Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Sorry. No. Just no. I don't do 'chick lit' and after reading this title, I understand why. It was twee. It was sappy. The timeline was also completely off - which decade was this supposed to have even been set in? As a library book buyer I can understand how this title would be total 'library fodder', but it's definitely not for me.

Charming book. I struggled a bit with the time frame, Evie lived a long life but the world didn't seem to change at all in terms of technological advances. None of the students in the school book club I run seemed to have a problem with it. Just magic I guess! Well I really enjoyed it anyway.

When Evie Snow passes away at eighty-two, she finds herself outside of the apartment she lived in during her late twenties. In fact, she's now twenty-seven again, and faced with a door that refuses to open. A door, she's told, that will lead to her own private heaven. She learns that to enter, her soul needs to be light enough, and so she has to lose the weight of the secrets she's kept throughout her entire life. So she sets out, as a spirit, to unburden herself of the secrets, and pass messages to those who require it.

Evie has to venture back through her life and loves in order to finally pass through to the afterlife. Which means revisiting those she has loved - and lost. As a woman born into a very wealthy family, Evie's mother had hopes of her daughter marrying the son of their equally rich friends - a son who has always loved Evie, but who Evie has never loved back, only as a friend.

Evie had liked to make choices of her own, and had made a deal with her mother: that if she does not find a good job in an animation studio - her dream - within one year, then she will follow her mother's plan to marry James. However, Evie doesn't envision falling for a handsome, lovely busker from the poorer side of town. As Evie navigates her way through the afterlife, she must finally give up the secrets, and reveal the love story of her entire life before she can move on to the next one.

On the Other Side is a very romantic tale; romantic in a magical kind of way. Less of a sugary love story and more like a fairytale, which I personally loved. However, there were some issues with this book that prevented me from giving it a higher rating.

First of all, the time period of this novel was not specified; Evie died at eighty-two, yet the world she inhabited in her twenties seemed no different to the modern day, besides certain things, such as her workplace, which was described as being inhabited by seedy men who would think nothing of slapping a woman on the backside. The relationship with her family and the idea of an arranged marriage led me to assume that the novel was set some fifty or more years ago (possibly even the 1930s), which would ring true, however other aspects in the book seemed more modern, such as fashion, and references to sexuality which seemed to be widely accepted, even though, back then, it would not have been so simple. (Also, it stated that Evie and Vincent were 'open-minded'. Even though it was obvious).

This became confusing, not to mention grating, leaving me wondering whether this was deliberate, as it is in some books (such as childrens series, A Series of Unfortunate Events). However, it was so unclear that instead it just seemed less deliberate, and more likely that the author simply didn't do her research.

Which leads me to the second issue: Evie's mother. Given Evie's desire to be independent, to leave her home with its maid and cook and butler and live in her own apartment, I found it hard to believe that such a supposedly strong-minded woman in her late twenties would still go along with her mother's plan in the first place. Why did she not refuse, early on? If her love was so strong, why did she not be honest with her mother and simply refuse to marry?

These problems did spoil the book for me quite a bit, as they distracted from what would have been a warm, emotional love story. And it was - it wasn't predictable, and Evie's secrets and loves (I am not posting spoilers!) kept me reading until the end. It's a sweet, modern fairytale, and if you can ignore the problems with some of the novel, the magical realism makes a welcome change from mainstream romance. I just think this particular novel would have been better placed in the YA category.

Light and easy read- hard to believe that this is Carrie's first fiction book. Will appeal to all ages.

On The Other Side tells the story of Evie Snow, a woman forced by her family to marry for practicality rather than love, whose soul is too heavy to pass into heaven. So I didn’t really read the blurb before requesting this one on NetGalley – If I had maybe I wouldn’t have requested it. I made my way through it relatively quickly one Sunday, but unlike some books I’ve read in a day it was more I wanted to get it over with rather than I couldn’t put it down.

I’ve read a few books that would be considered Chick Lit this year that I’ve really enjoyed, I don’t follow Carrie on social media but I’d heard a lot of hype about this so when I saw it on NetGalley ahead of its paperback release I requested it. I was pleased to be approved for it but when I got round to reading it I struggled with it. I wasn’t keen on the main character being a ghost, I’ve read and enjoyed books where hints of supernatural/fantasy have been mixed in with the a different genre in the past but for me here it just didn’t work.

