What do you think?
Rate this book
The Space Between
Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?
Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.
Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.
363 pages, Hardcover
First published November 14, 2011
115 people are currently reading
19567 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews
January 16, 2012
Before, when Lilith left, she'd been stony and remote. Now, she trembled, outraged that a man could refuse his son. She spit in Adam's face and cursed the day she ever saw him. It was the day she'd been born. Then she took Obie and left, pelting away through the dark.
In the dark is where she met my father.
First of all, I’d like to take a second to admire the truly marvelous cover art, done by the amazing Spanish artist Nekro. He is responsible for some of my favorite covers, like Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares and Blood Rights. I love that every single one of his covers actually has something to do with the story, and that is especially true for The Space Between. His art made it so much easier for me to picture Hell the way Brenna Yovanoff described it: a huge city entirely made of metal, built above a Pit full of suffering souls and hungry Pain Demons.
The world Yovanoff created is both frightening and beautiful. She writes in exquisite detail, with clarity and completeness, and she does it effortlessly – you can tell that she isn’t even trying, that it comes naturally to her, like laughing or walking. That said, Maggie Stiefvater’s influence is clearly discernible, which isn’t all that surprising considering their friendship and collaboration.
From outside comes the sound of the furnace door slamming open. The sky glows red again and my tears begin to thaw. When I blink, they slip solid from my eyelashes. The sound when they land is like pebbles scattered on the tile, but the floor of the museum is already growing hot, burning my feet through my slippers. The tears melt and sizzle where they fall.
Daphne is the youngest daughter of Lilith and Lucifer, born right around the time when her parents stopped loving each other. Her many stepsisters, the Lilim, are wicked seductresses who walk the Earth taking knowledge and experience from their all-too-willing victims, but Daphne is nothing like them. Her half-brother Obie, Lilith’s first son and the son of Adam, is the only good person in Daphne’s life and Daphne adores him, but she’s nothing like him either. She seems to be stuck in Hell, spending eternity without purpose, until one day Obie disappears on Earth. Lilith, who only tolerates Daphne, despises the Lilim, but worships Obie, can do absolutely nothing to help him as she is unable to leave Hell. It’s up to Daphne to go to Earth for the first time and find her brother, despite the danger of being brutally killed by archangel Azrael and his faithful soldier, Dark Dreadful. The only person who can help her is a broken boy, Obie’s charge Truman, who was once sent back from the very entrance to Hell by Beelzebub himself.
Yovanoff’s talent for bringing horrible creatures to life was obvious to me even in The Replacement, but it was much more pronounced here. If you thought the Morrigan’s ladies were scary, the Lilim will likely give you nightmares that won’t easily go away. It was so easy to picture Lilith sitting on her filigree bench, her skin startlingly white, her head moving in a distinctly non-human way.
I had almost forgotten how her voice has the power to cut through me. She looks over, looks right through me with grim, silvery eyes and I see a black hollow in her, like seeing the future. Like looking down the barrel of a gun.
If you’re in the mood for a dark, eerily beautiful and haunting story, The Space Between is what you should read. Brenna Yovanoff just made it on my very short list of authors whose books I preorder without a second thought.
In the dark is where she met my father.
First of all, I’d like to take a second to admire the truly marvelous cover art, done by the amazing Spanish artist Nekro. He is responsible for some of my favorite covers, like Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares and Blood Rights. I love that every single one of his covers actually has something to do with the story, and that is especially true for The Space Between. His art made it so much easier for me to picture Hell the way Brenna Yovanoff described it: a huge city entirely made of metal, built above a Pit full of suffering souls and hungry Pain Demons.
The world Yovanoff created is both frightening and beautiful. She writes in exquisite detail, with clarity and completeness, and she does it effortlessly – you can tell that she isn’t even trying, that it comes naturally to her, like laughing or walking. That said, Maggie Stiefvater’s influence is clearly discernible, which isn’t all that surprising considering their friendship and collaboration.
From outside comes the sound of the furnace door slamming open. The sky glows red again and my tears begin to thaw. When I blink, they slip solid from my eyelashes. The sound when they land is like pebbles scattered on the tile, but the floor of the museum is already growing hot, burning my feet through my slippers. The tears melt and sizzle where they fall.
Daphne is the youngest daughter of Lilith and Lucifer, born right around the time when her parents stopped loving each other. Her many stepsisters, the Lilim, are wicked seductresses who walk the Earth taking knowledge and experience from their all-too-willing victims, but Daphne is nothing like them. Her half-brother Obie, Lilith’s first son and the son of Adam, is the only good person in Daphne’s life and Daphne adores him, but she’s nothing like him either. She seems to be stuck in Hell, spending eternity without purpose, until one day Obie disappears on Earth. Lilith, who only tolerates Daphne, despises the Lilim, but worships Obie, can do absolutely nothing to help him as she is unable to leave Hell. It’s up to Daphne to go to Earth for the first time and find her brother, despite the danger of being brutally killed by archangel Azrael and his faithful soldier, Dark Dreadful. The only person who can help her is a broken boy, Obie’s charge Truman, who was once sent back from the very entrance to Hell by Beelzebub himself.
Yovanoff’s talent for bringing horrible creatures to life was obvious to me even in The Replacement, but it was much more pronounced here. If you thought the Morrigan’s ladies were scary, the Lilim will likely give you nightmares that won’t easily go away. It was so easy to picture Lilith sitting on her filigree bench, her skin startlingly white, her head moving in a distinctly non-human way.
I had almost forgotten how her voice has the power to cut through me. She looks over, looks right through me with grim, silvery eyes and I see a black hollow in her, like seeing the future. Like looking down the barrel of a gun.
If you’re in the mood for a dark, eerily beautiful and haunting story, The Space Between is what you should read. Brenna Yovanoff just made it on my very short list of authors whose books I preorder without a second thought.
