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Gabrielle Zevin

3.8 AVERAGE


Reminded me a lot of a Cecelia Ahern book. Amazing book !

this book is my harry potter. by that i mean you read it when you’re twelve and it made such an impact that you’ll never get tired of rereading it 
(and yes i will cry every time) 

I really enjoyed it. It's premise of the way afterlife works was very interesting.

I read this book 5 years ago for a class summative. I still think about this book all the time and reread it recently. It's just so beautiful, so many tears shed.

Another teen lit recommendation from my school's awesome librarian. Interesting book about dying and "life" after death. I don't want to give it away, but there is an interesting twist.

I would’ve made this book my entire personality if I had read this when I was 17. I had a good time with it! I am obviously not the target demographic but I’m still glad I read it

As many others have said, the idea behind this story is great. Zevin explores the afterlife in a humorous and engaging way. Unfortunately, the writing falls flat. I would have enjoyed this more had I read it in grade 6 or 7. I could tell on the first page, what with the font so large, that this book was intended for younger ages (at least I hope so). With that said, this is a great young adult book for introducing young adults to critical thinking and different worldviews. The plot was predictable and immature. Not bad, but not great.

Regardless of your personal beliefs of death and after, this was a beautiful story that puts life in a good perspective
emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I adored this concept. It was explained really well and it was very different from anything I've read before.
However, a few characters like Betty and Emily weren't really developed and Liz seemed very whiny at times. I understand why she would be, but, come on.
The POV changes were a little weird. Like, it was mostly Liz and then it was suddenly Betty or Owen or whoever without warning.
The whole Owen and Emily situation wasn't very well thought out. They loved each other, he died, they still loved each other, she died, they move on? Whaaaaaaaaat? It was so sudden and odd and it just didn't seem right.
The ending was alright. I liked it but I felt like it was missing something. Baby Owen was adorable though, and I absolutely LOVED the fact that Betty and Curtis got together. I'm pretty sure his name was Curtis, anyways.
The concept won my heart and it's the reason the book gets 4 stars.