However I think my main bugbear was the fact I couldn’t place the story either in a time or place. Carrie is British but I read this as being set in New York, I’m not really sure why other than I associate apartment blocks with doormen as an American thing. It was being unable to place it in time that really irritated me though, I began my assuming that Evie’s passing was based in the present day, with the flashback chapters being set sometime around the 50’s. The sexist attitudes at the paper Evie works at seem to fit this period, and I could still see an arranged marriage happening between two wealthy families were they could both see the benefit of a union, but then a month or so later Evie’s brother arrives and seems to be talking to her on a mobile phone which really jarred me out of the story.

There was another section around her wedding day, that I won’t go into too much detail in but suffice to say even having suspended my disbelief, and accepted the fact Evie was a ghost for a large part of the story, had me pull up and just think okay that’s pushed me too far and just seemed ridiculous.

I was pleased Evie got her happy ending but not as pleased as I was to turn the final page.

Would I recommend it?

It’s hard to say, there’s so many positive reviews people obviously love it and I went into it really wanting to like it but for the reasons above it just wasn’t for me

I had been really excited to read Carrie Hope Fletcher's debut fiction novel On the Other Side for a while, so was pleased to recently be accepted to read it on Netgalley. Carrie is a star of musicals, sister of Tom Fletcher and sister-in-law of one of my favourite authors Giovanna Fletcher, so I went into this one with quite high hopes, especially after reading some other reviews of the book. However, by the end I have to say I was a little disappointed and felt perhaps this book was more suited to YA/New Adult genres rather than women's fiction, as I felt it was just wasn't for me.

Evie is 82 when she dies quietly in her sleep, but suddenly wakes up to find herself much younger again, in her old home but unable to pass through the door into heaven. She soon learns that her soul is too heavy to allow her to pass through the door, so has to complete a few tasks that have weighed her down throughout her life in order to leave her affairs in perfect order, allowing her to pass through. We see Evie's life as she goes back through her past, keen to right some wrongs, and leave those she has left behind settled. Will Evie be able to unburden herself and pass through to her own version of heaven?

The idea of this book sounded really good, a quite serious look at an issue I really don't read much of in women's fiction, but for me the problems came in the execution of the story. It soon started to become more of a fairy tale, with things happening that didn't sit right for me, and I just found myself struggling to enjoy it. By the end, the whole business with the tree (I don't want to spoil it but for me, this just tipped it into slightly ridiculous territory) was too much and I was pleased that it had reached a conclusion. It was a shame but the magical, fairy-tale elements just didnt' work for me, such a shame.

I did enjoy the characters and the family at the heart of the book, although the names were a little bit bizarre. Evie was the leading lady throughout, and I enjoyed her life story, through both its ups and downs. Her family are the other main people - her husband, children, lovers and more frequent the story and it was fascinating to see them both with Evie, and learning how to cope without her around. However, I did feel at times they all felt quite immature, not completely fleshed out as characters, and I can't say I connected fully with any of them. Fletcher is good at writing the emotions these characters are feeling, from love to grief, heart-break and hope, there's a lot going on in here.

However, I felt due to the nature of the story, and the magical, almost fantasy elements within, I do feel this would have been far more suited to a younger audience, the teen or New Adult market would perhaps have been the target age range for this book. There were a few parts where I felt it dragged on a bit too much, and it could have lost a fair bit of narrative without affecting the flow or gist of the story. It's a shame when a book you've been looking forward to doesn't live up to your expectations, and I'm a bit sad that this was the case for me and this book. Carrie has a new book called All That She Can See due out this summer, which I will be trying, so fingers crossed I'll feel a little more positive towards that.

This is a bit of a marmite book. It's very, very sweet with twee names and an abundance of cheesy moments that some people will hate but many will love. I think I fall somewhere in between, I read it on a good day so I really enjoyed reading it although I'd say my feelings towards it are more like than love.

I initially tried reading it but it wasn't clicking with me so I tried the audiobook version -- the performance was fantastic and I definitely think this is one of those books that works better on audio than in text.

I had a few issues with the book:

The timelessness Carrie was going for by not anchoring the story to any particular time period didn't work because the main conflict the story hinges on works in a historical setting where women had less rights and being LGBTQ+ was treated very differently...but without that historical context, it vastly changes the story making Evie seem a bit spineless and puts too much value on the comforts of wealth.

