*** I received this book in exchange for an honest review. ***Let me first start off with... WOW! I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The pacing was perfect! The characters are so great! The journey was beautiful. The story on some levels almost made me feel like I was reading a Jessica Park novel. The setting of Australia was an awesome choice, and something I'm completely unfamiliar with. Also, the way Lia Riley uses slang terms that Australians use really brought the atmosphere and setting to life for me. I was so happy when I saw Lia Riley was going to tackle OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), and I wasn't sure how this was going to work, especially with love story and making sure that all the pieces fit perfectly in place. She did it. Boy, did she do it. Talia its a great character. When you first meet her she's sad, safe, reserved and mourning the loss of her sister Pippa. Talia is on a mission, and going to Australia might be the answer to her problems, but she has no idea. See, Talia has OCD, and her father and her therapist is worried about her trying to move around the world for six months. But she's confidant that this is what she needs to create Talia 2.0. Enter Bran. He's the perfectly hot surfer, and when he crosses paths with Talia his world changes forever. Bran has his own demons to try and escape, and he's been so emotionally damaged that he doesn't do love. He doesn't get close to people. Bran calls his parents by their first names, and he's slept with more girls than he can count. The relationship that Talia and Bran have evolves so much throughout this book, and its a beautiful thing watching it grow. It isn't insta love, just add water. Nope, they are both damaged and trying to relearn love at it's basic most primitive level. Upside Down is the first book in the Off the Map series, and I can't wait for the second book! I am sad I have to part with Bran and Talia, but I know more is coming soon. I gave this book four stars for its creativity and freshness. Upside Down is a beautiful tale of life, death, love, and two lives from opposite sides of the planet that bring two people together who fit perfectly. I’ve heard some pretty great things about this series and it’s been on my to read list for a little while, so when the opportunity to read it made an appearance, I jumped. I’ve said it before, but I’m always looking for some new authors to enjoy in the New Adult genre and I had high hopes for this series.Let’s start with the story. Natalia Stolfi is heading down under… She’s been buried under painful memories and she plans to take the next six months to become someone else where no one knows about her past. Bran Lockhart has just moved back to Melbourne to get his life back on track after his perfect relationship fell to pieces and turned into a nightmare.Bran sees right through the façade that Natalia has put up and Natalia somehow manages to get under Bran’s skin, but will the wounds in their past continue to haunt them, and what happens when Natalia has to head back to California? These two have to decide if they’re meant to be together or live a world apart.I have to say that I was totally interested in the why of everything with this story. The writing is well-done, the pacing of the story is good, (though the beginning is a little all over the place it gets much better as the story progresses), and while I had my suspicions about what happened with Bran and his ex, I didn’t really figure it all out. So that’s a plus! Both Bran and Natalia are likable characters, but I found that I didn’t really connect with either and that’s the thing that really makes a book hit or miss for me. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like them… not at all. It just means that I wasn’t connected to their story as much as I should have been. I’m not sure where the disconnect was for me either if I’m going to be honest with you. In fact, it was fun getting to know these two – their banter was great, Talia is sassy and a bit snarky and Bran is cynical and jaded… all things I usually find myself connecting with… just not so much here. Where I think I struggled a bit, was the inclusion of the OCD tendencies that Natalia had. I felt like it really wasn’t fleshed out as well as it should have been… I almost felt like it was simply there to use as a plot device when needed, I just didn’t feel like for as bad as it was for her… enough to disrupt her life, that it wasn’t really portrayed that way here. Let me just also add that I don’t have OCD, nor do I know anyone with OCD, so it could just be that my mind has created this portrayal of it that isn’t true. Either way, I just feel like for this to be a main issue in her life, I didn’t feel like it was represented that way. As with many other NA books out there, there is plenty of angst and heartbreak and romance and sexy times here… the relationship between these two progresses quickly and it’s passionate and intense, but I can’t say that I 100% bought it. Especially with the way their relationship/friendship actually starts and the cold shoulders they give each other… I think I just would have liked to see a bit more development between them as friends first to make it a bit more believable. If you’re looking for a new voice in New Adult, give Lia Riley a chance. While I’m not sure I’ll continue on with this series of characters, I’m definitely interested in seeing what she does next.Thanks to the author & publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Do You like book Upside Down (2014)?
I loved this book so much that I couldn't even properly write a review for it. READ IT. The end.
—Newman10
Overall the story was okay, but the characters were a little too weird for me.
—jjames112
Read this book in a few hours! I can't wait for the next books.
—Alexis
