The Otherlife

by Julia Gray

Three years ago, Ben's beloved friend and tutor Jason died in mysterious circumstances. And he begins to wonder if his old friend Hobie had something to do with it...

I always get away with it when I try stuff like this. Partly it comes down to sort of assuming that I'm going to. I've got loads of confidence. And Loki got away with everything. Well, almost everything.

When troubled, quiet Ben begins at the ruthlessly competitive Cottesmore House, school to the richest, most privileged boys, he is befriended by Hobie: the wealthy class bully, product of monstrous indulgence and intense parental ambition.

Hobie is drawn to Ben because he can see the Otherlife: a violent, mythic place where gods and monsters roam. Ben has unnerving visions of Thor and Odin, and of the giant beasts that will destroy them, as well as Loki, god of mischief. Hobie is desperate to be a part of it.

Years later, Ben discovers his beloved tutor Jason is dead. And he can’t help wondering if Hobie – wild, restless, dangerous Hobie, had something to do with it…

Beguiling, shocking and richly imaginative, The Otherlife is about the darkest impulses within us all.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Contemporary, Mythology, Magical Realism, Fiction, Paranormal

416 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2016

About the author

Julia Gray is a writer and singer-songwriter. She studied Classics at UCL and has a diploma in Children's Literature and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, for which she received the Sophie Warne Fellowship. She has released three albums with the trip-hop/jazz collective Second Person, and more recently two solo albums, I Am Not The Night and Robber Bride.

Reviews

[Lalla · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*


I started reading The Otherlife expecting the usual fantasy/paranormal young adult. What I actually found myself reading was a queer mix of a contemporary and fantasy that pleasantly surprised and intrigued me.

I was seriously awed by how the books is both very current and easily relatable to most people. The writing style was pleasant, witty and thoroughly enjoyable. I was very surprised by how the author managed to talk about mundane things such as school days and still make it interesting or touch important themes such as smothering parents, bullying, addictions, eating disorders and so on without resulting too heavy.

The “fantasy” element (represented by the otherlife) enhanced an already engaging plot. I really liked how interwoven in the story and how the otherlife appeared not as a separate entity but as some sort of extra layer over out reality, with the Gods appearing in different shades of light and colour. It was imaginative and very poetic.

Another element I greatly appreciated is importance that music – namely heavy metal music – and how it was intertwined with the story. Being a big fan of metal myself and of rock festivals in general I was totally elated to have a main characters that goes out and about in bands t-shirts, loves Metallica and goes to rock festivals! (And it was really nice to find here and there some references to band I love and known movies such as The Lord of The Rings)

The narration was fluid and smooth and I loved how the story was told going back and forth from present to past, from Ben’s point of veiw to Hobie’s. In addition, I found the pacing, enthralling and definitely pressing especially during the last chapters. I was in a frenzy while reading the last 100 pages, so much I wanted to discover and know what really had happened to Jason and to Hobie.
As for the ending...For once, it didn’t feel unsatisfactory. It was heartbreaking and sad but, at the same time, it was also right for the story. Apart from the ending, I was very fond of one of the messages the book leave us with “we can’t explain everything and sometimes we just have to accept it”.

Somehow, “The Otherlife” managed to be – at the same time – light and deep (which is a feat in itself, isn’t it?).

In truth, I can honestly said that I have never read a book like this before, special in its peculiarity. However, one thing is certain: I’m not likely to forget “The Otherlife” anytime soon.


Review originally posted here: http://fieldofbookishdreams.blogspot....

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went in thinking this was going to be Percy Jackson-esque, but found instead a story about friendship and struggling with school/exam pressure! I loved the mystery, and how everything slowly came into view. A complete surprise!

[Ally Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

The Otherlife by Julia Gray.

I wont lie I was mainly attracted to this book because I kinda thought it would be a bit like the Percy Jackson series.. it had the whole 'fans of Rick Riordan will love this' vibe. I hadn't heard of the author, Julia Gray before but the cover is stunning and the description was more than enough to have me interested.