August 9, 2016
lack of affect can be a compelling thing to witness in a character. from Hitchcock's cool blondes to Bret Easton Ellis' hollow men to Fassbinder's gallery of life's victims to probably every character that has ever sprung from the mind of Marguerite Duras, lack of affect rarely fails to fascinate. and now that I've done my due diligence in trying to sound as high-brow and intellectual as I possibly can, please meet affect-less Daphne, daughter of Lilith and Lucifer, protagonist of the entrancingly eerie but deeply flawed Young Adult novel The Space Between.
Yovanoff did a sterling job with this character. poor, demonic Daphne! born and raised in Pandemonium, Daphne has dead-white skin, gothic-black hair, and sharp gray dog incisors. her wardrobe comes from across time so when she enters our world, her outfits apparently look stylishly retro. most importantly, her lack of affect manages to be charming, creepy, disturbing, and always utterly fascinating. it makes for some amusing moments, such as when Daphne is in our world, trying to figure things out like party etiquette and what to do when a person is trying to rob you. it also makes for many absorbing and even rather heartbreaking moments, in particular when Daphne "reacts" to the death of a sister or when she blandly notes the lack of love she receives from her mother. her lack of affect also becomes a perfect way to chart her increasing love for extreme loser Truman. The Space Between's romance is one of the few I've read in a novel geared towards teens that did not leave me nauseated. it was genuinely emotional, in a decidedly non-dramatic way. I love that. too bad Truman's such a loser though.
so Daphne must journey to our world in search of her lost brother and in the process becomes closely entwined with Truman and his fate. he's a sad half-breed unaware of his demonic parentage and prone to extreme fits of moping and suicidal ideation, but since Daphne doesn't hold that against him, I won't either. Yovanoff's depiction of Pandemonium is superb, and her description of Daphne experiencing non-demonic reality is also very well-done. Lilith communicating with her daughter through any reflective surface (from mirrors to fenders to bird eyes) was a highly original touch. a demon infant was another highlight. plus the Lord of the Flies himself, the dashing Beelzebub!
The Space Between's villain, the death-angel Azrael, is a surprising failure. perhaps the author just can't relate to angels because all of the care she put in characterizing Daphne and her demonic family is absent in Azrael. he's stridently, monotonously one-note and I resented his every appearance. the climax of the novel felt rushed and was perhaps especially weak because of too much Azrael. that blasted angel also ruins what could have been an interesting trip to Heaven. alas.
despite those flaws, Yovanoff really excels at creating a strange and melancholy atmosphere with intriguing characters and a moving romance. I loved the spare elegance of her prose. the whole book was wonderfully original. perfect for the teen goth in your life!
Yovanoff did a sterling job with this character. poor, demonic Daphne! born and raised in Pandemonium, Daphne has dead-white skin, gothic-black hair, and sharp gray dog incisors. her wardrobe comes from across time so when she enters our world, her outfits apparently look stylishly retro. most importantly, her lack of affect manages to be charming, creepy, disturbing, and always utterly fascinating. it makes for some amusing moments, such as when Daphne is in our world, trying to figure things out like party etiquette and what to do when a person is trying to rob you. it also makes for many absorbing and even rather heartbreaking moments, in particular when Daphne "reacts" to the death of a sister or when she blandly notes the lack of love she receives from her mother. her lack of affect also becomes a perfect way to chart her increasing love for extreme loser Truman. The Space Between's romance is one of the few I've read in a novel geared towards teens that did not leave me nauseated. it was genuinely emotional, in a decidedly non-dramatic way. I love that. too bad Truman's such a loser though.
so Daphne must journey to our world in search of her lost brother and in the process becomes closely entwined with Truman and his fate. he's a sad half-breed unaware of his demonic parentage and prone to extreme fits of moping and suicidal ideation, but since Daphne doesn't hold that against him, I won't either. Yovanoff's depiction of Pandemonium is superb, and her description of Daphne experiencing non-demonic reality is also very well-done. Lilith communicating with her daughter through any reflective surface (from mirrors to fenders to bird eyes) was a highly original touch. a demon infant was another highlight. plus the Lord of the Flies himself, the dashing Beelzebub!
The Space Between's villain, the death-angel Azrael, is a surprising failure. perhaps the author just can't relate to angels because all of the care she put in characterizing Daphne and her demonic family is absent in Azrael. he's stridently, monotonously one-note and I resented his every appearance. the climax of the novel felt rushed and was perhaps especially weak because of too much Azrael. that blasted angel also ruins what could have been an interesting trip to Heaven. alas.
despite those flaws, Yovanoff really excels at creating a strange and melancholy atmosphere with intriguing characters and a moving romance. I loved the spare elegance of her prose. the whole book was wonderfully original. perfect for the teen goth in your life!
December 2, 2011
(This novel tore my heart out and then handed it back to me, all the while giving a sad but sheepish smile. My love for this book is probably not entirely rational, but I will attempt to write a coherent review that doesn't descend into gushing and babbling.)
I'm not always certain why some books affect me more than others. Sometimes I think a few of them merely catch me at the right times and places, hitting me when I'm emotionally weak or mentally exhausted. Then, when I look back at the reviews I've written, I often think, "Okay, jog my memory. Why did this book affect me so much, and why did I rate it so highly?"
In a few months' time, I hope that thought won't creep into my head when I think of Brenna Yovanoff's sophomore novel, The Space Between, a darkly beautiful story about demons and mortals, grief and pain, healing and redemption. Here and now, I know exactly why it pierced my heart and left me so moved: the novel, despite being filled with supernatural and otherworldly elements, spoke of honesty and humanity...and it didn't hold back a shred when it came to the painful and heartbreaking bits. But it wasn't cruel in its execution because it still nonetheless offered hope, a kind whisper that said, "Everything may not be all right now, but it can get better. Just wait and see. You'll never know if you don't give your life a chance."
