

-"Looking at everything else in my life, I can't
find a comparison to the immensity of love I
feel for him.
It frightens me because tomorrow he will be
gone-yet my feelings for him will remain. I
will be torn in two and I fear I will bleed
inwardly. I will be forever cursed with an
invisible wound that I have no remedy for."

-"After all this time, do you really not know
how beautiful, how priceless you are to me?
God, if only you knew how much I've battled
with myself to not want you. To let you go and be free to find yourself. I didn't want
you to make the same mistake your mother
did, marrying an older man, not knowing
what you really wanted. I didn't want you to wake up one day and regret your decision.
But now I realize I can't let you go. From the moment I first met you, I never wanted to leave your side. I love you with every
breath I take, Orca, You're like a wildfire I can't put out-you've consumed me, body and soul."

-"I should have told her the truth-that she is
the most beautiful woman I've ever met.
Not just on the outside, Not just the way the light sparkles in her eyes like turquoise
and gilds the soft folds of her hair, not just
the lilt of her voice or the music of her
laughter, not just the elegant shape of her
body, like a marble sculpture straight out of
Michelangelo's proficient hands.
She is beautiful because she is one of a kind -a single, glorious star lighting up her own
Solar System. Beautiful because she lives in
this hidden utopia, far from the madness of
the world she desperately, foolishly yearns
for."

-"She's honesty. She's grace. She's even more
of a mystery to me than I am to her. She is
a forest so perfectly serene and untouched,
I am torn between the desire to explore this
new wonder of the world and the fear of
polluting its holiness by so much as
breathing on it."

-"'Exactly, I think the idea of soulmates can
be problematic because it makes you believe
you need someone else to complete you, Like
you can never be whole without that
person.'
'Maybe it's not someone who's preordained.'
I murmur, thinking aloud. 'Maybe some
people just make soulmates. They find
Someone and love them so much that they
Sort of… become part of that person. And
it's not that they were one being before,
but they are now, and that's why it hurts
when one of them goes away. Because it
only hurts when one of you goes away,
right? Not before you ever meet them.'"

-"Perhaps true confidence is not found in
sparkling charisma, but in quiet strength
and steadiness, like the unwavering glow of
a lighthouse on a distant shore."

-"'If were the butterflies," Orca muses,
"then we decide what the void will be, right?
Maybe it's not nothing. Maybe it's just…infinite possibilities'."

-"He looks down at our
entwined fingers, gently tracing his thumb
over my knuckles. 'And whoever you end up
falling in love with, he'll be the luckiest
man in the world.'"

-"But even thunderstorms have another side to
them- a terrifying sort of beauty, when rods of
white lightning split the sky into pieces and flash
on the swells of the black ocean below."

That's all from me! I'd love to know whether this review was satisfactory, and I'd like to give a million thanks for giving me the honor and the privilege to read this book before publication.

[Anna M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to tell everyone about this book, but I have to wait because it isn't out yet. Thank you so much, Abbie, for approving me as an ARC reader! I loved The Otherworld so much.

[R B · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are part of the writing community in any sphere like I am, then you’ve likely heard of Abbie Emmons. I love her work on YouTube! But I really struggled to appreciate her third novel.

(I am breaking it down in its entirety so be forewarned - it’s going to be long with MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD.)
 
PART ONE 
The first half of Part One showed real promise. The story begins with Orca, a girl who’s lived a life of isolation with her father, Lawrence. On her 18th Birthday, she presents her burning desire to visit the mainland for the first time. His response is an emphatic no. Orca believes it’s because Papa doesn’t trust she is strong enough to handle this adventure.  

From the beginning Orca’s father, Lawrence, needed rounding out. Considering he plays a huge role in the story, additional layers to his lie that keeps him in isolation would have added humanity and emotional interest. The love he has for his daughter is lacking necessary depth as well. Abbie should have punched us in the face with how much he treasures her. This would have helped counterbalance the extreme decision to force her into his chosen life of exile. Because we don’t witness his love in action for Orca, it felt creepy and unbalanced. It left me genuinely concerned for the stability of Lawrence’s mental health and for Orca’s physical safety in the long run.

The descriptions used for Orca’s world were very immersive. Ms. Emmons’ writing talent and growth since 100 Days of Sunlight + the sequel really shines here.

The idea of finding a cellphone washed up on the shores of her island is unique. Talking to Jack Stevenson and learning about his brother, Adam - a bush pilot missing in a recent crash - is a really great hook. 

