Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

59 reviews

alouette's review against another edition

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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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 against another edition

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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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

naldorah's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse

corinnereads7's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

eleanora's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, Drug use, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

paxson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.75

a look into the butterfly effect and what we can truly know of other people. Handles racism, domestic violence, sexual assault, sexism, and homophobia critically and in a self-aware manner. Pansexual protagonist and gender non-confirming characters aplenty changes some of the common archetypes from this kind of sci-fi speculative fiction. A worthwhile read if you are like Cara trying to overcome a traumatic past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Addiction, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

rainbowshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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 and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction

thechiaraface's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

phoebereads's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Death of parent and Child death

alayamorning's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit