3.5 stars!

If you've ever seen the movie 'Black Knight' with Martin Lawrence, then this is like the middle grade version of that: a medieval "Alice in Wonderland"-esque fantasy, only instead of a treehole or a theme park, the entrance is different for any 'beyonder' who enters. Jason (or 13 y/o MC) enters in a weird way at the Denver Zoo, I'll let you read to find out.

He acclimates pretty quickly, and even meets another 'beyonder' named Rachel, who joins him on his quest to piece together the 'word of power' that can destroy the evil emperor of the land.

I think it started off a little weak, and then became a lot better as I read. The tone sometimes felt a bit more adult than juvenile but I think it would be a good read for a younger crowd (example: the concepts of tyranny/corrupt leadership and some violent scenes are more adult concepts, but the way it is written makes it accessible for a younger reader.)

Overall it's an interesting world and fun characters. I'll def continue the series, as I've heard it improves leaps and bounds (which just means this was a typical first-of-a-series book, in that it's a lot of introductory world-building and character development.)