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OtherWorld
Aoife Finley is bursting at the seams with ideas. She draws, paints, reads, sings, and tells stories better than any one. No one daydreams better than her and her imagination knows no bounds.
Mr. Peterson is old, his best days long behind him. He yearns for the past, mistrusts the present, and fears the future. But he's just figured out how to recapture his past:
By stealing other people's imaginations.
Now Aoife must journey into the imaginary world she created, a place that now Mr. Peterson controls, before the real world as she knows it--and as it could be--disappears forever.
OtherWorld is a YA fantasy adventure about the power of the imagination and how anything is possible.
Mr. Peterson is old, his best days long behind him. He yearns for the past, mistrusts the present, and fears the future. But he's just figured out how to recapture his past:
By stealing other people's imaginations.
Now Aoife must journey into the imaginary world she created, a place that now Mr. Peterson controls, before the real world as she knows it--and as it could be--disappears forever.
OtherWorld is a YA fantasy adventure about the power of the imagination and how anything is possible.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 14, 2015
19 people want to read
About the author
Evan Ronan
46 books25 followersI write thrillers. I've studied the masters and hopefully I've learned a few things from them.
Ideas are never in short-supply. Time and talent (or lack thereof) are my only constraints.
My stories don't always fit neatly into categories, but that's what readers seem to like about them.
Ideas are never in short-supply. Time and talent (or lack thereof) are my only constraints.
My stories don't always fit neatly into categories, but that's what readers seem to like about them.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 29, 2015
4 stars, I battled myself with the idea of giving the book 3 stars. However the idea and world and even the over all story really did deserve the 4 stars. I love the idea of imagination and what we can do in our own heads.
This would be an incredible TV show, I went back and fourth at times with the idea of it being a feature length film but that might not work as well as a cartoon series. The idea of a talking recycling can in a non animated feature might come off a bit too odd, however with it being a cartoon I think Al could work out perfectly and kids would love him and his loyalty to our main character.
The book goes back and fourth between the real world and the world our hero created, slowly things slip into the otherworld. That idea alone is a solid one, now add in dragons, dinosaurs and giant rodents. It just screams adventure for everyone.
The building of characters is well done. We have the tough kid, the geeky kid, the preppy girl, who all come into their own as the story unfolds. Add the human characters to the mix of creative characters like a sled and a BBQ along with other creatures and things. Again screams perfect for an animated series.
My issues with the book are very few, one of the biggest was towards the ending with the adults talking in the otherworld. I get the idea of our hero needing to speak up and get her words right(which brings me to another topic of her speech problems) but something just didnt click with me. It did bring something from the start of the book towards the end so it came together but it did seem to drop the excitement after some awesome moments.
It has some very exciting moments with dragons and falling skyscrapers, it has some moments that can be taken very dark as well as have moments that remind you that these are kids and that this book is perfectly written for both Adults and kids alike.
I love that our hero has an issue with her speech, it shows up in a few places but I do wish it could have come into play a few more times, but over all well handled.
The good out weights the bad however and I do recommend giving this imaginative adventure a try. Plus I would love to see it as an animated series down the line!
This would be an incredible TV show, I went back and fourth at times with the idea of it being a feature length film but that might not work as well as a cartoon series. The idea of a talking recycling can in a non animated feature might come off a bit too odd, however with it being a cartoon I think Al could work out perfectly and kids would love him and his loyalty to our main character.
The book goes back and fourth between the real world and the world our hero created, slowly things slip into the otherworld. That idea alone is a solid one, now add in dragons, dinosaurs and giant rodents. It just screams adventure for everyone.
The building of characters is well done. We have the tough kid, the geeky kid, the preppy girl, who all come into their own as the story unfolds. Add the human characters to the mix of creative characters like a sled and a BBQ along with other creatures and things. Again screams perfect for an animated series.
