Hooked on Books

"No one but the dead dare venture Below . . .

The first volume in this thrilling trilogy opens on the barren plains of Below, where Hokk and his fox sidekick, Nym, live in exile amid the remnants of our modern age.

Overhead, on the floating islands of Above, Elia is trapped in a life of endless toil and drudgery as a laundress for the Mirrored Palace. To Elia, the islands edges are borders that no one dares cross until the ancient ritual that delivers the dead to Below. But a series of natural disasters rumbling through Above sends Elia's world crashing into Hokk's and she falls Below.

Their journey together will propel them across endless plains and through shattered cities in a centuries-old battle for the very earth and sky around them . . ." 

When I read the synopsis for this book it reminded me of the The Internment Chronicles by Lauren DeStefano. I really enjoyed that series so I was excited to be able to read Below and revisit another similar structured world.

While I enjoyed this story also, I felt like we were just kind of thrown into this alternate world and didn't get any back story on it. I also felt like some of the writing and dialogue could use a little bit of polishing. I do really like the world though. I think the old world characters and life style (think Tearling series) lend it charm. 

Although the world building is similar to some other popular books, the plot however, was a very fun and thrilling adventure of its own and really what I enjoyed most about the story.

Will I read the next book? Yes definitely, but I hope the sequel fills in some of the missing pieces.

*I received this ARC from Edelweiss & Turner Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!