After his sister Shellyâs funeral, Caleb feels the world collapseâand then it literally turns. He awakens in the Upside Down, an inverted purgatory beneath reality where grief takes form and the masks people wear dissolve into raw, unfiltered truth.
Heâs not alone. Maddy, the woman he once loved, has been trapped here for years. But this isnât the Maddy he remembers. Broken, unguarded, and painfully honest, she delivers a gut punch with her first words: âIâm devastated youâre here.â
As Caleb searches for a way out, he discovers this realm isnât his grief alone. Countless others exist both above and belowâtheir surface selves cold and numb, while their inverted counterparts thrash with buried pain. And some, like Sebastian, thrive in the shadows.
To become whole again, Caleb and Maddy must confront not only the secrets that broke them apart, but also the family wounds and hidden truths that have chained them here. Together, they must decide: face the traumas that destroyed them⌠or surrender to the Upside Down forever, where strangers wear the faces of who they used to be. And with their counterparts in the real world no longer speaking, staying below means letting each other go for good.
After his sister Shellyâs funeral, Caleb feels the world collapseâand then it literally turns. He awakens in the Upside Down, an inverted purgatory beneath reality where grief takes form and the masks people wear dissolve into raw, unfiltered truth.
Heâs not alone. Maddy, the woman he once loved, has been trapped here for years. But this isnât the Maddy he remembers. Broken, unguarded, and painfully honest, she delivers a gut punch with her first words: âIâm devastated youâre here.â
As Caleb searches for a way out, he discovers this realm isnât his grief alone. Countless others exist both above and belowâtheir surface selves cold and numb, while their inverted counterparts thrash with buried pain. And some, like Sebastian, thrive in the shadows.
To become whole again, Caleb and Maddy must confront not only the secrets that broke them apart, but also the family wounds and hidden truths that have chained them here. Together, they must decide: face the traumas that destroyed them⌠or surrender to the Upside Down forever, where strangers wear the faces of who they used to be. And with their counterparts in the real world no longer speaking, staying below means letting each other go for good.
Cocooned in silence, Caleb stood upside down, his feet planted on what resembled a thick pane of opaque glass. It faced the sun, casting a long shadow of his suspended body above him. His black hair and goatee were hidden beneath his hands, which pressed tightly over his face. He had remained like this for days; unmoving, encased in stillness. Above his head, twisted black roots clung together like gnarled veins, forming a dense, impassable ceiling.
Faint echoes of his friends drifted near him, muffled laughter, somber voices, and the rustle of clothes. But they were only fragments. Only shadows of others moved beyond the hazy floor, always out of reach. He remained fixed in this inverted purgatory directly beneath his other self, the one who stood upright at the funeral of his younger sister with Down Syndrome.
Caleb, standing upright in his grief, suddenly jerked his head as recognition flashed across his face. His motion revealed bruises and scrapes across his face, remnants of the accident. During the days Caleb had spent in this place, he remained completely shut off. He heard only parts of conversation, barely able to make out a fraction of what he himself said in the world above, everything muffled by the barrier that separated him from his own body.
From within the dimness, a pale face began to glow softly nearby. Familiar brown curls framed her face, and her green eyes, sad and apprehensive, drew closer. Maddy. Her presence invaded his solitude, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he allowed his hands to drop to his chin, granting himself a clear view.
The version of Maddy before him didnât walk like the one above. She floated gently through the air, inverted as he was, drifting toward him. Above, her other self approached the upright Caleb in a black dress, but it was this version that held his attention. The Maddy he hadnât truly seen in two years. The one who now looked at him not with resentment, but sorrow.
Her green eyes, usually hard, had softened. That alone made his chest tighten. For years she had offered only coldness, barely masking the anger she felt toward him. But now her empathy scared him. It didnât feel like pity. It felt like something else. Something that made her seem...kind again.
Her deep voice echoed through the suspended darkness, strong but restrained, as if every word took great effort to contain emotion. "I am devastated you're here."
He tilted his head, unsure what she meant. Being upside down hadnât seemed strange until she pointed it out. Until then, the pain had dulled everything else. He glanced toward the upright world. Maddyâs voice was there too, muffled and distant, her tone guarded and familiar in its detachment.
He looked back at the floating version of her. âI donât feel dead,â he said quietly. His hand twitched but didnât move toward her. âWhatâs so bad about me being here?â
She held his gaze, her expression oozing with sympathy. Then, with a barely perceptible shake of her head, she turned her eyes toward the blurry scene aboveâthe other her speaking to the other him, both behind the translucent barrier. Her voice, softer now, carried more weight. âIâm sorry about Shelly.â
Calebâs expression broke. Maddyâs hair, though upside down, hung neatly around her face as if untouched by gravity. Her words pierced him, loosening the knot he had held inside. His eyes filled with tears. âThank you,â he said after a pause. He shook his head, as if trying to wake from a dream. âWhat is going on?â he asked, his voice hoarse by emotion. The pain was everywhere, and it clung to him like fog. He didnât want any part of the funeral above, and couldnât fathom saying goodbye to Shelly. Even thinking her name felt like breaking pieces in his chest.
