Downside Up

by Hayley Long

Ronnie is totally bored. She lives in a crap, boring town with her crap, boring family, and all she wants is to escape and have the kind of life she reads about in magazines.



Sometimes Ronnie makes stuff up, just to keep things interesting. Not lies, exactly, more like massive, outrageous, whopping great fibs. The thing is, people have stopped believing anything she says - she's turning into The Girl Who Cried 'Beyonce is Totally My Cousin's Best Friend'.



Then one day Ronnie gets knocked out in a head to head dodgem collision. When she wakes up, her life has been turned u?op ?p!sdn and nothing will ever be the same again . . .

Genres: Young Adult

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

Hayley Long is the author of several award-winning books for teenagers, including What’s Up with Jody Barton? and the Lottie Biggs books. She also works as an English teacher. Hayley Long lives in England.

Reviews

[seher · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I just read?

[Brooke Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read the book "Downside Up" because my mum got it for me from the library. It's about a girl called Ronnie who is bored of her life so she creates a fake reality in her head about glamorous singer "Ronnie Runaway" and ends up being transported into her world - or so she thinks.

This book fits into the category, "A novel written by a New Zealander" because Hayley was born here (but moved away.) I enjoyed the book but I don't really read many from New Zealanders, so this was a first.

My favourite character in the book is Yuri Maxomovich Krolik, a russian student who doesn't really understand English culture and is a little weird, but is the most entertaining. I liked him because he was different, and not afraid to speak his mind.

A quote I liked from this book is when Seaside Sybil is doing a tea-leaf reading for Ronnie. "We can’t calm the waves but we can steer the ship"
I enjoyed the quote because it's a metaphor, and true. We cannot change what is going to happen in life, but we can choose how we deal with the situations.

Something new I learnt from this novel is that sometimes simple is best. When Ronnie gets transported to her "imaginary" world, she finds out it's harder than thought. There's a lot to do, and it's much more complicated. After Ronnie gets back, you see how much a pleasure it is to have the "simple" luxuries that we get to indulge in - Free time, no paparazzi etc.

[Tattooed_mummy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light fun ya book. I wanted something less taxing and this was my choice from my daughter's book shelf. It's written in a fun way that might appeal to younger teens and reluctant readers. Already a bit dated as the young heroine uses twitter ;-)

[Bryan Wee]

it sucks. this book is the worst book ive ever read. i regretted borrowing this. if you are ever gonna buy this book, think twice again. its storyline sucks. it doesnt make you laugh at all.

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly – So much fun!
Downside Up is the first book by Hayley Long I’ve read but it won’t be the last.

Ronnie is not happy, her father abandoned his family for someone else and hasn’t been heard from. Since then Ronnie has stopped caring. She struggles out of bed in the morning and when she does get to school she gets into trouble. Life in her imagination is just so much better so Ronnie retreats there.

I couldn’t put this book down until I’d finished it. Ronnie is one of those characters you can’t help but love. While Downside Up is hilarious at times there are also some very emotional bits as well.

Another thing that is brilliant is the design of this book; thought bubbles, drawings, having to turn the book upside down and then sideways to read. It’s really quirky and works so well.

Downside Up is one of those books I’d recommend to anyone. It has everything you need; characters to love, growth, laughter (seriously my sides were hurting) not to mention some really stellar writing from of Hayley Long.

[Jenni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just another, typical girly-girl read with only the problems that the author thinks that tens go through. It's one of those books that if an adult ever picked it up, they would think that all young adult or teen readers are flimsy creatures with no sense of reality.
Another major thing that annoyed me with this book, as my book is a paperback, you had to turn it around twice and I couldn't find the right page it told me to go to. This unfortunately ended up with me reading the parts I wasn't meant to and getting really confused as to where they were and what was going on. Also, this book was an insult to people who aren't 'in the popular groups' as the main character went on and on about how she looked down on them.
Not for me, I'm afraid, and I should have shelved this DNF but I got to the end somehow!

[Anika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Hayley Long and her lottie Biggs Series ,I would almost read anything by her anyday.I was extremely excited about this novel because Hayley has the most quirky and whimiscal homour in the whole world.But,somehow this one didn't really click to me like rest of her work.

I loved Ronnie, her brain is pretty messed up place plus,she made me edgy as an eggshell.The best part of the stories by hayley is awesometastic and hilarious diagrams and nutsy text themes they have to offer,which really pulls you through in the eccentric world of character.

Overall,it was fairly enjoyable.

[Booklover6 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars instead of 5, only because the character was a bit young for me (I like reading about teens my age or older for some reason!). But I loved the layout of the book, how you had to turn it different ways etc!

[Chloe Bird]

Well where do I start with this book??? It was definitely a different read to what I usually read. Not that that was a bad thing! Basically I won't tell you why it was interesting to read just be ready to read in all directions - that's all I say!

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun read. I really enjoyed and devoured it in one sitting. Ronnie is such a fun character and I love how the text size is used to put across her emotions as the story plays out. Fab stuff

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hayley Long is an author to watch out for. Love her books :)

[Georgia (The Bibliomaniac Book Blog) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 light, funny read. The reading experience was pretty hilarious. Got some funny looks reading this upside down on the way to school :P

[Rachael]

I was put off by the unusual way it was printed. But, once I relaxed, I found it was a bit fun.
Cute story, nice message.

[Toughnandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn't like the storyline ,boring