Elsewhere

Gabrielle Zevin

Average Rating 10/10 (2 Reviews)

How do you describe Elsewhere? A novel so astoundingly original and carefully crafted that its complexities become common place and the common place resounds with poetry.

In this delightful novel death is a begining, a new start. Liz is killed in a hit-and-run accident and her 'life' takes a very unexpected turn. At nearly sixteen she knows she will never get married, never have children, and perhaps never fall in love. But in Elsewhere all things carry on almost as they did on earth except that the inhabitants get younger, dogs and humans can communicate (at last), new relationships are formed and old ones, sadly interupted on earth, are renewed.

Full of the most ingenious detail and woven around the most touching and charming relationships this is a novel of hope, of redemption and (literally) of re-birth. It is a novel that tells of sadness with heart-breaking honesty and of love and happiness with uplifting brilliance.

Review by Amber (310113) Rating (10/10)
Review by Nigel (311005) Rating (9/10)

Review by Amber
Rating 10/10
I think this book is truly amazing. I read it in 3 days, I just couldn't put the book down. It took me to another place, it was incredible. I think they should make a movie out of it. Movies can never top off the book so I'd like to see what they could do with it.
Amber (31st January 2013)

Review by Nigel
Rating 9/10
Booklore was lucky enough to receive a proof copy of Elsewhere directly from the publisher. In the package was a packet of paper hankies with a label that read ‘Welcome to Elsewhere you might need these…’ A bit cheesy on the surface but after reading this book I can honestly say they were well used.

Elsewhere is a moving novel about life, death and growing up, but not necessarily in that order. The story is told by Liz, a fifteen year old who has just been killed in a hit-and-run accident, although she doesn’t realise it at first.

Waking up in the cabin of a cruise liner with no idea how she got there she meets her room mate, someone she has never met before. So begins an extraordinary journey to Elsewhere as Liz starts to make sense of her situation and deal with the fact she will not get any older, physically at any rate, than fifteen. She meets her dead Grandma Betty, with whom she moves in with, and sets about finding a way back to the land of the living as she feels things have to be sorted out. Initially dismissing Elsewhere and what it has to offer Liz’s story unfolds into that of a typical teenager growing up, discovering love and finally a purpose to life… all beautifully told by a natural author.

This is a true word of mouth story. As soon as you finish it you will want to talk to somebody about it and tell them they just have to read it. A fantastic book that deserves great success and that everyone should read... spread the word. This has got to be the nicest book I have read in a long time. Beware, however, you will need hankies at the ready.
Nigel (31st October 2005)