I also wasn't fond of how the storyline of the gay character was done.. It felt a bit straight saviour-y and .it used his sexuality as a plot device for the main characters story. We're supposed to think of her choices as noble but her motivations (again, given the lack of historical context) were quite weak and it just didn't work. It felt like he was never anything more than a Gay Character and the entire purpose of his homosexuality was to be a catalyst in her story so while it wasn't inherently offensive, it wasn't particularly good either.

Thankfully, the other LGBTQ characters were written well. I loved that there was a bisexual male love interest and that his bisexuality wasn't made into a big thing. And I absolutely loved that the story showed some complexity in Jim's character and his relationship with Vincent -- too often the third wheel in any sort of romantic triangle is vilified needlessly but Carrie wrote Jim as incredibly likeable and kind and I loved that.

I loved the characters, they were really easy to care about, although I wish her mother was a bit more developed, she was quite one dimensional -- like the wicked step mother from a fairy tale who was all meanness with no depth.

I really enjoyed the magical realism for the most part -- some of the magical elements were a little unoriginal (probably inspired by Once Upon a Time), but most of it was excellent.. Because the story is mostly set in the afterlife, that spark of magical realism often felt a bit blurred with fantasy, which was interesting -- most magical realism I read is rooted firmly in our world so this was something new for me. and I liked it.

Basically, I had some issues with the book but I did like it and it was a pleasant reading experience. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Carrie writes next. Overall, I'd rate it 3.5 stars, but if I'm rating the audible narration I'd round it up to 4 because the performance was so good.

When Evie Snow finally passes away, surrounded by her loving family, it seems like her life of sacrifice has paid off and her own private heaven awaits. But when she gets there she finds 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 the only man she ever truly loved . . .

If you imagine ‘The Five People You Meet In Heaven’ but re-vamped by Jojo Moyes or Cecilia Ahern then this book is pretty much what you’d get. Pretty much, but not quite. Because Carrie Hope Fletcher has a somewhat more inventive mind so really you’d need to twist in a bit of Lewis Carroll or Erin Morgenstern too.

Now romances aren’t generally my thing, but I tore through this. It was easy to read with characters that were likeable but certainly weren’t too perfect. In fact Evie’s actions annoyed me a bit and I found myself asking why she would give in to her family’s wishes so easily. But then I realised that she had been conditioned to since birth and that sometimes, no matter how much drive a person has, it is impossible to break those chains.

The author is young and this is her debut novel, she has a huge fan base already though as she is a YouTuber, actor, singer and has been starring as Eponine in Les Miserables. She is known to an entire generation as a ‘big sister’ figure and she shares her love of reading with them. This popularity definitely helped make this a best-seller when it came out in hardback last year. It’s about to be released in paperback and I hope it reaches new audiences. I’m looking forward to reading more of her work and I hope she continues to be brave and imaginative. Her writing is good but I think with time and determination it could be even better, I think she has more stories to share.

4 Bites

NB I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review. The BookEaters always write honest reviews

I have so many thoughts on this book, so, so, so many. Oh my God. There'll be highs and lows in this review, so stick with me.

Let's just start this by me making my views on YouTuber book deals clear: just because someone is a YouTuber doesn't mean they can't write a book. But equally, it does mean their book is likely to get a lot of positive reviews from people who don't usually read and prefer the author to the content of the book. I think there's a bit of both going on in Carrie Hope Fletcher's On The Other Side.

The story is about a woman named Evie Snow and her ultimate true love Vincent Winters. When Evie dies at the age of 82, she has to reveal three secrets to make her soul lighter and pass through the door to her personal heaven. From this synopsis, it's clear that Carrie has a huuuge imagination and I, personally, absolutely loved the idea. There's nothing wrong with it being a bit cheesy, it's a romance!

In terms of the story itself, I felt that Evie, Vincent and Jim were all very likeable. Perhaps too likeable - I'd liked to have seen some more obvious flaws in their personalities, but it is a magical world after all! Without giving anything away, I felt so bad for Jim and kind of wish he'd gotten his own happier ending, in a mutual relationship. He was the little unwanted puppy that I wanted to adopt. The nice guy who never seemed to win.

