I had the pleasure of reading the first book in a cozy paranormal mystery series by Jacques Von Kat titled On the Other Side of Alive. Here’s my review of their work.
I thought the story was interesting and had a very unique world. However, I felt like the author could’ve delved a little deeper into the world of the spirits and given us more insight into their lives, or rather, non-lives.
The story unfolds with Caroline, the main protagonist who is killed in a tragic car accident. Her fiancé is thrown into a coma while she’s selected to make a decision – either move on to the afterlife or return to Earth for a disclosed amount of time. She chooses the latter and ends up meeting other spirits and learns more about the hidden secrets of her life.
The premise is quite good but it didn’t hit home for me. I think it was because I felt that there were more questions than answers and it frustrated me as I traveled with Caroline on her journey. Every time another spirit was about to explain the spiritual world to her, they would fall short.
The plot line was also a little predictable. I could tell almost immediately the truth behind her short lived life within the first chapter. There’s nothing wrong with predictability, but some of the foreshadowing was a little on the nose for me.
I did enjoy the many characters Caroline met. However, I didn’t feel like she spent enough time with them for me to become invested. She always seemed to be on her own or meeting people briefly. Even her love interest wasn’t as endearing as he could’ve been. It was an extremely sudden romance in my opinion with no real indication of genuine feelings for each other. We simply knew they were attracted to each other about three quarters of the way through the book and then all of a sudden they were together. It also didn’t make much sense that a person as logical as Caroline would fall so suddenly and hard for a conspiracy theorist like Daniel. The pairing seemed a little off, especially since she spent most of the story running away from him.
As for the writing style, I enjoyed the dialogue based story. I thought it moved quickly with a good pace. It did capture my attention and I was entertained. However, it could’ve used another proofread because I did notice misspelled words and several sentences with extra words or forgotten words.
Overall, the story was enjoyable, but I needed more emotion out of the story – more meat, so to speak.
If this is something you’re interested in, check it out! It was quick, fun, and quirky.
Happy reading!
Author Lauren Eason 