I don’t know how I keep stumbling onto the most breathtakingly beautiful stories about grief and healing, but boy am I glad I do, because I need them.

This was one of the coziest stories I’ve read this summer. It’s nostalgic and new all at the same time, a whimsical journey to discover that the best life you could live will always be your own.

The perfumery chapters were my favorite - memories make up more of us than we realize, and scent is one of the strongest ways to access them. Just the other day, I smelled something at work that reminded me of a long-gone spring day in first grade. Manon serves her purpose to move the plot along, but in a way that also makes the reader feel like time has stopped. She lets us take a moment in her shop and just be, reminds us to cherish each moment but always remember which memories are worth keeping and which only weigh us down.

Raya and Q are the perfect duo to tell this story through. Climactic reveals aside, they offset each other brilliantly - the realistic cynic and desperate dreamer, each with their own demons and urgently in need of someone to love their darkest places.

I will be adding Samantha Sotto Yambao to my auto-buy list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for an ARC of The Elsewhere Express.

I'm honestly shocked how little I enjoyed this book. The ideas were very creative but I just was not swept away by the magic like I was when I read Water Moon. It felt like the author was trying too hard to be profound and reading it felt like a chore. Although the world-building was elaborate, I had trouble picturing the train cars in my mind and I didn't feel an emotional connection to any of the characters. I'm unsure if I'll try another book by this author after this one.

2.5 stars

Where do I even begin with this masterpiece of a book? From the first page I was transported into the elsewhere express and I never wanted to get off!
The story was brimming with magic from the very first page, transporting me into a world that felt less like fiction and more like stepping into a living dream. Each time a new cart was introduced I thought surely it can’t get any better? (I was wrong) If I had to choose a single favourite, it would be the gallery cart. The emotion and artistry that was poured into that section was truly beautiful. I thought the whimsical nature of Water Moon could not be topped but I’ve well and truly been shown that there is no limits to the creativity of Samantha Sotto Yambao.
The character building in this story was so tender and immersive that I found myself forming a connection with every passenger. Each character, no matter how big or small their role, was painted with such warmth and subtle detail that they felt instantly familiar, like old friends rediscovered along the way. I wasn’t just reading about the passengers, I was travelling beside them, sharing in their moments of wonder, joy and vulnerability. It left me with the sense that these characters will stay with me long after I finished reading.
Samantha Sotto Yambao is my author of the year by far and I simply cannot wait to see what is next, I just know it’s going to be fantastic!

✨ Would you step aboard the Elsewhere Express? ✨

Samantha Soto’s Elsewhere Express takes us on a train like no other—a magical journey built from the thoughts and memories of everyday subway travelers. On this strange ride, two passengers find themselves caught between longing and escape:

🚉 Raya, weighed down by the crushing expectations of her parents, desperate to return to the familiar—even if it hurts.
🚉 Q, haunted by his father’s suicide, his mother’s despair, and his fading eyesight, yearning to stay in this world where dreams feel real.

But the train has its rules. Not everything is what it seems. And the question lingers:
🌌 What are they hiding? What will they choose? And is this place salvation… or illusion?

I am having a hard time with this review. This book is like nothing I've ever read before, with the exception maybe of Water Moon, but I'm finding no words to accurately describe it.
Occasionally, when people find themselves at the end of their purpose, they drift away and find themselves on the Elsewhere Express. "...purpose has little to do with 'what' and everything to do with 'why', don't you think?"(words of Lily, the conductor)
Our main characters, Raya and Q, have both come to that point and found themselves aboard the Elsewhere Express with very different reactions. Raya doesn't trust it, and Q is delighted by it.
Laws we take for granted, like physics, gravity, and linear time, are all turned on their heads while on the  Elsewhere Express.. Raya and Q are sent together on a quest to help save the elsewhere express and maybe themselves. Together, they wander from car to car, searching, and finding more and more fanciful spaces to explore.
I have to admit I didn't quite understand it all, and the ending made me think maybe I'd missed something, but the story is truly enchanting, and the prose is beautiful - I highlighted more of this book than probably any other book I've read in years.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for a fair and honest review**

A beautifully written book full of the most amazing imagery. I found the narrative confusing at times but I don't think I lost anything, the entire book felt like a dream and dreams can be confusing, after all.

Looks like the physical version will be stunning too, look at the cover and those sprayed edges!

I don't really know what to say about this story. It is heart wrenching and conforting all at once. It makes you look at every decision you make and think about why you make them, what influences you to chose one thing over another. It examines the darkness and poison that is guilt and how it can infect every aspect of our lives but how forgiveness and remembering those we cared about can be a balm. This is, in my opinion, Samantha Sotto Yambao's best work yet and I can't wait to see what comes next. I give it a billion painted stars.

This book is not for me. That's not to say that it's a poorly written book, or that others won't enjoy it, but every shot it took at me missed.

I think that most challenging part for me was seeing things from the protagonist's POV - in Raya, we have someone experiencing a magical, mystical adventure on a train where each car is its own little world contained within, and rather than wanting to experience the fantastical nature of the trip, she just wants to find out how to leave. Even when her motives have to shift from getting off the train to finding her compartment and looking for the stowaway, there was a sense of resentment and reluctance in her that I did not find myself enjoying. I think I would have enjoyed it more if Raya had desperately wanted to stay on the train and was keeping secrets hoping she wouldn't be kicked off rather than desperately trying to leave.

Q was ... fine. I felt for his character, but I also thought he bounced rapidly between bring and too convenient.

I did enjoy the little twist in the epilogue, and the twist that came before but ... ultimately, the fantastical world of this novel was being explored by a character that I struggled to like, so I had a hard time enjoying myself. If I hadn't skimmed through the 50-70% range to speed up, I probably would have DNFed this book.