Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

11 reviews

mikwrites's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Really intriguing story and world building. Cara is a compelling character as are most of those who surround her. I enjoyed the narrator as well. I felt the ending was a bit too tidy, personally, after a story with so many twists and turns and revelations.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Xenophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

spicycronereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

workingdaley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I read this book for a book club that I was in, and I found it to be a fascinating read. Not my favorite by any means, but I find the concept of turning something as aspirational as dimension traveling into grunt work for the poor that (mild spoilers)

the rich are actively trying to replace

to be deeply interesting. It's one of the things that I love about Afrofuturism. It's important to take these concepts that we are aspiring to and consider who it is being built off of and what the consequences of that are for society at large. This book does a great job of exploring that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Abandonment

lbelow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

This book packs a wallop. The constant tension of the plot kept me turning the pages, watching as Caralee grappled with her emotions and learned to see people as multifaceted, as deserving of love and empathy. In so doing, she learns to see herself in the same way, to stop thinking of herself as nothing and trying to prove she is something by way of a script other people have written. The settings come alive like characters themselves, but it's the people in the book and the choices they make in different realities that gripped my heart and squeezed. I cannot wait to read more from this author because this book was next level! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mariposa517's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Gun violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Cursing, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Pregnancy

leannanecdote's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Trafficking, and Alcohol

ciaomara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, War, Classism, and Deportation

jdamae11's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

5.0

Read this back in January but I'm back to give a full review of one of my favorite books, probably taking the crown for my top book of 2023 tbh. Micaiah Johnson took a common Sci-Fi concept—the multiverse—and created a super Queer adventurous narrative exploring classism, exploitation, and race, and identity. In the world of the novel, it has been discovered that multiverse travel can be fatal if one’s alternate self is still alive on another universe that one travels to. So the tech-run ultra capitalist govt on Earth 0 creates a class of “traversers” comprised of the mostly Black and Brown working-class poor to travel to other universes. Our main character, Cara, is a traverser and is only alive on 8 versions of earth. There are so many satisfying plot twists and moments of exciting action throughout the book. We also experience Cara’s internal crises as she grapples with the idea of her true self, mortality, and the fallout of having lived a life constantly in survival mode no matter the universe. The author’s writing is just beautiful and made me want to pick up my own pen again. In Johnson’s world, gender is fluid and Trans elders are widely regarded with the highest respect, as they should be always! It also features a central wlw love story that’s really heartfelt and the ending leaves you full of hope and imagination for what could be. In terms of setting there’s a bit of both Mad Max and Hunger Games Capitol vibes, which was very fun! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

chapis's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Colonisation, War, and Classism

I've been looking for a book like this for so long.

troisha's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry