The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

The Space Between Worlds

by Micaiah Johnson

The Sunday Times bestseller. Winner of the Kitschies Golden Tentacle award.

A stunning science fiction debut, The Space Between Worlds is both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.


'My mother used to say I was born reaching, which is true. She also used to say it would get me killed, which it hasn't. Not yet, anyway.'


Born in the dirt of the wasteland, Cara has fought her entire life just to survive. Now she has done the impossible, and landed herself a comfortable life on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, she's on a sure path to citizenship and security - on this world, at least.

Of the 380 realities that have been unlocked, Cara is dead in all but 8.

Cara's parallel selves are exceptionally good at dying - from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn't outrun - which makes Cara wary, and valuable. Because while multiverse travel is possible, no one can visit a world in which their counterpart is still alive. And no one has fewer counterparts than Cara.

But then one of her eight doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, and Cara is plunged into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and future in ways she never could have imagined - and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her earth, but the entire multiverse.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

5 of 5 stars

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You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Oh, how I loved this book! It was the perfect high stakes/high reward caper all over the multiverse, featuring a character that I grew to absolutely love. So let us discuss all the things that made The Space Between Worlds such a huge win for me!

  • ►I mean, 380 Earths! Some were very similar to ours, and some were quite different. The larger the Earth's number, the greater the difference from our Earth, Earth 0. I loved this concept! Like the Butterfly Effect, some of the Earths were changed in such small, but ultimately significant ways, and that is beyond fascinating to me. The author did a wonderful job with world-building so that it was exciting, but not overwhelming, which struck a perfect balance for me.


  • ►It's a dark, dark world(s). None of the Earths are great, really. People mainly live in walled cities, and if you're not lucky enough to get into one of those, you're on the outskirts, trying to stay alive. And because it is so rough, it clearly shapes the characters and their choices, which I'll get into more.


  • ►I loved Cara for the flawed but fierce character that she was. She never tried to portray herself as a hero, even though I started to see her as such. She was incredibly loyal to those who'd earned her loyalty, she was determined, and always willing to fight for what she wanted or what she thought was right. She knew she'd made mistakes and bad choices, and some she wasn't even apologizing for. In such an aforementioned harsh reality, you have to do what you have to do sometimes.


  • ►Speaking of, the gray morality was strongLook, sometimes all the choices suck, and you have to make the best decisions with the information that you have (straight from the mouth of Thelonious Jaha, but whatever) and hope for the best.  I loved watching Cara figure out that hey, maybe she was one of the good guys, as she struggled to make some really tough choices.


  • ►The book features some incredible relationships. Oh, how I long to tell you more about all of them, but by doing so I'd spoil something that I personally hadn't seen coming. But there are a lot of people in Cara's life who care deeply for her, and she for them, though I think in this world it's hard to admit when you care for someone, for fear they'll be lost.


  • ►Honestly I just couldn't put the thing down. I was immersed in this book from start to finish, full stop. I was legit carrying it around with me because I didn't want to have to pause to do anything else. Cara and her story captivated me from the first page, and learning more about both her and the worlds she lived in was just too exciting to take breaks.


Bottom Line: I fell fully into The Space Between Worlds, and never stopped. I cared deeply for Cara and those she cared about in turn, and the world-building was so fun, the premise so unique, that I positively devoured this book.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 17 July, 2020: Finished reading
  • 17 July, 2020: Reviewed