Reviews

In-Between by MJ James

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dianawolfess's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

FMC: Alicia

MMC(s): none

Tropes: Own voice autism rep, motherly love, found family, aromantic/asexual rep, queer romance

> Reviewer add:

Perspective: Third, mostly from Alicia’s perspective

Plot or character driven: Both

Spicy scenes breakdown:

> Present? No.

Burn speed: No romance burn.

Can this be read as a stand-alone: Yes

Re-Readability: High.

Content/Trigger Warnings/Enticements: Peril, people being ableist, classism, s. Assault (past, referenced).

I received an advanced listener copy of this book, and this is my voluntary, honest review.

Weird things are happening around Alicia’s son, Kenny. They found out that his dad was an elf, with magic, and Kenny has inherited magical abilities. Meanwhile, his donor is up to nefarious deeds.

This was a really cute, non-spicy story. It’s full of motherly love, and you can tell that Alicia has been discriminated against even in a school environment, and she is not about to let that happen to her son. I am not sure if it’s true in the book, but in the audio version the narrator doesn’t really use contractions on spoken words by the characters which lends for an odd formality.

I really liked this, and I’m curious to read more about this world.

lalu's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I won this book in a StoryGraph giveaway and I'm grateful for the chance to read something outside my comfort zone as I usually buy traditionally published books and mostly read cishet authors (not intentionally, but they just make up the majority).

I enjoyed the first ~80% of the story a lot. I expected less fantasy elements but the concept of the In-Between was intriguing and I actually found myself wanting more information and more details about it.
What sometimes threw me off was the amount of mistakes. For Example I'm pretty sure the MC was first intended to be non-binary and then got changed to female at some point, since she was occasionally referred to with they/them pronouns; one character had two different spellings; and often there were just blatand grammar or spelling mistakes. The author said they had an editor and a proofreader... If I was the author, I'd want my money back!
But apart from that the majority of the story was very much enjoyable. However the ending was disappointing. What should have been this great climax full of suspense and high stakes was just boring. There was

Spoiler

a mad king who almost killed his own son but got literally stabbed in the back in the last moment

. That should be a scene full of tension with the reader being unable to stop reading. But it just wasn't. That the aftermath of that was nothing but smooth sailing just felt too easy and the only hiccup being that the MC - who throughout the book stressed that she was not spontaneous at all - randomly starts pointing at whoever is closest to become

Spoiler

her husband

... It just felt so inconsistent and rushed.

I just wish we could get like a revised edition with an ending that is worthy of the concept and the characters.

Content Warnings

ceecasey's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Really great concept. I loved the main character's point of view. The story plot was super interesting. I was definitely invested enough of the characters to see how it ended. Would read a sequel!

claireredd's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

hoarderreader's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

oldandnewbooksmell's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Alicia is a single mother to her eight-year-old son, Kenny. Lately, between the school accusing him of ridiculous shenanigans, like making a large pile of rocks, or disappearing in the middle of class, and her son’s principal is seemingly unconvinced she’s a fit mother because she’s on the autism spectrum.

Not sure entirely what’s going on with Kenny, Alicia tries to track down his father, but that’s easier said than done, she only saw him one night, nearly nine years ago, and it’s a night she’d rather forget. But now, Alicia has a man following her and claiming her son is the heir to an elvish throne. After a break in at their apartment, Alicia, Kenny, and the mysterious man go on the run. Alicia just wants to keep her son safe, but on their new adventure, she discovers they have to give up everything they’ve ever known to help a world they knew nothing about.

I liked that the author showed Alicia’s struggles, not only as an autistic parent, but also as a aromantic and asexual individual. Her conversations and reasoning were always thought out and I really respected Alicia’s character for being the badass that she was. Even with everything life is throwing at her, she would take it by the horns and throw everything she could into it. The author even wrote her coping mechanisms when she was overwhelmed and you don’t see that much in novels right now.

Overall, I enjoyed this self published fantasy novel filled with adventure in a new world, the In-Between. This is also a good read filled with representation of characters with all types of identity types and disorders.

*Thank You MJ James and The StoryGraph for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review