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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
interesting story and angle. nice to make the heroine/protagonist the unlikely supernatural.
The Space Between was dark, evocative and had an unusual heroine that I found just weird enough to love.
Also, NO LOVE TRIANGLE.
Also, NO LOVE TRIANGLE.
The Space Between was the first book I ever picked up by Brenna Yovanoff. I had never before come across her but the cover of this book was just too pretty to pass up (yes, I judge books by their gorgeous covers). I remember hauling a stack of books home from the library and twitching in the drivers seat, itching to get home. Surprise! I got home and immediately dove into The Space Between. Well, not really a surprise but I'm so glad I did. I whipped through it and wanted more! It made the rest of my library haul paled in comparison.
The Space Between was well written, funny yet creepy, and overall a fun read. I sympathized with Daphne and enjoyed her background. Pandemonium was built beautifully and portrayed just as well. I ate this book up! Even with the added romance that frustrated me cause come on, just spit it out! Though in the end I did give this book four stars because something about the conclusion left me hoping I had skipped a couple pages. It felt abrupt but regardless, I really did enjoy it while it lasted. I would definitely suggest this book to a friend.
The Space Between was well written, funny yet creepy, and overall a fun read. I sympathized with Daphne and enjoyed her background. Pandemonium was built beautifully and portrayed just as well. I ate this book up! Even with the added romance that frustrated me cause come on, just spit it out! Though in the end I did give this book four stars because something about the conclusion left me hoping I had skipped a couple pages. It felt abrupt but regardless, I really did enjoy it while it lasted. I would definitely suggest this book to a friend.
Lilith's daughter goes on an adventure to find her brother who has disappeared.
Daphne lives in Hell with her parents, Lilith and Lucifer. She's never left, but her brother is tasked with saving souls of the Lost Ones - children of demons or angels and humans. Obie, Daphne's brother, decides he's had enough of this life and chooses to leave. On his way, he stumbles across Truman, a Lost Soul who wasn't suppose to be there. Daphne, who was following Obie, can't explain what draws her to Truman. Before she knows it, they're both gone.
Not for long though. Lilith reaches out to Daphne in a panic. Obie has gone missing and Daphne must go to earth to find him. She's never been to Earth before, but is determined Truman is the way to find Obie. Truman is on the path of self-destruction. Can the two of them help each other?
Not as good as Yovanoff's The Replacement, this story definitely grows on you. The beginning is a little complicated but it gets easier to follow. Still an enjoyable supernatural story with romantic overtones.
Not for long though. Lilith reaches out to Daphne in a panic. Obie has gone missing and Daphne must go to earth to find him. She's never been to Earth before, but is determined Truman is the way to find Obie. Truman is on the path of self-destruction. Can the two of them help each other?
Not as good as Yovanoff's The Replacement, this story definitely grows on you. The beginning is a little complicated but it gets easier to follow. Still an enjoyable supernatural story with romantic overtones.
(vague spoilers....nothing you wouldn't read on the back of the book)
I was attracted to the idea of this book having been drawn to other works that draws on the idea of Christian religion as it's lore. Things like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta or for those of you who read (gee, I wonder if they're here on a sight called "good reads") the Sandman Slim series.
I liked the concept of the book, and I can say the love stuff wasn't over bearing (thank goodness) and was more of a add on. The main character is Daphne who is the child of a demon and a angel (that's called a nephillum for those of you keeping score) she defines herself as a demon however, even though her desire to cause havoc is minimal to none. The plot is that she is out to find her brother, who is also a demon* and starts with the last person her brother encountered.
*her brother is not evil either, he's actually into trying to help half angels
I liked that also the book has a underlying message of not having to be what people define you as, and/or not having to act according to the label that has been put on you. IE we have demons who are in effect helping people, and Angels who are benevolent assholes who torment humans...
Now my one gripe with this book is Beelzebub and Lucifer are 2 different characters.... which is weird, because in religious circles they are both names for the Devil (I wonder if they'll go all Devil is a part Timer up in there and have a third character show up named Satan?) Both of these characters seem to be good... but at the same time are actually complex in there actions. Oddly enough, it makes the 2 of them seem more human, because some of these questionable actions are motivated by emotion.
Can't decide if I liked the ending or not in honest, it didn't feel forced but, I it didn't feel realistic- if realism has any place in fantasy. Overall, a good first outing with this author. I'll probably try something else by her eventually.
