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taliahsbookshelf's review against another edition
- 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
The premise, the plot, the characters, all of it fits together in this super intricate way. It's easy to follow but it's not easy to anticipate what's coming next.
I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I was reading that I went "Oh, this is what good writing is," but I can tell you I knew it. The whole time, I was engaged with the plot, I was invested in the characters and their journey, and I was intrigued by all of the challenges. Every time I put it down to take a break or go for a walk or get a snack, I couldn't stop thinking about it. To me, that's a sign of good book. And this? This was definitely a good book.
Although there is some worldbuilding that I felt could have been expanded to make this a duology, Micaiah Johnson crafted a world that feels eerily realistic and having a simple standalone definitely worked out.
While this does contain a romance, it's not the main plot of the book, and only serves to further character development of everyone involved. That being said, though, I was invested in the romance and was rooting for it to work
I will let you know: This isn't a YA novel. Although it doesn't contain any graphic scenes, the messaging and the divide between good and evil are incredibly subtle, though very power. I think younger readers could pick this up and would absolutely enjoy it, but marketing it as anything other than an adult sci-fi would be disingenuous to Micaiah Johnson's writing.
Favorite quotes:
"Even worthless things can become valuable once they become rare."(5)
"Death can be senseless, but life never is."(191)
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Blood, and Abandonment
opheliabedelia's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, and Police brutality
Moderate: Body horror and Sexual violence
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
troisha's review against another edition
- 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
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
hcwarn's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
internationalreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
syllareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
They say hunting monsters will turn you into one. That isn't what's happening now. Sometimes to kill a dragon, you have to remember that you breathe fire too. This isn't a becoming: it's a revealing. I've been a monster all along.
I still cannot quite believe that this book is Micaiah Johnson's debut because it's just so flawlessly executed in almost every single way. The Space between Worlds is a scifi novel about humankind discovering that there's more than one reality - but to travel between the 380 worlds their sensors managed to pick up, your doppelganger in the one world you intend to travel to has to be dead. Otherwise, the travel will kill you, as the world (or Nyame, as the traversers call the void between worlds, or perhaps their goddess, no one is really sure) will kill you since there can ever be only one person of each kind in a world.
Cara is dead in almost every one of these realities - in all, in fact, but 8. And so she's one of her company's most requested traversers; right up until she gets a call that another of her dops (a slang adopted by traversers to talk about their doppelgangers in other worlds) has died in world 175. What seems to be just a normal mission exposes things she's never bothered to look at closely before, right up until she can no longer ignore them.
This book effortlessly talks about racism, exploitation of those suppressed by a system no one in power cares to dismantle, and domestic abuse all the while serving up a deliciously, deliriously dangerous plot Cara gets swept away with. Johnson's language is beautiful and evocative, leaving you craving for more once you close the book for the very last time. Cara's inner self, rough from her life on the outskirts of society, beautiful from within her very own heart, honest and craving, and surviving is laid bare to us within less than 350 pages. Her feelings for Dell, her watcher, a woman who accompanies her on her missions to faraway realities via headset, are sharp and painful, because for all her wanting, she's convinced Dell will never want her back - and yet, she cannot help herself.
I fell in love with this book and I can only recommend it to everyone else!
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder
naldorah's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
unintentionallyasymmetric's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Child death
seanml's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
eleanora's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident