Such a unique book! This made me deeply uncomfortable while reading, and honestly it took me almost 100 pages to really figure out what was going on (if that makes sense?). I find the idea of motherhood and how it's perceived in society extremely interesting, so this definitely hit the mark. I think this would be a great read for a book club, as it's filled with lots of potential discussion topics, especially for new moms!

I enjoyed Alexis Schaitkin's previous book, "Saint X," and was intrigued when I saw that with "Elsewhere" she was venturing into speculative fiction, as a town copes with a phenomenon where some of its mothers simply disappear into the clouds. There were definitely a lot of things that worked about this book, especially in terms of tone and atmosphere--the town setting is vividly drawn, and Schaitkin has a lot to say about the idea of belonging and about what it means to be an outsider in a tight-knit community. And I enjoyed the glimpse into the sorority of motherhood and how the women in "Elsewhere" support each other. But in terms of plot (such as there is), "Elsewhere" didn't quite hang together. The author seemed to want to give answers to the mysteries she set up, but we never fully discover what was going on, and I especially didn't understand what the big reveal at the end was about. (I can't say any more without veering into spoiler territory.) Overall, I was interested but was left with a few too many unanswered questions (in a way that didn’t feel totally intentional).

Thank you to NetGalley and to Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my unbiased review. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

A community where girls become women, and women become wives, and some of them up and disappear.
Vera let her mother at a young age, and as she grows up and her and the girls around her start to get married begin to question who will be the first ones to go.

My thoughts: The premise immediately drew me in, as a mother of four kids this sounded so interesting. Somewhere along the way I got somewhat confused and disinterested in what was happening. I’m sure it just takes someone with more metaphorical knowledge than me to appreciate this.

Read if you love:
* Deep writing
* metaphors
* stories of women and mothers
* dystopian type books

If you like books that make you uncomfortable this is for you. This was such a unique and new read for me. It took me a while to understand what was going on, it was not clear if the town in question was real or not. I loved the description of the society in the town, but this is what made me uncomfortable. All thefocus on motherhood and conversations about the mother-child relationship was a little too much for me personally, but you can easily skim some pages and won't lose the point of a story.
I liked that there were no chapters, just parts and when I got to part IV it finally dawned on me whats happening. The middle of the story was a little too slow, but the last 70 pages were perfect.
I have never read anything like this and I think the author is very talented, the language was rich and different. Unfortunately, the book did not work for me personally.

I generally enjoyed this one. I found the commentary on motherhood to be interesting and how it seems that mothers are always judging each other. I found the first half to be more engaging than the second half.

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin was such an intriguing read. The author is able to effectively bring the reader into Vera's world and mind throughout the story in a way that I found to be really touching and powerful. Motherhood is such a complicated topic to cover, and Shaitkin was able to dive into the depths of this topic with a kind of gentle ease that isn't often replicated in other works of fiction. She handled every emotion, every confession, with grace and respect, which are two things motherhood should always be treated with in life and in literature.

I hadn't read anything by the author prior to Elsewhere's release, but I would absolutely pick up a copy of whatever Shaitkin decided to write next.

Mixed feelings about this one. I loved the description of a mother's love for her children and the depth of emotions mothers experience. I found the other parts of the book a bit lacking - the town didn't seem idealistic to me, the appeal wasn't there for me. Definitely a lot of callbacks to Jackson's The Lottery. The book brings up good food for thought for how we treat mothers, talk about mothers, etc which I found valuable and interesting.

I tried 2 times, but just couldn't get into this book and ended up leaving it. Just too densely written for me at the moment.

Vera lives in a small town where girls grow up to the ones who get married, have children and then disappear. While Vera sits and contemplates her own growth and possible marriage, she can’t help but relive her mothers disappearance. All while the top familiar questions linger over head, who will be next to disappear, and is Vera ready?

This book did not hit any spots for me. The chapters, all five of them were excruciating. Four being insanely long and one being incredibly short in comparison. This book took me way too long to read as everything was drawn out and monotone. The paragraphs seemed to never end. I am one who loves a fast paced book and chapters that seem to keep ending and starting. This was not it.

