Elsewhere

This morning, I took advantage of the fact that I didn't have to get out of bed or be anywhere. While my fiance laid snoring beside me, I finished reading Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin.

The Goodreads description goes like this:
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.

I picked this book up when my local Border's was going out of business. I liked the cover and thought the back of the book sounded interesting. Well, the story ended up being nothing I had expected.

I found this book to be a cute story and a quick read. Liz's reaction to what she would be missing reminded me of how we often react when young lives are lost. We talk about how they will never go on a date, drive a car, graduate, go to college, get married, or have a family. It was quite different to see that from the young person's perspective.

As someone who isn't spiritual and doesn't give much thought to the afterlife, I must say that this idea of Elsewhere being where we go after we die is a very pleasant concept.

Overall, I really enjoyed Elsewhere. I'm glad the snowglobe on the cover caught my attention.