I know those words well, but even when I'm faced with them I don't always believe in their truth. There have been so many times in my life when I've felt like skidding to a halt, digging my heels into the dirt, and saying, "No, this is too much. I can't take it anymore. Just give me some peace already." But I didn't always think it out of grief or pain or depression. Sometimes I thought it simply out of boredom, out of the dread of continued monotony in my colorless life, out of the terrifying thought that this may be all my life will ever be. Those dark days, however, are like unruly elements: I may have weeks of overcast skies, some days with pouring rain and lightning-torn clouds, but they eventually pass...even as I secretly harbor the fear that the day may come that the clouds never recede. With those experiences of mine, I read this book with an open heart that managed to resonate with these characters and their own emotions, all jagged edges and unfulfilled hopes and disquieting fears.
The Space Between follows a girl and a boy, two strangers embroiled in the dark (and sometimes deadly) matters of hell, heaven, and earth. In Pandemonium (the city of demons, otherwise known as Hell), Daphne is a bored girl, the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, who finds comfort in the familiarity of her surroundings but gleans no true happiness from it. On the mortal plane, Truman is a teenage boy, teetering on the edge of self-destruction as the waters of grief pull him down more and more each day. These two, who otherwise would never have known of each other's existence, meet in one haunting moment, leading them through a series of seemingly unconnected events that draw them closer to one another...and toward inevitability.
Brenna Yovanoff's take on demons (and angels) is unique yet still faithful to various mythologies, beliefs, and legends. Though I'm usually always wary when it comes to any angel/demon fiction these days, I knew as soon as I read Yovanoff's gorgeous prologue – telling the tale of Lilith through the narration of Daphne – that I never should have worried. Yovanoff has done her research, all the while adding her own personal flair to the familiar names (like Beelzebub, Azrael, etc.) and elements found in demon mythos.
As usual with Yovanoff's work, her writing is stunning, and I found myself rereading passages and contemplating them even though I always felt the need to turn the pages to find out what happened next in the plot. But her writing is not simply "pretty prose": instead, her words bear weight and meaning due to the characters, their struggles, and their emotions. No one should ever accuse Yovanoff of having lifeless prose, for hers is some of the most honest I've ever read.
As for the story itself...I found myself surprised and twisted and turned quite a bit throughout the novel, and I would have been disappointed if there hadn't been surprises (and some sucker-punched moments) in store for me while I read. There were plenty of scenes that tugged at my heart and drew sighs (and even some tears) from me. It was sometimes very much a painful reading experience for all the emotion of it, but I felt relieved (and a bit elated) once I finished. However, even as I read that final page, I knew I would miss the characters, their world, and everything this novel had offered me. That in and of itself says enough about how I felt about this story, don't you think?
Now that I've gotten all my gushing out, I am sad to say that The Space Between won't be for everyone, but I urge anyone who's interested in it to give it a try. Daphne and Truman may even manage to win your heart just as they did with mine.
I'm not always certain why some books affect me more than others. Sometimes I think a few of them merely catch me at the right times and places, hitting me when I'm emotionally weak or mentally exhausted. Then, when I look back at the reviews I've written, I often think, "Okay, jog my memory. Why did this book affect me so much, and why did I rate it so highly?"
In a few months' time, I hope that thought won't creep into my head when I think of Brenna Yovanoff's sophomore novel, The Space Between, a darkly beautiful story about demons and mortals, grief and pain, healing and redemption. Here and now, I know exactly why it pierced my heart and left me so moved: the novel, despite being filled with supernatural and otherworldly elements, spoke of honesty and humanity...and it didn't hold back a shred when it came to the painful and heartbreaking bits. But it wasn't cruel in its execution because it still nonetheless offered hope, a kind whisper that said, "Everything may not be all right now, but it can get better. Just wait and see. You'll never know if you don't give your life a chance."
I know those words well, but even when I'm faced with them I don't always believe in their truth. There have been so many times in my life when I've felt like skidding to a halt, digging my heels into the dirt, and saying, "No, this is too much. I can't take it anymore. Just give me some peace already." But I didn't always think it out of grief or pain or depression. Sometimes I thought it simply out of boredom, out of the dread of continued monotony in my colorless life, out of the terrifying thought that this may be all my life will ever be. Those dark days, however, are like unruly elements: I may have weeks of overcast skies, some days with pouring rain and lightning-torn clouds, but they eventually pass...even as I secretly harbor the fear that the day may come that the clouds never recede. With those experiences of mine, I read this book with an open heart that managed to resonate with these characters and their own emotions, all jagged edges and unfulfilled hopes and disquieting fears.
The Space Between follows a girl and a boy, two strangers embroiled in the dark (and sometimes deadly) matters of hell, heaven, and earth. In Pandemonium (the city of demons, otherwise known as Hell), Daphne is a bored girl, the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, who finds comfort in the familiarity of her surroundings but gleans no true happiness from it. On the mortal plane, Truman is a teenage boy, teetering on the edge of self-destruction as the waters of grief pull him down more and more each day. These two, who otherwise would never have known of each other's existence, meet in one haunting moment, leading them through a series of seemingly unconnected events that draw them closer to one another...and toward inevitability.
Brenna Yovanoff's take on demons (and angels) is unique yet still faithful to various mythologies, beliefs, and legends. Though I'm usually always wary when it comes to any angel/demon fiction these days, I knew as soon as I read Yovanoff's gorgeous prologue – telling the tale of Lilith through the narration of Daphne – that I never should have worried. Yovanoff has done her research, all the while adding her own personal flair to the familiar names (like Beelzebub, Azrael, etc.) and elements found in demon mythos.
As usual with Yovanoff's work, her writing is stunning, and I found myself rereading passages and contemplating them even though I always felt the need to turn the pages to find out what happened next in the plot. But her writing is not simply "pretty prose": instead, her words bear weight and meaning due to the characters, their struggles, and their emotions. No one should ever accuse Yovanoff of having lifeless prose, for hers is some of the most honest I've ever read.