I was attracted to the idea of this book having been drawn to other works that draws on the idea of Christian religion as it's lore. Things like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta or for those of you who read (gee, I wonder if they're here on a sight called "good reads") the Sandman Slim series.
I liked the concept of the book, and I can say the love stuff wasn't over bearing (thank goodness) and was more of a add on. The main character is Daphne who is the child of a demon and a angel (that's called a nephillum for those of you keeping score) she defines herself as a demon however, even though her desire to cause havoc is minimal to none. The plot is that she is out to find her brother, who is also a demon* and starts with the last person her brother encountered.
*her brother is not evil either, he's actually into trying to help half angels
I liked that also the book has a underlying message of not having to be what people define you as, and/or not having to act according to the label that has been put on you. IE we have demons who are in effect helping people, and Angels who are benevolent assholes who torment humans...
Now my one gripe with this book is Beelzebub and Lucifer are 2 different characters.... which is weird, because in religious circles they are both names for the Devil (I wonder if they'll go all Devil is a part Timer up in there and have a third character show up named Satan?) Both of these characters seem to be good... but at the same time are actually complex in there actions. Oddly enough, it makes the 2 of them seem more human, because some of these questionable actions are motivated by emotion.
Can't decide if I liked the ending or not in honest, it didn't feel forced but, I it didn't feel realistic- if realism has any place in fantasy. Overall, a good first outing with this author. I'll probably try something else by her eventually.
Also posted on Rally the Readers.
First, I’d like to ooh and aah over the cover for a bit. The design is just beautiful, even more so when you see it in person, and it certainly caught my eye when Goodreads recommended The Space Between to me over a year ago. And the cover art is actually relevant to the book for a change. Daphne, the protagonist, is the half-demon/half-fallen angel daughter of Lilith and Lucifer and lives in Pandemonium, a city in Hell where everything is made of metal (Pandemonium does have its own furnace, after all.). I think that the cover is an imaginative, accurate visualization of Pandemonium.
This book seriously blew my mind, and in a good way. It’s such a creative take on angels and demons and heaven and hell (mostly the demons and hell parts). I loved how some of the conventional notions involved in this type of story were maintained, like Hell being hot, while others were completely reversed. Daphne doesn’t want to be like her numerous sisters, the Lilim, who go to Earth for “a fix;” they prey on human men and take their dreams and memories from them. Whereas half-demon Daphne demonstrates a conscience, Azrael, the Angel of Death whose duty is to destroy demons on Earth, is portrayed as quite merciless. He calls upon his vicious monster, Dark Dreadful, to dispense with the demons who dare invade his turf. Dark Dreadful is every bit as scary as she sounds.
This novel had some creepy moments and some bizarre moments in it, yet I was 100% sold on the world. When Daphne first arrives on Earth, she’s rather overwhelmed. Her knowledge is limited to what her brother, Obie, whose job entails spending most of his time there, has told her. Daphne is pretty naïve to the ways of the human world, like when she thinks the guy behind the deli counter has said “Salome” because she doesn’t know what “salami” is. But this scene and others like it totally work and don’t make Daphne look silly because Brenna Yovanoff has written them in such a way that you couldn’t expect anything else from a character who’s lived in Hell all of her life.
The characterizations in The Space Between are incredible. Here’s a statement that I don’t think I could have gotten away with during my thirteen years of Catholic school: I really liked Beelzebub! He heads up Hell’s Collections Department; i.e. he’s in charge of reaping souls. He’s just cool and is the person whom Daphne turns to for help and advice. I also liked Obie and how strong his sibling bond was with his sister. The two look out for one another and are very much alike in the compassion that they both have for others.
I loved Daphne. I loved how she strove to be better than the Lilim and how big her heart was despite her doubts that she’d ever know what it meant to love. I just wanted to tell her, “But you already know, Daphne! You already know!” Even though her search for Obie takes her to a place that is alien to her and she’s nearly mugged soon after setting foot on Earth, Daphne keeps her wits about her. As she begins running out of time to help her brother, some cracks start to show in her poise, but it’s then that she finds support from an unlikely source: Truman Flynn.
Daphne first sees Truman when he makes a brief appearance in Hell following a suicide attempt. He’s sent back to Earth with Obie, who’d been looking after him and whose job it is to help the Lost Ones, the half-human offspring of fallen angels. Truman is Daphne’s only clue to Obie’s whereabouts, and when she encounters Truman again, he’s in really bad shape, passed out on a bathroom floor from too much drinking. Since his mother’s death, he’s set himself on a path to self-destruction that is heartbreaking to behold. Daphne, who so wrongly believes that she’s incapable of human empathy, has felt exactly that for Truman from the moment she met him. Truman, who so wrongly believes that he has nothing to live for, very slowly comes around to helping Daphne with her task. The relationship that gradually builds between these two is exquisitely crafted. My shabby description of it can’t even begin to properly capture it.
