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A review by ridiculousamanda
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
4.0
Where do you go when you die?
Elsewhere is where Lizzie Hall goes after she's hit by a taxi outside the mall shortly before her 16th birthday. In Elsewhere, you grow younger instead of older. You have avocations instead of jobs, because they're supposed to be something you actually want to do. You can get hurt, but you can never die, well, because you're already dead. Lizzie is upset when she finally realizes that she's dead because she thinks she'll never get her drivers' license, she'll never fall in love, and she'll never grow old. Well, she's right on one account, but just because you don't grow old doesn't mean you don't still grow.
While in Elsewhere, Lizzie lives with her grandmother, Betty, who died of breast cancer before Lizzie was born. Now Betty is a 30-something lady with a red convertible and an overflowing flower garden. Lizzie gets an avocation working with dogs and speaking their language, which is something that she's very good at. She also meets her favorite musician, Curtis Jett, who recently died of a drug overdose. She learns three-point turns and how to parallel park from a cute guy named Owen with someone else's name tattooed on his arm.
Ah, Owen... Lizzie soon discovers that she loves Owen, who died in his 30s but is a hunky 17-year-old in Elsewhere by the time Lizzie meets him. But that tattoo... Emily. Emily was Owen's wife back on Earth and he just can't seem to forget her, that is, until she comes to Elsewhere, too. Still in her 30s, Emily doesn't quite love Owen the way she used to, and finally, on the (reverse) day of when Owen got his tattoo on Earth (when he was 16) it disappears, and he realizes that he loves Lizzie now, not Emily.
Lizzie has just given up on Owen, though, right before that tattoo disappears. Since she died young, she can be a Sneaker, someone who died young on Earth and has the chance to go back before they reach babyhood for the second time. She decides she doesn't want to be on Elsewhere anymore, so she goes to the river where babies return to Earth, is wrapped in swaddling clothes as a teenager (awkward) and then she's on her way back to be reborn. Floating down the river of life, Lizzie decides she doesn't want to go back, but she's wrapped so tightly in her mummy swaddling clothes that she can't escape. Meanwhile, Owen realizes he loves her and goes out to rescue her. Now, Lizzie has everything she ever wanted in her life on Earth (minus the high school diploma and college and all that). She's happily in love with a cute guy, she has a job she enjoys, she has friends and loved ones.
Then the time comes, nearly 16 years after she died and went to Elsewhere, Lizzie is a baby again. She's wrapped in swaddling clothes (for the second time, they fit much better now) and is sent down the river to be reborn to a new life and a new family.
Elsewhere is where Lizzie Hall goes after she's hit by a taxi outside the mall shortly before her 16th birthday. In Elsewhere, you grow younger instead of older. You have avocations instead of jobs, because they're supposed to be something you actually want to do. You can get hurt, but you can never die, well, because you're already dead. Lizzie is upset when she finally realizes that she's dead because she thinks she'll never get her drivers' license, she'll never fall in love, and she'll never grow old. Well, she's right on one account, but just because you don't grow old doesn't mean you don't still grow.
While in Elsewhere, Lizzie lives with her grandmother, Betty, who died of breast cancer before Lizzie was born. Now Betty is a 30-something lady with a red convertible and an overflowing flower garden. Lizzie gets an avocation working with dogs and speaking their language, which is something that she's very good at. She also meets her favorite musician, Curtis Jett, who recently died of a drug overdose. She learns three-point turns and how to parallel park from a cute guy named Owen with someone else's name tattooed on his arm.
Ah, Owen... Lizzie soon discovers that she loves Owen, who died in his 30s but is a hunky 17-year-old in Elsewhere by the time Lizzie meets him. But that tattoo... Emily. Emily was Owen's wife back on Earth and he just can't seem to forget her, that is, until she comes to Elsewhere, too. Still in her 30s, Emily doesn't quite love Owen the way she used to, and finally, on the (reverse) day of when Owen got his tattoo on Earth (when he was 16) it disappears, and he realizes that he loves Lizzie now, not Emily.
Lizzie has just given up on Owen, though, right before that tattoo disappears. Since she died young, she can be a Sneaker, someone who died young on Earth and has the chance to go back before they reach babyhood for the second time. She decides she doesn't want to be on Elsewhere anymore, so she goes to the river where babies return to Earth, is wrapped in swaddling clothes as a teenager (awkward) and then she's on her way back to be reborn. Floating down the river of life, Lizzie decides she doesn't want to go back, but she's wrapped so tightly in her mummy swaddling clothes that she can't escape. Meanwhile, Owen realizes he loves her and goes out to rescue her. Now, Lizzie has everything she ever wanted in her life on Earth (minus the high school diploma and college and all that). She's happily in love with a cute guy, she has a job she enjoys, she has friends and loved ones.
Then the time comes, nearly 16 years after she died and went to Elsewhere, Lizzie is a baby again. She's wrapped in swaddling clothes (for the second time, they fit much better now) and is sent down the river to be reborn to a new life and a new family.