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A review by orchids
The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the Advanced Reader Copy!
This book follows protagonist Aimee Roh, a high schooler with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome where a specific scent of items like sawdust or perfume can physically take her back in time to a childhood memory. As the story progresses, Aimee realizes she is almost always being brought back in time to memories of her mother who walked away from Aimee's life at a young age. Aimee begins searching for answers both inside and outside of her memories on why her mom left her. Throughout the book, Aimee finds more answers about herself and her relationships with people in the present as well as finding out the truth of what happened to her mother.
The book is exceptionally well-written. Sometimes I would suddenly remember, "Oh, this is a young adult book!" It was so easy to get lost in the story and read large sections of the book in one sitting, and that is in large part due to Sarah Suk's incredible world-building and character development. This book was so hard to put down! I would categorize this book as magical realism akin to books Isabel Allende and Cristina García have written, and yet, the settings and characters felt so grounded and based in reality. Each character is so complex and flawed, including protagonist Aimee, which I think really adds so much dimension to the story overall. I think Suk did an amazing job of unraveling this story as the book progresses. The reader is slowly made privy to the reasoning for certain character motivations (what immediately comes to mind is Aimee's father, who was so complex and beautifully written). I was always kept on my toes and second-guessing how the story was going to play out. Time and time again, the book kept surprising me, in a good way! I couldn't be happier with how the book ended; I felt like everything was resolved so lovely. Admittedly, I was crying my way through reading the last few chapters of the book. This book deals with themes such as grief and identity so beautifully and with a fresh and unique lens with fantastical elements such as time-traveling.
I truly think this a flawless book! The plot was engaging from beginning to end. The characters, no matter how big or small of a role they played in the plot, were multifaceted and added dimension to the story. The sci-fi element of time traveling with Suk's addition of Sensory Time Warp Syndrome felt new and fresh; I truly haven't seen anything like this. Sarah Suk really hit it out of the park with this novel. It quickly became one of my favorite books of all time!! I highly recommend this book to anybody who loves sci-fi, mysteries, and good ol' coming-of-age stories!
This book follows protagonist Aimee Roh, a high schooler with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome where a specific scent of items like sawdust or perfume can physically take her back in time to a childhood memory. As the story progresses, Aimee realizes she is almost always being brought back in time to memories of her mother who walked away from Aimee's life at a young age. Aimee begins searching for answers both inside and outside of her memories on why her mom left her. Throughout the book, Aimee finds more answers about herself and her relationships with people in the present as well as finding out the truth of what happened to her mother.
The book is exceptionally well-written. Sometimes I would suddenly remember, "Oh, this is a young adult book!" It was so easy to get lost in the story and read large sections of the book in one sitting, and that is in large part due to Sarah Suk's incredible world-building and character development. This book was so hard to put down! I would categorize this book as magical realism akin to books Isabel Allende and Cristina García have written, and yet, the settings and characters felt so grounded and based in reality. Each character is so complex and flawed, including protagonist Aimee, which I think really adds so much dimension to the story overall. I think Suk did an amazing job of unraveling this story as the book progresses. The reader is slowly made privy to the reasoning for certain character motivations (what immediately comes to mind is Aimee's father, who was so complex and beautifully written). I was always kept on my toes and second-guessing how the story was going to play out. Time and time again, the book kept surprising me, in a good way! I couldn't be happier with how the book ended; I felt like everything was resolved so lovely. Admittedly, I was crying my way through reading the last few chapters of the book. This book deals with themes such as grief and identity so beautifully and with a fresh and unique lens with fantastical elements such as time-traveling.
I truly think this a flawless book! The plot was engaging from beginning to end. The characters, no matter how big or small of a role they played in the plot, were multifaceted and added dimension to the story. The sci-fi element of time traveling with Suk's addition of Sensory Time Warp Syndrome felt new and fresh; I truly haven't seen anything like this. Sarah Suk really hit it out of the park with this novel. It quickly became one of my favorite books of all time!! I highly recommend this book to anybody who loves sci-fi, mysteries, and good ol' coming-of-age stories!