Maddyâs eyes grew puffy with the effort of holding back tears. Here, in this space, she could only be honest. He was the last person she wanted to hurt, but she said it plainly, âLosing Shelly broke you.â
Shelly was his joy, and during the years he and Maddy were together, she had been Maddyâs joy as well. Sheâd been his anchor after he and Maddy fell apart. Her happiness had made life valuable to him. Now, she was gone.
He stared at Maddy, something in her tone pulling him further from the pit he felt he had been in. The usual tension in her face was gone. She wasnât attacking or avoiding him. She looked almost like she used toâŚand then a thought cut through his haze. âWait,â he said, processing her earlier words, his voice rising. âSomething broke you?â
The words hung there like halted thunder.
She nodded once, her throat tightening as she tried to keep composed. âThatâs why Iâm here,â she said. Her voice cracked ever so slightly. âAnd thatâs why youâre here.â
The impact of her words landed like a targeted strike. His head jerked back, hair shifting with the weight of the realization. This Maddy, the real one or the part of her that could still feel, was speaking to him like she used to. Before the bitterness. Before the loss.
Thoughts tumbled through his mind like debris in the wind. Could he return? Did he even want to? Could he go back with her, or was her presence here the only version of her that seemed to tolerate him?
Was this place meant to keep him here forever, suspended between the living and the dead?
Shelly was gone. That truth weighed heavier than anything. Caleb didnât believe he deserved happiness after that. Maybe he never would again. Maybe this was the price, this exile beneath his own skin, looking up at a life he could no longer be part of.
He tried to speak, but words failed him. Instead, he looked into Maddyâs eyes, green and full of something he thought had long disappeared.
Brown leaves stirred across the muted pavement of the cemetery road, caught in the restless wind beneath a low gray sky. The air carried the sharp edge of late autumn, colder than any day since summer had ended, as they gathered to bury Shelly.
Caleb stood apart, stoic at the edge of the grass. His eyes lingered on the group of mourners gathered around the grave, waiting for the minister to begin the Committal service. He dreaded it. Since the day he lost her, he had sealed off every emotion. Not once had he cried.
Turning away from the grave site, he caught sight of Maddy. Her hair was pulled back neatly over the shoulders of her black dress. Their eyes met. In that instant, both of them stiffened, bracing themselves for what it meant to face each other again.
Caleb stepped forward, the sound of his shoes dull against the pavement. With a restrained motion, he reached one arm around her in a polite embrace. Maddy leaned into him, resting her cheek against his chest for the briefest moment before pulling away as her face brushed the fabric of his shirt. Her eyes, cautious and unreadable, glanced up to meet his. Then she looked down. âIâm sorry about Shelly,â she said softly.
He swallowed the feeling rising in his chest, pressing it down into the same space he had pushed all the others. Sliding his hands into the pockets of his pants, he gave a short nod, his lips tight. âThank you for coming.â
Maddy lifted her eyes from the ground, trying to hide how much the comment stung. âI loved Shelly.â
Caleb took one hand from his pocket and placed it gently on her shoulder. âI know.â He motioned toward the grass, sensing the service was about to begin. âDo you want to stand with us?â
She gave a small, uncertain nod, then lowered her head again and stepped forward toward the waiting crowd.
Calebâs mother, Tasha, stood among the mourners with tears streaming down her face. She glanced over, searching for Caleb. When she saw him walking with Maddy, her sobs deepened. An audible cry escaped her lips as she stepped away from the others, arms outstretched, moving quickly toward Maddy.
Tashaâs face twisted in grief. Her pace quickened until she collided with Maddyâs open arms and collapsed into them. She held on tightly, as if afraid to let go. Maddyâs own tears began to fall. Though she tried to steady herself and lock her face in place, emotion spilled through. She bent slightly under the weight of the moment, becoming part of the support holding Tasha upright.
In a voice torn by hours of crying, rasped and uneven, Tasha said, âThank you for coming, sweet girl.â
Maddy held the back of her head gently, a pained smile breaking through the grief. âOf course, sweet mom.â
Caleb watched helplessly. Part of him wanted to guide them forward, to keep things moving so the service could begin. However, a deeper part was thankful Maddy still called her âsweet mom.â Especially today.
