And yet another Shelly Crane novel that greatly disappointed me. My first Crane novel was Significance (no book review for that one yet), which I found to be outrightly terribly written with an exceedingly toxic romance between the main characters. However, I didn't want to close the door on the author just yet.

The Other Side of Gravity seemed like the perfect read for author redemption. The book's cover is undeniably gorgeous, the idea pitched in the premise seemed like a strong foundation for a good plot, and the setting introduced was admittedly fascinating. However, the delivery fell flat in just about every aspect and ultimately, the storytelling was utterly mediocre and nearly reduced me to bored tears.

The introductory chapters were all right. I was given a glimpse of how Sophelia was orphaned at an extremely young age and was forced into slavery. I also learned that the Earth eventually became so uninhabitable that people had to resort to taking oxygen and gravity pills in order to survive, and even then, the word 'survive' was used quite loosely. In terms of worldbuilding, The Other Side of Gravity was pretty impressive. It was not perfectly executed, but I will commend it for employing a distinctly unique concept.

Unfortunately, after the novel's strong and promising beginning, everything quickly sloped downhill. Sophelia was first presented as a sassy, independent and perfectly adept heroine clamoring for her freedom and unafraid to fight for it. However, once she and Maxton were thrown together, everything admirable about her character was immediately thrown out of the window. She became needy, embarrassingly helpless, and overly dependent. Think the antithesis of Arya Stark from Game of Thrones. Basically, her strength and backbone were totally macerated for the sake of an attractive male - an absurd concept that is, sad to say, still common in most fiction. To add to that, Maxton had a habit of mentioning her physical appearance whenever he thought about her (context: the story is written in the dual perspectives of Sophelia and Maxton). It seemed to me that he was blatantly objectifying her, which did not sit well with my ideals at all.

The elements that constituted a promising dystopian novel were completely overshadowed by the romance between the two leading characters. To make matters worse, the romance aspect was not even well-developed! I'm pretty sure their attraction towards one another was largely based on physical appearances. Their 'love' was instantaneous, unrealistic and unhealthy to a ridiculous proportion. I cringed on more than one occasion, I swear.

Moreover, the story had little to no plot. The mentions of an oppressive government and a rising rebellion ceased quickly, were placed completely on the backburner for most of the story, and only resurfaced in the latter chapters. Even then, crucial details were ignored, if not disregarded entirely. Also, the sudden savior complex towards the end was frustrating to read about. By that point, it was too late to redeem anything.

In summary, The Other Side of Gravity was a waste of time. I mourn for the trees that died in order to produce physical copies of this atrocity.