Release Date: August 4th, 2020

Genre(s): Adult, Science Fiction, LGBT

Publisher: Del Rey

Pages: 336

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

The Space Between Worlds takes place in a universe where multiverse travel is finally possible, but nobody can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. The story follows Cara, who has already lost 372 counterparts to various causes of death. This makes her a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, but when one of her eight remaining counterparts dies mysteriously, she is flung into a new world with an old secret, and what she discovers is her role in a plot that could endanger the entire multiverse.

Review

The Space Between Worlds has been on my radar since it came out last August, and I finally picked up a copy of it. I’ve heard amazing things about the book and I loved the premise. Now that I’ve read it, I can say that the book itself is just as great as the premise!

Sometimes I grow hesitant with SFF books that are on the shorter side, but I was amazed at how much is packed into this book. You have this exploration of a future where parallel worlds can be explored, given that the travelers’ counterpart is no longer alive. And I really enjoyed the speculative nature of what this future looked like – while there were some improvements in this world and its society, there were many aspects that were deteriorated. I really liked the balance of this, as I’ve noticed in many sci-fi worlds that the advancement of the world is either far for the better or far for the worse.

I also found The Space Between Worlds to be very balanced between its storyline and its characters. Again, with many SFF stories I often find that the plot and the worldbuilding far overtakes character identity and development, but this book also features heavy insight into the characters themselves. I think a big part of this lies in the fact that there aren’t as many characters in this book, but nonetheless, I was happy to have it be a feature of this book. In particular, I really enjoyed the exploration of Cara and Dell and their relationship. In terms of character, there was also discussion about ideas like morality throughout the book, in addition to similar topics being discussed as part of the world and the storyline. So there truly is a lot to unpack with this book, but not so much that it’s overwhelming.

As for the plot, it’s a unique journey from start to finish. There are also some twists that I was not expecting at all, making this a very engaging read.

I’m glad that I finally picked up The Space Between Worlds. As a sci-fi fan, I really enjoyed this, but I’d also recommend it to those who don’t pick up sci-fi much or want to but want to start with a standalone. There’s so much depth to this book that sci-fi lovers will enjoy, but also in a way that I think beginners to the genre will like as well.

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