“Have you encountered any others who have truly met themselves?” This line from Carmen Maria Machado’s short-story collection Her Body and Other Parties stuck in my mind a dart the first time I read it, and while I was reading The Space Between Worlds it resurfaced again, ringing in my ears so clearly.

Imagine peering into a mirror, blinking out through familiar eyes, and seeing another life reflected back at you, both knowable and utterly beyond your grasp. You’re looking at a person from a world crafted from choices you had not made, paths you had not followed. This person who is almost you but not quite, not all the way. If you reached for yourself, would you recognize your own topography? Or will you always measure the distance between the person you would have been and the person you have become? More important, would you throw yourself into your reflection in the hopes of forgetting who you are? For Cara, the protagonist of Johnson’s feverishly inventive and star-bright debut, the answer is easy as breathing: yes.

“You do this a lot?”
“It’s kind of my special gift.”
“World hopping?”
I swallow. “Dying.”

The Space Between Worlds is a novel that gathers one of science fiction’s oldest and most enduring tales (alternate worlds, stacked beside ours sheets of paper, and the people who can dip hummingbirds from one to another), puts an intricate, clever spin on it (you can’t travel to a parallel universe where your doppelgänger is still alive without great cost) and wrings it for all the thematic and emotional gravity it can get.

From the very first page, The Space Between Worlds takes firm hold and doesn’t let go. Science fiction novels typically have to marshal a wealth of information in order to explain the workings of new unfamiliar concepts and theory, to peel back the layers of the author’s world and fire up the reader’s imagination, but The Space Between Worlds skims along without becoming mired in leaden exposition. The remarkable elements of Johnson’s world come readily, completely. The novel explains what it needs to, when it needs to be said. The author puts all the pieces in place, ushering readers into her story with ample clarity and narrative precision, and it is such a thrill to watch the gears of the story turn once they’re set in motion.

The details of Cara’s character, however, don’t yield as easily. They instead emerge drip by drip throughout the story, as if from the tip of a pipette. You get the sense that something essential is shielded—the depths of her and the secrets she cast before her, vast as her own shadow—and is being released in small bursts until it becomes a flood. And looking at this flood, at the wreckage of this woman, I wanted, desperately, to understand what, who, had wrecked her.

Fortunately, Johnson has an impeccable eye for exploring emotional wreckage. Cara’s character is accessible, understandable in all the ways that she is wounded, angry, scared—and flawed. And the slow, grim unwinding of her character makes for the novel’s most hard-hitting and rewarding experience.

The Space Between Worlds is a novel that acknowledges trauma and its terrible volume. How it roils and cracks, beats in your blood drumming under the ground, a sound to crack open the world. Cara, many of us carry our traumas, dragging them behind shackles on both ankles, much further than we imagined we would. We think if we put up enough walls around them, or bury them in a tomb, shoved down deep where the sun can’t reach them, if we stay in the shallows, they’d be where we’d left them. But then, inevitably, the low, steady thrum of the past starts bubbling to the surface. And then it erupts.

Cara has refined burying the past, practiced it a high art: she smiled through teeth to hide the grimace, donned masks until they felt her face, and kept secrets until the lies ate away at her moths in cloth. It was a regular habit, as vital and unconscious to her as breathing. When you’ve been raised around monsters, and knew the color of your blood, the innate need to self-preserve becomes this dwarfing, all-consuming, all-devouring thing. A thing with weight and press, and it’s weight and press that Cara felt as though it were on her shoulders. Cara learned self-preservation before she could learn regret. She measured her capacity for enduring pain to the precise outer edge of its limits, and knew the difference between happiness and shivering alone in the shadows. In hundreds of worlds, Cara lives with her back to the wall, ruled by fear of death, but in the world she escapes to, she survives in mockery of everything that should have destroyed her. And it’s easier to survive when you move through life with one foot placed in front of the other as if walking on a tightrope. It’s easier still to do it on your own, without close friendships—let alone intimate relationships.

But people have a way of dipping around Cara’s guard, of scrabbling at her armor, including Dell, Cara’s supervisor. In another version of Cara’s world, Cara’s relationship with Dell may have had the opportunity to be based on more than the resentful, grudging necessity of co-workers who navigate around each other ships and icebergs. In another version of Cara’s world, Dell wasn’t too afraid of where Cara came from to want her, and Cara wasn’t too afraid that Dell would disappear into the dark pit that is Cara’s past to confront her about it. In this world, their moments together are drenched with a bruised, unthwarted longing, filled with endless distances.