A lot of characters were not enjoyable and honestly, Vera is the only one that really sticks out to me since she was the center of the book.

If you like this type of set up for books, power to you, this is for you!

I really enjoyed ‘Elsewhere’ by Alexis Schaitkin. It has a super dystopian cult vibe. If you liked the Jude Law miniseries, The Third Day,' you will enjoy this book. It gave more answers that a lot of books in this genre - many just feel like they kind of end. This one definitely tied up the big plot points but did leave a few things open to interpretation. I’m between a 4 and 5 on this one. It definitely leaves you thinking about it long after the book ends, but I ended up rounding down due to some of the open ended parts I would have really appreciated answers to! Overall, well written and I liked the way the characters unfolded. Particularly poignant is the main character, Vera, because we begin the story with her on one side of the mother mystery as a young girl and then delve head long into it with her when she becomes a mother.



⭐⁣ OVERALL RATING:⭐⁣

⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Love it & Recommend - Great book, lots to love, well written, and I really liked it. However, I may have small problems with it. I will recommend and want to share with others

❤️ ROMANCE RATING: ❤️

❤️ | Small flirtations/ no chemistry.


🔥 STEAM RATING: 🔥

🔥🔥 | References to sex are more overt but not graphic (kissing, a layer of clothing being removed or characters walking to the bedroom and the author will cut to the next scene). Can likely be read by older teens and family members.

Thank you @netgalley and Celadon Books for early access to this ARC in return for an unbiased and voluntary review.

I really enjoyed this book! One of my favorites of this year. The magical realism aspect was woven in well. I enjoyed that the focus was not on the mystery of how the disappearances happened, but instead on the effects following on person's life.

I loved this story so much! It reminded me of my favorite movies where your own fears are your worst enemy.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but was really excited to read this one early. i enjoyed it alot! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this one. Can't wait for the next one!

Elsewhere was a trip! At times you could kind of guess what was really happening in the small town and start to put some pieces together. However Alexis did such a great job at writing this story you felt like you were walking in the clouds with these characters. A great story about motherhood and grief.

For me, this book left more questions than answers. The setting is a small, remote village where girls are raised to become mothers, and mothers inexplicably yet consistently disappear. Once a mother disappears, the entire town divvies up her belongings and continues on with life as if the woman was never even there. Children forget the mothers so completely that if she dares to return, her children will not know her. I believe the author was creating a fictional world that allows us to examine the real-life question of how much a woman loses herself into motherhood. Unfortunately, there are no answers to this question, and the descriptions of the town and people left me with more disgust than understanding.

Although beautifully written, unique, intriguing with interesting perspective on motherhood - I’ve discovered that dystopian/speculative fiction is just not for me.

I found I didn’t quite understand everything and much went over my head. And some parts were just very weird for me to get my head around.

Maybe not being a mother had something to do with that?!

I would like to read more by author because the writing at times was quite l
Poetic at times.

There are some very beautiful reviews about this novel - I might be the unpopular opinion.

I feel this book would be a good one read to read as a group to help get different perspectives.

Elsewhere is an unusual novel and a rather sad depiction of motherhood and womanhood. Yes, there are cult tones to it, and dystopian nods as well, but it’s a well thought out novel and it really works. I enjoyed this book from start to finish.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was great! It was a quick read for me. This gave me culty vibes, but then I realized it was just motherhood? LOL

Such a complex story about motherhood and womanhood in a dystopian world. I'm not an avid reader of books like this but this one really captured my attention and held it. Held it and made me think about the lives in this story and the lives in the real world. There were so many things to think about and question and towards the end, you start to see the the reason and meaning behind those things. Although I felt the ending to be lacking, it did make my heart feel heavy as a mother. I would definitely recommend giving this story a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Publishing for gifting me this eBook.

Sort of has the rustic dystopian feel, recalling works like Herland, but with a pinch of Josiah Bancroft's Books of Babel series. A strange, dreamy novel but one that doesn't go anywhere all that especially interesting. A lot of capital-D discourse implied but not much fleshed out in any penetrating ways.