Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Space Between Worlds

On the surface this is a SciFi thriller about multiverse travel. But at heart it is about fate, found family, and the violence of classism, racism, colonialism, and homophobia. The writing is quite fluid and sometimes beautifully poetic.

The first ten percent or so takes patience as you get oriented to the world and the mechanics of how multiverse travel works, but after that it is engrossing, with dynamically flawed characters and twists galore.

The book has rich secondary characters whose development is rounded out by meeting the same characters in different worlds.

There is a bit of romance between the main character Cara and her colleague Dell. There is plentiful pining, punctuated with occasional moments of potential. I give it one swoony heart 💖

This book has quite a lot of diverse representation. Not only are Cara and Dell in a sapphic romance, but they are both women of color: Cara and other characters are Black, while Dell is Asian. The book deals with attitudes toward queer relationships as well as with the intersection of class, race, and sexuality.

Overall I found this to be a beautiful read. I was excited to see that Johnson’s next book is set in the same world, centered on a tertiary character from this book. I will definitely read it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 💖

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deetabz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0

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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

It's only March, but the books I read for the rest of 2024 will have a hard fight to unseat this one as my favorite of the year.

Johnson's worldbuilding is exquisite. I got attached to her characters within paragraphs of their introductions. Her portrayals of classism, racism, and colonialism felt like constant gut-punches. If Spouse weren't waiting to read it before we have to return this copy to the library, I might've flipped right back to the beginning and started reading it again the moment I finished it.

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looseleafellie's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Cara works at a company that sends people to alternate universes to collect data. You can only travel to universes where you’re dead, so Cara is the ideal candidate for multiverse travel. But when one of her few living alternate selves dies mysteriously, Cara begins to unravel a conspiracy that threatens the multiverse.

My favorite book is This Is How You Lose the Time War, and I picked up The Space Between Worlds because it seemed similar. It’s a short-ish sci-fi book with alternate universes, sapphic yearning, and evil organizations to thwart.

However, The Space Between Worlds is more character-focused and contained. I loved how none of the characters — including Cara — are all good or all bad, especially when their alternate selves come into play. The book explores how your background and relative privilege can shape your personality and motivations, even if you’re technically the same person, which was very interesting. The romantic tension between Cara and Dell weaves throughout, but as a side plot to the main story.

Even in 330-ish pages, the world drew me in. The setting is grounded in the neighboring cities of Ashtown and Wiley City: one an impoverished community of survivors, the other a high-tech utopia (for those who have citizenship). While I expected a wider scale, the focused setting strengthened the book by allowing for exploration of the themes in a confined space.

One drawback of the short length is I found the ending a bit rushed. When I had 30 pages left, I thought, “they have to end all this in 30 pages?” I still enjoyed the ending, but would have liked extra time to sit in the emotions and feel things out more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I think it’s great for fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War — or people who like character-focused stories about alternate universes in general.

CWs: Gore, violence, death, domestic abuse, classism, and mentions of drug addiction, homophobia, child neglect, and suicide.

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