The End or Something Like That by Ann Dee Ellis

                                                                        ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: 

Emmy’s best friend Kim had promised to visit from the afterlife after she died. But so far Kim hasn’t shown up even once. Emmy blames herself for not believing hard enough. Finally, as the one-year anniversary of Kim's death approaches, Emmy is visited by a ghost—but it’s not Kim. It’s Emmy’s awful dead science teacher.

Emmy can’t help but think that she's failed at being a true friend. But as more ghosts appear, she starts to realize that she's not alone in her pain. Kim would have wanted her to move forward—and to do that, Emmy needs to start letting go.

The Plot

The concept of this book is what lured me in. A girl trying to communicate with her dead friend? Heck yeah, sign me up. I loved all the flashbacks of Emmy and Kim’s relationship. I also enjoyed all the backroads that Ellis took leading up to the Emmy’s realization of the truth. 

I love that the ending is nothing like how I expected it to be. I also love that the book isn't really about seeing her dead friend again. It’s more about Emmy finding out what she’s made of. Pushing herself to lengths she would’ve never pushed herself to before; and in that she finds peace because it was what her best friend encouraged her to do all along. 

Writing Style

Ellis writes in a very snappy, simple way. Easy to understand, not too complex or wordy. The book was short and I would consider a light read. Something that you can take on a vacation or a road trip. 

Dislikes

I really thought majority of the dialogue and internal dialogue was bland and quite repetitive. For instance, Emmy would repeat a lot of phrases or repeat a question was asked. Like, just answer the question. It’s not that difficult. Or she would answer a question with a question. Overall, Emmy did not make this book enjoyable, rather it was the scenes and occurrences that kept my attention. Emmy was boring and vague. 

Highlight

I think the best parts were the encounters with the dead teacher. It was really touching. I think we all have someone like that standing on the rim of our small circle of life. People we know, but don’t really know.