My issues with the book are very few, one of the biggest was towards the ending with the adults talking in the otherworld. I get the idea of our hero needing to speak up and get her words right(which brings me to another topic of her speech problems) but something just didnt click with me. It did bring something from the start of the book towards the end so it came together but it did seem to drop the excitement after some awesome moments.
It has some very exciting moments with dragons and falling skyscrapers, it has some moments that can be taken very dark as well as have moments that remind you that these are kids and that this book is perfectly written for both Adults and kids alike.
I love that our hero has an issue with her speech, it shows up in a few places but I do wish it could have come into play a few more times, but over all well handled.
The good out weights the bad however and I do recommend giving this imaginative adventure a try. Plus I would love to see it as an animated series down the line!
January 10, 2017
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author, Evan Ronan, for an honest review.
Opinion: Seeing as how Evan Ronan was the first author to ever request a review from me (thanks Evan), and after reading five of his books and becoming obsessed with them, I naturally assumed that writing paranormal thrillers was a genre he would stay in because I felt he absolutely shined in it. Well THANKFULLY this author doesn’t stick to just paranormal thrillers, because WOW…I am once again super impressed with the stories that this guy comes up with. This is his first attempt at a YA story and he absolutely NAILED it!
Ten-year-old Aoife (pronounced Eef-uh) Finley has been pushing her imagination to the limits since as long as she can remember. Prone to constant daydreaming, Aoife often travels in her mind to a world she created called Paxsum (which is a re-creation of the actual town she lives in called Paxson). In Paxsum Aoife has the ability to imagine and create anything she desires, like a talking recycling bin named Al or “Leg Giants” which are literally giant legs with arms. Usually Aoife and her imagined friends are the only ones that can enter her made-up world, but one day that suddenly changes. Someone starts to steal the imaginations of Aoife’s classmates and neighbors, and suddenly Paxsum has turned into a place that is dangerous and almost impossible to escape from. With suspicions that old Mr. Peterson from town is behind it, Aoife and a few of her unruly classmates enter Paxsum together in the hopes of putting her world back together and restoring the imaginations of everyone in Paxson.
Let’s first start off with addressing how truly creative and different the premise for this story is. Hopefully we can all recall a time in our childhoods when our imaginations truly had no limit. Where we created other worlds and friends, and we fed off the imaginations of other kids as we traveled through those places together. Evan Ronan has literally taken a small piece of all our childhoods and expanded it into a story that shows the reader the endless possibilities to one’s imagination. Aoife Finley is a spunky 10-year-old girl who has a vast and wild imagination. I enjoyed the endless limit to her creaivity that the author gifted her, and I liked that her imagination is what expands and keeps Paxsum intact.
The characters that the reader is introduced to in this story are TRULY something else. Not only is there a BBQ named B that sounds like she has smoked for forty years, there are kids in Aoife’s class with nicknames such as Slob, Killer and Binky. The author has ensured to give us a nice potluck of kids to get to know and become invested in; as well as a feisty yet endearing young girl named Erica whose personality is prickly. As Aoife puts it: “Nobody clicked their gum as sharply as her”. Apart from amazing characters, this book is PACKED to the brim with countless turmoil and adventures. The characters find themselves running from larger-than-life Venus flytraps who try to eat them, ginormous rouge possums, and falling skyscrapers that they can only be avoided by yelling to the heavens “I am Steel Sunday!” With so many moments that the reader can relate to having imagined in their youth, I was able to be completely enthralled and entertained throughout this story.
One thing that I did have trouble connecting with was how many times our main character said “cool” at the beginning of this story. Understandably, a ten-year-old might not have a vast library of adjectives at her disposal when describing things…but a ten-year-old like this? She should be EXPLODING with adjectives. Though this is obviously not a huge problem for me in the story, the reader in me couldn’t stop focusing on the overuse of this word. Apart from this, I think the author did a fine job of putting the reader in the head of a young pre-teen. As Aoife was telling the reader countless moments when she couldn’t understand “adult talk” I found myself smirking at knowing that feeling all too well when I was her age.
