If you’re looking for dreamy landscapes and cozy reads, then you’ve come to the right place! Samantha Sotto Yambao‘s new fantasy novel, The Elsewhere Express, just released, and we’re here to spill all the deets (without spoilers, of course).
Even though it’s more than halfway through the first month of 2026, it may still be difficult to find your groove. Some of us might even feel unsure about our place in the world. Not to worry, for the magical Elsewhere Express will soon swipe you up from your hellish routine and help you find your purpose.
We recommend you get comfortable and suspend your disbelief for just a spell. Here are three things we love about The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao!
Book Overview: The Elsewhere Express
Content warnings: deaths of loved ones, mentions of suicide and a car accident, suicidal thoughts, themes of grief and loss, gradual loss of sight, hospitalization, medical procedures, vomiting
Summary: You can’t buy a ticket for the Elsewhere Express. Appearing only to those whose lives are adrift, it’s a magical train seeming to carry very rare and special cargo: a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging.
Raya is one of those lost souls. She had dreamed of being a songwriter, but when her brother died, she gave up on her dream and started living his instead.
One day on the subway, as her thoughts wander, she’s swept off to the Elsewhere Express. There she meets Q, an intriguing artist who, like her, has lost his place in the world.
Together they find a train full of wonders, from a boarding car that’s also a meadow to a dining car where passengers can picnic on lily pads to a bar where jellyfish and whales swim through pink clouds.
Over the course of their long, strange night on the train, they also discover that it harbors secrets—and danger: A mysterious stranger has stowed away and brought with him a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train.
But in investigating the stowaway’s identity, Raya also finds herself drawing closer to the ultimate question: What is her life’s true purpose—and is it a destination the Elsewhere Express can take her to?
The Train’s Secrets
A magical train that lets you forget all your baggage at your arrival. The Elsewhere Express sounds like it’s too good to be true, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. Beyond the whimsical landscapes and impossible doorways comes a darker secret that the conductor Lily does everything to keep covered up. The passengers are all more than content to live in eternity fulfilling their role on the train, dreaming and thinking positively. As long as they believe in the Elsewhere Express, then the train can continue running indefinitely. It’s giving, “There is no war in Ba Sing Se.”
Raya & Q’s Journey
Our main characters’ journey (and budding romance) is another thing we love about The Elsewhere Express. Raya and Q both come from a place of tremendous grief. Their loss of direction and purpose comes from years of carrying that weight. And their polar-opposite reactions to boarding the Elsewhere Express speak for themselves. Raya wants to find any way to get off the train and return home. Q wants nothing more than to stay. Their journeys help them confront their past traumas and rekindle their life passions. They must process and accept what happened to them before they can move forward.
Their True Connection
Speaking of their journeys, we were shocked to find Raya and Q’s true connection to the Elsewhere Express. Their ties run so much deeper than we could’ve imagined. And the fateful encounters made us question everything. Time doesn’t pass linearly on the Elsewhere Express, and neither does the narration. It jumps from the past to the present as often as we hop across train cars. Raya and Q face this adventure together, taking advantage of their unique strengths. And the closer we got to the big reveal, the longer we were holding our breaths.
Suspend your disbelief for a spell with Samantha Sotto Yambao’s The Elsewhere Express. Full of whimsy, secrets, and fateful encounters, we were sat for this cozy new fantasy!
The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao comes out January 20th, and you can order a copy of it here!
Did Samantha Sotto Yambao’s The Elsewhere Express catch your eye? Ready to start off your 2026 reading list with THP’s book team? Let us know what you’re reading on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
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