This post features the full review of Upside Down by Jill Rey for Reader Views.
In her review for Reader Views, Jill Rey describes Upside Down as a powerful, emotionally resonant exploration of what it means to be split by grief. The story opens with Caleb at his sister’s funeral, already fractured, already half-present, his world muffled and blurred as his inverted self emerges beneath the surface.
Jill highlights how the book uses this surreal, mirrored realm to reflect the real psychology of depression, numbness, avoidance, and emotional dissociation. The Upside Down becomes a haunting metaphor for the selves we hide.
Morello’s portrayal struck her as both shocking and unsurprising, an honest reminder of how many people carry wounds no one else sees.
Jill emphasizes how impactful the concept is:
that everyone in the inverted world is there because of pain, and not all of them are people Caleb expected to be broken.
Her review reinforces one of the book’s central themes:
pain is universal, but often invisible.
Jill points out that the emotional core of the story is the tension between Caleb and Maddy, two people connected by history but separated by fear, loss, and emotional barriers.
She praises how the novella blends the real world with the inverted one.
The review closes with an appreciation for how Upside Down exposes what many of us bury beneath the masks we wear.
ISBN: 979-8296073051
