The Other World

The Other World #1

by C.A. Varian

Fate chose them for each other, even though they’re worlds apart.

Stage IV thyroid cancer was a death sentence for 19-year-old Elianna Foster, until she received “the key.” The enchanted item opens a doorway to the fae realm, a place where illness can no longer plague her, but if she crosses the portal, there is no turning back—literally. Elianna must choose between living in a strange new realm, forsaking her life in the human world, or staying behind with her loved ones until her body finally gives out.

The decision is anything but simple. Rumors abound about the other world. Some say her soulmate awaits her arrival with her key’s twin. Others say human females are subjugated and forced to serve as bed slaves and breeding stock.

When an emergency forces Elianna’s hand, she crosses through the one-way portal, but the situation she finds herself in is not a fantasy… It's a nightmare.

Captured by a fae nobleman, Elianna’s chance at happiness withers before her very eyes. But little does she know, even as she suffers at the hands of her captors, her mate is searching for her, and he’ll stop at NOTHING to get her back.

Can Elianna’s fated mate find her before the flesh traders sell her off and ship her away? Or is her second chance at life doomed to be as hopeless as the first?

TRIGGER WARNINGS
There are many mature themes throughout the book. It is not intended for readers under 17 years of age.

The following themes are explored in The Other World: graphic (consensual) sexual content, terminal illness/contemplating death, captivity, slavery, abduction, talks of rape and abortion, torture, sex trafficking, talks of suicide, vulgar language, and murder.

Genres: Fantasy, Fae, Romance, Ebooks, Paranormal, Magic, Romantasy

355 pages, ebook

Published September 5, 2022

Reviews

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (8/4/2023)! 🎁

[Adrianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book by C.A Varian yet. From the beginning I was hooked and stayed that way throughout. I really enjoyed this world and how it works, the pacing was good and while this is a shorter book it didn’t feel that way.

When Elianna discovers she has terminal cancer she is offered a key, this key will allow her to pass through into the Fae realm where her sickness will be cured. Nothing past that is known however and many think the women are used strictly as baby makers while others believe there is their true mate on the other side waiting for them. The only problem it’s a one way ticket. Down to the wire she makes a decision to cross and risk the outcome before she dies.

Once crossed she discovers that the happily ever after was nothing but a dream and she must work to escape her new fate. She doesn’t know her true mate is out there fighting his own battle to get to her.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The plot was really cool and had a lot of potential, but the execution was unfortunately not great.

[Sharon Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping that I would love this series but I didn’t. I feel like all 3 stories could have been written as one. To me, each girl’s story was exactly the same and I read it 3 times. Not much imagination or difference in their experiences.

[Madeline S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A key that hold the future you are fated to have. This book was beautiful written I loved the characters the storyline. The relationship between Blaze and Elianna was romantic and beautiful. The friendship Elianna and her best friend Zoe develop after she comes to the Fae world, every girl should have. Spice was good. And I can’t wait for the next book if you like fantasy/paranormal fated mates romance this is the book for you!!!

[Caitie Van Sloun · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is better written than the Supernatural Savior series in terms of world building and plot. However, the author has a propensity to struggle with building relationships and authenticity of interactions. No one becomes friends or lovers immediately. There is no initial wariness with build up, trauma bonding, or diving into conversation. Everyone is just best friends or lovers at the snap of a finger.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book and could not put it down. Make sure to turn off your phone, close the curtains and pretend your not home so no one interrupts you. Edge of your seat anticipation!

[thebookcritic_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

just okay

The book was okay. There wasn’t real chemistry in them meeting for me. Just came off cheesy. It just escalated so fast but it was nearing the end of the book. We never really got an explanation as to why the healer helped her. Everything was very surface and the deep questions weren’t answered.

There was no real worldbuilding and there were a few grammatical errors. I also didn’t see a point in there being 2 POVs since the book was written in third person.

[Emily Hosford · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just ok. Honestly, nothing special and I’m definitely not continuing the series. It took too long to get to the good part and then the good part was rushed. Easy read tho.

[AlexiaRaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not great. I loved the idea of this book but the entire story felt very surface level. Also why did we have dual POVS if it was written in 3rd person??

[Debz78 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book had me gripped from the beginning. I'm usually a thriller horror girl, I've read the Acotar series and when I read the blurb for this it gave me those vibes.

C. A. Varian is such a great author, this is the first book I've read of hers. The plot and storyline were flawless, flowing from one chapter to the next intricately. As much as I wanted to read this faster, I took my time to savour this story.

It follows Elianna, a 19 year old who has stage 4 Thyroid Cancer into a fae world after departing her own in a heartbreaking few scenes.