The introduction of LGBT characters was nice to see, especially as it wasn't limited to "that one guy" but instead was broad and informative, with ranging sexuality and a realism in attitudes towards these characters. I wish that these had played a more significant role in the story because at times it felt like they were used as identifiers or only to create a balanced story, when they had the potential for so much more.

There are some technical issues with the book which I think could have been ironed out during the editing process. Concepts such as the lack of time frame which would have given the story a sense of context. I was distracted trying to figure out if Evie was supposed to have been brought up in the 1920s/30s or if the story was partly set in the future. There were also a few aspects which left me confused as to the setting. It felt like a London-based novel, especially considering Evie's commute to The Teller but the way Vincent's mum couldn't afford his education left me wondering if it was an American city. Words like "vomit" as well are commonly American and felt jarring against Evie's very British love for tea. These aspects - temporal and spatial awareness - are important in helping a reader settle into a story. Not having them there left me a bit unsure of everything. Like I didn't know where I was watching the story from. Plus, it's an easy thing to fix, which makes it all the more frustrating.

Onto the writing style - because Carrie's storytelling is completely unique - and in some ways I think it's brilliant, in others I'm not so sure. There's an old fashioned tone to the narrator's voice which brings a sense of fairytale worlds and magic. This suits the magical realism within the story and the 'ultimate romance' feel. So while the tone was unusual, I liked it. Again, though, there were some technical things which let it down slightly. On The Other Side is written in third person and at times feel like close-third person, but then it would awkwardly flick into the close-third person of another character in the room. Considering it is Evie's story, this was odd to read and it was like being pushed out of the story a little, because I was being pushed out of Evie's headspace. All in all, I think the narrator's voice lacked the consistency to make it entirely powerful.

I would read another novel from Carrie Hope Fletcher because I think her ideas for stories are definitely worthy of being added to TBR lists. But, I'm really hoping that as she continues to write the technical aspects improve. There are things I've learnt from creative writing courses at university that I want to pass on because there are so many little techniques Carrie could use to give her stories that extra flair.

**RATING 3.5**
Unlike so many of you, I had never heard of this author before, so I read ON THE OTHER SIDE by Carrie Hope Fletcher without any expectations. When Evie Snow passes away in her old age, she finds herself at the doors of the afterlife transformed into her former twenty-seven-year-old self. Unable to enter, she must relieve her soul of her heaviest burdens from her lifetime, to be able to pass through, and so the journey begins for Evie as she finally faces the major secrets of her life. ON THE OTHER SIDE is a unique take on life after death and I really enjoyed the concept which allows you to escape reality for a while. And while I found it sweet and interesting overall, at certain points the story did seem a little disjointed and didn't flow as easily as I would have liked. Still well worth a read if you are looking for a little magical entertainment.

Evie Snow has led a full life when she dies at the age of 82 surrounded by her family but when she tries to pass to the other side she is unable to do so and finds herself 27 again and can only advance when she has unburdened her secrets

Evie then goes back through her life - the overbearing parents threatening to cut her off without a penny if she doesn't marry who they chose, the gay brother, the loves of her life and the secrets that she needs to get out in the open

I found this book a bit too unrealistic for me, although a good basic idea for the story - probably more suited to the YA audience

What a great novel from a great YouTube personality and west end actress Carrie Hope Fletcher! As a fan of Carrie's, thank you to the publishers allowing me to review her first novel and I have indeed previously read her debut All I know Now which was a book by Carrie about her life so far and the lessons learned.

Now, Evie Snow has ended up in a middle ground, back at her old flat, number 72 and aged just 27 again. She is still dead but stranded in a limbo between heaven and back to life.

With the help of her old friend Lieffe, who works the flats lift, she attempts to settle her past secrets to allow her to advance on to the other side.

Throughout the book we learn of strict parents with old fashioned ideas and tales of forbidden love as well as forced marriages. The ideas are both still old fashioned and yet still modern day problems which makes the book stand out as one of the best at challenging people's views who shall read this book.

There is a fairytale style to aspects of the book aside from the previous as there is an intriguing scene with a rather humongous cat and a messenger dove of which reminded me of Snow White and Alice In Wonderland by Disney and of course, Evie's surname is Snow as well as Vincent, her forbidden love's surname being Winters and alas both to do with the white, snowy season of the year.

