Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens: Review
Welcome to BookishEnds! Keep reading for my review of Otherworldly, a cozy YA Fantasy that I absolutely adored.
F. T. Lukens hasn’t steered me wrong yet.
Title: Otherworldly
Author: F.T. Lukens
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pub Date: 04/02/24
Otherworldly Description
A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this “irresistible elixir of romance and suspense” (Kirkus Reviews) from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
Review
What better book to read in December than one where the characters have been stuck in a perpetual winter for years. I could feel the coldness in Otherworldly seeping out of the pages.
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I adored In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens, so I hate how long it took me to get to this one. No surprise, but I loved it too. And no one told me there was Hadestown vibes!
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The writing was so descriptive. The dynamic between Ellery and Knox was *chef’s kiss*. I love when a character keeps a secret from the other characters, but the reader knows what it is. And I can’t even lie, I teared up a bit, which I was not expecting at all.
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And while the book was fun, it was also about confronting your beliefs, allowing your worldview to expand when presented with new information, and what makes humans human.
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Would definitely recommend this for the YA fantasy lovers.
Author
F.T. Lukens is a New York Times bestselling author of YA speculative fiction including the novels Spell Bound, So This Is Ever After, and In Deeper Waters (2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist; Junior Library Guild Selection), as well as other science fiction and fantasy works. Their contemporary fantasy novel The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic was a 2017 Cybils Award finalist in YA Speculative Fiction and won the Bisexual Book Award for Speculative Fiction. F.T. resides in North Carolina with their spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.