The format of the book was something that I both loved and hated. I'm not usually a huge fan of dual point of views which seem to be EVERYWHERE at the moment, however it felt different to me. The narrative switches between Ben in the present day (2012) and Hobie in 2008. I liked reading Hobie's POV even if at times it felt a little childish, which you later later actually perfectly fits and doesn't feel out of place at all, and then reading Ben living with the events and memories of 2008.

Honestly, the beginning third maybe of the book I found so slow... and then something clicked and I was hooked. I spent two nights of my holiday totally focused on this book. You learn from the synopsis that Jason is dead, but what confused me a little was the fact that its not mentioned for ages in the book and Ben is totally unaware so I thought I'd imagined it. It only really appears towards the end of the book and feels really rushed. The main focus of the story seems to be the relationship between Hobie and Ben and their shared love of Norse mythology.

Hobie is an awful character.. in a good way. Hes a spoiled brat. Ben is the opposite, hes from a broken home and works hard to be academically brilliant. I don't really understand how they became friends but seeing them somehow bring out good in each other flowed and was so natural. but still felt wrong. I just don't think they should be friends. At all. Ever.
Ben has a love for Norse mythology from his tutor Jason.. but he also randomly sees them, or glimpses of light that are them. I didn't really understand this. I couldn't tell if he really saw them or they were due to the drugs he was taking or if this is what he needed to cope wit difficult times in his life. It just wasn't clear in my opinion, but that may be intentional.

The mythology in this book is so different to what I've read before. The Gods and stories weren't alive and real in this story but stories of their own that appear in the book. The stories we hear about the Gods reflect the events happening in the book which makes it almost like a retelling, or maybe a deja vu. The bits of sotry or information we are given didn't leave me with more questions but I also didn't feel like I'd been overwhelmed either. Gray seems to have done her research and the book and elements feel well thought out.

Although I did enjoy the book I thought it was so so predictable which is such a shame. We learn in Ben's time line that Hobie isn't around and its a big mystery as to why. Well, I'd guessed about halfway through but it wasn't confirmed until towards the end. Similarly with Jason's death, although being pedantic, the exact cause I didn't get the reason and how was so obvious it almost hurt.

I gave this book a 4/5 stars but I suppose its more of a 3.5. I adored the writing style and the characterization. The elements of mythology we enough and not over powering the rest of the story, definitely separating it from other books about mythology like the Percy Jackson books. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for more reality based fiction as opposed to fantasy. An emotional read for sure.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had very conflicted feelings about this book. I was really into the premise that took Norse mythology and put it into our world. Ben, one of the main characters, can see the Otherlife, he has visions of Odin and Thor and that is why our other main character Hobie, a bully, is drawn to him. Hobie wants to be a part of it. Then Ben finds out that his beloved tutor Jason is dead, and starts wondering whether Hobie has anything to do with it.

I enjoyed the overall story, the pacing was good, it moved fast and there was a lot of action. I did not really enjoy reading from Hobie's POV, he was just super mean and terrible and it just wasn't fun for me. Ben was better to read, but it didn't feel like the two voices were all that different except for the fact that Hobie was really mean and Ben didn't say all those mean things.

The Otherlife comes out July 7.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so disappointed in this book and I am going to be completely honest about that.

It wasn't poorly written and it had some amazing ideas but they really weren't represented well at all in this novel whatsoever.

I hated Hobie and his family and Ben's parents and the majority of the other characters.

The setup of the book was strange and reading the different perspectives was kind of hard.

Ughhh
THIS BOOK HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL

[Fem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled upon this book in Foyles last week and after reading the blurb I immediately knew I wanted to read it, so I did.

I've always loved Norse Mythology and especially when it's woven into a modern story. Julia Gray's writing style is very enjoyable and I loved recognizing bits of London in the book. If you like Norse Mythology I'd definitely say give this a go!

[Ivana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think not enough people are aware of this book and that should change.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This thought-provoking story is much more than Norse Gods and an otherworldly dimension.

