On The Other Side ~ Carrie Hope Fletcher

Carrie Hope Fletcher just oozes pure talent. I thought seeing her on stage was beyond magical but her writing is just as beautiful. On The Other Side has been on my TBR list for far too long. Now that I’ve finished it I wished that I had read it sooner and can’t wait to get my hands on another one of her novels.

This novel follows 82 year old Evie Snow on her journey to the other side. She passed away peacefully but is told that she can’t go any further until she leaves the weight of her life in the world she has now left. Evie’s soul needs to rid herself of whatever is making her soul heavy in order to pass through. There are three secrets she needs to reveal in order to do so. But is it too late? Will Evie finally get to her happy place? Apartment 72.

The way in which Fletcher weaves this story together is spellbinding. At first I thought the jumping back and forth from past to present would confuse me. But it only heightened the development of the story. The magical realism element was creative and well thought out. Bringing magic not only into the afterlife but also the present.

I love how in not a huge amount of pages Fletcher manage to cover so many poignant themes. Mainly LGBTQ+, where touching moments were seen between characters facing huge revelations in their lives. All the characters go on their own individual journeys making hard decisions along the way which only make them more human in my eyes.

Although being totally enthralled by the story and the characters I felt like this book was so close to 100% but there was just something missing. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. I think it might be a combination of the fact that although aimed at young adults (which probably quite a lot of Carrie’s followers are) I felt like it was an adult fiction story toned down for a younger audience. Which at times just didn’t work. Also I struggled to pinpoint what time period it was set in. If it’s present day when Evie does then the start makes sense with it 50s/60s feel. However, there’s moment when Evie is 27 that make you feel like she’s that age now which doesn’t make sense with the controlling parents and societal restraints. Maybe I’m just looking into it too deeply and the magical realism theme should allows these things to happen.

Overall, I thought it was a wonderful read. Something I couldn’t put down once I got into it. Therefore, I’m giving ‘On The Other Side’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5 stars.

M🌸