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mar's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
troisha's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit
alouette's review
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!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage and Terminal illness
internationalreads's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
pastelwriter's review
adventurous
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
4.5
I had such a good time reading this book! It hooked me from the very start.
The writing in this book was light enough to make this a breeze to get through while at the same time being substantial enough to deliver on the world building and themes explored by the narrative. It's honestly such strong writing for a debut. It never felt like the story was dragging. I was never confused about the world. I felt like I had gotten into a smooth sailing ship.
Honestly, one of my favorite things about this book was the world. It was the perfect mix of quasi-dystopian and realistic. It felt like a lived-in world. It wasn't like we learned about every nook and cranny of this world, but it was enough to make it feel like you knew everything you needed to in order to be right there with the protagonist.
My favorite part of this book, of course, was the characters. I was a huge fan of the antagonist(s) of this book. There were two men in particular in this book that were excellent antagonists because they were never reduced to caricatures of villains. They had realistic flaws and desires. They felt the full range of human emotion. They made decisions that made sense without turning into a cackling villain trying to destroy the whole world.Like, when we found out Adam was killing his other selves in other earths along with anyone who got too close to figuring out how to develop inter dimensional travel? I fucking SCREAMED. So fucking good.
In addition, our protagonist and her love interest were so good! Cara was such a complex character. She had such conflicting desires and motivations. She was certainly not a perfect woman.For example, when Cara brought up how she'd had sex with other world's versions of Del? I was like HOLY SHIT that's fucked up. Through it all, though, I was rooting for Cara. And I was rooting for Cara and Del (not sure if this is the spelling for her name) to get their act together and admit their feelings for one another. Their slowburn romance was killing me. The sapphic vibes and the yearning were impeccable. Honestly, I was left feeling like I could have easily read 100 more pages about the two of them and their feelings for one another.
In addition, I love any book which talks about belonging and whose lives are valued. Cara wants desperately to belong in Wiley City. She thinks acquiring citizenship will make her life finally matter--which of course is completely misguided. Citizenship doesn't make you belong in a place that doesn't value you because of your roots. When where you were born means those around you think you are less than, it doesn't matter if you carve a place for yourself in their world.
Furthermore, Cara's need for belonging also translates into her having a consistent pattern of desperately wanting to be loved and accepted by those around her--to the point that she falls into toxic relationships because she wants to be wanted to badly.
Finally, as my spoilers have hinted at, the plot twists in this book were SO GOOD. Ugh. I loved them. They weren't mind blowing in terms of being completely out of left field, but I was still left gasping a few times at the turn of events.
If there is one complaint I have about this book, it would be that the ending felt like it could have used more page time. The ending felt a little rushed. Regardless, it was a good ending.
P.S. I also love that in this book the different earths have characters repeating similar patterns. People, in many ways, are "destined" to meet or "destined" to feel certain ways about each other. Whether these relationships work for the better or worse of those involved depend on other decisions made by the individuals in a particular earth. It's fucking great. As someone who is trash for the idea of soulmates, this book explored a similar idea in a much more nuanced way.
The writing in this book was light enough to make this a breeze to get through while at the same time being substantial enough to deliver on the world building and themes explored by the narrative. It's honestly such strong writing for a debut. It never felt like the story was dragging. I was never confused about the world. I felt like I had gotten into a smooth sailing ship.
Honestly, one of my favorite things about this book was the world. It was the perfect mix of quasi-dystopian and realistic. It felt like a lived-in world. It wasn't like we learned about every nook and cranny of this world, but it was enough to make it feel like you knew everything you needed to in order to be right there with the protagonist.
My favorite part of this book, of course, was the characters. I was a huge fan of the antagonist(s) of this book. There were two men in particular in this book that were excellent antagonists because they were never reduced to caricatures of villains. They had realistic flaws and desires. They felt the full range of human emotion. They made decisions that made sense without turning into a cackling villain trying to destroy the whole world.
In addition, our protagonist and her love interest were so good! Cara was such a complex character. She had such conflicting desires and motivations. She was certainly not a perfect woman.