As for the story itself...I found myself surprised and twisted and turned quite a bit throughout the novel, and I would have been disappointed if there hadn't been surprises (and some sucker-punched moments) in store for me while I read. There were plenty of scenes that tugged at my heart and drew sighs (and even some tears) from me. It was sometimes very much a painful reading experience for all the emotion of it, but I felt relieved (and a bit elated) once I finished. However, even as I read that final page, I knew I would miss the characters, their world, and everything this novel had offered me. That in and of itself says enough about how I felt about this story, don't you think?
Now that I've gotten all my gushing out, I am sad to say that The Space Between won't be for everyone, but I urge anyone who's interested in it to give it a try. Daphne and Truman may even manage to win your heart just as they did with mine.
September 17, 2022
I must confess, I was hooked on cover first. Then I really, really liked the mythological background of this story. Daphne, the main character plus half-narrator, is a daughter of Lilith, yes, that Lilith, and Lucifer. Being basically a blue blooded princess amongst her many relatives, she resides in Hell Pandemonium, where she hangs out with Beelzebub and other demons, mostly her sisters, the Lilim, girls with metal teeth. How can one not love metal teeth???
But our Daphne is sort of an emo kid, she's not happy with Pandemonian traditions of dating and succubing, she's looking for something with deeper meaning and more thoughtful (that must be her angelic heritage taking over), so she's pretty much an outsider. Plus her papa is never home (I think he moved aeons ago), and her mama is sort of a cold heartless bitch with healthy sexual appetites (but nothing explicit here, mind you). Daphne's watching Earth TV all day long and thinks a lot about life on Earth. Till one day, when something happens at the Terminal (place, where souls arrive, as you might figure) and she meets a boy, who catches her attention. And then she loses her brother, who moves to Earth. And then she goes to Earth to look for her brother, who's suddenly gone missing and the boy, of course. Then things happen, some scary and bloody, some sweet, some depressing. The ending is surprising. Fin.
It's really hard to rate this book, my feelings are somewhat mixed. While my brain appreciates the job quite well done by the author, my heart refuses to love it. It was more than just OK, but it lacked a lot, and it lacked fun in the first place. But then again - how can you make fun of such things as dead demon girls, suicide attempts, dead mothers and mutilated corpses? The fun it is not. Maybe then I'd beg for less descriptions of "cold walls, the fabric of his sweater, rough surface, dirt on the pavement" and such. I know everything on Earth is new for Daphne, but not for me, plus what she mostly does here is hanging in demon-profiled parties and wearing some vintage clothes, and it's all so... boring? Seriously, a couple of smooches and a couple of liters of blood on walls don't do much to interest an advanced reader. Mythological part was seriously lovely and cool, but that's it. Everything else is your usual YA stuff. And I rarely do YA exactly because of that.
So if you're like 14 years old and it's your first urban fantasy with horror elements you'll probably love it. I would, if I was at that age. But if you're an old one eyed pirate who'd seen enough blood and guts and vintage panties in your goddamn life - look for something else to read that'll keep you awake on long winter nights.
Very forced 3 stars. Only because of mythology and Pandemonium.
But our Daphne is sort of an emo kid, she's not happy with Pandemonian traditions of dating and succubing, she's looking for something with deeper meaning and more thoughtful (that must be her angelic heritage taking over), so she's pretty much an outsider. Plus her papa is never home (I think he moved aeons ago), and her mama is sort of a cold heartless bitch with healthy sexual appetites (but nothing explicit here, mind you). Daphne's watching Earth TV all day long and thinks a lot about life on Earth. Till one day, when something happens at the Terminal (place, where souls arrive, as you might figure) and she meets a boy, who catches her attention. And then she loses her brother, who moves to Earth. And then she goes to Earth to look for her brother, who's suddenly gone missing and the boy, of course. Then things happen, some scary and bloody, some sweet, some depressing. The ending is surprising. Fin.
It's really hard to rate this book, my feelings are somewhat mixed. While my brain appreciates the job quite well done by the author, my heart refuses to love it. It was more than just OK, but it lacked a lot, and it lacked fun in the first place. But then again - how can you make fun of such things as dead demon girls, suicide attempts, dead mothers and mutilated corpses? The fun it is not. Maybe then I'd beg for less descriptions of "cold walls, the fabric of his sweater, rough surface, dirt on the pavement" and such. I know everything on Earth is new for Daphne, but not for me, plus what she mostly does here is hanging in demon-profiled parties and wearing some vintage clothes, and it's all so... boring? Seriously, a couple of smooches and a couple of liters of blood on walls don't do much to interest an advanced reader. Mythological part was seriously lovely and cool, but that's it. Everything else is your usual YA stuff. And I rarely do YA exactly because of that.
So if you're like 14 years old and it's your first urban fantasy with horror elements you'll probably love it. I would, if I was at that age. But if you're an old one eyed pirate who'd seen enough blood and guts and vintage panties in your goddamn life - look for something else to read that'll keep you awake on long winter nights.
Very forced 3 stars. Only because of mythology and Pandemonium.
December 13, 2011
The treachery of a demon is nothing compared to the betrayal of an angel.What tops being the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn? Why being the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith of course! If I had never heard of Brenna Yovanoff and if I had not read and loved her debut novel -- The Replacement -- I still would have picked up this book based on the heroine's parentage alone. And if that didn't do it, look at that lush, gorgeous cover, like a Baroque tapestry or Hieronymus Bosch painting. That shade of red means business and is making promises to the reader before the first page is turned**.
In the dark is where she met my father.
**It was the unusual (and unforgettable) cover for The Replacement that brought Yovanoff to my attention in the first place. Whoever is doing her cover art she should at least take out to dinner, if not get them a Prius or something.
But I digress.
My deep appreciation for this fantastical, opulent fairy tale of fallen angels, demons (and their offspring) is prevented from pouring over as outright gushing by one thing and one thing only -- Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Had I not recently read that magnificent piece of writing and storytelling I would be crying this book's praises to the high heavens. Because The Space Between is exceptionally wonderful -- yet the brightness of its candle's flame cannot help but flicker and waver in the shadow of that "other" book. I usually don't like to pit books against each other; it doesn't seem fair or particularly useful. But I can't stop myself from doing it here.