Even though I think that target age for this book would be children or pre-teens, it is a story that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Considering how many adults have reviewed this book on Amazon or Goodreads, I think you can trust me when I say that. With that said, this story is really something SPECIAL. It filled me with nostalgia for the wonderful times that I had as a little girl, while also putting a small smile on my face as I relived my childhood. I HIGHLY recommend this story to any age group, and it is a book that can be enjoyed with your entire family.
Check out other book reviews on my website: Jenacidebybibliophile.wordpress.com
Opinion: Seeing as how Evan Ronan was the first author to ever request a review from me (thanks Evan), and after reading five of his books and becoming obsessed with them, I naturally assumed that writing paranormal thrillers was a genre he would stay in because I felt he absolutely shined in it. Well THANKFULLY this author doesn’t stick to just paranormal thrillers, because WOW…I am once again super impressed with the stories that this guy comes up with. This is his first attempt at a YA story and he absolutely NAILED it!
Ten-year-old Aoife (pronounced Eef-uh) Finley has been pushing her imagination to the limits since as long as she can remember. Prone to constant daydreaming, Aoife often travels in her mind to a world she created called Paxsum (which is a re-creation of the actual town she lives in called Paxson). In Paxsum Aoife has the ability to imagine and create anything she desires, like a talking recycling bin named Al or “Leg Giants” which are literally giant legs with arms. Usually Aoife and her imagined friends are the only ones that can enter her made-up world, but one day that suddenly changes. Someone starts to steal the imaginations of Aoife’s classmates and neighbors, and suddenly Paxsum has turned into a place that is dangerous and almost impossible to escape from. With suspicions that old Mr. Peterson from town is behind it, Aoife and a few of her unruly classmates enter Paxsum together in the hopes of putting her world back together and restoring the imaginations of everyone in Paxson.
Let’s first start off with addressing how truly creative and different the premise for this story is. Hopefully we can all recall a time in our childhoods when our imaginations truly had no limit. Where we created other worlds and friends, and we fed off the imaginations of other kids as we traveled through those places together. Evan Ronan has literally taken a small piece of all our childhoods and expanded it into a story that shows the reader the endless possibilities to one’s imagination. Aoife Finley is a spunky 10-year-old girl who has a vast and wild imagination. I enjoyed the endless limit to her creaivity that the author gifted her, and I liked that her imagination is what expands and keeps Paxsum intact.
The characters that the reader is introduced to in this story are TRULY something else. Not only is there a BBQ named B that sounds like she has smoked for forty years, there are kids in Aoife’s class with nicknames such as Slob, Killer and Binky. The author has ensured to give us a nice potluck of kids to get to know and become invested in; as well as a feisty yet endearing young girl named Erica whose personality is prickly. As Aoife puts it: “Nobody clicked their gum as sharply as her”. Apart from amazing characters, this book is PACKED to the brim with countless turmoil and adventures. The characters find themselves running from larger-than-life Venus flytraps who try to eat them, ginormous rouge possums, and falling skyscrapers that they can only be avoided by yelling to the heavens “I am Steel Sunday!” With so many moments that the reader can relate to having imagined in their youth, I was able to be completely enthralled and entertained throughout this story.
One thing that I did have trouble connecting with was how many times our main character said “cool” at the beginning of this story. Understandably, a ten-year-old might not have a vast library of adjectives at her disposal when describing things…but a ten-year-old like this? She should be EXPLODING with adjectives. Though this is obviously not a huge problem for me in the story, the reader in me couldn’t stop focusing on the overuse of this word. Apart from this, I think the author did a fine job of putting the reader in the head of a young pre-teen. As Aoife was telling the reader countless moments when she couldn’t understand “adult talk” I found myself smirking at knowing that feeling all too well when I was her age.