There’s a deep, wounded familiarity to Cara’s journey that snagged in my heart, cloth caught in a branch: the nagging sense that you’ve been looking at the world through a breath-fogged mirror, and that if you were to wipe away the condensation and look at yourself—at this clear and cold reflection of your truest self—you would be utterly horrified by what you saw. That you haven’t truly met yourself, and that you wouldn’t want to—especially in the dark.

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.

But The Space Between Worlds isn’t a gray, dreary afternoon of a book. Colors and detail start to fill in paint soaking into paper when kindness and wisdom and love, always flickering through the pages, begin to simmer together, bubbles in a cauldron. Johnson acknowledges that we are more than the worst things we’ve done, and we are more than the worst things that have been done to us. We are defined by more than our pasts, or our traumas—we are the flowing scripts we use to imagine for ourselves new scrolls, flapping defiantly behind us wings. New tomorrows, new beginnings. Ultimately, the novel’s biggest gift is that it never loses sight of the human emotions at its core, and that the author never once forgets that everyone aches.

Along the way, the author also ponders, frames, and interrogates large philosophical and ethical questions, which only intensifies the story’s emotional wallop: about racism and xenophobia and how they’ve always had a fluid relationship with capitalism, about science and how it can be weaponized by those who have a vested interest in sustaining a system that keeps people marching dully along the same, mechanistic lines, and about humanity and our place in the metaphysical clockwork of existence.

But for all its thematic gravity, The Space Between Worlds is a lot of fun too. It’s a story that gutted me and buoyed me. An excellent novel with a gripping plot, tenderly rendered characters, and plenty to think about long after it’s over. Whatever Johnson decides to write after this, she has a fan for life!

It is only one world in infinite universes where this impossible happiness exists, but that is what makes it so valuable. adult adult-sff favorites ...more944 s Yun542 26.7k

I haven't met a multiverse story I didn't , until now.

Conceptually, The Space Between Worlds has a lot of potential. In this version of parallel universes, you can only travel to a different one if your counterpart is already dead. Enter Cara, who has died in most other worlds, so she's able to travel between them. Yep, I can totally get behind that. But that was pretty much it for things I enjoyed, and it was only a very small part of the story.

Where this book fell apart for me is in almost everything else.

To start with, this story is extremely hard to follow. I'm honestly baffled because the concept of a parallel universe isn't that difficult to grasp; it's just our universe but with a few minor changes. And yet, the worldbuilding here is maximumly awkward and lumbering, turning small differences into obscure and confusing concepts that were never fully explained.

Information is just dumped on the reader without any consideration for whether it's necessary or relevant. Pages upon pages are spent on completely irrelevant worlds we won't visit again or people we don't need to know (most of whom have multiple names in each universe). But when we get to crucial information (what is a runner?), no explanation is given, so I never got a solid grasp of these worlds.

And it's not just the worldbuilding, but the writing as a whole. It feels fragmented and random. Sentences, paragraphs, and scenes don't logically follow from previous ones. Even dialogues don't really make sense. It's as if the author had written monologues for each speaker, then just interweaved their lines together and called it a conversation.

There was supposed to be a queer love story in here, but that baffled me too. , where is it? If Cara didn't explicitly tell the reader that she's in love with Dell and constantly state that she's flirting with her, I wouldn't have guessed from her words or their interactions.

I also couldn't connect with any of the characters. Their motivations, feelings, and actions all remain a mystery to me. In particular, Cara's simultaneous blend of cynically detached while also angsty philosophical narrative tone did not work for me, and came across as very naïve and immature. Also, what kind of names are Nik Nik and Mr. Cheeks? I kept thinking I'm reading about a toddler and his pet instead of an emperor and his runner.

Still, all that can be overlooked if the plot made sense. But it doesn't. It feels there are multiple separate stories in here instead of one coherent one. And they were all just mashed up together in the most convoluted and haphazard way possible.