I half expected, from the blurb, of this to be a tale of jumping between worlds and being chased by an individual uncannily like Loki. But it's not and I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the Norse Gods didn't appear as often as I expected nor did Ben, one of the main characters, flit between worlds.

The tale is told between two perspective: the diary entries of Hobie in 2008, and present time from Ben's point of view. At first, I wasn't sure where this story was going – there was one mention of the Gods then we changed to Hobie's perspective and that had no Gods whatsoever in the beginning. But slowly, slowly, the story built and I found myself reading faster just to find the ending, to discover the truth of what happened to those boys at Duvalle Hall and how it all went wrong.

The 'Otherlife' as Ben calls it is softly woven into the main story line, a kind of off-to-the-side extra that made me wonder if it was all in Ben's head or if he really was seeing Asgard and the Gods of Norse mythology. Tuntil Zara can see it as well and the final night-walking scene where Ragnarok breaks open the sky and Ben and Hobie confront each other in the realm of the Gods. The ending of the book ties everything in nicely, giving the readers the final explanation of everything that had occurred.

[Līga Sproģe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shame on me for misinterpretating that this was going to be fantasy ( a la Raven Boys) not contemporary. And I loathe Hobie, I hope he's in Hell scrubbing toilets :)

Otherwise, heavy metal and Northen Europe gods were perfect combination.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover is what made me buy this book but it has a gorgeous story and relateable characters. It's easy to see what's happening in their lives. It's incredible, beautiful, how the real world melds with stories and Gods become humans. Even when you predict who did something and what happened, there are so many other points where there are holes that call out to you, holes that you HAVE to dig into to find out what happened. I love this book.

[Nick Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where do i start? So I wont.

I just cant decide if i enjoyed this or not.

The whole Otherlife thing could have been so much better, the Gods and other world stuff could have been great but just ended up seeming pointless, but had no real reason to be in the story.
Good story of friendship and was written well.
The mystery made me finish, o i knew how it ended, but really had to force myself to finish.
Just made me shrug and go "meh"

[nitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was such an interesting read i love how ambiguous the ending is. like IS it all a delusion? do the gods actually exist? i picked it up at random bc of the norse mythos and what i got instead was a story about friendship and addiction and death, it was really fun!

[OldBird · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for proper Norse God fantasy then stop right now. If you want a cast of lovably kind teenage characters whose flaws are easy to brush aside, take a step back. This is not the book you were looking for. If however you want something that's both a nail-biting mystery and an acidly accurate satirical skewering of the British upper/middle classes and their educational, privileged neuroses, stick around. It's quite a ride.

We see a story in two time periods from two perspectives. In 2012, Ben is a 16 year old revising for his GCSE exams. He used to be obsessed with the mythology of Ragnarok and the Norse Gods, convinced that an old injury to his eye meant that he could see them acting out their stories. But one day all those lights and visions stopped. That is until one visits him and he hears a message: someone has died and the gods need his help. Ben slowly unravels the mystery and it becomes clear it has to do with events from 2008... Enter Hobie, Ben's former best friend. We read about him in the form of his 2008 diary, and a nastier piece of upper class work you would never hope to meet. He's full of his own importance, borderline psychotic in his lack of care for anyone other than himself. But then he meets Ben, and is drawn to his strangeness (and his very copy-able exam papers). As they revise for high pressure school entry exams together and their parents pressure them, they find solace in the stories of the gods fed to them by their tutor Jason. But something is about to happen, something cruel and terrible that echoes down the years.

It's hard to do the plot justice, as it's quite high concept for YA. The hopping between 2012 and 2008 means you're always left at a cliffhanger, always needing to go back to the other character's perspective to know more. It's infuriating in the best possible way.

