Skip Brittenham
Author of Anomaly
Works by Skip Brittenham
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I received an advanced reader’s copy from MB Communications in exchange for an honest review.
Between Worlds is the story of Marshall and Mayberry, two teens that stumble upon another world through a Wishing Tree. They head out into their town’s Mystery Forest, which is a thick aspen grove steeped in legend. After falling asleep beneath the wishing tree, Marshall and Mayberry wake up in Nith, a parallel world filled with fantastical creatures and magic. In a world rich with beings show more Marshall and Mayberry could have only ever dreamed of, it becomes difficult to tell friend from foe. But they’ll have to figure it out fast—as well as their newfound magical abilities—for there to be any hope of getting home.
When I first heard about Between Worlds, the thing that caught me was the supposed ‘Augmented Reality’ that can be achieved with this book through an app. I raised an eyebrow at first, as these gimmicks can at times take away from the actual story. Before I even began the book, I opened the app and directed it at the cover. Basically, the app works through your camera, and when you point it at the book or certain pages within (any artwork page), 3D creatures pop up on the app. It looks as though they’re standing on the book, which I admit I was impressed by. There are, at times, more than one creature per page, and each comes with a diary style entry written by one of the characters to describe the creature and what it can do. The creatures also move and fight back if you poke them, which was very cool. It added a lot of information that is needed in heavy fantasy, but isn’t always easy to incorporate into the narrative without boring the reader. Not to mention that it brought the book to life in a way I’ve never before experienced. You had to read the book for these creatures to have any meaning to you, and as you read each artwork page you stumble upon gives you something new to look at through the app. So I was very pleased to see how the augmented reality complimented the story and encourages kids to read through, and not just sit on the app poking creatures all day.
As for the story itself, the writing was very solid. The thing that really caught my breath, as is probably expected, was the world building. I loved the richness of creatures, as well as the fact that nothing in Nith looks human, even those that have intelligence or human traits. It felt fresh in the way that it explored the “kids falling into another world” idea. I find a lot of YA and MG that follow that trope have their main characters almost immediately find someone that wants to help them. Not so is the case in Between Worlds. Mayberry and Marshall had to struggle and survive very much on their own strength throughout the whole story, which really helped to build them into the kind of heroes you want to see in this type of world.
The prose flows nicely and steadily, offering just enough background without slowing down the pace of the story. At the same time, the story doesn’t rush anything, allowing us to see Mayberry and Marshal’s world before they travel to Nith, which I believe is so important when you want to establish character growth. How do we know how the characters have changed if we don’t see how they lived before their harrowing adventure? It’s nice to see the contrast later, after Marshall and Mayberry return, and how much confidence they’ve gained.
The only thing I could have asked for when it came to Between Worlds would have been something more for my heart to grab onto. The prologue starts off with Aaron dealing with the conflict of his sister’s death, but aside from that there wasn’t much inner conflict or motivations that really tugged at my heart. Mayberry goes off into the forest partly to help her mother in getting samples, but as we never get a chance to see her mother or their relationship, it’s hard to feel connected to her motivation on an emotional level. Even Marshall’s main motivation to go was because was he was her friend. Even when they struggled to get home, it was Aaron who brought on the heart wrenching idea of home baked cookies. There didn’t seem to be as much driving Marshall or Mayberry to get home.
All in all, 4/5 stars. A gripping creature fantasy complimented by amazing augmented reality. show less
Between Worlds is the story of Marshall and Mayberry, two teens that stumble upon another world through a Wishing Tree. They head out into their town’s Mystery Forest, which is a thick aspen grove steeped in legend. After falling asleep beneath the wishing tree, Marshall and Mayberry wake up in Nith, a parallel world filled with fantastical creatures and magic. In a world rich with beings show more Marshall and Mayberry could have only ever dreamed of, it becomes difficult to tell friend from foe. But they’ll have to figure it out fast—as well as their newfound magical abilities—for there to be any hope of getting home.
When I first heard about Between Worlds, the thing that caught me was the supposed ‘Augmented Reality’ that can be achieved with this book through an app. I raised an eyebrow at first, as these gimmicks can at times take away from the actual story. Before I even began the book, I opened the app and directed it at the cover. Basically, the app works through your camera, and when you point it at the book or certain pages within (any artwork page), 3D creatures pop up on the app. It looks as though they’re standing on the book, which I admit I was impressed by. There are, at times, more than one creature per page, and each comes with a diary style entry written by one of the characters to describe the creature and what it can do. The creatures also move and fight back if you poke them, which was very cool. It added a lot of information that is needed in heavy fantasy, but isn’t always easy to incorporate into the narrative without boring the reader. Not to mention that it brought the book to life in a way I’ve never before experienced. You had to read the book for these creatures to have any meaning to you, and as you read each artwork page you stumble upon gives you something new to look at through the app. So I was very pleased to see how the augmented reality complimented the story and encourages kids to read through, and not just sit on the app poking creatures all day.
As for the story itself, the writing was very solid. The thing that really caught my breath, as is probably expected, was the world building. I loved the richness of creatures, as well as the fact that nothing in Nith looks human, even those that have intelligence or human traits. It felt fresh in the way that it explored the “kids falling into another world” idea. I find a lot of YA and MG that follow that trope have their main characters almost immediately find someone that wants to help them. Not so is the case in Between Worlds. Mayberry and Marshall had to struggle and survive very much on their own strength throughout the whole story, which really helped to build them into the kind of heroes you want to see in this type of world.
