Howdy Dowdy Book Lovers!

How was your weekend? I had a couple of events that I attended with friends, and I just gotta say it’s so great to get out and socialize. My hobbies (writing, this blog, and reading mainly) often require for me to be alone, so it was great to recharge my social butterfly batteries.

That being said, it’s time for another book review!

This time I read InterWorld (InterWorld #1) by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves.

A big theme of my summer reading is catching up on my TBR shelves at home. I found a copy of this book maybe two years ago, and yet it’s been collecting dust on my shelves since. I always loved Neil Gaiman’s books for younger readers (I think he tries too hard on his adult novels) like Coraline and Stardust , so I couldn’t resist giving this one a go.

On to the book review!

Blurb

When Newbery Medal winner Neil Gaiman and Emmy Award winner Michael Reaves teamed up, they created the bestselling YA novel InterWorld .

InterWorld tells the story of Joey Harker, a very average kid who discovers that his world is only one of a trillion alternate earths. Some of these earths are ruled by magic. Some are ruled by science. All are at war.

Joey teams up with alternate versions of himself from an array of these worlds. Together, the army of Joeys must battle evil magicians Lord Dogknife and Lady Indigo to keep the balance of power between all the earths stable. Teens—and tweens and adults—who obsessively read the His Dark Materials and Harry Potter series will be riveted by InterWorld and its sequel, The Silver Dream .

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

I was really conflicted on rating this novel, but in the end I couldn’t stomach giving it any less than four stars.

Joey Harker is your average teen. He lives with his family in a small town where nothing significant ever happens. That all changes when a school assignment forcing him and his peers to explore their small town goes awry. After entering a bizarre fog of sorts, Joey finds himself in a different reality, and shortly after finds himself chased by strange men and helped by a mysterious ally. As Joey’s perception of the universe shifts drastically, he becomes entangled in an ever-ongoing battle against forces that would enslave the entire universe.

The thing I loved most about this book was the theme. I’ve had a fascination with parallel universes and portal fantasy for about as long as I can remember. The system established in this book was complex, but discovered bit by bit. Basically you’ve got worlds dominated by magic, worlds dominated by science, and those in between. Joey and his allies jump worlds often in this book, and I found the whole setup to be captivating.

Joey himself was your run of the mill protagonist, though he did feel unique. He is curious and has a lot of potential, but doesn’t really strive to push himself until his sense of reality is crushed. Oh, and his sidekick Hue? I absolutely loved the bond that Joey and this being shared!

The book has a quick pace and doesn’t let up for a second, so naturally I blazed through the pages as fast as I could, eager for more. There’s action, scifi, and fantasy scenes that were high octane and thrilling, with some slight character development in between.

On the negative side, I do want to point out that the authors didn’t seem to write this for young adults despite this being YA. The vocabulary is too advanced for most teens, and even I had to look up the ten or twenty dollar words being used fairly often. The reader has to come first, and I thought the diction could have been watered down so anyone could understand what was being referenced.

I also thought a few actions here and there needed more explaining, but I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just leave it at that.

Despite my quips, this was a great start to this portal fantasy series, and I’m addicted! Definitely worth a read!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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