Ben isn't the most interesting character, but he's unusual. Are the gods real? It it all in his painkiller-addled mind? He seems like a nice enough kid, but is capable of being a rule breaker as well. Compared to Hobie, he's a saint. Hobie's dairy will challenge you to find anything positive about his character. It's virtually impossible given his boasting, greed and apathy. His sister Zara features in both timelines, and is a tragic character who is the easiest to empathise with. Hobie's treatment of her and how it leaves her years later is actually heart-wrenchingly written. Adults are all obsessed with keeping up appearances, virtue signalling, and generally being unaware of the damage they do to their children. We touch on bullying, eating disorders, music obsessions, extreme parental pressures... It reads like satire, but it's a painful one.

The paranormal/fantasy element is oddly light-touch and never quite resolved, but it works beautifully. I love the weaving of the Norse mythology into the plot of the main characters. By the time you see it, you know who's who and what's what, but you'll still be drawn into Ben's investigation even as you're repulsed by Hobie's increasingly disturbing attitude. But still, are the gods real? Did Zara really see them, and if so how?

The only negative thing I can say for the writing is its reliance on giving us nouns rather than actual descriptions. They go to Notting Hill Gate, but unless you know what the area looks like this book isn't going to tell you. Hobie eye-rolls at his mother's brand-named items, but if you didn't know that White Stuff or Farrow & Ball were very "aspirational" (aka middle class cliche) brands, you'd be out of luck. It works for a reader familiar with the names and places, and is one thing in particular that points to it being a dark satire, but could be problematic for anyone not in the know.

I don't know if "enjoyed" is quite the right word, but I was certainly gripped by this one. It's dark and unusual, but still so relatable. You don't have to be a posh, moneyed Londoner to feel for these characters; anyone who's suffered at the hands of a school system wanting academic results at any cost could understand why teenagers would rather live through music, mayhem and The Otherlife... whether it's real or not.

[Zaide · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what I expected going into The Otherlife, but it certainly wasn't what I got. The story is wonderfully steeped in mystery and the unexplained, and parts of the narrative were delightfully funny.

The MC, Ben, sees glimpses of the world of Norse Gods that he dubs ‘The Otherlife’. Shimmers of colour that materialise into the Gods of myth and come to give warnings or seek help.
He struggles with the divorce of his parents, his mother’s overbearing nature and the stress of upcoming exams as he tries to unravel the mystery of the warning brought to him by the Gods.
A he does, he's forced to delve into his past, specifically to a time when he was friends with a carefree yet ruthless boy called Hobie who desperately wanted to be able to see the Otherlife too, because Ben discovers their old tutor, Jason, was killed and Ben is sure Hobie knew about it or had something to do with it.

The book is split into Ben’s POV and entries from Hobie’s diary. Ben is a little dark and depressive, and is struggling with an addition to painkillers, but I did really like him. His love of the Norse gods and heavy metal made him quirky and completely endearing.
Hobie is every bit the mean, spoilt bully, but his diary entries were surprisingly witty and provided the story with some much needed levity. Here are a few of my favourite quotes from him that utterly sum up his personality:

Once I put a peanut down the back of someone’s shirt and was excluded for two days, which was convenient because my grandmother was visiting and she wanted to take me shopping.

The Nicholson Twins. I suspect that there is only one of them actually, because they are not interesting enough to be two people.


Despite the horribleness of Hobie’s personality, I did actually like him and Ben together. Ben seemed to level out his recklessness a little and in return, Hobie helped give Ben things to enjoy in his otherwise depressing life. Perhaps it makes sense then, that the disaster of the book happened when Ben wasn't around to keep Hobie grounded.
Regardless, you could feel their friendship pouring from the pages and could really understand how much they needed each other.

Our growing friendship is a suit of armour we both wear against the world.

How many of us have friendships like this? Or need one? I really felt for them both.


I really loved the build up and revelation of what happened to Jason and Hobie and having the images of The Otherlife woven in gave the story a unique and imaginative twist – plus, I loved all the mythology and stories of the Gods that were included, it was fascinating.

For me, this was definitely more of a mystery than a fantasy, and some parts of the story were a little slow, but overall I really enjoyed it and would happily recommend if you're a fan of slow-reveal mysteries or want to know a little more about Norse mythology.