The prose flows nicely and steadily, offering just enough background without slowing down the pace of the story. At the same time, the story doesn’t rush anything, allowing us to see Mayberry and Marshal’s world before they travel to Nith, which I believe is so important when you want to establish character growth. How do we know how the characters have changed if we don’t see how they lived before their harrowing adventure? It’s nice to see the contrast later, after Marshall and Mayberry return, and how much confidence they’ve gained.
The only thing I could have asked for when it came to Between Worlds would have been something more for my heart to grab onto. The prologue starts off with Aaron dealing with the conflict of his sister’s death, but aside from that there wasn’t much inner conflict or motivations that really tugged at my heart. Mayberry goes off into the forest partly to help her mother in getting samples, but as we never get a chance to see her mother or their relationship, it’s hard to feel connected to her motivation on an emotional level. Even Marshall’s main motivation to go was because was he was her friend. Even when they struggled to get home, it was Aaron who brought on the heart wrenching idea of home baked cookies. There didn’t seem to be as much driving Marshall or Mayberry to get home.
All in all, 4/5 stars. A gripping creature fantasy complimented by amazing augmented reality. show less
I got a promo in the mail about this book and out of idle curiosity, got it at the library. I'm no true aficionado of graphic novels or science fiction but I could appreciate this hefty tome for the tour de force it is. Fans of Star Wars and similar space odysseys will likely jump whole-heartedly into this saga about Samantha, daughter of a Conglomerate leader, who leads an idealistic first-contact mission meant to win hearts and minds on an unconquered planet. Jon is a former disgraced show more Enforcer recruited to provide security on the mission and who ends up in a key leadership role he never imagined for himself. Races and species, bloody battles and otherworlds are arrayed in detailed, eye-popping cinematic spreads. Downloading software to your tablet enables extra features tucked among the pages. I don't have a tablet so don't know how this works. Experience this book at a large table. show less
Two teens, a boy, Marshall, and a girl, Mayberry, decide to take a hike in their local woods to find a legendary tree. Even though the forest is known to be like the Bermuda Triangle for hikers the two find the tree that town folks call The Wishing Tree. They soon find out the tree’s power is much more than a myth. They without thinking wish to travel to another land and learn magic. There wish comes true and they get more than they bargained for. A story filled with adventure, magic and a show more tie-in to an augmented reality app that enables you to see various characters in 3D.
I picked this book up at a used book section. What attracted me was the augmented reality aspect. I had never experienced it within a book. It was interesting. The story got darker than I expected for a kids book. It did keep me wanted to know what was going to happen to Marshall and Mayberry. They ended up spending much more time in the world than most characters would in a story such as this.
While the augmented reality was a neat hook sometimes the app did not work for me. It was fun to see the creatures in 3D but the journal entries were long and definitely took you out of the story. In fact, the journals seemed to belong in another book.
Between Worlds was an okay story with a fun gimmick. I might read another like it or I may not. It was an experience. show less
I picked this book up at a used book section. What attracted me was the augmented reality aspect. I had never experienced it within a book. It was interesting. The story got darker than I expected for a kids book. It did keep me wanted to know what was going to happen to Marshall and Mayberry. They ended up spending much more time in the world than most characters would in a story such as this.
While the augmented reality was a neat hook sometimes the app did not work for me. It was fun to see the creatures in 3D but the journal entries were long and definitely took you out of the story. In fact, the journals seemed to belong in another book.
Between Worlds was an okay story with a fun gimmick. I might read another like it or I may not. It was an experience. show less
The first part of the book was a little slow for me but it keeps just enough interest to keep reading while the alternate universe is established and background information is shared. The story picks up when two of the young people have to struggle to save themselves and another boy stuck there. The potential for sequels are there which would justify the slow start (some).
The addition of the smartphone app can be viewed from a couple of perspectives. One is to consider it a negative and a show more gimmick. That is likely a more prevalent feeling among readers my age who may lament the intrusion of technology into the world of reading. There are certainly arguments for that view but I can't state them very well because I am not looking at it from that perspective. My teaching experience was at university level and augmenting texts has always been a positive thing to increase student engagement. The elementary and middle school teachers I know and asked about this idea were largely supportive as long as it wasn't simply a way to coax more money. If it helped to make the young readers more likely to read future volumes or perhaps encourage them to be creative and write their own stories in this new alternate world then the idea seemed to be well-received. Those feelings reflect my own but the teachers engaging children that age expressed it far better than I could.
I would recommend this for young readers who like fantasy. This seems like a lighter form than many fantasy series so this might get readers at a slightly younger age or those hesitant to open a more daunting book. I did not explore the app so can not comment on the content or uses of it.
Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads. show less
The addition of the smartphone app can be viewed from a couple of perspectives. One is to consider it a negative and a show more gimmick. That is likely a more prevalent feeling among readers my age who may lament the intrusion of technology into the world of reading. There are certainly arguments for that view but I can't state them very well because I am not looking at it from that perspective. My teaching experience was at university level and augmenting texts has always been a positive thing to increase student engagement. The elementary and middle school teachers I know and asked about this idea were largely supportive as long as it wasn't simply a way to coax more money. If it helped to make the young readers more likely to read future volumes or perhaps encourage them to be creative and write their own stories in this new alternate world then the idea seemed to be well-received. Those feelings reflect my own but the teachers engaging children that age expressed it far better than I could.
I would recommend this for young readers who like fantasy. This seems like a lighter form than many fantasy series so this might get readers at a slightly younger age or those hesitant to open a more daunting book. I did not explore the app so can not comment on the content or uses of it.
Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads. show less
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