Even though I think that target age for this book would be children or pre-teens, it is a story that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Considering how many adults have reviewed this book on Amazon or Goodreads, I think you can trust me when I say that. With that said, this story is really something SPECIAL. It filled me with nostalgia for the wonderful times that I had as a little girl, while also putting a small smile on my face as I relived my childhood. I HIGHLY recommend this story to any age group, and it is a book that can be enjoyed with your entire family.
Check out other book reviews on my website: Jenacidebybibliophile.wordpress.com
January 26, 2016
When you've been gifted with a wild imagination, anything can happen. This book is a great example of where an abundant flight of imagination can take you. Readers are introduced to Aoife Finley, pronounced Eef-uh, daydreamer extraordinaire. The extraordinary events in the book all started when Erica saw the Lady in Green. No one was supposed to see the Lady in Green because she was a product of Aoife's imagination. That was the first inkling that something was very wrong in Paxsum, Aoife's imaginary world.
Aoife created Paxsum probably when she lost her mother many years ago. It was her way of coping with sad reality, but was also a way to connect her to her father, who wisely encouraged Aoife to use her imagination. Imagination created her first group of friends...Al the industrial-sized recycling container in her yard, B the barbecue on the back deck, and Rosie the sled. In the early days of loss, she talked with her friends daily.
Now that she was a little bit older, some of her classmates in school were her friends. Slob, a.k.a Sam, was her best friend. They could talk about anything, and he even understood her imaginary world and her imaginary friends because he was also fluent in imagination. His imaginary person was Steel Sunday, a structural engineer who went on adventures as if he were another Indiana Jones. Slob (a name given to him based on Bob the Builder) spent most of his waking time building things from blocks. He understood Aoife and so they spent time together, sometimes in silence that was comfortable. Others in her class were mostly annoyances such as Erica (nicknamed The Bank of Erica), Nestor (nicknamed Binky), Kris Miller (nicknamed Killer), and Robin (nicknamed Snail-smeller). Erica used to be a close friend, when suddenly she turned her back and became Aoife's arch enemy. But it was these friends, when push came to shove, that saved not only Aoife's imaginary world, but also the real world around them.
This book is one designed for the YA category. Because of some serious threats to children in the imaginary town of Paxsum, I do not recommend reading this to children younger than 4th grade. It also may not appeal to upper age teens or older because the classroom scenario seems to center around 5th or 6th grade age-range interactions. I used to teach middle school age YA, and I believe this story is perfect for that spectrum. However, upper age students such as those who need lower reading level, high interest material would find this perfect as well.
Not only is this book about the imagination, it also features how friendship develops, what it is and what it is not, its imperfections, and its character. For the young readers, there's a lot of action, imaginative events, suspense, and a little bit of danger. The author's sense of humor adds a lot to this story. I loved the giggles and I can't even tell you how many times I've read this story all the way through. It was that good.
The one thing I loved most about this book is that it is not entirely dark in nature. So much of today's literature is so dark, even among children's books, that I'm happy when I run across something truly light-hearted and "childish". Yes, there were characters with bad attitudes, but they changed eventually. Good characterization is also a hallmark in this book. Aoife especially had some life lessons to learn, but the way it happens is entirely painless to the reader (No groaning in the peanut gallery, please. I really do love books with substance). Two thumbs and two big toes up for this first work from the pen of Evan Ronan. I sincerely hope he has many more books like this to offer us!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Aoife created Paxsum probably when she lost her mother many years ago. It was her way of coping with sad reality, but was also a way to connect her to her father, who wisely encouraged Aoife to use her imagination. Imagination created her first group of friends...Al the industrial-sized recycling container in her yard, B the barbecue on the back deck, and Rosie the sled. In the early days of loss, she talked with her friends daily.
