The Space Between Worlds

I’ve never loved a book quite so much. Touches on racial inequality, classism, and the protagonist is a bisexual woman of color, with multiple background enby characters. So much representation and such a deep, complex story line. I was surprised this really is a stand alone; the more I read the more I thought there had to be many more in a saga for how much ground this book covers. It succeeded, to my delight and consternation, in being a wonderful and complete story in this single edition (there are no more, but I want to devour everything this author ever publishes now). As a bonus, what could be called the book’s only ‘sex scene’ is really implied and as a wlw on the asexual spectrum I really appreciated this. Again, SO. MUCH. REPRESENTATION.

Ms. Micaiah Johnson, PLEASE write many more books. I will happily read anything you publish. Your work is a gift to this world.

The book starts well enough and kept my interest up to the 50% mark. After that it became an exercise in tedium all the way up to the 80% point, after which I deleted it because I just no longer cared about any of the characters or about how the story ends. An interesting concept, but no follow through on plot.

When I started this book, I was intrigued by the ancient/future civilization that could traverse hundreds of alternate worlds. I wanted more science and technology and instead was swept away by the very familiar dichotomy of rich versus poor, black versus white, educated versus street smart. A delicious and soul searching trip into how society molds people and how tiny changes in life make all the difference. You MUST read this one because it has so much relevance to our current world.

I cant quite put my finger on it, but theres something of Butlers Parables here. Gritty enough to imagine a future where one world is ripping off its parallels and where a rich elite get richer at the expense of everyone else. Tender enough to show the relationships between different characters in both their rawest and their most guarded moments.

Using the multiverse as a springboard for exploring a (highly) possible human future makes for some interesting plot possibilities, but its the character-driven and political aspects that make it truly interesting.
An easy read that allows for deeper thinking.

The Space Between Worlds offers an interesting view of the multiverse, in which your oppressor in one world could be your savior in another, while secrets can threaten to tear all the worlds apart.

Cara is a young woman who travels or visits various worlds by virtue of the fact that her doppelgangers are dead in most of them. It makes her a valuable traveler if only she can stay alive. But when she is assigned a “pull” to visit a new world she discovers that the information that she is dead in that world is incorrect. Her doppelganger has faked her death, and her net of relationships in that world is opposite to that in her own world. Her visit there and return home unleashes a powerful chain of events.

One of the interesting facets of this book is the implicit racism Cara has faced and escaped, and the raw nature of socioeconomic stratification in her homeworld. This novel held my interest and the audiobook, narrated by Nicole Lewis, is nicely done.

CW: descriptions of prior domestic violence and terror visited upon various characters.

I received a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.