Having said that, The Space Between is lovely in its darkness and secrets. Lush book covers aside, this is a well thought out and constructed narrative, rich in symbolism and mythology. Yovanoff takes the familiar (especially to those of us who suffered through Catholic school catechism classes) and paints over it so that it begins to feel new and exciting. She starts with what we all know about the Fall, the War in Heaven, Lucifer and Lilith, and then runs with it creating a vision of Hell that is as unique as it is awesome, an inspired blend of originality, the Bible, and John Milton.
Daphne is unlike any heroine I’ve met. Not easily recognizable as young or female, she thinks and behaves in a way we must discover gradually. She is not human, yet seeks out the humanity buried inside her that’s separate from the monster she knows lurks there too. Daphne’s redemption lies in her quest for her lost brother, and her protection of a broken boy. I loved the mystery here of Daphne’s earthly trials. Everything feels urgent and pregnant with danger. This is a dark story that’s dressed in despair, but that is lined with the grimness of hope too.
Oh yeah, and the prose? Just look at that cover again. It is making a promise that Yovanoff has no problem keeping.
June 18, 2012
I wanted Brenna Yovanoff to be my "Y" for the A-Z challenge, but this book is way too boring. There was nothing appealing about the characters or the story in the few chapters I read and I refuse to force myself to read any more of this when I have a pile of other books calling to me.
Any suggestions for my "Y" would be gratefully received.
July 5, 2016
“Yes, he’s dead— for the only reason that matters. He died for redemption. I gave him redemption, even if I will never be forgiven.” – Beelzebub Kindle Location 3357-3558
What attracted me to “The Space Between” was the Lilith story line. I am such a sucker for mythology and an even bigger sucker for religious mythology. I always find it interesting to see what kind of spin author will put on them. So when my reading group announced “The Space between” would be the mid-month read and I got a look at the synopsis and I was hooked. Not being able to recall the whole Jewish tale of Lilith Adams first wife; I was glad for the prologue. A piece of back ground information to peek any curious reader imagination. However it left me to ponder basic questions. How much is true to the legend and how much was created by Yovanoff?? The legend of Lilith in Yovanoff “The Space Between” doesn’t necessarily have to breathe truth for Daphne’s story to be brought to life. However, it does give the reader insight to how Daphne may or may not have come into existence.
My favorite characters flip flopped throughout the entire book resting finally on two in the final chapters and forever changing my opinions of other previously beloved characters. When I first started reading Daphne was my favorite character. She was your typical teenage girl; oblivious to the world around her yet had a true sense of who she didn’t want to be despite who her mother and father were. Then her half- brother Obie enters the storyline; a half demon/ half human but able and willing to love beyond any measure. Daphne showed true promise when she came to the aid of a lost one; the half-breed child of a fallen angel and a human with the help of her brother Obie when he was leaving purgatory for good to be with the lost one he loved.
Ahh, Truman, the boy Daphne and Obi fought to save and wouldn’t have if it were not for Beelzebub. You can’t help but to feel for the young man. He has no idea who his father is. He lost his mother who he loved dearly and his step father; though present— checked out on him. He’s alone and miserable with no true guidance in his life with no one looking out for his best interest. His life is a colossal mess; it no wonders he is slowly killing himself.
As the story charges forward with Daphne leaves purgatory in a desperate search for Obie who has gone missing. She seeks out Truman, the last person to see her brother alive for a clue to where he might. I found myself growing to love the interaction between these two. Trials and tribulations and discoveries these two make are vital to the story.
As a parent, I know this is odd but my favorite characters are Beelzebub and Obi. Beelzebub knew his reign in hell would end but he sacrificed it for his son. So even though he was fallen he still knew love. However, no matter my feeling for Daphne and Truman in the end I was disappointed with the ending. I just couldn’t believe what Daphne did. Yes I was heartbroken that they were separated. But if in the same shoes… I would have done the same for my own child to insure grace and redemption. Let me clarify…. I wouldn’t do it to my child now… I am saying if I were a fallen parent of a half human/half fallen angel damned by who his/her parent are and my child was attempting to kill themselves and have to spend an eternity in hell then yes… once redemption was achieved I would do everything I could to keep my child from ending up right where he/she started out. That includes a double tap to the chest and one to the head.
And Obie was another great strength of character. Though his roll was just to provide a reason for the story line, it was his devotion to family, love and life that spoke volumes to me. To endure such painful punishment and still stand firm and protect your family at the risk of your own life, how can you not love such a character?
My final thoughts… To say that “The Space Between” is a simple story would be an understatement. My reasoning is simple. The religious undertone of the book leaves your mind to ponder some basic questions that could spark some great debates. Would you damn yourself to save someone you loved? Would you escape hell to save someone you loved? Would you allow others to die to save your own child? Would you kill your own child to save them? Would you die to protect the ones you love? Would you take someone you love from heaven just to have them again?
What attracted me to “The Space Between” was the Lilith story line. I am such a sucker for mythology and an even bigger sucker for religious mythology. I always find it interesting to see what kind of spin author will put on them. So when my reading group announced “The Space between” would be the mid-month read and I got a look at the synopsis and I was hooked. Not being able to recall the whole Jewish tale of Lilith Adams first wife; I was glad for the prologue. A piece of back ground information to peek any curious reader imagination. However it left me to ponder basic questions. How much is true to the legend and how much was created by Yovanoff?? The legend of Lilith in Yovanoff “The Space Between” doesn’t necessarily have to breathe truth for Daphne’s story to be brought to life. However, it does give the reader insight to how Daphne may or may not have come into existence.
