Upside Down (Off the Map, #1)

by Lia Riley

Twenty-one-year-old Natalia Stolfi is saying goodbye to painful memories and turning her life upside down with a trip to the land down under. For the next six months, she'll pretend to be a carefree exchange student. Everything is going to plan until she meets a surly surfer with hypnotic green eyes, and the troubling ability to see straight through her act.

Bran Lockhart is having the worst year on record. After the girl of his dreams turned into a nightmare, he slunk back to Melbourne to piece his life together. Yet no amount of disappointment could blind him to the pretty California girl who gets past all his defenses. He's never wanted anyone the way he wants Talia. A single semester abroad won't cover something this serious. But when Bran gets a stark reminder of why he stopped believing in love, he and Talia must decide if what they have is once in a lifetime . . . or if they were meant to live a world apart.

Praise for Upside Down:

'Upside Down gave me all the feels. Romantic and poignant, the journey of love and acceptance lingers long after the book is closed' Jennifer L. Armentrout/J. Lynn, # 1 New York Times bestselling author

• ISBN10: 1455585726
• ISBN13: 9781455585724
• Publish Date: 12 May 2015 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown & Company
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

I kind of felt that this was your typical new adult genre book. I also didn't care much for Talia. I didn't hate her, I just didn't particularly like her either. However, the book's humor is well written. The author doesn't go for the easy joke. Everything is written in a way that requires some thought and I appreciate that! So, this wasn't a bad book. It wasn't a great book either. If you like new adult, you will like this book just fine.

[boghunden]

Thanks to the author, the New Adult Book Club and Netgalley.

After reading the first two chapters, I felt like giving up on this one. I was so confused as to what was going on etc. I'm glad that I gave this book a chance, because it turned out to be an okay read.

The main character of this book is Talia, a 21 year old girl with OCD. Now, the OCD plays a role in the book, but it's not the main focus. It deals with it in a great way! However, I didn't like that Talia was running away from everything in the beginning, but I get why she did it and I came to like her choices later on. The ending...I was so mad I almost threw my kindle across the room, but then I read on and well...that was a good one!

As far as the love interest goes, he had such an interesting story, I almost wished the story was told from his POV because I was so invested in his story.

I did feel like the writing could've been better, it wasn't really my cup of tea.

I loved to sit outside in the sun and read about sunny Australia and half naked surfers ;)

[Leah]

When I spotted Upside Down on Netgalley, I was torn. I've got lots of books to read. LOTS, LOTS, LOTS. So I've got to be really choosy about what I decide to download and review, because I've already got books to choose from. But Upside Down interested me and it's been a while since I've read New Adult novel, so I decided to take the plunge, especially with the added extra of Talia's OCD. I very much enjoy novels that deal with mental health issues, and OCD is not something I've ever read about before, and I was interested to see how Lia Riley tackled it, and whether the novel would rank among my faves amongst the very good New Adult genre.

Upside Down is an interesting read. It starts really, really well, and the chemistry between Bran and Talia is bubbling away nicely, and we're going along, and they're bantering with each other, and it's cool... And then they make out and do stuff, and it all just seemed to happen so fast. My main issue with the novel is that it gave me whiplash. There I was enjoying the tug of war between Talia and Bran, and their connection is ace, and suddenly they're in bed together .Then you flip a page, and the ex is on the scene making a nuisance of herself and Talia can't handle that and it just sort of repeats the same hot/cold cycle throughout the novel. It drove me nuts. I hate when characters are so hot/cold, they're so indecisive, they can't make up their minds and instead of Bran being cute and awesome, he came across as a bit of a jerk. He totally screws with Talia's head on numerous occassions, and it just got a little tiring after a while. I wanted her to just let him get on with his life, because he was so down on her.

I wished the novel had focused on Talia's OCD more. It's mentioned, frequently, and there are moments where we see it in action (like when Talia uses the radio in Bran's car, she presses all the buttons before the button she needs) but it was sporadic at best. I didn't really feel the obsession that Talia mentions frequently. Was that because she was away from her home, and in Australia? I kinda figured Bran's actions would have had her OCD going mad - but, no. It just needed a little bit more time spent developing that part of the story. Considering what comes out near the end of the novel, it's hard to believe it's the same Talia. It just felt a bit like a missed opportunity to get into the head of someone a bit different, someone I've never read about before.

I wanted to love Upside Down and add it to my list of New Adult favourites, but it was too indecisive and Bran wasn't some kind of hot hero (he was during his and Talia's first interaction, in a costume) but after that he just kept blowing hot and cold and that doesn't really work for me (though it seemed to work on Talia, so what do I know?). The ending was just a mish-mash of things that I normally find in a Chick Lit novel and don't usually expect in a New Adult novel - Bran's holding a lot of secrets safe, that come out as the novel wears on, and when one of his secrets comes back, I was just like *EYEROLL* because sometimes it's just not necessary, and sometimes authors do it to just annoy me I'm sure, and I didn't like this one, even worse when Bran admits why his secret came back, and Talia just goes "I'M SO SORRY". I just wish the novel had kept it's early promise as those first few meetings between Bran and Talia were ace, especially the costume one, when they were both so snarky, but the hot/cold didn't really work for me. I'm an all-in kinda girl.

This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read