In addition, I love any book which talks about belonging and whose lives are valued. Cara wants desperately to belong in Wiley City. She thinks acquiring citizenship will make her life finally matter--which of course is completely misguided. Citizenship doesn't make you belong in a place that doesn't value you because of your roots. When where you were born means those around you think you are less than, it doesn't matter if you carve a place for yourself in their world.
Furthermore, Cara's need for belonging also translates into her having a consistent pattern of desperately wanting to be loved and accepted by those around her--to the point that she falls into toxic relationships because she wants to be wanted to badly.
Finally, as my spoilers have hinted at, the plot twists in this book were SO GOOD. Ugh. I loved them. They weren't mind blowing in terms of being completely out of left field, but I was still left gasping a few times at the turn of events.
If there is one complaint I have about this book, it would be that the ending felt like it could have used more page time. The ending felt a little rushed. Regardless, it was a good ending.
P.S. I also love that in this book the different earths have characters repeating similar patterns. People, in many ways, are "destined" to meet or "destined" to feel certain ways about each other. Whether these relationships work for the better or worse of those involved depend on other decisions made by the individuals in a particular earth. It's fucking great. As someone who is trash for the idea of soulmates, this book explored a similar idea in a much more nuanced way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
phoebereads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The Space Between Worlds is a beautiful and clever sci/fi story with a fierce protagonist and a thrilling storyline. Johnson has created a story full of humanity set amidst worlds that are unfamiliar and yet not so hard to imagine. Cara's kaleidoscope of selves and of identities is brilliant to follow, and her character development through the story is a shining piece of this novel. This was a book I found hard to put down, drawn into the story immediately. I found its entire arc to be a great read, and it's a book I not only plan on recommending to others, but one I also anticipate I will pick up again for a re-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
malloryfitz's review
dark
reflective
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Premise- (3.5/5) Alternate universes are such a cool concept. I mean, I never want to get deep into the science and technicalities of it, but I think it always has a lot of potential. Including here! The parallel universes coupled with the mystery-plot was definitely intriguing for me, though it's not exactly my usual genre.
Characters- (4/5) Cara was a really interesting protagonist, especially because we got to see her thoughts and ruminations on the other versions of herself. She was clever and pithy and really self-reflective without ever being weepy or melodramatic or too meta about it. And it was so fascinating to see her relationships with her family, friends, and enemies across different worlds. It really opened those relationships up to deeper depths. It also raised a lot of interesting thought about nature/nurture, and whether people can change, and how much they're shaped by their circumstances. Wrestles with those questions a lot, and Cara's voice was really strong for that.
Plot- (3/5) The thing was, I liked the alternate world plot a lot more than the "actual" plot that the book ended with. The alternate world plot was just a lot more interesting to me than the Earth-0 plot, which was well done, just didn't hold my attention as much. Maybe it was just because I liked the way Johnson played with the idea of a world that's almost yours--if a few things changed that had major shifting consequences. Like I said, the Earth-0 plot, which ended up being the main plot for the second half of the book was well constructed, I just didn't like it as much.
World- (5/5) I really enjoyed Johnson's world building. It wasn't too technical, but the subtleties that were developed between parallel universes gave the worlds a lot of depth. I also liked that we got a good understanding each sector of the world--the city, the Rurals, the Wastes, the desert. And Cara's extensive experience was the perfect way to draw attention to the differences between those settings.
Writing- (4/5) Johnson's writing wasn't flowery, but she had some really poignant lines. And she created a lot of dialogue about important themes like whose lives matter the most, the way class dynamics can play out, and the violence and trauma of growing up in really terrible situations. She was also able to get the book title in there a lot.
Overall- (3.9/5) The Space Between Worlds was a fascinating character study, thanks to the multiverse concept and the protagonist's unique position between these universes. The world building and characters went hand in hand for this book, building on each other to create many-faceted characters and raise questions about how circumstances can shape our personalities. There were a lot of other themes Johnson was able to incorporate too, and Cara was a great protagonist to bring them to light. I did find the main plot to be less compelling than the initial mystery plot, but the character portraits were excellent, and I loved exploring the differences between the parallel universes.