[Florina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me and this book went on a weird journey, which kind of mirrors its contents: I meandered through it for almost two years, slowly putting the pieces together. Basically, I read almost half of it back in 2018, then put it down, even though it was fairly weird and interesting, then picked it up again in 2019, then put it down, and finally finished it this morning. I can't explain why I read it in separate chunks, because it's not a boring book. Yet it's not exactly immersive, either. The Otherlife is a bizarre, very inventive blend of Norse mythology and teenage travails. It's a character study, a story about addiction, and a heavy-handed murder mystery. It's all of these things and none of those things, at once. Reading it feels like walking through fog. Atmospheric, for sure, but you keep getting lost. The writing is sharp and funny and even poetic, at times, but it's also weirdly soporific. I say this as a compliment. So you've got a novel that stands out, but also fades in the background. In that sense, The Otherlife is both a brilliant and mediocre experiment. I don't even know how to catalog it. I do think my chopped reading has something to do with it, and yet I'm almost convinced that, were I to reread it (and I think I will, at some point), it would feel exactly the same, or even more ambiguous. I'm almost glad I got to finish it during such strange times, because it definitely hits different in 2020.

[Georgiana Derwent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had seriously high hopes for this book. I love Julia Gray's music and suspected her lyricism and her clever use of history, folklore and culture would translate well to storytelling. And as I love mythology, like metal, and have worked as a tutor and always enjoy class-based satire, so based on the description, there seemed to be lots for me to enjoy.

The book delivered on most of these points, and I broadly enjoyed it. It was well-written and kept me turning the pages. The norse mythology angles were clearly well-researched, and the jokes at the expense of those who mercilessly hot-house their children well done, though I felt this aspect might have been appreciated more by adult readers like me than the teenagers this is meant to be aimed at.

The best thing about the book was the character Hobie, a gloriously sociopathic twelve-year-old rich kid, pitched somewhere between an English, teenaged American psycho and Milton's Lucifer. Half the book was diary entries from his point of view, and his awfulness was utterly compelling, particularly as it was cut through with just enough sympathetic moments to keep him from seeming like a caricature.

The trouble - always a risk with dual narratives - was that the chapters from the other point of view, Ben, felt rather washed out in comparison. Where Hobie jumped off the page, Ben liked metal, took painkillers and was doing poorly at school despite being bright. With a few exceptions, where his chapters played up the mystery elements, I just wanted to blast through the sections in his POV and get back to Hobie.

The second issue I had was the "Otherlife" itself. When I read the book's description, I assumed it was a Narnia-esque place the characters could travel too, It definitely wasn't that, but it was all so abstract, it was hard to understand quite what it was or why it intrigued the characters so much. It basically boiled down to seeing different coloured lights that represented different Norse gods, plus a few visions of scenes from the mythology. I admire the author's attempts to do something a bit different, a bit imaginative and subtle, but for me at least, despite a few beautifully poetic descriptions, it didn't quite come off.

Something I really liked was that the characters in the story were clearly all meant to be archetypes of different norse gods and goddesses, and their plot arcs mirrored stories from mythology. This was beautifully done. The only problem was the was the author aggressively spelt it out. I know this is meant for a YA audience, but you can still leave some things to the imagination and trust the readers' intelligence. It wasn't just these aspect that fell victim to this either - a few plot points and character aspects were over-explained.

Overall, this is worth a read as very original piece of YA, though perhaps with more applicability to nostalgic adults than the intended teen audience. It has its faults, but I'd always rather an author tried something interesting and made some mistakes than churned out something formulaic. And in its best moments, this reminded me of those old sixties/seventies/eighties YA fantasies by authors such as Susan Cooper and Alan Garner, where normal life blurs with the fantastical.

[Tim Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of this at my local 'everything is dirt cheap' bookstore. I understand when I buy a book there it is very likely to be hit or miss. I think this story is mostly miss, there were times I wondered wy I was continuing to read. But as I cannot give up on something I have started I pushed through the pain and got to the end.

