Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry
by Ransom Riggs
Pub Date: Aug 27 2024
PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Dutton Books for Young Readers
Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA
DESCRIPTION/SYNOPSIS:
The instant New York Times bestseller from visionary storyteller Ransom Riggs!
Weaving the familiar with the peculiar, this stunning tale of loss, triumph, friendship and magic, will remind readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself.
Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are.
Not a good sign.
In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.
Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.
How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?
Welcome to Sunderworld.
REVIEW:
As a huge fan of the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series, I was excited to get the opportunity to read the first book in this new series by Ransom Riggs. With Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry Riggs has primed us for another exciting YA/Fantasy series. Sunderworld is a parallel world running alongside—or, more accurately, a world overlaid onto—our world, invisible to normal folks, but visible to Sunderworld natives (called Sparks), within which magic works… But it’s kind of rundown and neglected. Magic can’t make up for infrastructure deterioration.
In short, Sunderworld feels like a world in need of a renaissance, or at least a savior of some sort to return a spark (pun intended) of life to it. Leopold (mostly called Larry in the normal world) seems to be the chosen one, but he lacks faith in himself. He lost his devoted mother (who had secrets of her own related to Sunderworld) at a young age and his father does nothing but criticize him for every perceived failure to live up to his exacting standards. Leopold is a round peg his father wants to shove into a square hole.
At one point, after discovering Sunderworld, Leopold takes a leap of faith in himself, but fails and is basically exiled from the ability to live his one enduring dream scenario. Another failure. (Note: readers are forewarned by the subtitle to this book, i.e., ‘Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry.’) But Leopold is loyal and doesn’t give up when barriers are thrown in his path. There’s a clear sense that Leopold will eventually succeed, just as there’s a clear sense Sunderworld will recover from its own crises—no doubt with ‘extraordinary’ help from Leopold. But that does not happen in Sunderworld Vol. 1. While I enjoyed this book, and look forward to all the developments to come, there is definite sense that this volume is a long prologue of sorts, a table-setting volume hinting at lots of fun things to come rather than feeling complete in itself. I definitely recommend this first volume, but go in knowing it’s very much a ‘to be continued’ ending type of book.
Note: I received a free eGalley of Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry from Net Galley in consideration of an unbiased review.
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