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A review by secre
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Murder
Minor: Drug abuse