When Orca realizes there is a chance the pilot could be stranded on her island, she decides to search for him in secret. After all, Lawrence is leaving in the morning for a first-time yet oh so convenient surprise business trip to the mainland. Her goal in finding the pilot is to prove to her father that she is strong and capable, deserving of a visit to the Other World (what she refers to as the mainland).  
 
The introduction of Adam in Orca’s world was great - exciting, kind of quirky, a little bit funny - very fitting overall. I wasn’t bothered by the age gap trope at first (10 year difference). But it becomes problematic as the story progresses.

[Side note: the description of Adam’s wounds vs. recovery was inconsistent, not just here but throughout. His pain tends to manifest at will, usually when an element of the story needs stronger emotional impact. Overall, it was distracting for me.]

Orca and Adam begin to bond over the next three days. They lay around discussing the philosophical musings in his journal, watch butterflies, go stargazing, bake cookies and kiss. This sums up their short time together. No hard questions are asked, no opportunities to learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses occur and no general understanding of each other’s core beliefs are uncovered. I think Emmons missed a golden opportunity here - even for a meet cute - to build substance into the relationship, something to hook the reader into believing an everlasting romance is beginning to bud. Because precious time is wasted, when they part, they are still perfect strangers. The only concrete thing driving these character’s together is extreme sexual tension under the guise of “I Love You” and the unfounded belief (majorilly on Orca’s part) that they are destined to be soulmates.

After his return, Lawrence is far from impressed that his daughter has spent three days alone with a strange man. He tells Adam not to contact her anymore. When Orca later confesses undying love for Adam, it doesn’t go over well.

PART TWO (the bulk of my criticisms lie here)

As an aspiring writer, I too struggle with the middle mark of my stories (the “muddle” as most novelists refer to it). However, part two feels like a completely different book! 

First off, let’s discuss tone. The Midpoint was probably not the best place to change it. I was committed at this point in reading a cozy, quiet romance. The book gave no inclination it was going to change this late in the game. I was jolted and disappointed when it did.

Now for pacing. The radical shift in scenery should have begun 120-ish pages prior, at the beginning of Act II, not the Midpoint. The story as a whole would have flowed better, giving the author more time to delve into the arising conflicts. Instead, it felt rushed and grew harder and harder to find a clear line of focus everything could hinge on. 

Jack decides to repay Orca for saving his brother by rescuing her from “isolation island.” Adam and his parents disapprove, feeling it is best to honor her father’s wishes and not drive a wedge between Lawrence and Orca. 

First off, because of my concerns for Lawrence’s mental health and the unpleasant vibes their father/daughter dynamic give off, Jack is the only sane character thinking clearly about this. In reality, people would absolutely question the oddities of Orca’s current living situation, ESPECIALLY since she has expressed strong desires to leave it. 

The reader learns Adam has a dual purpose for keeping Orca away. He’s hoping to forget her so he isn't tempted to pursue a relationship. There are various reasons for this but the primary one is due to his convictions over their extreme age gap. I think this is meant to make him appear selfless. However, under the context of Orca’s living situation, it reads as the exact opposite. This only sounds like a grown man who can’t control his desires around a teenage girl. Therefore, in his mind, it’s better to leave her trapped on the island instead of putting her obvious needs of escape first.

The love triangle begins here which feels clunky and ill-fitting to the essence of the novel. There was not enough attention paid to Jack’s growing feelings for Orca earlier in the story to convince me a love angle is needed. 

So, let’s talk about Jack. While he’s the only character who remains true to himself, Emmons chose to heighten his behavior to unbelievable levels of generic and problematic masculinity. He’s pervy, pushy, dominating and an even worse ticking bomb of rage than before. I don’t know if this was done on purpose so we would instinctively choose Abbie’s version of the lesser of two evils but it was very off putting. If Emmons wanted to go for the whole love triangle angle, this would have been the time to actually make us root for Jack, forcing Orca’s decision to choose between the two brothers harder. But this is not the case. Everything in their relationship dynamic feels forced, icky and bordering sexual assault (kissing her without consent, ogling her in a bikini, etc). I really think the love triangle should have been avoided completely.

Let’s take some time to talk about Adam, the primary love interest. Instead of exploring the feelings set up in the first half of the novel, a new level of conflict is introduced, one that teases the readers for the rest of the story with “will they, won’t they.” This is when things became problematic. 

In a nutshell, Adam pushes, pulls and toys with Orcas emotions under the guise of, “we can’t be together.” Yet he proceeds to sexually arouse her the next minute by partaking in physical contact. He continuously points out the age gap one minute then SECRETLY makes out with her the next. The connection made between these two factors at one time is inappropriate overall. Considering their ages, this presents way too many signs of grooming.

