Recently, at my work people have been bringing in their read books and leaving them in the staff room for anyone to take. Until a few days ago, nothing had really appealed to me. Among the things that have made an appearance has been the entire Fifty Shades trilogy if that gives you an idea of the kind of books that have been turning up.
The other day, I noticed a copy of On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher. I am a long time fan of Carrie’s on YouTube but hadn’t tried her books because they’re not the genre I usually reach for, but I felt like, since I was getting it for free, I may as well give it a go.
On The Other Side joins Evie Snow as she has just died at the age of 82 and she finds herself in the after life. However, in order to fully pass through to her own personal heaven, she must first relieve her soul of some of the burdens she has carried with her in to the after life.
I read On The Other Side in one sitting. I don’t think that I’ve ever done that before. It was just so addicting. I absolutely love the way that Carrie Hope Fletcher wrote about love. I found it so realistic and so enticing.
However, I found many elements to be very simplistic. The characters weren’t overly developed and were quite one dimensional and the plot was extremely predictable. Also this book contains what is referred to as ‘magical realism’ and some of these moments (although not all) felt kind of wedged in to me and like they didn’t belong. They pulled me out of the story a little bit.
One criticism that I’ve read in a few reviews is that this story doesn’t know what time period it is set in. To begin with I did agree with this. Based on the character having died in the present day at age 82 and that the bulk of the story takes place when she was 27 years old, that places this book in the early 1960s and I thought that some of the references to what I thought of as newer technology didn’t match. But having actually researched things a bit before writing this review these actually weren’t out of place at all. And the more I think about it the more correct that time period seems. Evie faced sexual discrimination in the work place. She is from a very traditional family who are trying to force her into marrying someone. So I think that those criticisms were wrong.
Overall I gave On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher 3.5 stars out of 5. I got a lot of enjoyment out of this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an easy-reading romance. But if you are looking for something a little more thought provoking and complex then that isn’t this book.
Looped On Life 