Reviews

A World Between by Emily Hashimoto

purplepierogi's review

3.0

this book was cute. it really is like lesbians-of-color-normal-people, with a lot of melodrama, time jumps, and an immaturity that never really evolved. one thing that did irk me, and others have noted this, too, is the dismissal of bisexuality as a concept -- it's totally good and cool that Leena isn't bi, but the way the whole identity of it was dismissed out of hand by people who didn't know her, it felt weird for a book that is literally all about flux and gray areas of queer desire.

14awhalen's review

emotional lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Love book-I don’t like reading romance 

bofstedal's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

lexbian's review

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad

5.0

alyxbrett's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

abrooklynbookshelf's review

3.0

I was actually pretty excited to read this, but sadly I wanted to like it so much more than I actually did. I think that honestly this book just needed to have been edited more, and that really detracted from what could have at the very least been an enjoyable read. Far too often I was just annoyed by the overly narrative and descriptive writing, or moments when the author would do something like describe the lyrics of a specific song—e.g “The next song was a jumpy pop tune, a guitar twanging lightly from underneath, someone telling someone else to shut up and dance with them.” This is absolutely not necessary. I am confident this book could have been 50-75 pages shorter if the writing had just been tightened up, and it would have made for a better read.

Story wise, I am always here for a queer romance, and so there were, yes, aspects of this book that I enjoyed. But it was much more a romance novel than I expected it to be (understand that I have nothing against romance novels, but it’s not exactly what I was expecting given the description) and it’s so self consciously PC in a way that made me feel like I was back in college and not in the best way. So many topics are explored in this book and I think that oftentimes the story gets lost because of that.

There’s always value in reading queer work and I’m not going to dissuade anyone from reading this, I just was left more than a bit disappointed by this one.

notrhitom's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

chlloeann's review

cheesy and cliche

nonagon's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

elreads13's review against another edition

3.25

This book was cute but it was kiiiiiinda invalidating of bisexuality and the ending was unsatisfying, but I really liked the characters and the story spanning 13 years was cool.