Elsewhere

Gabrielle Zevin

Published 2007

304 Pages

Rating: C+

Reading the description on the back of this book in Barnes & Noble, I had to pick it up. It wasn't even an option. The storyline looked so amazing and I couldn't wait to read it! Unfortunately, I was kind of disapointed with this novel. The plot had a lot of potential but I just really didn't like the feel of the story.

Elsewhere is where 15-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different from it. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

The story sets off with Elizabeth (Lizzie) Marie Hall, a fifteen year old that just realized she has died by getting hit by a car. She wakes up in a confused posititon, on a cruise ship with a semi-rude roommate. For days, she thinks she's dreaming until she meets her grandmother, Betty. Things start to look up a little for Lizzie when she meets her grandmother...

Relationships build, feelings are hurt; don't get me wrong, it's a good book. I think what I didn't like about it (besides the feel) is how the story didn't really go anywhere. It just kind of lingered for a while, though it got more exciting towards the end but I still wish something more exciting happened.

Even though I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wished I did, a lot of other people loved it. So give it a shot if you think you'll like it. Oh, by the way, theres talking dogs in "Elsewhere", which is awesome!

-B