Now that she was a little bit older, some of her classmates in school were her friends. Slob, a.k.a Sam, was her best friend. They could talk about anything, and he even understood her imaginary world and her imaginary friends because he was also fluent in imagination. His imaginary person was Steel Sunday, a structural engineer who went on adventures as if he were another Indiana Jones. Slob (a name given to him based on Bob the Builder) spent most of his waking time building things from blocks. He understood Aoife and so they spent time together, sometimes in silence that was comfortable. Others in her class were mostly annoyances such as Erica (nicknamed The Bank of Erica), Nestor (nicknamed Binky), Kris Miller (nicknamed Killer), and Robin (nicknamed Snail-smeller). Erica used to be a close friend, when suddenly she turned her back and became Aoife's arch enemy. But it was these friends, when push came to shove, that saved not only Aoife's imaginary world, but also the real world around them.
This book is one designed for the YA category. Because of some serious threats to children in the imaginary town of Paxsum, I do not recommend reading this to children younger than 4th grade. It also may not appeal to upper age teens or older because the classroom scenario seems to center around 5th or 6th grade age-range interactions. I used to teach middle school age YA, and I believe this story is perfect for that spectrum. However, upper age students such as those who need lower reading level, high interest material would find this perfect as well.
Not only is this book about the imagination, it also features how friendship develops, what it is and what it is not, its imperfections, and its character. For the young readers, there's a lot of action, imaginative events, suspense, and a little bit of danger. The author's sense of humor adds a lot to this story. I loved the giggles and I can't even tell you how many times I've read this story all the way through. It was that good.
The one thing I loved most about this book is that it is not entirely dark in nature. So much of today's literature is so dark, even among children's books, that I'm happy when I run across something truly light-hearted and "childish". Yes, there were characters with bad attitudes, but they changed eventually. Good characterization is also a hallmark in this book. Aoife especially had some life lessons to learn, but the way it happens is entirely painless to the reader (No groaning in the peanut gallery, please. I really do love books with substance). Two thumbs and two big toes up for this first work from the pen of Evan Ronan. I sincerely hope he has many more books like this to offer us!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
November 23, 2015
I have to say, this book has stayed with me ever since I finished it a couple days ago. On the surface, it's an exhilarating, fun read with some extremely imaginative characters. This book does what the best books of its type do: it inspires the reader to engage in its subject matter—in this case, to imagine. My imagination erupted like an overactive volcano from reading this book. And if that were all this book had to offer, it would still warrant the 5-star rating. But it goes much deeper than that. I refuse to get very specific on the how of it, since I have a policy against putting spoilers in my reviews. I will say that I'm taking a class at my church on the Law of Attraction, and I was quite surprised to read echoes of some of those ideas placed like little Easter eggs throughout this book: That is by no means the only example of the novel's depth, but it is one which jumped out at me.
I have no idea where the author could go from here, but I'd love to read a sequel involving these characters and their imaginations. I can think of no higher, nor more deserved, praise than that"
I have no idea where the author could go from here, but I'd love to read a sequel involving these characters and their imaginations. I can think of no higher, nor more deserved, praise than that"
November 26, 2015
In this time when all authors are only thinking about writing endless series, it is very nice to read a book that has a beginning, a middle and an end.
The author did an amazing job creating a set of characters that were very well built and in special our heroine, Aoife. She is an amazing girl, with an incredible imagination. All her friends (Al, lady in green, etc..) are trying to help her to save her imaginary world to collapse in its interaction with the real world. Joining this group are some of her classmates from school. The plot is very well constructed and the story develops in a nice pace. At the end we stay cheering for Aoife and her group to achieve their goal, through loyalty and friendship.
More than a young adult novel, this book will satisfy readers from all ages.
I received an electronic copy of the book from the author, but I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.
The author did an amazing job creating a set of characters that were very well built and in special our heroine, Aoife. She is an amazing girl, with an incredible imagination. All her friends (Al, lady in green, etc..) are trying to help her to save her imaginary world to collapse in its interaction with the real world. Joining this group are some of her classmates from school. The plot is very well constructed and the story develops in a nice pace. At the end we stay cheering for Aoife and her group to achieve their goal, through loyalty and friendship.
More than a young adult novel, this book will satisfy readers from all ages.
I received an electronic copy of the book from the author, but I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own.
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