The Otherwhere Post - Emily J. Taylor - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Emily J. Taylor

GENRE: YA Dark Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: February 25, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A YA fantasy with dark academia vibes and portal fantasy elements. Intriguing magic, gripping plot and interesting characters. Some shades of romance and mystery as well. A bit repetitive and a tad too convenient in between, but overall, a satisfying read. (Coming from me the YA-phobe, this is a huge compliment.) I’d definitely recommend this book to older YAs.

Plot Preview:

Ever since Maeve’s father was accused of a serious crime seven years ago, Maeve has been living under a false name and constantly shifting places and jobs so that no one can connect her to the past. Now eighteen, Maeve receives a mysterious letter claiming that her father was innocent. To learn the truth, Maeve must take up an apprenticeship at the Otherwhere Post, which trains aspirants in the magical art of scriptomancy, thereby allowing couriers to enchant letters and deliver them across worlds. But Maeve’s challenges only increase with this decision. Her father’s murky past proves tougher to hide than she had expected, her mentor at the institute – a rude courier named Tristan – knows that she’s an imposter, and threatening letters pop up warning Maeve to drop her investigation. Can she find out the truth without endangering herself and her companions?

The story comes to us in Maeve’s third-person perspective.

I am not an avid YA reader. However, I had read this author’s debut work – an interesting YA Dark Fantasy named Hotel Magnifique – a couple of years ago and was quite impressed by her world-building, though the pacing and repetition hadn’t worked too well for me. I was keen to give her sophomore work a go and see if it clicked better and if she has grown as a writer.

It did, and she has!

Bookish Yays:

💌 Maeve: A typical teen representative of her age. Impatient, impulsive, gutsy. Acts first, thinks next. Thus, an apt lead for a YA novel, though some of her actions made me want to shake her. Her character is written well, with no extended rambling or whining that is so common in YA protagonists. I loved the balance between her bravery and her vulnerability.

💌 Tristan: If I were younger, there’s a good chance I would have declared Tristan my new book boyfriend, and no, this isn’t at all because of his looks. He’s not portrayed as a typical hot guy unaware of his charm. Rather, the author gives Tristan a strong and layered personality that has both a grumpy side and a fun side.

💌 An extra Yay not just for making Tristan bespectacled but also for remembering this throughout the book. I appreciate how his spectacles were written as a consistent part of his character instead of being forgotten after the first mention.

💌 Maeve’s roommate Nan is fabulous. (Possibly, my favourite character of this book!) Her personality adds the right amount of lightheartedness to this novel.

💌 The connection between Maeve and Tristan feels a bit too instant, but it doesn’t lead to insta-romance. Rather, the bond grows steadily from reluctant colleagues to friends to potential lovers. A good progression for a cute relationship filled with loads of banter (from Tristan’s side.) Plus points for not letting the romance dominate the core plot.

💌 The darker parts of the fantasy are creepy, with some scenes being quite gruesome.

💌 Maeve’s apprenticeship at the Otherwhere Post adds plenty of dark academia vibes to this story. Her role as a student is properly utilised, with many scenes actually in the classroom and library, unlike some other academia novels where the characters are doing everything but studying.

💌 The pacing is slowburn but never slow. I didn’t lose my interest at any point.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🔑 The worldbuilding has tremendous potential. The concept of known and unknown worlds accessible through magical doors and the art of scriptomancy allowing the use of words to create magic both are excellent fantastical ideas. The former reminded me of other similar portal fantasy books such as The Ten Thousand Doors of January; regardless, the concept is used well. I also loved the idea of a magical postal system. However, the scriptomancy content is somewhat vague. There is a lot about the whats but not enough of the hows. I am not sure if this is being planned as a series because a lot of foundational content on scriptomancy wasn’t utilised much in this book and there certainly is potential for more exploration.

🔑 For a change, there are a couple of good-hearted adults in this YA work. This adult thanks the author for this courtesy. (I am fed up of seeing idiotic adults in the YA genre.) However, most of the adults’ personalities aren’t sketched strongly. The rationale behind some of their actions stays vague till the end.

🔑The mystery about Maeve’s father and the identity of the writer of the threatening letters is handled decently, with a few nice red herrings and twists along the way. However, I’d have preferred the suspicion to be on multiple characters at once instead of going through them turn by turn.

🔑Given how closeted and grumpy Maeve is at the start, it is a bit difficult to understand why Tristan and Nan go out of their way to assist her. Perhaps they are just good people? Definitely a bit too good to be true!

Bookish Nays:

🚪 The second half has some overly convenient coincidences and timely character appearances at strategic plot points. I can ignore this issue if it happens only rarely, but it popped up a little too frequently when Maeve’s investigation was reaching its culmination.

🚪 Infodump ending. Never a fan of this!

All in all, this was quite a good read for me, which is even more surprising if you remember how I keep cribbing about the YA genre. I liked Maeve with all her flaws as she made for a realistic teen protagonist. Tristan and Nan were the perfect accompaniments. There are a few components that could have added more value to this book, but even as is, it is quite entertaining.

Definitely recommended. As an adult, I would have found this a good one-time read, but I've a strong feeling it will be fabulous for older YAs. (15+, because there are some intimacies mentioned.) As always, better if read without over-analysing.

My thanks to Penguin Young Readers Group for providing the DRC of “The Otherwhere Post” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.