Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

47 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

This was SO GOOD. So many people have loved this book and I really hoped I could be one of them, and I am! It has such such a great combination of plot, character, and theme, and the writing style was great: it was filled with some wry observations that either make you see things in a new light or perfectly put into words how you might already think about something. 

The story was gripping right from the off. It’s the kind of plot where you don’t really know where things are going to go, but not at all in a bad way. There are intriguing twists and some great pacing. I will say that the ending felt a little rushed, though. 

I really liked the MC Cara, who embodied the reluctant hero trope. She goes through ethical dilemmas throughout the book, torn between self-preservation and her moral compass. It was interesting seeing her perspective on these dilemmas, seeing the thought process behind her actions. Moreover, in Cara (and other characters) we see a key theme played out: how different circumstances (as seen on alternate Earths) can lead someone to become a different person. Cara gets to observe how one event happening, or not happening, could have impacted her character. And through this Cara questions if the opposite cannot also be true, that is, if different circumstances can have no impact on a person’s development, because there are people and situations we will always be drawn to due to our nature. This was really fascinating to think about. 

Another great theme was this idea of “the space between worlds”, an idea that crops up in so many places within the novel. For example, it is a physical liminal space when Cara is traversing, but it is also the space which Cara occupies as an Ashtown-born person working in Wiley City. The theme embodies how Cara feels more at home in the space between worlds than she does on said worlds themselves. 

I also thought the romance was a great touch. I loved the mutual pining and how oblivious Cara was with the whole thing. I do wish I had gotten more of an idea as to why Cara and Dell were attracted to one another; we are shown that they are, but I wanted to know the why. 

Overall this was a fantastic read and I’m excited for the potential companion novel! 

Rep: Black sapphic MC, Japanese-American sapphic LI, Ivorian-American SC 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Racism, Drug abuse, Body horror, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: War, Child abuse, Sexual content, Colonisation, Suicide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Medical content, Miscarriage, Vomit, Ableism, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Minor: nuclear warfare, volcano

templetoncecelia's review

adventurous reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Classism, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

traa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Classism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Vomit

melodei3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Grief, Torture, Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

piphux's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Murder, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit

erosabsens's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Homophobia

jdamae11's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

Read this back in January but I'm back to give a full review of one of my favorite books, probably taking the crown for my top book of 2023 tbh. Micaiah Johnson took a common Sci-Fi concept—the multiverse—and created a super Queer adventurous narrative exploring classism, exploitation, and race, and identity. In the world of the novel, it has been discovered that multiverse travel can be fatal if one’s alternate self is still alive on another universe that one travels to. So the tech-run ultra capitalist govt on Earth 0 creates a class of “traversers” comprised of the mostly Black and Brown working-class poor to travel to other universes. Our main character, Cara, is a traverser and is only alive on 8 versions of earth. There are so many satisfying plot twists and moments of exciting action throughout the book. We also experience Cara’s internal crises as she grapples with the idea of her true self, mortality, and the fallout of having lived a life constantly in survival mode no matter the universe. The author’s writing is just beautiful and made me want to pick up my own pen again. In Johnson’s world, gender is fluid and Trans elders are widely regarded with the highest respect, as they should be always! It also features a central wlw love story that’s really heartfelt and the ending leaves you full of hope and imagination for what could be. In terms of setting there’s a bit of both Mad Max and Hunger Games Capitol vibes, which was very fun! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookwormbi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.75

This book is so surprising in so many ways, and I absolutely loved it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Domestic abuse

Minor: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and War

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Deportation

Minor: Drug abuse, War, Sexual content, and Medical content

kaitlinnoodles's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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: Violence, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Classism, Body horror, Gore, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Colonisation, Sexual content, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Torture, Abandonment, Child abuse, Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, and Drug abuse