5 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis

The company says Otherworld is amazing — like nothing you’ve ever seen before. They say it’s addictive — that you’ll want to stay forever. They promise Otherworld will make all your dreams come true.

Simon thought Otherworld was a game. Turns out he knew nothing. Otherworld is the next phase of reality. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted.

And it’s about to change humanity forever.

Welcome to the Otherworld. No one could have seen it coming.

My Thoughts

So, imagine “Hunger Games”, “.Hack”, “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass” all had a baby….. this would essentially be it.

A company called “The Company” has created a virtual reality world, but when does “Virtual” Reality get taken too far to the point that it’s just “Reality”? If you give digital characters true artificial intelligence to the point where they can make their own decisions and learn and grow, well aren’t we all just a bunch of compounds and electrical impulses anyways? What makes one of us “more real” than the other?

I’m sorry, but as soon as you call a company “The Company” a red flag should be going up! You may as well just call it “Skynet” and get it over with!

This story was great! I’m not usually one for YA novels. They all seem to wind up a little too teen angst for me, but I feel like this one was written in a very mature fashion. It spoke to my tin foil clad soul.

The characters were well written and I loved the fact that (being set in a MMORPG) you didn’t really even know who some of them were in real life until the story unravelled enough for it to be applicable. It made for some really amazing character growth!

The world building was MIND BLOWING!!! I felt like I was in this game with them, and I felt for all of the creatures in it! (sometimes pathos…. sometimes hatred and disgust!)

Otherworld also spoke to my geek soul as well. Who doesn’t love a novel that references “World of Warcraft”, “Starcraft” (someone likes their Blizzard products!), “Spawn” and more! …Plus, they used the word “verklempt” which made me very happy. (yes, I’m weird.)

I know that others will probably find similarities to “Ready Player One”, but as I have yet to see or read that one (yes. Shameful. I know…. even more shameful when I’ve owned the book since it was released), I can’t make the comparison. Honestly, I’m happy I hasn’t read it before this as I feel I can give a more objective opinion without constantly comparing the two!

I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this book for lovers of Fantasy or Sci-Fi of ANY AGE! Don’t be turned off by the “YA” label. It may be a bunch of teenagers, but is written very well and contains some mature themes!

Pick up your copy now!!

Amazon U.S

Amazon Canada

Amazon U.K

Check out what drink pairs with OtherWorld in my review for OtherEarth!