Book: Elsewhere
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Pages: 277
How Long It Took Me to Read: 3-4 hours (over 2 days)
Plot Summary: Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.
Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?
General Thoughts: This book was a GoodReads recommendation and I am so glad I went ahead and read this.
I love thinking about the afterlife and reading about what happens once our adventure on Earth is done. This book, with it's very unique and fun take on afterlife was a pleasure to read.
Review: I adored this book. Loved it! Let's just get that out of the way! I LOVED this book to bits!
The premise was excellent. The writing was great too and the characters memorable and real and wonderful and varied. I pretty much loved every single thing about this book. Truth be told, I was hooked and in love from the very first chapter- it's from the perspective of the dead girls pug called Lucy! Yes! A dog starts off the book! Utterly charming!
I was so interested in this world and how it works and what you do once you get to Elsewhere, I kept turning pages and just couldn't put the book down. It was entertaining, enlightening and very, very interesting.
I noticed that on GoodReads this book has very polarized ratings, either people loved it or hated it. Hmm....I guess those who go into this book thinking or expecting some sort of action or expecting loads will happen, then it might be a disappointing read. This book is more into world building and a character driven. If that is not something you enjoy in a book, then this won't work for you. Because nothing really happens- in terms of it being a action packed book- character growth does happen. New relationships are forged. Peace is made. Pets find new homes and other delightful things happen.
I absolutely recommend this book, it made me think, made me cry and make me smile. Heart-warming and seriously sweet!
Rating: 5/5
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