Book Review: Elsewhere

"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?"

Title: Elsewhere
Author:Gabrielle Zevin
Year of Release: 2005
What motivated you to read this book?: I saw an interview with Isabelle Fuhrman (Clove, from the Hunger Games) and she mentioned two books in it that she enjoyed a lot. Divergent was one, and Elsewhere was the other. She seemed quite interested in it, and the plot seemed interesting to me, so I wanted to check it out.
Book Version: Hardback
Where did you get the book?: Local Library
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Orginal?: Yes
Preditable: Somewhat
Review: Elsewhere is quite an unusual book. It had it's parts that I thought were completely random, but later on I realized why Gabrielle Zevin wrote it that way. For example, the first several chapters are from Liz's perspective, and then all of a sudden there are parts of chapters from other characters' perspective. It would be in Liz's perspective, and then all of a sudden it was in her grandmother's perspective. Then there was a chapter from a character's point of view who I knew nothing about. I thought that was a bit strange. However, later on, I liked how it changed point of views randomly, and how we knew what was going on when Liz wasn't around.

I also thought the writing style was too simplistic. It didn't go into much detail at all. I got used to it, though.

This book is really sad, too. I can't imagine things happening in my life the way it happened in this book. I felt so sorry for Liz, and for Owen, too. It made me realize though, that life doesn't always go your way. You have to make the most of what you have and accept it and be grateful for it. You may have something someone else may never have. I really liked that message. I also liked the message of forgiveness.

Overall, this book was a bit different, but that's okay. It's very unique, and it definitely makes you think about life in an entirely new way. Although this book was strange, I still enjoyed it, it was really cute.