What a waste. Conceptually, this is a good one. But the execution is so confusing as to be almost incomprehensible. Nothing in here made sense to me. Not the writing, nor the story, nor the characters, nor the worldbuilding. What a complete disappointment this turned out to be.474 s3 comments Regan464 113k

4.5

407 s Lisa of Troy504 5,488

Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds is a science-fiction novel centered on Cara who travels to parallel universes. However, there are rules to traveling to different worlds. No one can travel to a world where they are still alive. This is good news for Cara because she is dead on most of the other worlds; therefore, she can travel to almost all of the other worlds. However, Cara is harboring a secret, and she discovers the secrets of others.

Recently, I have been reading Philip Pullman’s Daemon Voices which is a collection of essays on storytelling. But wait this is a review for The Space Between Words? Hold your horses. I’m getting to it. There is an essay in Daemon Voices about writing fantasy where he mentions that authors of fantasy need to focus on the path, not the worldbuilding. And I could not agree more! I don’t connect with extensive worldbuilding.

In The Space Between Worlds, Johnson does a perfect job focusing on the path. The worldbuilding is interesting and straightforward and always furthers the plot. In my opinion, she did an even better job than Pullman in regards to sticking to the path.

The Space Between Worlds is absolutely riveting during the first 50%. It raises some really important questions. How would your life be any different if you had 374 different versions of you? Despite your best efforts, are there certain factors in your life that are always with you?

This book also focused a lot on class and identity. Cara is trying to reconcile being from Ashtown, where things aren’t so shiny and promising, and working in Wiley City.

The last half of the book is a bit too slow. The plot develops to a point where we know where we are going, and I just wanted to get there already. The ending is lackluster and forgettable which is really a shame because I can already think of a stronger ending that would have been a cliffhanger that could have lead into another book.

Overall, a very interesting fantasy book by Micaiah Johnson. The Space Between Worlds is her debut novel so this is one author that I am putting on my “to read again” list.

2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities

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T/W: This story contains mentions of domestic and emotional abuse through past traumas experienced by our main character.

The Space Between Worlds follows Cara, who out of the 380 worlds that Earth Zero can resonate with, she is alive on only 8. Cara works for a company that specializes in gathering intel about these universes. However, when one of her counterparts is murdered under mysterious circumstances, secrets about herself and the multiverse are revealed that may change the course of her destiny. This is a story about a black bisexual woman, fighting for survival, and falling in love with her female co-worker. I don't think you'll want to miss out on this one.

This book surprised me in a multitude of ways. I initially heard about this book through randomly browsing on Goodreads and it immediately made its way onto my radar. Being one of my most anticipated sci-fi reads of the year, I went in with slightly high expectations of this novel and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Micaiah Johnson can write.

She was able to beautifully craft a world, characters, and a story that I truly cared for and left a lasting impression on me right after I finished it.

Honestly, my first thought after finishing the book was "I need more Cara and Dell content STAT" but I was also super satisfied with how this book ended should it remain a standalone. However, I felt that this book handled it's multiverse very well and it was explained in a clear and concise way that made it easy to follow along with.

I loved Micaiah Johnson's writing. There's just something about it that's so poetic and yet grounded in the harsh reality that her story takes place in that makes me *scream* with amazement. Here are some of my favourite quotes from the story:

"I have seen two worlds now and the space between. We are a wonder."
"The first thing a monster learns is when to lie."
"The universe erases me, but it also remakes me again and again, so there must be something worthwhile in this image."
"I want to ask her why that's a good thing. I want to tell her that I'm not even sure I can die anymore, that I think my destiny is this: to watch every version of myself bleed on different ground until I am all that's left."

I find that the writing for this story was extremely easy to follow and that Micaiah Johnson nailed her pacing throughout. There was one moment in the story where I was "uh, what's happening?" but then literally the next page sorted that right out for me.
Specifically, I loved how the plot moved at a reasonable pace and allowed us time to gather the right information and letting it steep in our minds before delivering us to the next major plot point and it was GREAT! Plus, I got to theorizing and some of my theories actually turned out to be correct so, I was quite proud of myself!

Cara, as our protagonist, I found was extremely concrete and three-dimensional. She has her flaws, being extremely stubborn but she also carries her own personal traumas with her. Cara explores her history with being physically and emotionally abused and I couldn't help but one, feel for her but also understand her on a deeper level as someone who was emotionally abused. Cara goes THROUGH IT in this story but I can't help but feel proud of her and proud of the life she has made for herself.