I was all set to unequivocally give The Space Between five stars until the novel started winding down toward its conclusion. It’s not that I didn’t like the ending itself; I just didn’t like the way events leading up to the ending unfolded. In fact, I was like, “WTF?!” I think this is just a case of me being me, though. Every single other aspect of this stellar novel deserves five stars, and that’s what I’m rating the book overall.
First, I’d like to ooh and aah over the cover for a bit. The design is just beautiful, even more so when you see it in person, and it certainly caught my eye when Goodreads recommended The Space Between to me over a year ago. And the cover art is actually relevant to the book for a change. Daphne, the protagonist, is the half-demon/half-fallen angel daughter of Lilith and Lucifer and lives in Pandemonium, a city in Hell where everything is made of metal (Pandemonium does have its own furnace, after all.). I think that the cover is an imaginative, accurate visualization of Pandemonium.
This book seriously blew my mind, and in a good way. It’s such a creative take on angels and demons and heaven and hell (mostly the demons and hell parts). I loved how some of the conventional notions involved in this type of story were maintained, like Hell being hot, while others were completely reversed. Daphne doesn’t want to be like her numerous sisters, the Lilim, who go to Earth for “a fix;” they prey on human men and take their dreams and memories from them. Whereas half-demon Daphne demonstrates a conscience, Azrael, the Angel of Death whose duty is to destroy demons on Earth, is portrayed as quite merciless. He calls upon his vicious monster, Dark Dreadful, to dispense with the demons who dare invade his turf. Dark Dreadful is every bit as scary as she sounds.
This novel had some creepy moments and some bizarre moments in it, yet I was 100% sold on the world. When Daphne first arrives on Earth, she’s rather overwhelmed. Her knowledge is limited to what her brother, Obie, whose job entails spending most of his time there, has told her. Daphne is pretty naïve to the ways of the human world, like when she thinks the guy behind the deli counter has said “Salome” because she doesn’t know what “salami” is. But this scene and others like it totally work and don’t make Daphne look silly because Brenna Yovanoff has written them in such a way that you couldn’t expect anything else from a character who’s lived in Hell all of her life.
The characterizations in The Space Between are incredible. Here’s a statement that I don’t think I could have gotten away with during my thirteen years of Catholic school: I really liked Beelzebub! He heads up Hell’s Collections Department; i.e. he’s in charge of reaping souls. He’s just cool and is the person whom Daphne turns to for help and advice. I also liked Obie and how strong his sibling bond was with his sister. The two look out for one another and are very much alike in the compassion that they both have for others.
I loved Daphne. I loved how she strove to be better than the Lilim and how big her heart was despite her doubts that she’d ever know what it meant to love. I just wanted to tell her, “But you already know, Daphne! You already know!” Even though her search for Obie takes her to a place that is alien to her and she’s nearly mugged soon after setting foot on Earth, Daphne keeps her wits about her. As she begins running out of time to help her brother, some cracks start to show in her poise, but it’s then that she finds support from an unlikely source: Truman Flynn.
Daphne first sees Truman when he makes a brief appearance in Hell following a suicide attempt. He’s sent back to Earth with Obie, who’d been looking after him and whose job it is to help the Lost Ones, the half-human offspring of fallen angels. Truman is Daphne’s only clue to Obie’s whereabouts, and when she encounters Truman again, he’s in really bad shape, passed out on a bathroom floor from too much drinking. Since his mother’s death, he’s set himself on a path to self-destruction that is heartbreaking to behold. Daphne, who so wrongly believes that she’s incapable of human empathy, has felt exactly that for Truman from the moment she met him. Truman, who so wrongly believes that he has nothing to live for, very slowly comes around to helping Daphne with her task. The relationship that gradually builds between these two is exquisitely crafted. My shabby description of it can’t even begin to properly capture it.
I was all set to unequivocally give The Space Between five stars until the novel started winding down toward its conclusion. It’s not that I didn’t like the ending itself; I just didn’t like the way events leading up to the ending unfolded. In fact, I was like, “WTF?!” I think this is just a case of me being me, though. Every single other aspect of this stellar novel deserves five stars, and that’s what I’m rating the book overall.