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A review by auntieyorgareads
In-Between by MJ James
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
4.0
I discovered indie author Mj James and their debut novel, In-Between, on Bookstagram, and I am excited to share my first review of a book I found through social media! :-)
Alicia is an autistic, aromantic, and asexual single mother to 8-year-old Kenny. The road for Alicia and Kenny has been a rough one, and it doesn't help that Kenny's school insists that there is something wrong with him. After losing yet another job, Alicia goes to look for Kenny's father to see if she can find answers about her son's quirks that cause him trouble in school. Little did Alicia know, that this action would cause their world to crumble and they would soon be on the run from elves that live in the In-Between, a magical illusionary world much like the human world, but then again, not. In the end, Alicia and Kenny discover more about themselves than they thought possible and realize they are stronger than they ever imagined.
I really enjoyed this story! Part real-life & part fantasy, this book highlights the struggles Alicia had in life due to misunderstandings about her autism and being a single parent to a child with extraordinary abilities. I loved the idea of the In-Between world where magic & elves exist. There were quite a few characters that I grew to love and I can't wait to read more about them if another book is written about this world!
There were a few times that I wished there was more in the way of in-depth character and world-building. I also struggled a bit with the written conversation between characters, but only because there was a lack of common contractions that made the dialogue stumble a bit at times.
Overall, I have to say that I was highly impressed with this DEBUT SELF-PUBLISHED novel by Mj James. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fantasy story about love, family, magic, and adventure that includes autistic, aromantic, asexual rep with a side M/M love story and written by an actually autistic and nonbinary author!
Alicia is an autistic, aromantic, and asexual single mother to 8-year-old Kenny. The road for Alicia and Kenny has been a rough one, and it doesn't help that Kenny's school insists that there is something wrong with him. After losing yet another job, Alicia goes to look for Kenny's father to see if she can find answers about her son's quirks that cause him trouble in school. Little did Alicia know, that this action would cause their world to crumble and they would soon be on the run from elves that live in the In-Between, a magical illusionary world much like the human world, but then again, not. In the end, Alicia and Kenny discover more about themselves than they thought possible and realize they are stronger than they ever imagined.
I really enjoyed this story! Part real-life & part fantasy, this book highlights the struggles Alicia had in life due to misunderstandings about her autism and being a single parent to a child with extraordinary abilities. I loved the idea of the In-Between world where magic & elves exist. There were quite a few characters that I grew to love and I can't wait to read more about them if another book is written about this world!
There were a few times that I wished there was more in the way of in-depth character and world-building. I also struggled a bit with the written conversation between characters, but only because there was a lack of common contractions that made the dialogue stumble a bit at times.
Overall, I have to say that I was highly impressed with this DEBUT SELF-PUBLISHED novel by Mj James. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fantasy story about love, family, magic, and adventure that includes autistic, aromantic, asexual rep with a side M/M love story and written by an actually autistic and nonbinary author!