Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by krhansen
The Otherworld by Abbie Emmons
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Abbie Emmons, for providing an ARC copy of The Otherworld in exchange for an honest reveiw. I was not compensated for this, my thoughts are my own.
This book! From page one, the story oozes off the page, full of heart and emotion. It's cozy. A feel good read that plucks your heart strings apart and pieces them back together again. It is more than a romance read—though don't get me wrong, the love triangle is well done and bitterswseet. Emmon's does a good job keeping that trope fresh. The characters are well developed, the pace is good. I struggled to find stopping points. Thats a plus.
My only complaint...and its minor, mind you, comes with the setting. Even though the book takes place in the 90's its still not enough of a time lapse to create the overly isolated island in the sound that Orca lives on. In the early pages, where she speaks of having only her father in her life...that the only other people she has ever met in her lifetime come to deliver supplies infrequently...isnt realistic. She mentions looking through her Papa's spybglass and only seeing endless ocean. The islands in the sound are close together. At the very least, she would be able to make out Mt. Constitution from anywhere in the sound, from any other island in that area. The ocean itself would be teaming with boats. People easily move from island to island to visit them. 100 years ago, that isolation would work...but then...it would be a totally different story. Having intimate knowledge of the area made it challenging for me to suspend disbelief and fall into the setting 100%. I found myself wishing that she did not specifically name any of the islands...that she left them all unknamed, and created them fresh and new and made up. When actual, specific places are name dropped...I expect to explore that reality, that realness, from the comfort of my recliner and not actually traveling to said location. I want to experience a vacation in my mind. Every time she mentioned never meeting another man in her life...never seeing boats or planes. Being so very excluded from the world...I sighed. That said, Emmons writing style is evocotave. Lyrical. Lovely. The islands depiction is beautiuful. In the end, most readers are not going to have a clue that the setting doesn't mesh fully with the story in a truthful, realistic manner. Only those with intimate knowledge of the Pacific Northwest will truly know. It's okay. The rest of the book made up for it. The parts where the characters explore Whidbey Island and Seattle and surrounding areas of the Mainland were fine.
I greatly enjoyed the family dynamics. The personalities of the brothers are well fleshed out. The romance elements are good, but the relationship between the brothers is GREAT. When Jack thinks Adam is dead...and is curled on the floor...oh my heart. Emmons gutted me. Tears may have welled. ;) I truly loved the family drama the most. Its what drove the romance, the story. Be it the conflict and tention between Orca and her father, the brothers, Orcas other family discoveries...those were the deep, delicious nuggets I loved unearthing. Toss in whales and philisophical conversations about life, love, the universe...the butterfly effect...and I was hooked.
Now, the romance. I don't normally care much for love triangles, but both love intererests were so likeable, it was difficult not to be sucked in. I love how both brothers see different sides to Orca. How both are exactly what she needs...both bring out elements inside her that she didn't know existed. It made it hard to choose who to root for, there was not just one clear cut choice as there often can be in those pesky love triangles. One brothers strength was the other brothers weakness and vice versa. Quite interesting.
The only parts that made me cringe were at the end. I am fine with the age gap. I am fine with her chosing Adam. The whirlwind "lets get married although we only met two weeks ago and you have NEVER HAD A BOYFRIEND BEFORE" just made my old fart brain sigh. Younger me would have devoured this with no issue, licked the bowl clean, and asked for more. It did remind me, however, of young, first love. My own age gap romance when I was a teenager (younger than Orca), and how that did feel like the end all, be all, in a short period of time even though I had little experience prior to said older boyfriend. So it works, it just didnt end as satisfying for the me of today. However, most will love it and eat this up so please, don't let the words of an old, jaded gal disuade you from reading. This story has all the good feelz. All the warm fuzzies. The writing style is evocotive and beautiful. The characters richly developed. Well done, Abbie.
This book! From page one, the story oozes off the page, full of heart and emotion. It's cozy. A feel good read that plucks your heart strings apart and pieces them back together again. It is more than a romance read—though don't get me wrong, the love triangle is well done and bitterswseet. Emmon's does a good job keeping that trope fresh. The characters are well developed, the pace is good. I struggled to find stopping points. Thats a plus.
My only complaint...and its minor, mind you, comes with the setting. Even though the book takes place in the 90's its still not enough of a time lapse to create the overly isolated island in the sound that Orca lives on. In the early pages, where she speaks of having only her father in her life...that the only other people she has ever met in her lifetime come to deliver supplies infrequently...isnt realistic. She mentions looking through her Papa's spybglass and only seeing endless ocean. The islands in the sound are close together. At the very least, she would be able to make out Mt. Constitution from anywhere in the sound, from any other island in that area. The ocean itself would be teaming with boats. People easily move from island to island to visit them. 100 years ago, that isolation would work...but then...it would be a totally different story. Having intimate knowledge of the area made it challenging for me to suspend disbelief and fall into the setting 100%. I found myself wishing that she did not specifically name any of the islands...that she left them all unknamed, and created them fresh and new and made up. When actual, specific places are name dropped...I expect to explore that reality, that realness, from the comfort of my recliner and not actually traveling to said location. I want to experience a vacation in my mind. Every time she mentioned never meeting another man in her life...never seeing boats or planes. Being so very excluded from the world...I sighed. That said, Emmons writing style is evocotave. Lyrical. Lovely. The islands depiction is beautiuful. In the end, most readers are not going to have a clue that the setting doesn't mesh fully with the story in a truthful, realistic manner. Only those with intimate knowledge of the Pacific Northwest will truly know. It's okay. The rest of the book made up for it. The parts where the characters explore Whidbey Island and Seattle and surrounding areas of the Mainland were fine.
I greatly enjoyed the family dynamics. The personalities of the brothers are well fleshed out. The romance elements are good, but the relationship between the brothers is GREAT. When Jack thinks Adam is dead...and is curled on the floor...oh my heart. Emmons gutted me. Tears may have welled. ;) I truly loved the family drama the most. Its what drove the romance, the story. Be it the conflict and tention between Orca and her father, the brothers, Orcas other family discoveries...those were the deep, delicious nuggets I loved unearthing. Toss in whales and philisophical conversations about life, love, the universe...the butterfly effect...and I was hooked.
Now, the romance. I don't normally care much for love triangles, but both love intererests were so likeable, it was difficult not to be sucked in. I love how both brothers see different sides to Orca. How both are exactly what she needs...both bring out elements inside her that she didn't know existed. It made it hard to choose who to root for, there was not just one clear cut choice as there often can be in those pesky love triangles. One brothers strength was the other brothers weakness and vice versa. Quite interesting.
The only parts that made me cringe were at the end. I am fine with the age gap. I am fine with her chosing Adam. The whirlwind "lets get married although we only met two weeks ago and you have NEVER HAD A BOYFRIEND BEFORE" just made my old fart brain sigh. Younger me would have devoured this with no issue, licked the bowl clean, and asked for more. It did remind me, however, of young, first love. My own age gap romance when I was a teenager (younger than Orca), and how that did feel like the end all, be all, in a short period of time even though I had little experience prior to said older boyfriend. So it works, it just didnt end as satisfying for the me of today. However, most will love it and eat this up so please, don't let the words of an old, jaded gal disuade you from reading. This story has all the good feelz. All the warm fuzzies. The writing style is evocotive and beautiful. The characters richly developed. Well done, Abbie.