Twice Baked Thursday (Review): Elsewhere

Title: Elsewhere

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Pages: 277
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication: August 1st, 2005

Genre: Fantasy 

Audience: Young Adult (mature middle grader appeal)

Source: library (Randi) library (Becky)

Rating: 4 I'd send this book a Message In A Bottle if it were in Elsewhere 2 I'd give this book an awkward hug
   

Goodreads 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?

     This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

Our Thoughts

Randi in black. Becky in blue. 

Okay, so this book is about death. I hate reading about religion (and try my best to avoid books with religious themes at all costs, with few exceptions), but I loved this book. I found it pleasantly boring, kind of like a dream where you know there are gaping plot holes but you really don't expect much from it so it is ok. It deals with death, but somehow manages to be completely free of religion. I'd call this view of death agnostic. While there are references to various world religions, Elsewhere really has nothing to do with religion. And I wanted to give it an extra big hug just on that note. This is pure fantasy. A reverse aging afterlife that then reincarnates you? It sounds like a wonderful place to me. I'm sure I'd take some time to adjust, but I think I'd really appreciate it after awhile. I found it subtly depressing underneath a layer of bubble wrap.  I suppose the circular nature of life and death will be comforting to most people, but it seemed pointless and tiring to me.  Shhhh! Think of the possibilities, Becky! ;)

The majority of the book revolves around Liz's arrival in Elsewhere and her first year or so there. Then we get a lot of time gaps, but it didn't really bother me. I "got" Liz. I would say Liz was fairly well-developed, though the secondary characters aren't really developed to any extent.  Liz felt realistic, but not interesting.  I got her because there really wasn't much to get. OUCH! That didn't really bother me either though because I was so wrapped up in the idea and setting of Elsewhere. And dogs! I want to speak Canine like Liz does. I draw the line at talking dogs, lol.  I really felt like this book had moments of insight and could have been written as a much more meaningful book were talking dogs not brought in to smother us with corn. Haters gonna hate. ;)

I would definitely recommend this if you're a fan of fantasy (fantasy-lite, as I call it). That's a valid point. It's marketed as young adult, but I can't think of anything that would keep me from recommending it to middle grade students.  It does have some moments of sexual allusions and tension.  Also...everyone is dead lol.  There is a scene where Liz watches her parents have sex, which was odd. Well, I didn't feel like it was really a "scene," more a mention (though that was kind of creeptastic). 

Despite the characters not being all that well developed, I enjoyed this story and would consider it a "good read." Again, if you're interested in fantasy to start with, I think you could lost in the "world" of Elsewhere as I did and ignore some of the book's flaws (i.e. that lack of character development).