Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

72 reviews

tays_books's review

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troisha's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0


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hcwarn's review

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

5.0


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alouette's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-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

5.0

I've always believed, like all rational people, that my selves are separate. That they- we- exist independently. But sometimes when life is too still, when I lie in bed in the quiet, I can feel it all happening.

it might take me awhile to sort out my feelings about this book in a legible way, so for now here's a quick list:

  • worldbuilding was amazingly immersive and confronted issues of poverty, segregation, etc. with a full-on approach as well as going about the multiverse in a way that could be understood without much difficulty
  • the characters were super diverse and had a lot of depth, with an exploration of ethics and an examination of their values across different worlds and different situations
  • the plot twists were awesome, the plot itself with good pacing
  • the main romance as well as other character interactions were brilliant (even if i feel like the big misunderstanding between the main romance couple was a bit silly)
  • the author covered some very heavy subjects with a lot of care but also the honesty that such trauma encompasses
  • for once i could feel positively about the existentialism in a novel
  • slightly ambiguous ending was perfect for the type of book this is

make sure to check content warnings before you read this!!

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internationalreads's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0


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syllareads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

They say hunting monsters will turn you into one. That isn't what's happening now. Sometimes to kill a dragon, you have to remember that you breathe fire too. This isn't a becoming: it's a revealing. I've been a monster all along.

I still cannot quite believe that this book is Micaiah Johnson's debut because it's just so flawlessly executed in almost every single way. The Space between Worlds is a scifi novel about humankind discovering that there's more than one reality - but to travel between the 380 worlds their sensors managed to pick up, your doppelganger in the one world you intend to travel to has to be dead. Otherwise, the travel will kill you, as the world (or Nyame, as the traversers call the void between worlds, or perhaps their goddess, no one is really sure) will kill you since there can ever be only one person of each kind in a world.

Cara is dead in almost every one of these realities - in all, in fact, but 8. And so she's one of her company's most requested traversers; right up until she gets a call that another of her dops (a slang adopted by traversers to talk about their doppelgangers in other worlds) has died in world 175. What seems to be just a normal mission exposes things she's never bothered to look at closely before, right up until she can no longer ignore them.

This book effortlessly talks about racism, exploitation of those suppressed by a system no one in power cares to dismantle, and domestic abuse all the while serving up a deliciously, deliriously dangerous plot Cara gets swept away with. Johnson's language is beautiful and evocative, leaving you craving for more once you close the book for the very last time. Cara's inner self, rough from her life on the outskirts of society, beautiful from within her very own heart, honest and craving, and surviving is laid bare to us within less than 350 pages. Her feelings for Dell, her watcher, a woman who accompanies her on her missions to faraway realities via headset, are sharp and painful, because for all her wanting, she's convinced Dell will never want her back - and yet, she cannot help herself.

I fell in love with this book and I can only recommend it to everyone else!

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naldorah's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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totallyshelfaware's review

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Everything about this is absolutely great, except that I went into it without paying attention to the content warnings. 

It's got an excellent premise, wonderful writing, eloquent exploration of capitalism, class and power struggles, and honestly everything I normally gravitate towards. But it's a bit heavy on the domestic abuse and toxic relationship front, so be prepared for that going in.

I hope to be able to pick this up again sometime in the future.

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aardwyrm's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The structure and plot progression in this one go some fascinating places, and yet it builds fairly smoothly to a complete, effective whole. The worldbuilding and most of the character work are painful and elaborate (though Cara's relationship with Dell is a tad bit underwritten) and the plot is well executed as much as interesting, which is impressive with all the layers of conspiracy.

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thechiaraface's review

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adventurous hopeful 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

4.25

  This is science-fiction novel where we follow Cara, who is a traverser – or a person who can travel between worlds (at least using her companies technology). In this story and this particular world, the technolgy to travel the multi-verse is real, BUT you can't visit another world where your counterpart (or dop) is still alive. Cara makes an excellent traverser because she is dead on so many other worlds. This follows Cara's story as she delves deeper into traversing and finds herself in some sticky situations after one of her few dops left dies mysteriously. 

 This book was not what I expected but I really liked it. I think if you aren't a big sci-fi person you could still get into this book as it's not too science-y and not too 'out there' (the world in this book is pretty similar to our own, just a little more futuristic). This book explores the class, wealth, and privilege in an interesting way. Cara is good traverser because 'she' dies so frequently, but why is that? - because she is poor and her mother is/was a drug addict. And so many of the other traversers have just as unfortunate stories. The premise itself leads to interesting commentary and musings, and the direction the story ended up going led to even more interesting conversations. I really liked this book, and in particular how many times it surprised me. There were some parts that I found predictable, but I really loved the handful of BIG moments that took me by surprise. The pacing in this was a little off at times in my opinion, part 2 was too long, and in the the last part some things wrapped up too fast. But overall, I really liked this and think it balanced plot, character development, and commentary really well.  

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