A review by marimoose
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
3.0
What an odd and fascinating perspective of life after death. It literally is a life after death, is Elsewhere. It kind of reminded me of Benjamin Button, the difference being that most people continue forward with their lives by going backward after they died.
At times I liked the writing, and at times I thought things should have been over with. My favorite chapter was actually the shortest one in the book, but I thought it summarized everything that had happened throughout the story that it just felt like the best thing there. Elsewhere was definitely a quick read though, and Liz was a perfect subject to write the story about. She had her ups and downs in ways only a person who had a life yet to live at 16 would have had on Earth. And instead she got stuck in Elsewhere. What teenager wouldn't have felt that he or she was robbed at that point?
Elsewhere had its moments, too. I keep laughing at the interactions between Owen and Liz, and cried at that poignant moment when things inevitably took an end. I mean, come on, if one ages backwards, it was going to be eventual that the baby would have to be reborn again, right?
At times I liked the writing, and at times I thought things should have been over with. My favorite chapter was actually the shortest one in the book, but I thought it summarized everything that had happened throughout the story that it just felt like the best thing there. Elsewhere was definitely a quick read though, and Liz was a perfect subject to write the story about. She had her ups and downs in ways only a person who had a life yet to live at 16 would have had on Earth. And instead she got stuck in Elsewhere. What teenager wouldn't have felt that he or she was robbed at that point?
Elsewhere had its moments, too. I keep laughing at the interactions between Owen and Liz, and cried at that poignant moment when things inevitably took an end. I mean, come on, if one ages backwards, it was going to be eventual that the baby would have to be reborn again, right?