My favorite characters flip flopped throughout the entire book resting finally on two in the final chapters and forever changing my opinions of other previously beloved characters. When I first started reading Daphne was my favorite character. She was your typical teenage girl; oblivious to the world around her yet had a true sense of who she didn’t want to be despite who her mother and father were. Then her half- brother Obie enters the storyline; a half demon/ half human but able and willing to love beyond any measure. Daphne showed true promise when she came to the aid of a lost one; the half-breed child of a fallen angel and a human with the help of her brother Obie when he was leaving purgatory for good to be with the lost one he loved.
Ahh, Truman, the boy Daphne and Obi fought to save and wouldn’t have if it were not for Beelzebub. You can’t help but to feel for the young man. He has no idea who his father is. He lost his mother who he loved dearly and his step father; though present— checked out on him. He’s alone and miserable with no true guidance in his life with no one looking out for his best interest. His life is a colossal mess; it no wonders he is slowly killing himself.
As the story charges forward with Daphne leaves purgatory in a desperate search for Obie who has gone missing. She seeks out Truman, the last person to see her brother alive for a clue to where he might. I found myself growing to love the interaction between these two. Trials and tribulations and discoveries these two make are vital to the story.
As a parent, I know this is odd but my favorite characters are Beelzebub and Obi. Beelzebub knew his reign in hell would end but he sacrificed it for his son. So even though he was fallen he still knew love. However, no matter my feeling for Daphne and Truman in the end I was disappointed with the ending. I just couldn’t believe what Daphne did. Yes I was heartbroken that they were separated. But if in the same shoes… I would have done the same for my own child to insure grace and redemption. Let me clarify…. I wouldn’t do it to my child now… I am saying if I were a fallen parent of a half human/half fallen angel damned by who his/her parent are and my child was attempting to kill themselves and have to spend an eternity in hell then yes… once redemption was achieved I would do everything I could to keep my child from ending up right where he/she started out. That includes a double tap to the chest and one to the head.
And Obie was another great strength of character. Though his roll was just to provide a reason for the story line, it was his devotion to family, love and life that spoke volumes to me. To endure such painful punishment and still stand firm and protect your family at the risk of your own life, how can you not love such a character?
My final thoughts… To say that “The Space Between” is a simple story would be an understatement. My reasoning is simple. The religious undertone of the book leaves your mind to ponder some basic questions that could spark some great debates. Would you damn yourself to save someone you loved? Would you escape hell to save someone you loved? Would you allow others to die to save your own child? Would you kill your own child to save them? Would you die to protect the ones you love? Would you take someone you love from heaven just to have them again?
November 4, 2018
Daphne, so lost and bored in hell, finally finds a reason to leave. To find her brother Obie, the only one she cares about, she must leave the only home she knows to venture into a place she's only heard before, earth. With the help of Truman they go on a journey to find Obie and along the way find the one thing they least expected...love.
Brenna's writing immediately pulls you in and leaves you in her world. In this case, two worlds, Pandemonium and Earth. I didn't have any trouble keeping myself immersed in the book because her writing is so beautiful. The way she describes characters, locations and emotions is just downright lyrical that I happen to fall in love with her writing style. The pacing to me was slow and fast at times, and I found myself growing a little bored at times. It dragged on too much and even though the novel was more character based then plot driven, I was still intrigued enough to keep reading.
I'm all for the lonely and depressed characters but I was surprised at how dark the thoughts of some of the characters were! Sometimes I am surprised at how an author can evoke such evil thoughts but I guess it's not hard when one can imagine being an evil being since the thought process is completely different from any normal person's thoughts.
Characters
Beautifully flawed characters that grew a lot as the story progressed.
Pacing
Stop and go at times, but incredibly fast paced in the end.
Cover and Book Design
Beautiful! Most definitely caught my eye. The red infused with steel sets the tone for the book rather nicely. Loving the embossed lettering. Nicely done!
Plot
Rather interesting plot, but I wanted there to be more details sprinkled throughout the novel instead of the big info dump at the end.
Worth the read if you enjoy reading bout dark, depressive and lost characters. This one is a definite read for book lovers who will fall in love with Brenna's beautiful writing style.
Brenna's writing immediately pulls you in and leaves you in her world. In this case, two worlds, Pandemonium and Earth. I didn't have any trouble keeping myself immersed in the book because her writing is so beautiful. The way she describes characters, locations and emotions is just downright lyrical that I happen to fall in love with her writing style. The pacing to me was slow and fast at times, and I found myself growing a little bored at times. It dragged on too much and even though the novel was more character based then plot driven, I was still intrigued enough to keep reading.
I'm all for the lonely and depressed characters but I was surprised at how dark the thoughts of some of the characters were! Sometimes I am surprised at how an author can evoke such evil thoughts but I guess it's not hard when one can imagine being an evil being since the thought process is completely different from any normal person's thoughts.
Characters
Beautifully flawed characters that grew a lot as the story progressed.
Pacing
Stop and go at times, but incredibly fast paced in the end.
Cover and Book Design
Beautiful! Most definitely caught my eye. The red infused with steel sets the tone for the book rather nicely. Loving the embossed lettering. Nicely done!
Plot
Rather interesting plot, but I wanted there to be more details sprinkled throughout the novel instead of the big info dump at the end.
Worth the read if you enjoy reading bout dark, depressive and lost characters. This one is a definite read for book lovers who will fall in love with Brenna's beautiful writing style.
February 1, 2012
This is one of those books that leaves you breathless, that reminds us why we all read in the first place. One of those books that keeps us wading through all the not so good books because we are searching for that one that will mean something.
This is the book I've been searching for. This is the book that means something. This is the best YA Paranormal book I've read since, dare I say, The Twilight Saga, and the The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy.
01/26
page 304 84.0%
"I'm not even done with this book and I can say for a fact that this is a book that I want to read over and over again. It makes my heart melt with happiness and break with sadness all at the same time. I'm being pulled apart by emotion and I'm loving every tragically beautiful part of it."
I'm pretty sure my status update above says it all...
