Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

107 reviews

naestolgia_'s review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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

It is 2:25am as I finish this book. I'm speechless. 

This is one of the most profound stories I've read in a while. A sci-fi packed with action, philosophical themes, memorable characters and a plot that wouldn't quit. The author touched on race, classism, war, religion vs science, nature vs nurture all while pulling us through the multiverse. 

This story was full of twists and turns at every level. I could not put it down - it read like a complete series almost. I thought the conversation around identity and grief was thought provoking. Cara's flaws, conflicts and development were well written. I was good with the ending, but selfishly wish for something more cliche after everything. Ha! Will be a staple in my library for sure.

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kassidyreads's review

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challenging dark emotional slow-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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deetabz's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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widowrites's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

This book absolutely blew me away. I love a complicated character who isn’t perfect and this story nails that. The premise itself is interesting and it’s executed brilliantly. 

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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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secre's review

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adventurous 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

4.5

A Space Between Worlds is a riveting and entertaining science fiction novel that starts as one thing and quickly spirals into a much deeper and wider conspiracy net. The opening pages confused me as I struggled to understand what was going on, but once I got past that hurdle I was absolutely hooked. It's got an interesting set-up; the Earth Cara lives on is Earth zero. However technology has advanced to the point that people can travel to alternate worlds... but only if their alternate self no longer exists. Cara is therefore valuable as for one reason or another, nearly all of her alternate selves are dead. She can travel to almost all of the alternate worlds. Only on her latest available world, Cara hits a snag. And that snag leads to discoveries that will change the shape of her own world.

This is a book that is both poignant and entertaining. It's also beautifully written. Johnson builds up the worlds beautifully, with each change potentially having a ripple effect that has long lasting effects. Along with the world building, the characterisations are exceptionally done and the romance angle was enough in the background to not niggle at me. No problems with queer romance, I just find any romance that takes over the story to be annoying. I particularly appreciated how real many of the side characters were, when they could have just faded into the background almost anonymously.

All in all, I really enjoyed this and will certainly seek out more of Micaiah Johnson's work. I felt it was a clever narrative that drew on themes of racial and social inequalities and disparities without standing on a soap box yelling about them. The characters were lively and interesting and I was genuinely invested in their well-being. And the narrative was interesting and unexpected at points, without ever having to rely on sudden shock twists without build up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title. 

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hybridhavoc's review against another edition

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

5.0

Absolutely loved this one. It's not often that a sci-fi novel gets a really great premise and complex characters with complex relationships. This book delivers.

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pferdina's review

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challenging dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Traveling between worlds, Cara also translates between her people in Ashtown and her coworkers in Wiley City. 

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tangleroot_eli's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
It's only March, but the books I read for the rest of 2024 will have a hard fight to unseat this one as my favorite of the year.

Johnson's worldbuilding is exquisite. I got attached to her characters within paragraphs of their introductions. Her portrayals of classism, racism, and colonialism felt like constant gut-punches. If Spouse weren't waiting to read it before we have to return this copy to the library, I might've flipped right back to the beginning and started reading it again the moment I finished it.

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crownoflaurel's review

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

4.25


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