Book Review: “Between”

by Jessica Warman
Walker Children's, 2011

Reviewed by Lily Liu-Krason, 18
Massachusetts

The day after her birthday party, Elizabeth Valchar (Liz), a very beautiful, popular, and wealthy girl, wakes up and finds herself dead. She's trapped in between the living world and the afterlife."  With the help of Alex, a "nobody" who died the previous year and who is also trapped in between, Liz begins to solve the mystery of why and how she died so that she can finally be at peace.

On the surface Liz and her friends' lives seem perfect, but as Liz revisits her memories with Alex and watches her friends' and families lives continue after her death, she realizes how shallow and cruel she and her friends could be. Liz's memories start to fit together like pieces of a puzzle. The pace of the book picks up with each new discovery, you'll find yourself struggling to resist the temptation to flip to the very end and find out how it all ends.

With the help of Alex, Liz learns that every person deserves respect no matter their class or outward appearance. She also learns what it truly means to be a friend. Though the book seems to be a little too didactic at times (Liz often blatantly tells the reader what she has learned), the lessons are well taken.

An exciting, addicting and compelling novel, Between is a good and easy read. The plot—including a romance"•is really interesting. Watch out for the "red" herrings (pun intended... read the book to find out why!) Full of twists, love, and drama, Between is the kind of juicy, packed story that every girl will enjoy!