A fantastic book that will make you believe in fate, destiny and magic. This story follows Evie Snow as she tries to make something of herself and become independent without her cold, heartless parents. Along the way she meets Vincent Winters (I love how the surnames link, it's like they were destined to be together) and falls madly in love with him. Her confidence soars because of Vincent, he makes her believe that she can do anything she wants but that's not to be as her wicked Mother Eleanor steps in and tears the lovers apart .....
I was so enthralled by this book, I read it within 3 days !! It made me see that even when things are not as they seem, you can change them even if only in your imagination.
I will be reading other books by Carrie Hope Fletcher.

I really wanted to absolutely love this book but I found it very slow going I'm sorry

I'll start by saying that this is not for everyone. The blurb should give you a clue, but if you don't like stories about family secrets with a little bit of magic, then look away now.

The tale of Evie, Vincent and Jim is without doubt uplifting, heartfelt and beautiful. It's not one for the hard of heart or the thrill-seeker. Its pace is gentle as its story unfolds but not once do you find yourself wishing it would go faster. Other characters such as Lieffe, the building doorman and Evie's children, August and Isla, lend depth and warmth to the tale.

Yes, you do have to suspend belief but whilst you do, this book challenges you to think beyond the everyday and think about your legacy.

A well-deserved 4.5* book which will leaving you thinking long after you close its pages.

I loved this book. I flew through it in a couple of days despite having a very busy schedule. I picked it up at every opportunity. I wanted to read it because I am a big fan of Carrie's videos and have read all of Gi's fictions and hoped it would enjoy Carrie's as much. I thought that the pacing was spot on and I cared enough about the characters to read on. I even downloaded the accompanying novella as soon as I got into work, and am looking forward to reading the next full length novel when it comes out!

Nevertheless, as much as I loved the book, I had a few of issues which decreased my rating from a 5 to a 4.

The time period felt confused. Evie was in her 70s, which meant that, had the book been set today, her life would have been set some decades ago - and yet she had a mobile phone. Despite this, the values of her mother were definitely akin to those of Evie's real time line. And yet the future didn't seem like it was set 40-50 years from now to suggest that it was the other way round. I think I've heard Carrie say that this was intentional, but it just felt very confused.

I also felt like the character naming was a bit too forced. Did everybody have to be related to the seasons/weather? I could have gone along with it for one or two characters but not everyone. Sonny Shine in particular was grating.

The resolution felt too simple. It rounded off too easily. I would have liked to have understood what happened to Evie's family after Vincent died and to have got an understanding as to whether they found their peace with her death once Evie completed her tasks. In particular, I felt like Jim deserved more. He loved and cared for a woman for his entire life who never loved him back and then, in death, she still returns to Vincent? It felt a bit selfish not to think about how it would have affected him.

Finally, the magical realism seemed to come from nowhere. I was on board with it when Evie was in the afterworld. However, the ability to take your own heart out and for the paintings to turn to glass and then dance around the room felt like a step too far.

Whilst I will admit that I have had my criticisms, I did really enjoy the book. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review it!

This is my Goodreads review. It won't appear on my blog, because I don't like to share reviews there that are purely negative or for books I didn't finish, and sadly this is one of those.

DNF at 33%.

I don't often stop reading books partway through, especially when they're review copies, but this just wasn't holding my interest and there are so many better books on my TBR. And I do mean 'better', not just more interesting to me personally. Frankly, while it pains me to say something so negative when I'm a fan of Carrie's videos, I think the only reason this book got published is that Carrie already had a following and so the publishers knew there was a market for it. Because it's badly written.

It's only my second experience of reading something by someone I know primarily as a vlogger, and the other example is John Green, where I'm not sure whether I read his early books before or after I started watching vlogbrothers videos. (They were introduced to me by the same person, but I don't know which came first.) While it may be popular to insult John Green's characters or plots, the fact remains that when you get down to a sentence level, his books are well-written. He can form a sentence. And sadly, the same isn't true of Carrie's work.

I had my misgivings, because something about how she talked about writing in her videos and Tumblr posts sounded very amateurish, and the writing style of those posts also wasn't great. I thought it was unlikely to be my new favourite book, but I did think that a deal with a major publisher would mean it would've been thoroughly edited, which this didn't feel like it was.

