Elsewhere is where 15-year old Liz Hall ends up after she dies. On Elsewhere, people age backwards until they are babies again, and then they are sent back to earth to be reborn. I love reading about alternate conceptions of the afterlife - and this was an interesting and cute story to listen to on an 8 hour drive from Nashville to Chicago.

I didn't realize this was a YA novel until I had been reading a bit. It tackles the always interesting topic of what happens to us after we die. There are some mentions of sex, so depending on your pre-teen/teen, you may want to read it first.

Interesting concept — the afterlife is aging backwards / getting younger. Didn’t feel fully drawn in by main character.

2 out of 5 stars

This was just a bizarre book, and I really wasn’t a fan. It’s about a girl named Liz who gets hit by a car and dies at 15, so she goes to the afterlife: Elsewhere. Elsewhere is basically just like Earth, except people age backward from the day they die, until they go back to Earth as a baby to be reborn as a new person. Interesting concept, right? I mean, you can’t die in Elsewhere, and it’s hard to really hurt yourself, so what’s that like, for people to live, knowing they can’t die or get hurt? Fascinating possibilities! And yet. This book is so boring.

You go to Elsewhere, you get acclimated, you choose an avocation (It’s not a job! It’s to make you happy! You work your avocation to be happy, not to make a living! Duh!), and then you live a life as boring as you want, which in Liz’s case was Extremely Boring. But wait, on Elsewhere, Liz can understand and talk to dogs! And so she works with newly dead dogs, helping them find owners on Elsewhere! Isn’t that interesting?!

The book started out interesting enough, because on Elsewhere, you can pay to watch Earth from Observation Decks, and Liz’s grandmother gives her enough money to watch 2 hours’ worth every day (hoping that Liz will give it up on her own soon). Liz has trouble letting go of Earth in the beginning, which feels very realistic but also painful to read about, and I was intrigued. It was like an addiction. But once she got over that, like I said, everything was capital-B-Boring. There’s even a romance, but even though the guy looks 17 years old, he died at age 26, so he’s lived for 35 years! Liz is 15! I FOUND THE ROMANCE DISTURBING.

There’s, like, one semi-interesting thing that happens after that, but I wasn’t invested.

I think the book just reads way younger than I’m used to, which is why I don’t usually read juvenile or middle grade fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read some amazing juvenile fiction books before, but I tend to prefer older ones, and this one just reads really young to me. I also listened to the audiobook, and the reader has a really high-pitched, childlike voice, which didn’t help matters at all.

So, yeah. 2 stars. I’m looking forward to trying Zevin’s other works, but this one really didn’t do it for me.

(Review cross-posted on Youth Book Review

It took me a while to get into this book, but then I enjoyed it.

Elsewhere begins where most stories end: the death of the protagonist. After being killed in a hit and run, 15 year old Lizzie awakens on the SS Nile and becomes acquainted with a magical and surreal afterlife. The vastly imaginative vision of life after death offers many curiosities: all residents age backwards, dogs and humans can talk. And it is in this world that Lizzie grapples with what living really means. Gorgeous and heart-wrenching, Lizzie's experiences not only offer a compelling look into a bizarrely beautiful world but they also incite readers to reflect on life and death.
Not going to lie, I cried through the last 20 pages and I am always thinking about this poignant and strange story.

3.5 I have mixed feelings. Some parts made me cringe; some parts were really beautiful. I read it fast because I was intrigued. Some parts were definitely designed to make the reader really think about life.