You could argue that Orca pursues him by kissing and seeking him out. But to blame a young victim who clearly knows no better doesn’t sit right with me. Adam is the older adult, therefore it is his responsibility to shut that s**t down by setting clear boundaries that align with his convictions. That is the makings of a responsible, admirable man - not setting a standard only to break it when the opportunity presents itself. I genuinely don’t believe this was done on purpose. I believe he is written this way because he is out of the author’s depth of experience with people in my age group (30 something year olds). 

It would have been better to ditch the love triangle - just a distraction at this point - set up a safety net for Orca and bump her up a few years in age (even 21 would have felt better overall, if only slightly). The novel could then safely and comfortably focus on Adam and Orca exploring and learning to navigate the complexities of an age gap relationship, removing the grooming aspect Adam gives off. Instead, I desperately wanted her to get as far away as possible from Adam, Jack and even her unstable father on isolation island. I was left searching the pages for a character she could find safety in if things went south on all sides. Orca’s newfound aunt is the only one I would have her run to for safety and security. However, she’s given less than a chapter of scene time and quite obviously not intended for this purpose.

There are a few other factors that are worth breezing over.
1. None of Orca’s experiences in the mainland are from her POV, her literal want mentioned time and time again. This makes her MC energy fade into the background, reducing her to a sort of NPC that moves the conflict between the two brothers along.
2. There are too many inconsistencies in what Orca does and does not know. For example, she’s never heard of fireworks - an invention well over a thousand years old - but she knows that being 18 years old holds significance in the other world (a fairly newer, more culturally based concept than fireworks).
3. The only person of color in the story is a waitress with a brief scene that reduces her to a sort of comic relief. The lack of human diversity in Abbie’s stories has always been problematic, at best.

 
HUGE SPOILERS UP AHEAD!!

Adam and Orca follow a trail of breadcrumbs regarding her family history where they learn her mother is alive. This is another part of the story that didn’t sit right with me. The whole interaction feels cliche and flat.Almost like a jab at a dedicated career woman. Very stereotypical, cold and heartless. While there are situations of parent abandonment in life, I’m not vibing with the author’s chosen combo here. 
There are many career ice queens in fiction who are villains but still have children (Miranda Sacks and her twins in The Devil Wears Prada, Wilhelmina Slater protecting her daughter in season 4 of Ugly Betty just to name two who are editors of fashion magazines, like Orca’s mom).

Things really slide downhill when Lawrence is brought up in the conversation. According to the mom, he deliberately caused her to get pregnant just so he wouldn’t lose her. “Lawrence knew that I never wanted children, and we were always careful to take precautions…At first I thought it was an accident when I got pregnant with you…But after you were born, I realized that it was all part of his plan – to keep me there, with him.”

Since the mom’s viewpoint/theory quoted above is never disproved to the reader, this only solidified what I thought all along: Lawrence’s mental health is unstable. If my marriage were falling apart and my husband sabotaged our birth control methods to force me to have a child when I wasn’t ready, just so he wouldn’t lose me, I’d be mad as hell too.

However, Emmons chooses to use this information to push Lawrence into a hero’s spotlight and the mom becomes the coldhearted villain. This is such a gray line that shouldn’t have been forced into something black and white. Due to its extreme complexities, it deserved more scene time and exploration. Unfortunately, it was over and done within less than a chapter. 

Part Two ends with Adam randomly deciding, with literally no “aha” moment, that he and Orca actually are soulmates and wants to officially pursue a relationship with her (making it feel like his grooming work is done and he’s free to have her. Sounds gross but it absolutely felt this way while reading it). Orca is ready to go back home to apologize and make amends with her father, believing she fully understands his plight after the conversation she had with her mom (the world is just so cruel to poor, poor Innocent Lawrence. Le sigh, why would anyone want to escape a life living with someone so innocent and loving as he?). The brothers battle it out over their feelings for Orca.

PART THREE

I don’t really want to go into too much detail in Part 3 as all of my red flags and issues with the novel in Part 2 were enough to taint the remainder of the story. 

Basically, despite being played a fool by everyone regarding Orca, Jack is told to apologize to his family for fighting with Adam. He decides to join the military (smart move, my guy, the unhealthy favoritism his parents display for Adam is insufferable). It is also alluded numerous times that hopefully, while stationed in the military, a war doesn’t break out - which we know does, four years later after the 9/11 attacks (I’m not sure if Emmons is setting up a sequel for Jack’s story by constantly pointing this out. I guess we’ll see).

