3/5 Stars **SPOILERS**
I’ve been putting off writing this review for a while now because I really really wanted to like this book and feel guilty that I’m not giving it as good of a review as I would’ve liked to. It’s not that I didn’t like it, it wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t great. I was honestly a little disappointed by the book and sometimes just found it was trying a little too hard which then made the story kind of silly.
On the Other Side is the love story of Evie Snow. Evie has just died and found that she is her younger self in her own personal purgatory and is unable to open the door to her heaven as her soul is too heavy. To make her soul lighter she must let go of three secrets which she has kept for over 50 years and reveal these secrets to the people she loves before it is too late.
Before I say anything about the story itself I have to say the book was one of the most beautiful looking books I have ever seen. It was so pretty. It had this gorgeous purple, pink and cream theme. Unfortunately perhaps this was one of those cases when you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Look, this book isn’t awful. And I know I’m putting off saying this so I’m just going to say it quickly and get it out there. *Deep breath in* Ididn’treallylikethebookverymuch. Phew. Now that’s out there let’s crack on. The idea behind this book is a good idea and it’s actually very smart. It’s just, unfortunately, it hasn’t been done very well. The idea that you have to let go of something before you can get into your own heaven has the potential to be a very lovely story, but there were so many times when I was reading that I found myself rolling my eyes or getting frustrated about how stupid the story was. Major spoiler here, but I’m sorry if the person I was in love with turned to me and was like ‘sorry but my brother is gay and we can’t have two disappointments in family and you’re an embarrassment so I’m leaving you’, it doesn’t matter how nice the person is there is no way in a million years they’d sit there and be okay with that. Also she really needed to decide wether this book was in a magical place or not. For some reason half way through the story Evie opens up her chest and takes her heart out…what. I would’ve been okay with it if other characters were magical (or even if there had been any hint of magic before that) but it was just so random, like it could happen to anyone. I think she just needed to specify if it was in an alternate world or our world.
Also nothing in this story was very original. A girl making her way into another world was very Alice in Wonderland. Stepping through the cats mouth to get to the other world felt too similar to Gaiman’s Coraline (I know Coraline doesn’t go through a cats mouth to get to the other world but seriously this whole bit of the story still felt to similar). Evie’s mum was basically Mrs Dursely from Harry Potter. Also the whole story was kind of just another version of Mitch Albom’s Five People You Meet in Heaven. It just felt as if everything about this book had already been done before and there was nothing new or original.
I had some problems with the way the story was written as well. I felt as if I was constantly being talked down to. Like everything was being explained in extra detail because I wouldn’t understand other wise. And every chapter felt like I was being given a life lesson. I know that it’s okay to love anyone you want to. I know that you should be yourself and not let anyone tell you otherwise. I know that you shouldn’t let other people make you feel inferior. I KNOW that sometimes you need to put other people before yourself. I don’t need telling every other paragraph! And the life lesson themselves were written as if the reader was a child and wouldn’t understand unless they were told very clearly and very obviously. It was extremely infuriating.
I will say though this book has to be praised on its representation of LGBT+ characters. There were at least 3 major characters who were LGBT+ in this book which was great because most books have probably one main character in this bracket at most. Well done to Fletcher on making people feel represented.
I feel bad being as negative as this because I watch Fletcher’s videos and as a person I think she seems so nice and really lovely. But I just didn’t enjoy her first novel very much I’m afraid. I’ll definitely buy her next book and I hope I’ll enjoy it more than I did this one. It’s a really easy read and would be lovely to read in the winter all snuggled up by a warm fire. Other people seem to really be loving this book but unfortunately I’m just not one of those people.
Bethan O'Brien 