He kept his emotions closed off and held his arm out in a silent signal for them to continue toward the grave.
Maddy gave a small push away from the hug, glancing at Caleb with understanding. Tasha let her head rest on Maddyâs shoulder again as they began to walk. Her hand reached out and took Calebâs, and together, they moved forward.
Looking down his own body, upside down and distant, Caleb heard the murmurs of the Committal Service drifting from above. He saw himself and Maddy standing there, upright, shadows of his present self. The sight unsettled him. They looked uncomfortable together, two halves that were out of sync. It struck him then that he was witnessing a version of himself as a stranger.
He wanted to ask Maddy questions, but speaking over the service honoring his sister felt wrong. He could not fully understand what was being said, only catching parts of it. His upright self spoke in rough, scratchy tones, every third or fourth word breaking through. Yet the othersâ voices came clearer, their words penetrating through better.
Maddy felt the same uneasy distance. She glanced repeatedly at Caleb, the two of them inverted and acting as uncooperative shadows of their upright counterparts, then looked back at the gathering above. She did not know how long she would stay. She waited, searching for an end to the service, hoping for a chance to speak before being pulled away.
She wanted to tell him where he was, explain what had happened, and share everything she had gone through. Her counterpart, the version of herself walking with the upright Caleb, would never reveal the truth. Now here they were. Maddy was sharply aware of the weight of this day. She could not trample over Calebâs mourning with a flood of rushed words about this upside down world. She was afraid.
Caleb and Maddy rarely saw each other anymore. Despite her efforts to push her counterpart to see him, sometimes they met, sometimes they did not, and it never ended well.
The voices above faded to silence. Both Maddy and Caleb, upside down, turned their heads toward each other and began to speak at once. They smiled awkwardly. She extended her hands gently and simply said, âTalk.â
âIâm so confused,â he admitted. His shyness lingered, but honesty reigned here. âI feel like this is the you I knew.â
Her lips tightened as she shook her head. "I wish I were." She stepped closer, her movement fluid. "I am not the same, but I have definitely been held back from the person I want to be."
Calebâs face warped in confusion. âI donât understand.â
Tears began to fall as she glanced nervously downward, watching the scene unfolding beneath their feet. There, her upright self and Caleb shared a cold, formal hug before she walked away. âI need more time to explain.â
Her form began to drift away, weightless and slow. Caleb looked beyond his own feet and saw the upright Maddy walking toward her car, taking with her the version of Maddy who stood with him here.
Desperation surged through him. He reached out and stepped forward, but it was as if he walked on a treadmill. The ground beneath him didnât change. âHow do I get to you?â
More tears slipped down Maddyâs cheeks as she shook her head in defeat. âWe have to get them to want to see each other, butâŚâ Her words trailed off, unfinished. Caleb understood the rest. If they succeeded, they would end up fighting. They always did.
Darkness began to close around her. She held her gaze on him until the void pulled her backward, swallowing her pale skin and green eyes into the shadows.
Upside Down is an intimately human and immersive story that reveals its magic as naturally as it reveals its emotions. Written in raw, journal-like prose thatâs impossible to look away from, the novel lingers long after the final page.
Caleb is thrust into the Upside Down after the death of his sister. The story follows him as he confronts demons of grief, guilt, and shame he has long avoided. In this mirrored world, he must face the emotional wreckage he left behind and find a way to reconnect with the numb, withdrawn version of himself in reality.
As a magical surrealism novel, it excels in how gracefully it introduces the rules of its strange, reflective world. Rather than relying on explanation, the author lets us learn everything through Calebâs eyes and through dialogue, action, and consequence. Because we discover each ability, limitation, and threat at the same pace he does, the world feels logical, and fully alive.
The prose is as compelling as the world-building. The writing feels unfiltered, like a private journal, carrying emotion that doesn't feel fake or melodramatic. Even when Caleb is navigating the supernatural, the narration remains grounded in relatable human feeling. Grief, guilt, shame, and confusion rise naturally from the page, honest and unforced.
The authorâs ability to show rather than tell is one of the bookâs greatest strengths. Plot points that a less experienced writer might explain outright are instead revealed through gestures, silences, and subtle shifts in expression. Characters communicate their motives in the way they move, the space they take up, or the hesitation before a hard truth. A novice writer might simply tell us that Maddy is angry at Caleb; here, her tightened jaw and clipped voice is enough. Trauma, secrets, long-buried wounds surface naturally from the characters rather than appearing as abrupt plot twists.
In the end, Upside Down succeeds because it is a profoundly human story about the emotional selves we repress and the feelings we fear facing. Itâs unsettling, emotionally rich, and told with a voice that feels genuinely lived-in. Iâm excited to read more from this author.