Title: On The Other Side
Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Summary: A love story like no other.
Evie Snow is eighty-two when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It’s the way most people wish to leave the world but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she’s become her twenty seven- year-old self and the door won’t open. Evie’s soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making her soul heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets that have weighed her down for over fifty years, so she must find a way to reveal them before it’s too late. As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever thought possible, and somehow , some way, she may also find her way back to her long lost love…
I used to be a big fan of Carrie's when I was a little younger, and although I still admire and respect her, I just don't follow her in the way in which I used to so when it came to reading On The Other Side I was almost completely oblivious to the plot, characters and design of the book itself. And I can say - hand on heart - that I was pleasantly surprised by the novel. When I first got my hands on a copy of the story I was concerned that like her previous book - All I Know Now - I may have been a little too old to enjoy the book in its entirety, but I was wrong.
The writing style displayed throughout the novel itself is brilliant, Carrie shows such talent in her writing, and it is clear that the story was written with pure passion. Her choice of writing style also makes it easier to connect to the characters and feel exactly what they feel. Additionally, the description used throughout is never dull, nor does Carrie use atypical words. You would believe that Carrie is older than she is in the way in which she writes.
I was also delighted to discover that alongside the loveable group of characters Carrie created for her novel, she also included a range of sexualities which - despite it being the 21st Century - many authors often opt to avoid whether its through sheer unawareness, and background knowledge or whether it is through confliction of beliefs. Either way, for whatever the reason, it is not a topic touched upon by many and Carrie touched upon it in a respectful and casual manner too. Combining this with elements of the supernatural world - something I am a firm believer in - it made the story even more gripping.
In addition to the beautifully brilliant story telling, the physical book itself was just stunning from cover to cover. The protective cover surrounding the hardback itself showed key aspects to the book without giving any of the story away which I thought was very clever but even under the paper cover - the detail to the book was immense, such a beautiful use of colours too. I was completely in love with the physcial look of the book from the moment I laid my - admittedly quite awful - eyes on it. But to be honest I just love a beautiful book, don't you?
But really this book could not have been released at a more perfect time for me, personally. I lost someone very special to me quite recently, and this book through its topic, loveable characters and the supernatural world providing me with the comfort that I so desperately needed. It brought me back up while I was down, it gave me hope in 'the other side' and most importantly, it gave me characters that I could relate too, even if I couldn't relate to them the whole time. So thank you Miss Fletcher, thank you for creating something so magical and brilliant, and for providing comfort to me during such a tough time.
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Bye for not my little pumpkins,