I think overall I liked it, there wasn't a lot of mythology which was a shame. what there was were a lot of characters with psychological issues, touching on anorexia, bullying and being pushed by parently figures.

Some of it was really quite disturbing, especially the parts from Hobie's point of view. He certainly wasn't a good person, but he was understandable if you chose to get into his point of view.

The plot follows the main character Ben as he unravels what happened to his tutor, and Hobie in te form of three year old journal entries.

I'm not sure I can recommend it. But I certainly got to the end without too much pain.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will say that this book was not what I expected. Julia Gray has an interesting style in writing, its casual but compelling. It felt like there was not much happening in the beginning, it was slow to build, but the jump between perspectives made it interesting enough to keep going, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I thought the plot twist was going to be predictable, and in a way admittedly it was, but there were other aspects that lead into it that when the twist dropped, it was not in the way expected. Overall, I really enjoyed it and the bittersweet ending brought tears to my eyes.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find my full review of The Otherlife on my speculative fiction book blog, Bastian's Book Reviews.

In summary: The Otherlife isn't the escapist romp I expected. It's slower, more complex, and unflinchingly true to life (even if that includes an intrusion of Viking mythology into our reality). It's an intelligent, well-written novel, but not a fun one.

[Annie White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, hard-hitting and mahoosively thought-provoking. Cleverly written and little nuggets and links throughout made my brain very happy reading this book. Fascinating characterisation of both Ben and especially Hobie; attempting to work out what he will do next, and the reason for his actions was pleasantly challenging. Also, tied in with the compelling aspect of the Norse Gods and their parallel's between the 'real' world and that which can be perceived by just some of the characters.
Amazing, would recommend

[Janne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voor fans van Noorse mythologie, voor fans van fantasy met een tikkeltje humor, voor fans van diepgang maar ook lichte materie. Dit boek is voor jullie.

'The Otherlife' alleen staat als een massief blok apart op zichzelf. In combinatie met 'Neil Gaiman - Norse Gods' vormt deze zelfs een leeservaring om lang niet te vergeten.

Laat je meeslepen door twee verhalen, het dagelijkse leven van Ben en het dagboek van Hobie. Laat je meeslepen door de vermengde mythes van Baldr, Loki, Heimdallr, Tyr en Hǫdr.

Een absolute aanrader!

[Usha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great book. It is basically flipping between the journals of the two protagonists-one in the past moving towards the future and one in the future recalling the past whilst also talking about the present. It was not hard to keep up with. Definitely has so many elements given that we follow two students preparing for scholarship. The characters fall a bit flat because they're kinda based off of stereotypes. But I enjoyed it, it was great, the author has cunningly weaved the mythological elements into the story of the protagonists. A really great book.


Go for it .

[penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this book, however it took a while to get interesting and the other life was not as prominent in the book as I hoed it would be.
I really enjoyed this book as it talks about many issues such as exam stress, addiction and eating disorders while keeping it relevant to the storyline and I loved most the content in this book, especially the ending.

[Cathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me and I really enjoyed it. The story is really all about the progress of an unlikely friendship between 2 teenage boys but the inclusion of the Norse mythology ( and heavy metal references!) is an interesting slant.

[Marie-José · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into the story after all the easy reads. It was a story full of Norse fairytales and intriguing words. A heavy story but totally gripping with its referring to Lord of the Flies and The Bells are Tolling. I have to let it sink in for a bit, but definitely worth reading!

[cass · Rating 4 out of 5]

really loved this book, it was so immersive and had such an intriguing overlap between norse gods and real life, the suspense was upheld really well and the story of hobie and ben was amazingly written

[Aaron Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK story, although not really as in depth with norse mythology as you would be led to believe, if anything the kid just has a head injury and sees colours and believes they are gods. Bit disappointing if I'm honest. The cover art is badboi though

[Tashy Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off pretty slowly but got really intriguing as it went on.

[ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The suspense. WHAT HAPPENED TO HOBIE but yeah, good book. The cover completely captured me.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty original. The norse stuff was great. I'm of the opinion he was tripping the whole time but an argument can be made either way.