Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

9 reviews

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This wasn't quite what I expected.  I was expecting it to be set on contemporary earth or maybe the near future.   That was probably my fault for making an assumption and this misalignment of expectations may have influenced how I felt about the book.

The idea that travel is limited to a few hundred worlds because otherwise they're too dissimilar to the traveler's world (and that they can start closely aligned enough for travel but become misaligned enough to make it impossible) is interesting.   And it doesn't seem tied to the particular traveler, the present circumstances of the Earth as a whole has to be pretty similar.    Consequently, most people's circumstances are pretty similar from world to world.   It's certainly different from most alternate reality books where someone tries on various lives completely different from their own (only to realize the life they'd been living was the best one all along).   It does mean that big historical moments and conditions have to be somewhat similar.  For example, just as a world with nuclear war would take itself out of alignment, so would one with much greater  equality, where some of the biggest problems have been solved. 

There's also some romance to it, the notion that the same people come together across multiple worlds.  Of course, those relationships aren't always healthy sometimes they're quite toxic.  

But mostly, of course, it's about exploiting other worlds.   Obtaining resources the prime world can't (or won't) extract on its own.    And letting things play out on other worlds so they can decide what to do (or not) on their own.   It's not quite clear how the data the travelers retrieve is gathered, but I suppose that's a minor detail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

leannanecdote's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Trafficking, and Vomit

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

ohheyitskaitlin'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

kay_brot's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

dmbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, War, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Confinement

Minor: Drug use

chapis's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Racism, Classism, War, and Torture

I've been looking for a book like this for so long.

hngoodlett's review against another edition

adventurous 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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War and Vomit

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