Lawrence has a random heart attack with no previous foreshadowing set up for this, which makes it feel tact on and plot driven. The brothers fly out to save him during another storm, despite Adam having crashed his plane at the beginning in similar weather circumstances (have none of the characters learned ANYTHING at all from their experiences in this story? I get he wants to be a literal hero here but he’s putting his life, Jack’s life, Orca’s life, her father’s life AND the damn dog’s life in jeopardy when flying them back to the mainland).

Once again, we are back to square one with Adam and Orca as now Orca decides, with only 11 pages of the novel left, to call it quits on pursuing a relationship with him (thank God!). She is convinced leaving the island broke her father’s heart, causing the cardiac arrest. She doesn’t want to put anymore strain on him. At this point, because I know Abbie loves a happy ending (something she said on a live stream) I’m fully aware they will end up together. Because of this, the plot device of “will-they-won’t-they” is being grossly overused and creates a sense of frustration rather than page-turning interest. After all, this was wrapped up and completed when Adam decided they were soulmates. I wish Emmons would have only used this “will-they-won’t-they,” conflict here at the very end and filled the bulk of the novel with some other type of relationship plot device for her and Adam to explore and learn more about each other. Something more concrete to give their dynamic substance and maturity, shifting it far away from the unpleasant vibes it gave off overall (maybe a disagreement on core beliefs or a misunderstanding of one another’s character. Anything is better than a constant loop of the same thing).

The remaining 11 pages feel rushed. No sooner does she make this call, Adam has a talk with Jack who tells him, “the brush-off is a test. Maybe Orca doesn’t see it that way because she’s so pure and naïve, but the same rules apply. She takes a step back, says it’s for the best, and now it’s up to you to prove you’re serious. No girl wants you to leave her alone when she says ‘Leave me alone -‘ - it’s like Morse code for, ‘How much do you care?’”

I’m sorry, WHAT?! I don’t even need to go into depth with how problematic this relationship advice is. It’s demeaning and disrespectful to women. By this point, I’m genuinely DONE with the novel and all of the character’s toxic actions and beliefs shone in a positive light by the author.

So Adam - a man approaching his 30’s, mind you - takes the advice of his little brother (for reference, if Adam was 13 and seeking advice on a school crush, Jack would be…um…3. Even if Adam was 23 and Jack was 13, the probability of receiving solid council and wisdom from your younger sibling on such matters is minute. The same applies now with them being 28 and 18, having witnessed Jack’s maturity level in the story. It’s just not the wisest choice…but who are we kidding? His future wife is a highly naïve 18 year old so it’s fine. It’s fine!).

In the next 5-7 pages, he completely disrespects Orca’s choice, going behind her back to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Lawrence says he’s welcome to visit the island and see where things go with Orca, but he wants Adam to wait one year to prove himself.

A few days later, Adam randomly shows up to the island as a sort of handyman. Despite her previously stating she doesn’t want to pursue a relationship, Orca is not upset by him disregarding her wishes. On the contrary, she is elated (VERY problematic message being made here, especially for the age range a YA book is intended for, 12-18 year olds). 

Adam drops to one knee and basically asks her to marry him, as long as they wait one year, per her father’s request. Wait…what? So were they supposed to wait a year before deciding to get married, or are they allowed to be engaged (which is the intent to marry) for a year and then officially tie the knot? My head is spinning and I’m left more confused than before. 

MY CONCLUSION

I really wanted to love this book - but I simply couldn’t. 

This story started out strong and with great promise. Unfortunately, the author is clearly out of her depth regarding the thematic elements (especially the relationship dynamic) presented here. 

The tone and pacing felt off more times than I could count. It was riddled with cliches (military men are womanizers and explosive/violent in nature. Middle-aged black women are comic relief. Female fashion editors are heartless, child-hating, workaholic ice queens devoid of any maternal instincts). Morally grey characters have their glaring faults swept out of sight, never receiving the necessary exploration they deserve. It is also filled with overused plot devices that went from interesting at first to downright annoying to read over and over and over again.

Her writing STYLE itself has improved leaps and bounds from her two previous novels and I definitely see she’s trying to stretch her author wings to greater heights. I commend her for that with all of my heart but she has a long way to go. 

If I were able to give any advice to the author, it would be this:

Reach outside of your current scope of family and friends and offer your next 1st draft to fresh readers. People with a different worldview and approach then the one that shaped your own. They could probably pinpoint elements of life that are being sorely overlooked in your work and offer a broader perspective to help round out your stories. This is crucial in developing your future endeavors so you can avoid the extreme mistakes made here. I firmly believe they are the missing key that will help you soar to the heights you hope to achieve as an author someday.

Best of luck on your next writing endeavor! I genuinely hope it holds more promise than this one.