Elsewhere

Reader reviewed by Writer's Block Reviews

Elsewhere is a story about a girl named Liz who died from a hit and run accident. She wakes up to find herself on a boat called the USS Nile, with a girl named Thandi. Thandi also has died from a gunshot wound. They have no idea where they are going, so they explore the boat and both girls get to watch their funerals through binoculars. They arrive in Elsewhere to find that relatives that have passed away before them are waiting on their arrival. Liz is depressed and keeps going to the binoculars at the Observation Deck ( OD ) to see friends and family. Then Liz realizes that maybe Elsewhere isn't as bad as she had once thought, even though you age backwards, just to be born on Earth again.



Elsewhere is a beautiful, captivating novel. It is defiantly different than your regular YA read, but well worth the effort to pick up. It's a book that made me think and ponder on some of the ideas that Gabrielle instills in us. You feel sorry for poor Liz as she battles with depression and missing her family. But, you also feel good that there's so much more for her waiting there at Elsewhere, so of which she couldn't do on Earth. It's safe to say that this is one of my favorites that I've read this year and I'm going to read it again!

Reviewed for http://writersblockreviews.blogspot.com

Reader reviewed by Jocey

Liz Halls friends, family, and even herself are utterly shocked at her unexpected death. Who would have thought that a normal fifteen year old girls life would be ended because she never looked both ways while riding her bike through an intersection. However, instead of floating up on a cloud to pearly gates and streets of gold, Lizzie finds herself seasick and confused on an enormous cruise ship. It takes days for her to piece the puzzle together at which time she arrives, by boat, in Elsewhere, the world of the dead. She struggles to accept the sad but true fact that she will never again go back to her previous life and never be that same person on earth again. She cannot let go of her life and becomes addicted to watching her family and friends down on earth through mysterious binoculars. She closes up too her grandmother, who had died before Lizs birth, refusing to listen to her optimistic views or advice. Gabrielle Zevin brilliantly captures the frustration of a teenager that will never turn sixteen, never graduate high school, and never fall in love. Zevin does a fantastic job developing the character throughout the book in a very short amount of time. Liz learns to carry on with her death and eventually improves her attitude. This fictional novel entertains you with new possibilities and potentials that you have never even dreamt of. It is fairly fast paced and a great quick book to read that will not take you very long. I would give this book to teenagers especially, but mostly anyone for that matter because it teaches us to make the best out of all situations we find ourselves in.

Reader reviewed by Mindy

Wonderful interpretation of what the afterlife could be like. Imagine meeting up with those who died before you. Would they remember you? Would you have a life or a just a sense of drifting to nowhere? This book gives hope and meaning to life after death. A good read but the plot dwindles and feels to far fetched by the end of the novel.

Reader reviewed by Jenna

A girl killed in a car accident is transported to a strange alternitive to heaven, called Elsewhere. There, everyone ages backwards, from the age they died at to birth again, when they are transported back to earth as a different person, starting life again.

The plot had potential, but it was too slow-paced and predictable that a pretty average book resulted from it. Not exactly recommended...

Reader reviewed by Allison

A girl dead at sixteen finds herself in a new kind of afterlif,e in which you live life backwards until you are reborn. However interesting the plot may be, I found this book horrible. From the first three pages, you knew exactly how the book was going to end. And you guessed corrctly, there were no twists inthe plot. Also, the wording of the book made it seem as though a ten year old wrote it. Interesting plot, but any one of us could have written it just as well, or even better..

Reader reviewed by Court

When Liz dies she has no idea where she's headed.Imagine arriving in Elsewhere, where people grow young and have Jobs they love! As great as it sounds, Liz isn't so happy about dying(and missing out on all the great growing up experiences! She can't even drive!)

Elsewhere is a VERY different take on the afterlife!(and I loved it!) It's so believeable but a little out there. It's truly an enjoyable read.

Reader reviewed by Jocelyn

In Gabrielle Zevin's novel Elsewhere, Liz is fifteen, looking forward to turning sixteen and getting her driver's license, when everything changes. She's riding her bike, only three months from driving a car instead of using her bike as her main mode of transportation, when she is hit by a car. She wakes up on a ship, sharing a room with a girl named Thandi who has what looks like a bullethole in the back of her head. Liz doesn't look like she normally does, either; she doesn't have any hair. In this "dream," as she thinks it is, things are a little weird. There are no modern electronic devices on the ship, and everyone with the exceptions of herself, Thandi, and Liz's favorite singer, Curtis Jest, is over 80.