Daphne isn't your normal girl. In fact she isn't even human. You see she is the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, and has never known a life outside of Hell. Living in a world of steel, red skies, heat from the furnace, and the screams of all the burning souls...that's the life she knows. The one she is comfortable with. That is until the day her brother tells her that he is going to live on Earth.
You see, while demons are allowed on Earth, they are NOT allowed to live there. A demon that decides to break this rule is a dead one. Azrael the angel of death sees to that. So when Daphne hears her favorite brother has fallen in love with a mortal, she will stop at nothing to bring him back to earth before it's too late. Since she has never been to Earth before she has to find the last person she has ever seen her brother with. A boy that he saved from the furnace in Hell. A boy that was nothing more than a dripping wet, scared mess of a boy that didn't want to live. But what happens to a demon girl when a boy that wants nothing more than to die, teaches her what love is? Can she save both the boy and her brother before it's too late? Or will she join them in death?
Daphne was amazingly brilliant! Mrs. Yovanoff has a way with words to not only create the most amazing places and characters, but to make you believe without a doubt that these people and places are real. From the very first page I was drawn into this world. I completely fell in love with Daphne and Truman. I especially loved how she captured Truman's torment, and self hatred. The pain he felt was raw and real and I couldn't help but feel it with him. Then to watch Daphne as she grew into more than the emotionless demon girl. To see her gain humanity one day at a time, and feel things she didn't even know existed. It was both breath taking and painful in the most beautiful way.
My advice is that any, ANY book you see with Brenna Yovanoff's name on it is a must buy!
This is the book I've been searching for. This is the book that means something. This is the best YA Paranormal book I've read since, dare I say, The Twilight Saga, and the The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy.
01/26
page 304 84.0%
"I'm not even done with this book and I can say for a fact that this is a book that I want to read over and over again. It makes my heart melt with happiness and break with sadness all at the same time. I'm being pulled apart by emotion and I'm loving every tragically beautiful part of it."
I'm pretty sure my status update above says it all...
Daphne isn't your normal girl. In fact she isn't even human. You see she is the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, and has never known a life outside of Hell. Living in a world of steel, red skies, heat from the furnace, and the screams of all the burning souls...that's the life she knows. The one she is comfortable with. That is until the day her brother tells her that he is going to live on Earth.
You see, while demons are allowed on Earth, they are NOT allowed to live there. A demon that decides to break this rule is a dead one. Azrael the angel of death sees to that. So when Daphne hears her favorite brother has fallen in love with a mortal, she will stop at nothing to bring him back to earth before it's too late. Since she has never been to Earth before she has to find the last person she has ever seen her brother with. A boy that he saved from the furnace in Hell. A boy that was nothing more than a dripping wet, scared mess of a boy that didn't want to live. But what happens to a demon girl when a boy that wants nothing more than to die, teaches her what love is? Can she save both the boy and her brother before it's too late? Or will she join them in death?
Daphne was amazingly brilliant! Mrs. Yovanoff has a way with words to not only create the most amazing places and characters, but to make you believe without a doubt that these people and places are real. From the very first page I was drawn into this world. I completely fell in love with Daphne and Truman. I especially loved how she captured Truman's torment, and self hatred. The pain he felt was raw and real and I couldn't help but feel it with him. Then to watch Daphne as she grew into more than the emotionless demon girl. To see her gain humanity one day at a time, and feel things she didn't even know existed. It was both breath taking and painful in the most beautiful way.
My advice is that any, ANY book you see with Brenna Yovanoff's name on it is a must buy!
December 10, 2011
Disappointing but unique take on demon mythos
In Brenna Yovanoff's sophomore novel, The Space Between, Daphne has spent an apathetic life within the metal city of Pandemonium. As the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lilith and Lucifer, she lives in a space where little changes and love doesn't matter. When her brother Obie goes missing, Daphne realizes she must travel to Earth in an attempt to save him. Putting her own demon nature to the test and relying on Truman, a human boy with problems of his own, Daphne risks her life to find out what love really means.
Though I really wanted to enjoy THE SPACE BETWEEN, I had a hard time connecting with its characters and its world. Daphne and Truman were sympathetic characters, but their problems were resolved too easily and too quickly for me to find it believable. For example, Daphne never really seemed to struggle with her humanity. She was too good for my liking, as were all of the other demons. World building flaws also pulled me out of the story. Much was made about how Pandemonium was a world without time, but many things were mentioned that denoted the passing of time. There were also confusing points regarding parentage and who/what made someone a demon. If these had been small things, instead of integral parts of the story, I could have let them slip, but they weren't.
Other things that tripped me up while reading included the change in point-of-view from first-person to third-person between chapters and the quick pace of the romance. While I liked that this was a stand-alone novel, the conclusion left things wrapped up too neatly for my taste, especially given the harrowing events that happen shortly before the end. I was also put off by the nature of some of the things that happen in the second half of the book. It's a personal aversion, but it unsettles me whenever religion gets mixed with with creepy stuff like torture.
Even with these problems, I can appreciate that Yovanoff is a good writer, and it showed in many places. Her descriptions of Pandemonium were detailed and vivid, and her unique spin on the tale of Lilith and Lilith's children pulled me in during the prologue. I also appreciated the story's focus on the sibling bond between Daphne and Obie. Even when the relationship between Daphne and Truman took over the latter part of the story, most of Daphne's actions were still motivated by her love and concern for her brother.
Though I haven't enjoyed Yovanoff's writing as much as I had hoped (either in this book or in her debut, The Replacement), I'm still willing to keep reading her work in the future. I hope I can find that spark that so many of my friends see in her work.
Note: This review refers to an advance review copy.