Characters- (4/5) Cara was a really interesting protagonist, especially because we got to see her thoughts and ruminations on the other versions of herself. She was clever and pithy and really self-reflective without ever being weepy or melodramatic or too meta about it. And it was so fascinating to see her relationships with her family, friends, and enemies across different worlds. It really opened those relationships up to deeper depths. It also raised a lot of interesting thought about nature/nurture, and whether people can change, and how much they're shaped by their circumstances. Wrestles with those questions a lot, and Cara's voice was really strong for that.
Plot- (3/5) The thing was, I liked the alternate world plot a lot more than the "actual" plot that the book ended with. The alternate world plot was just a lot more interesting to me than the Earth-0 plot, which was well done, just didn't hold my attention as much. Maybe it was just because I liked the way Johnson played with the idea of a world that's almost yours--if a few things changed that had major shifting consequences. Like I said, the Earth-0 plot, which ended up being the main plot for the second half of the book was well constructed, I just didn't like it as much.
World- (5/5) I really enjoyed Johnson's world building. It wasn't too technical, but the subtleties that were developed between parallel universes gave the worlds a lot of depth. I also liked that we got a good understanding each sector of the world--the city, the Rurals, the Wastes, the desert. And Cara's extensive experience was the perfect way to draw attention to the differences between those settings.
Writing- (4/5) Johnson's writing wasn't flowery, but she had some really poignant lines. And she created a lot of dialogue about important themes like whose lives matter the most, the way class dynamics can play out, and the violence and trauma of growing up in really terrible situations. She was also able to get the book title in there a lot.
Overall- (3.9/5) The Space Between Worlds was a fascinating character study, thanks to the multiverse concept and the protagonist's unique position between these universes. The world building and characters went hand in hand for this book, building on each other to create many-faceted characters and raise questions about how circumstances can shape our personalities. There were a lot of other themes Johnson was able to incorporate too, and Cara was a great protagonist to bring them to light. I did find the main plot to be less compelling than the initial mystery plot, but the character portraits were excellent, and I loved exploring the differences between the parallel universes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
bookishbutch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Seriously one of the best books I've read in a long time!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Homophobia
alas_aly's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't read a lot of sci-fi, mostly because I don't know what I like in the genre. One thing that I know that I do like is multiverse stories which is the premise of this story. I know that all or most science fiction stories are allegories and this one is no exception. That being said, it is done with such a deft touch I could easily see this being a classic that students read and study in schools. There are lines in here are that are just gut punches but you didn't get to sit with them because the narrative keeps moving forward. I really appreciate that the story both gives you beautiful writing but doesn't force you to slow down and dwell in it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Sexual content, and Trafficking
Minor: Cursing and Child death
lilifane's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I didn't know much about this book when I started reading it, only that it takes place in a world where the multiverse is confirmed and where it's possible to travel between the different earths.
Cara, the protagonist, is one of the few people who get the chance to experience this, because there is one catch: you have to be dead on the other earth, to be able to survive the journey to it. And from the 380 worlds that are similar enough to travel to, Cara is dead on all but 8. So she is hired by the inventor of the technology that makes traversing possible to travel to other worlds and gather information on them, intel that will help her own world to learn and thrive. But then she makes a discovery that changes everything.
I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot. It's a little much at the beginning but the worldbuilding is phenomenal, the cast is diverse and I loved Cara's voice from the start. She is such an amazing complex character. She is strong, smart, ambitious, fragile, makes bad decisions. You get frustrated with her sometimes but she also surprises you when you expect it the least. The writing is beautiful and full of details that get important later. The plot is unexpected, it switches between slow and fast pace, between action and contemplation (it gets a little generic in the second half though). For me it was never about the plot. It's about the world and it's rules, about the character developments, about the struggles between what is right and what is easy to do, about fittng in vs. belonging. I really liked all the characters, even the villains, because due to the multiple earths and versions, you get to know a lot of different aspects of them. I loved the sibling dynamics throught the whole book, the found families, even the spiritual aspects which fit surprisingly well with everything. And then there is this slow burn wlw subplot...
It's really hard for me to describe the book because I haven't read anything like it before and there is so much to think about and discuss. And even though I think the second half was weaker than the first half, the ending was just perfect for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
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