She has a key 🗝 that's is linked to her mate in the fae world. Her mate has one also and they glow and pulse, increasing in intensity the closer they are.

But it's not that simple, she is stolen by a lord who tortures women, sells them and takes their keys so their mates cannot find them.

Will her mate find her? Will she escape? Or is she destined to work in a brothel or be sold to a lord or king and be a slave?

This story will make you cry, gasp and go aww, so many times you won't want to put this down.

I highly recommend ❤️

[Shmuel Yaccoby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about the Key to true friendship and love

Critical decisions in life may keep one alive but the journey to meaningful life continues through unexpected challenges. Such a good narrative makes this book worthy. The use of a mysterious Key to go to the Other World is just an elegant metaphor for our world.

The story is alternatively told from the point of view of Elianna the human and Blaze the Fae. Fast-paced with detailed descriptions of each scene. There are basically two parallel stories of friendship, one includes Elianna and her friend Zoe. The second is between Elianna and her mate, Blaze. The unique way Elianna behaves within each of those interactions brings extra depth to her character. Falling in love with Blaze while ‘recruiting’ Blaze to help Zoe.

Then they all met with a beautiful text describing this moment:
‘Her heart thundered, Blaze’s arm around her waist an anchor to safety. Zoe leaned into her chest, her mere presence filling Elianna’s heart with even more relief. She had never expected to get away from the manor, so getting her friend out too was something she’d only ever dreamed about.’

A lesson that each one of us is a complex character whose actions is dependent on our interactions with others. Such interactions reveal true friendship.

[Jessica Redfern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different kind of fantasy world for me. Well, in the sense of how the humans get there. I really liked the concept of the ill females making a decision to be healed in the fae world and have a destined mate.

Besides THAT, there wasn’t a lot of world building? We didn’t learn a thing about the four courts and how the world is run. We didn’t really see/learn about the fae powers except the hearing and one could do a masking spell. I wish there was a little bit more history on that? Maybe it’ll be shown in the next book!

I am excited to see how everything plays out with Zoe. I have a theory on why she feels nothing when touching the key, but I’ll keep that to myself. 😉

Overall, this was a face paced storyline and fast paced romance (you know how it is with fated mates) and I look forward to seeing more of this world!

[Sharman Badgett-Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

A creative beginning and a spicy ending

This fantasy story starts with an interesting premise: entering fae lands, via a magical key only available to the dying, to heal terminal disorders. A permanent move, it was only available to women of child-bearing age because few fae females could become pregnant. The complexities of this situation created interesting difficulties for the characters. The story became more predictable in the middle. Well-used tropes included fae mate-bonding, behaviors of stereotypical bad men toward women, "good-girl"women, and grumpy house elves. As the end approached, there was an unexpected turn that sets up the plot for the next volume, plus spicy scenes for those who enjoy them.

[Karina Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it was a fast paced read for me.
I loved Elianna & Zoe’s sisterly friendship. I love how they have each other & overcome their hardships & continue on moving forward despite what they been through. I loved how Blaze never gave up looking for his mate & he stopped at nothing to find her & kept protecting her. In this book it’s a key that chooses your mate & they’re not faes the woman have to be dying or terminal and have the choice to use the key they are given to enter the fae world be cured & find their mate. There was some smutt , the smutt for me was a three.. other than that it was a cute book & now I must know if the rest of them get saved !!!

*Fated Mates
*Smutt
*Human + Fae
*Hidden powers

[Juliana Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A journey that keeps you intrigued!

Wow, what a beautiful story! A sweet love story with promise of more. After some bad experiences with self-published books, I was skeptical about picking it up but now I am glad that I did. It restored my faith in self-published works - beautifully written, efficiently formatted, lovely artwork. Fated mate is a trope which is well explored and thus I wanted to know how this book was going to offer something new. It didn't disappoint me. Loved the pacing and the characters, the circumstances of their love story. This is all I can say without spoilers.
If you like the fated mate trope, give this book a try.

[Karm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start off by saying I liked the plot of the book but there was a lot of moments where I was cringing and not really paying attention to what I was reading. The suspenseful and adventure parts were kind of bland? Like him walking through the dangerous forest and nothing happening aside from one attack? He meets friends on the road and automatically becomes friends and knows their good people?

His side of the story doesn’t even sound like a male talking. Just sounds like the point of view of the girl… I don’t know? That’s what I felt like to me.

I think this had great potential and I was able to read through it fine with enjoyable moments which is why I’m giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

[Sally May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this in 1 day!!!

