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A review by magicant
Downside Up by Richard Scrimger
5.0
Downside Up tells the story of a boy that has lost a lot, some more than he even realizes. This is a story of him coming to terms with everything that he has lost and learning how important it is to push past that and when it is also time to not let go.
We see two very different worlds, one much like our reality, and this upside down that he visits to meet his recently passed dog. We see him balancing his two lives, and how exhausting it can be on a child to cope with loss. He experiences a lot of feelings that he doesn't quite understand, anger, sadness that doesn't come out in the conventional usual of crying.
He realizes how it is like to go into a world where no one cares or worries as much as the real world, where when it's someone's time, they accept it. This sparks a hopelessness, and frustration that you would expect to see from anyone confronted with this world's version of death. Death in this world being represented by dragons, taking things, people, and so on as it is their time.
No one in the world fights this fate, they accept it foolheartedly.
You can especially see this between the siblings, Fred and Isabel, Fred repressed the feelings that he had about his father passing to the point where he couldn't remember anything about him until he was forced to look at "the shadow" that hid his father from his view.
Meanwhile his sister coped in her own way, she repressed it in a much different way. She grew frustrated and angry, she held on to what little she had left of her father's presence. Which in her case was the shoes that her father had bought for her. She refused to part with them, despite how destroyed the heels were, they were her way of connecting with the father that she had lost.
In this later stage of the book, you see the siblings break that wall of silence, both of them not wishing to speak of what they miss. They finally come to realize that they can talk to each other about what they miss, and cry together rather than separately and alone. This moment bringing them close to each other in the process. So that when they leave the upside down permanently, they take solace in each other's shared struggles rather than repressing it alone.
Another honorable mention from this book is the inclusion of a therapist in this story filled with grief, Fred's sister and mother along with him all attended therapy to cope with their grief, something that is often underestimated when it comes to books that delve deeply into grief. Yes, of course you can find a solace on your own, but that isn't achievable for everyone. Sometimes you need those guiding thoughts from educated therapists along with those personal journeys to find that part of you again.
I heavily suggest this rather short book to anyone who has lost anything, or anyone. Even more so to people who haven't, grief can seem undecipherable to those who have not experienced it. So if anyone is struggling and not making a lot of sense, step back, don't focus on the facts in that moment. Focus on how they are feeling, and be understanding, even if it doesn't make sense to you.
We see two very different worlds, one much like our reality, and this upside down that he visits to meet his recently passed dog. We see him balancing his two lives, and how exhausting it can be on a child to cope with loss. He experiences a lot of feelings that he doesn't quite understand, anger, sadness that doesn't come out in the conventional usual of crying.
He realizes how it is like to go into a world where no one cares or worries as much as the real world, where when it's someone's time, they accept it. This sparks a hopelessness, and frustration that you would expect to see from anyone confronted with this world's version of death. Death in this world being represented by dragons, taking things, people, and so on as it is their time.
No one in the world fights this fate, they accept it foolheartedly.
Spoiler
Probably one of the most beautiful things regarding this book is the twist that comes later on, when he finds out that his sister is also missing someone. Someone that he originally thought was Casey, but in reality it was his father, that he had forgotten was even gone due to repression. Something that is very prevalent in children that experience heavily distressing things in their childhood, distressing things that can vary greatly in terms of severity as emotions are subjective and everyone responds to them differently.You can especially see this between the siblings, Fred and Isabel, Fred repressed the feelings that he had about his father passing to the point where he couldn't remember anything about him until he was forced to look at "the shadow" that hid his father from his view.
Meanwhile his sister coped in her own way, she repressed it in a much different way. She grew frustrated and angry, she held on to what little she had left of her father's presence. Which in her case was the shoes that her father had bought for her. She refused to part with them, despite how destroyed the heels were, they were her way of connecting with the father that she had lost.
In this later stage of the book, you see the siblings break that wall of silence, both of them not wishing to speak of what they miss. They finally come to realize that they can talk to each other about what they miss, and cry together rather than separately and alone. This moment bringing them close to each other in the process. So that when they leave the upside down permanently, they take solace in each other's shared struggles rather than repressing it alone.
Another honorable mention from this book is the inclusion of a therapist in this story filled with grief, Fred's sister and mother along with him all attended therapy to cope with their grief, something that is often underestimated when it comes to books that delve deeply into grief. Yes, of course you can find a solace on your own, but that isn't achievable for everyone. Sometimes you need those guiding thoughts from educated therapists along with those personal journeys to find that part of you again.
I heavily suggest this rather short book to anyone who has lost anything, or anyone. Even more so to people who haven't, grief can seem undecipherable to those who have not experienced it. So if anyone is struggling and not making a lot of sense, step back, don't focus on the facts in that moment. Focus on how they are feeling, and be understanding, even if it doesn't make sense to you.