I was a bit worried that my misgivings were pure snobbishness, and I think partly they were, because of knowing that Carrie left school at sixteen. I don't think you need qualifications to write, and I don't think A-Level English Lit can teach you HOW to write, but I definitely became a better writer after I learned how to READ during A-Level English, and there's something about the clumsiness of the writing in this book that shows the lack of that kind of education. (Which doesn't have to happen in school or formal education, but it has to happen at some point, you know.) So I hate myself that I even followed that thought pattern, but at the same time, it turned out to be justified. A few reviewers have compared the writing style to 'a piece of GCSE creative writing coursework' and that is what it feels like, with laboured metaphors, similes that are over-explained, and cliches everywhere.

The story's written in third person and it constantly head hops from one character to the other. It jumps back and forward in time even within paragraphs. The book itself isn't set in any definite time period, which Carrie's talked about as being deliberate but which feels like a cop-out and leads to a considerably less coherent and structured book than could otherwise exist.

While I didn't have any major objections to the characters when I started, I also didn't feel any reason to care about them. Evie is a frustrating over-privileged rich kid who wants to 'make her own way' by rejecting her family's wealth, but is never shown as hard up for money -- and yet still feels that giving sweets to a street busker is an acceptable way to show her appreciation, because it's clear she's got no real understanding of what poverty is like. Well, I say 'kid': she's supposedly 27, but she reads more like a 15-year-old.

Look, I'm not normally scathing in reviews. You know me. I try to be nice and find the good parts of books. But I couldn't find enough in this book to interest me long enough to finish it. It was poorly written and needed to be thoroughly edited: even on an objective level, the sentences were badly structured and there were some obvious errors that most writers don't make after the age of fourteen.

There are two reasons I'm not giving this book one star. The first is that it has some positive LGBTQ representation and you can tell that Carrie made an effort to be inclusive, even if it's a bit heavy-handed and I didn't stick around long enough to see how it turned out. I think that deserves some recognition. The other is that to get one-star, this would've had to make me genuinely angry, like Catcher in the Rye -- one of the only books I truly hate. But I don't have strong feelings about this book at all, because I couldn't make myself care about it.

The only strong feelings I have are about the fact that it was published in the first place, because it really doesn't feel like that was on merit. It feels like it was because of Carrie's following. As someone who hopes to make a living as a writer, it's thoroughly depressing to read something that sounds like my early novels (when I was THIRTEEN) and see it become a bestseller just because the author is popular.

Carrie makes great YouTube videos. She's a good singer. She thoroughly deserves her success in musical theatre and so on, from what I can tell. And she seems like a really nice person, so it pains me to be so negative about this. But she's not a writer, and this book amply demonstrates that. I'm just glad I didn't pay money for this.

I read this book prior to it's release, as an ARC, but since re-reading it I find that opinions had not changed much. Whilst it shows potential from Carrie Hope Fletcher, and a highly active imagination, I think the book lacked structure and reasonable belief. It was a bit cliche and a story over-told within literature. Nonetheless, I look forward to reading Carrie's next work as I am a fan of her as a person and believe her non-fiction book 'All I Know' was a strong foray into the world of literature. But, unfortunately, I felt that On the Other Side was it's lacking sister.

I'm about half way through this book but I've had enough. I struggled with the premise, much as I like a bit of a redemption story it felt very simplistic and, dare I say it, dull? I didn't really care for Evie. I didn't really care for her bad boy boyfriend who calls her sweetie and was, I felt, a bit disturbing and intense. Still, I was willing to keep going. But then half way through the story, suddenly there is a dove. If you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking about! There's a stupid dove and, for some unknown reason, the two main characters start writing messages to each other ON THE DOVE! I mean, literally, on the wings of the dove. Why they don't just use a carrier pigeon in any sort of normal way I do not know. I have since read that this book is meant to be magical realism, but to my mind, that whole magical nonsense probably should have been made clear a lot sooner in the book. A waiting room for heaven is one thing, after all...writing in marker pen on a dove is an entirely different thing.
I'm afraid I was so annoyed with this dove business that I put the book down in disgust and I really don't want to pick it up again. I don't care anymore what secrets Evie had...her first secret was that she wrote messages to an unsuitable boyfriend on a dove and, for me, that's it! I'm done! I had other issues too, with the style of the writing (a little repetitive and simplistic) and the lack of any clear guidance on what era the book is set in - none of that side of things made any sense whatsoever! Perhaps I'm being unfair, and perhaps it all gets a lot better in the second half, but there are too many good books out there for me to waste anymore time on this one...