Now, let's talk about DELL. Not the computer, my QUEEN. Dell is honestly one of the most amazing characters in this book, admittedly a little stand-offish but for *reasons* that are explained later on in the story. Dell truly cares about Cara and the two of them do have some witty banter now and again and I just adore the two of them so much. I need them married and I need more content from them.

Other characters worth noting were Esther, Jean, and Adam. Esther and Cara's sibling relationship is just so cute and reminiscent of my own relationship with my younger sister. I find the pair of them to just have a dynamic between siblings that is written super well and something that I easily related to. Jean, on the other hand, was Cara's father figure in the novel who tried to offer nuggets of wisdom whenever he could. Jean was a good man and I loved him whenever he appeared.

Adam, he's such an interesting mind, as the man who was behind the ability to explore the multiverse, he's definitely got a lot on his plate. I found him to be extremely intelligent, calculated, and reminiscent of his other-universe counterparts, whom you meet in the story.

This book is set on a futuristic Earth, where it has been designated Earth Zero. The science behind the multi-dimensional range is answered very quickly, as since there are technically an infinite amount of universes, it wouldn't make sense if there were only 380. Earth Zero can only resonate with 380 other universes because their frequency is only *ever so slightly** different from Earth Zero's. Big enough to make a change on the Earth but small enough that the frequency is almost the same.

Apart from that, those on Earth Zero who are white and/or rich live in a high tower whilst those who are not live in slums and shantytowns, victims to a blazing and scorching sun. This draws a lot into the themes and criticisms that Johnson makes as those with paler skin don't work and don't go outside, which draws a lot into the argument of colorism as the rich intentionally have paler, whiter skin, giving them more privilege and more power as they'll appear more conventionally beautiful to those in their society.

Overall though, I found the worldbuilding to be highly intriguing and I enjoyed finding out each little new nugget of information when it was revealed to me.

Micaiah Johnson also draws critiques towards classism, more specifically racial classism and how the quality of life differs between white people and Black and other minority ethnic people. She does this wonderfully when she notes that the advanced society she has built "needed trash people. Poor black and brown people. People somehow born on the "wrong side" of the wall, even though they were the ones who built it." It depicts the societal issues that are deeply rooted within the society that Johnson has built and it is one of the many focal points of this story.

This story also draws criticism on human greed and how our hunger for knowledge can do more harm than good. My thoughts when I started Part Four of this novel were, "It doesn't matter if we discover multiple realities, the reality is always going to be the same, filled with hatred, strife, and greed. We as a collective are greedy and once we discover more universes, we will want to control them all. We desire power and control and we will stop at nothing to claim it. But by doing so, we ignore what's best for the greater good." Whilst I would love to discover multiple universes, I think it would set up an entire debate about futuristic colonisation.

These themes matter strongly in The Space Between Worlds because they're in essence, what drives Cara throughout the story. She's a Black woman struggling to survive in a higher class society that refuses to accept her because of the colour of her skin, and her hunger for power so that she can remain in this society but also, prove herself useful to them. It's a constant struggle for people of colour as we're constantly having to prove ourselves to white people to show that we're "good enough" when instead, that shouldn't need to happen at all, they should accept us just as we are without having to challenge our intelligence nor our integrity.

I feel as though in the end, Cara's world and our world aren't that much different. In her own words, "it's not a different world. It's still our world, just with different paths taken".

All in all, if you're a fan of soft sci-fi and interdimensional travel, you need to read this book. If you're looking for a good sci-fi to get into, this is a great book for that.

This story showed me that survival isn't only just about surviving, it's also about what comes after. How you cope with that pain and how you grow from it.

The Space Between Worlds is a phenomenal book, and I highly recommend you pick it up.

p.s A SEQUEL WITH CARA AND DELL PLS OR JUST A SHORT STORY I NEED MORE CONTENT IN MY LIFEfavourites five-stars read-2020 ...more344 s may ?510 2,377

never realized that goodreads so cruelly deleted my review from years ago........ but I am 90% sure I said something about wishing it were more gay and. yeah no notes that is always my wish with every book!4-star adult pov-female ...more151 s Melissa ? Dog/Wolf Lover ? Martin3,599 10.7k

It just wasn’t for me
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