Book Review #46: On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Hey Guys x

One thing I have to make clear before writing this is that, I'm reviewing this book not as a fan of Carrie Hope Fletcher, but as a fan of books and romance.

Now, I loved this book, for so many reasons! One of the main reasons for my love of this story is that, it holds the type of magical love that you never thought could happen in real life. It's not even movie love or fiction love - it's magic. That's the only way to describe it.

Evie Snow has died. However, when she gets to her own personal branch of heaven, she realises that the door won't open. This is because Evie is still holding onto things from the world, secrets to be more exact. Three secrets that are weighing down her soul and making it impossible for her to live her eternal bliss. So, with the help of an old friend and some dear memories, Evie must enter the world once again, to unburden her heart of these secrets. But will she be willing to let these secrets go? And if she does, will she finally be allowed to rest in piece?

Wow. That's the first thing I have to say, wow. I read this, not as a YouTuber book, but as a romance novel. And honestly, I can't think of many books that touched me in the way that this did. This could be because I've followed Carrie and her career for many years, but this book really did mean something to me.

Evie is an amazing character. I loved her from the beginning because, thanks to the book being written in third person, I could see Evie through the eyes of the other characters, which made her even more likeable to me. In addition to this, I do have a thing for Vincent Winters. I didn't fall in love with him, the way that you're supposed to fall in love with the main male characters of novels, but (as cheesy as this sounds) I fell in love with his spirit. I love his character and I really want him to be my best friend!

The book was written in a really unique way, a mix of present and past. Actually, most of the book was written in the past, but I really liked this! I liked seeing the contrast as Evie grew up with each chapter.

Carrie's spoken a lot about representation, particularly for LGBT characters, and I think that she did this really well. I'm not giving any spoilers, but I'm really glad that this was done so well in the book, and I think that there should be so much more LGBT characters in books besides the stereotypical 'gay best friend' or 'butch lesbian'.

My other favourite character was James (aka Jim), who surprisingly, I did fall in love with in the way that you're supposed to fall in love with fictional characters. If I could ask Carrie something about the book, I'd definitely want to know which male character she enjoyed writing more and why, because they both seem amazing in their own ways!

What was good?
The magic of the story. As I said in the beginning, this is a magical love story, and I really hope that I have a love like this in my life, a core-shaking love that can't be left behind. I also think it was well-written, and the wide range of characters were all developed really well, I was/am intrigued about all of them and would love to see more of Evie's past!

What was bad?
I definitely wouldn't say that there was anything bad about the book. The only thing that maybe confused me a bit was (without giving too much away) the element of magic and the supernatural. I still don't understand if it's a supernatural novel or not, but either way, that doesn't take anything away from the story - in fact, it adds to the story!

Overall
Read this book, then read it again and again, you'll never get tired of reading 'a love story like no other', and I mean this! You'll see what I mean when I call it a magical love, and it really is like no other! I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

Thank you for reading

Comment below whether or not you've read this book, and what you thought!

Keep Smiling - Lou xx