This was quite an interesting read - a little sci-fi, a little fantasy, and a bit of adventure thrown in. It certainly set the tone for a promising new series, with two young MCs who have to avoid danger while unraveling the mystery of their past. Elise and Frankie were great characters, unique but loyal to each other, and joined by their twin bond. The world-building was wonderful, and I hope we get to explore more of the alternate universe in future installments. Although this was definitely geared for a younger audience, older readers will find plenty to enjoy within its pages. I look forward to seeing where the series goes!

This is definitely a book for young teens.

I found the writing to be very immature in places.

Although the story was based on a good idea, the characters lacked depth.

I really did not care whether they survived or not.

Thank you Netgalley for this book in exchange for a review.

I was skeptical on this one but was actually surprised how much I liked it. I think that I enjoyed the mysterious elements in this one, including their secret past, and the sci-fi feels a lot of this book invoked. I wanted a little more details about portals but overall found this story to be creative and thought it was easy to understand and follow.

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Oh boy, I really didn’t enjoy this.
I’ll start with the good parts. The concept of alternate universes has always been fascinating to me and I love reading stories that encompass this topic.
Unfortunately, that was all I really enjoyed about this book. It was far too slow paced for me, and I found all of the characters totally unlikeable - especially the twins. Some of the dialogue felt so clunky and forced that it came across as completely unrealistic.
Yeah... I didn’t enjoy it sadly, and I don’t think I will be continuing with the series.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

4-4.5 stars

I very much enjoyed this blend of fantasy, adventure, mystery, and science fiction, and found myself reading it basically in one sitting. The twins are very interesting, although their personalities remind me very much of Kendra and Seth of Fablehaven. Elise is tenderhearted, talks to animals, is cautious, and responsible, much like Kendra. Frankie is bored easily, always looking for adventure, impatient, stubborn, gets himself into trouble sometimes, but he also cares about is sister, much like Seth. Although I think Frankie is a bit more responsible, lol. In this story, they start out as orphans not knowing anything about their past to running for their lives with the librarian nun who turns out to be their bodyguard. As they find out about their mysterious past, you also find out about their emerging abilities. And that's all I'm going to say about that, ha! This is a great debut novel and I look forward to the rest of the series! My only possible quibble about this story is that I wished she had spent a little bit more time on the science of dark matter and portals. But perhaps that is something she will explore more in further books. Based on something Frankie says near the end about portals, it suggests that this may be the case.

Special thanks to NetGalley, R. Dawn Hutchinson, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very creative story with lots of time spent on imagery and characterization. I really liked how the story was told from the perspective of children. Frankie and Elise are able to captivate the reader by discussing their understanding of the world and their powers.

The way this books ends makes you want to learn about their universe and what happens next. It's a fun book to read.

There were many elements coming together in this book that worked well. I would gladly add it to my classroom shelf.