After watching her own funeral (used by her high school principal as an opportunity to lecture on traffic safety), Liz realizes that this is no dream. Nor is it exactly her "life." Liz is dead. She was killed in a car crash, and, in the world skillfully created by Gabrielle Zevin, this is where people go once they die. On a ship. Of course, boats have to go somewhere, and this one finally lands in Elsewhere. The afterlife, though not as anyone on earth imagined it. In Elsewhere, for one thing, people age backwards. Liz will never turn sixteen (but they'll still let her get a driver's license); instead, she'll be turning fourteen again, under the care of her dead grandmother, who is surprisingly young (about the same age as Liz's mother).

Elsewhere, though the people grow younger rather than older, is a lot like earth. Some artists continue their work here (you can see new paintings by Picasso!), just as they did on earth. Marilyn Monroe is a psychiatrist. Everything you can find on Earth--music, books, artwork--you can find Elsewhere. Elsewhere, Liz thinks, "could have been a walk to the next town or an hour's ride in the car or an overnight plane trip." It shouldn't be too hard adjusting to this...right?

Gabrielle Zevin's first YA novel is brilliant, and readers can only hope there will be a second! Sad, hopeful, creative, and well-written, this is a book that is not to be missed. The afterlife in Elsewhere is an original, interesting view of things that is somewhere between the heaven and hell spoken of by most religions; as has been said, this afterlife is a lot like an extension of life on earth, only backwards. It seems like a nice place, a happy place to be--except for what it takes for people to get there. Gabrielle Zevin creates this world brilliantly, in a novel that is sure to have readers hooked from the very first page. Definitely worth your money; you'll want to read this book, sure to be a favorite with readers of all ages for a long time to come, again and again.

Reader reviewed by Mary

Ok I got this book at my school, Gabrielle Zevin came and talked about it. While she was telling me about it I was thinking it was going to be a piece of crap book that I will get to throw away but Me being the type of person I am I decided to read maybe just a couple of pages...This book drew me in so fast. It made me think and kind of scared me. Made me ask questions about life and death and everything in between what does happen!? Well I think this book is amazingly good and I give it 5,0000 thumbs up!!

Reader reviewed by two sided freek

Liz, an excited 15-year-old, can't wait to turn sixteen, to finally drive. So dying somewhat hinders her innovative plans. After the accident, she wakes up on a strange ship. On that ship she meets a soon to be best friend, ALOT of old people, and her favorite drug addict band member. It takes a while for her to accept that she won't ever turn sixteen, but when she does, she discovers there's more to death than ever imaginable. In this exceptional story, where in Elsewhere (consider it a heaven, that's where the deat go) you age backwards, where your own grandmother can be younger than you, where you find a sense of peace, and finally realize that every moment in life and death should be cherished.

This book has a wonderfully thought out plot that not only churns emotion, but inspires ideas within your head. You somehow start to wonder, what if there is life beyond death, what would it feel like? Would you miss your family, or do you just float in essence for the rest of your life? This book is definitely worth a read.

Reader reviewed by Alexandra

Fifteen-year-old Liz has just died, and she's not exactly thrilled about it. Now she is in a strange place called Elsewhere, which looks like Earth, but isn't really like Earth. In Elsewhere, you have an avocation, not a job, and most people don't continue the same profession they had in life. You can watch people on Earth from the Observation Decks, but Contact is strictly forbidden. Most noticeably, you age backwards from your age of death, until you are a baby, at which time you are sent back to Earth for your next life. For Liz, this is not appealing at all. She is unhappy that she will never reach sixteen, and she thinks she missed out on too many things in life that she will now never get to experience. Most importantly, she thinks she will never fall in love. However, Liz learns to love her new life (or death), as she learns to be open to new experiences. And, she is happy to learn, in Elsewhere, very little is impossible, even falling in love. Gabrielle Zevin's first young adult novel is well-written and moving, and a true coming-of-age story, though age may be regressing.