On The Other Side is a two book series by Denise Grover Swank, called Here and There.
Sixteen-year-old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.
Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months.
When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.
Julia is a 16yo school kid who hates her life. Six months ago she was in a car crash with her late best friend, and now she just wants to be left alone. School is doing nothing for her, she's failing all her classes because she cannot see the point anymore, so she is given an ultimatum - have a tutor and catch up or leave for remedial school.
Evan is the most popular boy at school, and he volunteers to tutor Julia. As they become close, it appears that they were destined to be together after some unexplained coincidences. However, all is not as it seems. As the police start to chase Evan, he wants to know if Julia will trust him and come home with him.
I read both these books in a couple of days, so it makes sense for me to review them together.
As always, these are really well written by Swank. I've read a fair few of her books now, and I always look forward to reading them as I get totally immersed into the new worlds. This book isn't as hard hitting as some YA that I've read - there's no sex, no swearing and mild violence - but that doesn't make it less enjoyable. As I was reading through, I kept wanting to discover what was next for our heroes.
The ending of the second book allows for scope for future books, though I think the author has done well to leave it there. If you enjoy sci fi, and enjoy these books, you may also enjoy the classic 90s TV series, Sliders.