I started this book at 745am. It is now 1030pm, and I am done with this book. I gobbled it up and could not put it down, except for when I was forced to do adult things like work. 🤣🤣🤣 this was such a great read. I enjoyed the whole story. It was a bit predictable in some areas, but most books are for me, so I'm not holding that against it. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because I could have used a bit more suspense and a lot more spice. The couple of scenes that did have spice were too cutesy for me. But I would definitely recommend this book and will be reading the next in the series.

[Sarina Bosco · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. I really liked the premise, so I bought it, but realized quickly that not much happens in it despite the plot! For example, we're told over and over that the forest is dangerous...but then nothing happens in the forest outside of other fae hunting down the MMC for like a page and a half. It's also noted that the fae have powers, and the FMC wonders here and there what certain character's powers are, but then we never actually see any fae use those powers. Kind of strange. I was also hoping for more chemistry between the two main characters, but it feels a lot more like "they're fated so they're hot for each other" instead of any kind of emotional build up/tension.

[Raven E Majors · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads like a YA. There is a warning in the beginning that this book is not intended for anyone under the age of 17, I feel like aside from maybe 2 scenes, it was a YA book through and through. I would have liked to see more world building. There was not a ton about where they were. You would think that a book titled The Other World would want to spend some time developing said world. I also feel like the relationship didn't require any effort either. It would have been nice to see the characters grow together. This was an instant connection that just felt forced. I don't know I guess I just wanted more.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the premise of this books a LOT! I do feel like the pacing was fast but slow at the same time. It took over half the book for them to find eachother but during their time apart, I feel like not a whole lot happened. I was wanting more from these characters but the other books in the series are about other side characters. There were some flaws in the writing and some major plot holes. It's a fine book to be a filler, though. Definitely entertaining enough to finish. But overall, it wasn't my cup of tea.

[°˖✧˚lindsay˚✧˖° · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s… fine. Interesting premise, but I found myself bored more often than not. I was able to read the first sentence of most paragraphs as I skimmed over wordy, unnecessary, & uneventful exchanges & developments while missing nothing except the seconds of my life spent not doing so.

The writing style is the kind with excessive prepositional phrases that read like stage directions that can be nauseating with the constant swaying nature of the sentences.

Will the next book in the series be better? Hopefully. Will I be reading it? I don’t foresee it.

[Angel Moree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the other world series. This book sets the worlds for you both human and fea. Telling you how the human women get their keys to the fea world. It will take you through blazes story first. You should check your triggers for these. This series starts with human women that are dying from illnesses and they have an opportunity to be healed in the fea world that promises them a fated mate. It's a great read dont want to give to much away :)

[Jule Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I BLEW through this book! Each chapter left me wanting more. I felt a connection to the characters and I cannot wait to read the next book! The only thing I would change is to make the story longer, so now I’m already reading The Other Key. I love C.A. Varian’s writing style and always find myself lost in the worlds she weaves with her words. Highly recommend this book and the series!

[Christel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. Liked the concept of the portal and really like fated mates. They are also sooo cute, they are made for each other, pretty literally. I did think it happened kind of quick and easy, but it kinda makes sense since it's fated mates, but still. Also liked some of the other characters like zoë, hated the lord, he is an asshole. And it was spicy. Curious to the rest of the serie.

[Holly Helphinstine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good fantasy romance story

This story had an interesting concept. In the human world, those with terminal illnesses are given a key, and they have a choice to make to either die due to the illness or take the key to the portal and enter the other world. This world would not only heal the illness but also have a chance to find their fated mate. And Elianna did just that.

[Connie Fogg-Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

fae flight and fun

Elianna has the choice of dying or taking a leap of faith. the key to it all is a mate that is to be waiting for her. she has had enough abuse to her body; when the change comes, will she be willing to fight?

loving the plot line and the characters. good summer read!

[Danyce Rayburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for myself and my sister-in-law. We are buddy reading it together. I did not expect to get through the first book in less than 12 hours. It is exciting and somewhat fast-paced. The ending seemed very rushed and cut off, though. I am hoping the 2nd book starts up where the 1st one stopped.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the plot for this book was really good but I felt there was a lack of character details and back story, I didn’t get to know them, they seemed very one dimensional and there was a lack of world building. It was slightly repetitive but I didn’t hate the book, it was and okay read but I’m gonna have to push through the next 2, hopefully there’s more

[Jordynn Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Blaze and Eliannas story!! As a cancer patient myself I definitely connected to Elianna and the choice she had to make. I’m not sure I’d make the same choice but either way I love how she goes from weak and dying (literally) to a powerful magic welder!! The spice doesn’t hurt either 😂