January 5, 2012
I wrote a really nice review for this book but goodreads ate it, so I will try again but seeing as I am getting progressively more sleepy... you get my point.
first this isn't as good as the replacement. As the script said "you have your whole life to write your first album and 6 months to write your second album" (paraphrased) not that this is like a danielwinski situation, this book is still very very good, it just isn't genius like the first one.
it has two major issues:
1. there is an awkward dual perspectives narration between a weirdly stylized first person and a subjective third person that tends to hover around the same person's perspective with minor deviations into others. Generally I think that perspective changes need to stay within one kind of perspective the hopping is disconcerting and difficult to read. At best this is a poor idea that couldn't be realized at worst it's bad editing.
2. the last thirty pages would have been better as their own book. the fact is the story arc ends and a new one begins without enough pages left to really flush out the story like it deserves, it was at least as interesting a story as the other 330 pages and could easily have been it's own book if it was separated.
on the good side.
1. Yovanoff really knows how to approach the concept of evil. I mean here and in the replacement she really is able to attack the concepts we generally diagnose as evil and spin them in circles till it's difficult to understand who to hate. (although both books do have a villain, but they also have villains on the good side).
2. she is also very good at taking an overused story or myth and keeping it close enough to be easily recognizable and cohesive with belief, but still interesting and spun on it's head enough to feel like it really is something worth putting out in the world not just the same old story.
3. I think this really captures the lost teen. you have the self destructor and you have the unfeeling nihilist and what you get in the end is very much palahniuk's idea from his book with the jesus guy when he talks about (paraphrased again) "the way to redemption is through love and not through loving but through being loved"
4. it reminds me of all the really good things about cassandra clare.
first this isn't as good as the replacement. As the script said "you have your whole life to write your first album and 6 months to write your second album" (paraphrased) not that this is like a danielwinski situation, this book is still very very good, it just isn't genius like the first one.
it has two major issues:
1. there is an awkward dual perspectives narration between a weirdly stylized first person and a subjective third person that tends to hover around the same person's perspective with minor deviations into others. Generally I think that perspective changes need to stay within one kind of perspective the hopping is disconcerting and difficult to read. At best this is a poor idea that couldn't be realized at worst it's bad editing.
2. the last thirty pages would have been better as their own book. the fact is the story arc ends and a new one begins without enough pages left to really flush out the story like it deserves, it was at least as interesting a story as the other 330 pages and could easily have been it's own book if it was separated.
on the good side.
1. Yovanoff really knows how to approach the concept of evil. I mean here and in the replacement she really is able to attack the concepts we generally diagnose as evil and spin them in circles till it's difficult to understand who to hate. (although both books do have a villain, but they also have villains on the good side).
2. she is also very good at taking an overused story or myth and keeping it close enough to be easily recognizable and cohesive with belief, but still interesting and spun on it's head enough to feel like it really is something worth putting out in the world not just the same old story.
3. I think this really captures the lost teen. you have the self destructor and you have the unfeeling nihilist and what you get in the end is very much palahniuk's idea from his book with the jesus guy when he talks about (paraphrased again) "the way to redemption is through love and not through loving but through being loved"
4. it reminds me of all the really good things about cassandra clare.
February 18, 2012
2.5/5
cover
the cover sums the story of the book in just one picture up: dark, creepy, terrifying, but also with flashes of beauty. i get goosebumps just by looking at this cover.
story
daphne (daughter of lilith and lucifer) and a mortal boy, truman meet in hell, because he tried to kill himself. but circumstances allow truman to return to earth. daphne stays in hell. when her brother goes missing, she leaves her home behind to find truman, the last person to see her brother. one thing leads to another and they find out some surprising things..
the good, the bad & the ugly
the story read nicely, although sometimes a little stiff.
angels aren't all downright good or evil, more like somewhere in between, just like the demons who are in hell. that added a nice touch. i like my characters with shades of gray. there are even some horror elements (that's a plus point, btw!)
there's no love triangle (hooray), there were some nice and touching moments and dialogues between the lead characters, but overall it still wasn't enough. maybe i'll feel differently at some point, but right now? nope. also the secondary characters like lilith or beelzebub or obie (her brother) were underdeveloped. i wish the author had polished the characters a little bit more, to give them a little shine.
the showdown wasn't much of a showdown. it was pretty ... anticlimactic to tell the truth.
quotes
daphne & truman:
"I have a toothbrush,” I tell him, trying to make him feel at home.
“You can borrow it, if you like.”
He just looks at me. Then he smiles a little, shaking his head. “Toothbrushes aren’t the kind of thing people usually share.” “I know. I haven’t used mine yet though, so it’s new. It could be yours instead.”
beelzebub:
“What you have to understand is that this is his life, and he’s the one who has to live it. People make decisions, and maybe you don’t always agree, but those choices are still their own.”
flashbacks to daughter of smoke & bone:
All I know is that demons are born from chaos. They’re born from rage or blood or fire, or ruined holy water. They’re born from eggs. They come into the world as wisps of smoke or in grotesque forms that splinter off and multiply. There are all kinds of origins, all different ways to be born [..]
love is a bitch:
moloch & truman:
“I’m not a holy man,” Moloch said from behind his hand.
“I’m not pious, and I’m not good. But if I were, your penance would be to start reaching for the things you want and giving up the things that will destroy you.”
possible pairings
books:
films:
constantine
cover
the cover sums the story of the book in just one picture up: dark, creepy, terrifying, but also with flashes of beauty. i get goosebumps just by looking at this cover.
story
daphne (daughter of lilith and lucifer) and a mortal boy, truman meet in hell, because he tried to kill himself. but circumstances allow truman to return to earth. daphne stays in hell. when her brother goes missing, she leaves her home behind to find truman, the last person to see her brother. one thing leads to another and they find out some surprising things..
the good, the bad & the ugly
the story read nicely, although sometimes a little stiff.
angels aren't all downright good or evil, more like somewhere in between, just like the demons who are in hell. that added a nice touch. i like my characters with shades of gray. there are even some horror elements (that's a plus point, btw!)
there's no love triangle (hooray), there were some nice and touching moments and dialogues between the lead characters, but overall it still wasn't enough. maybe i'll feel differently at some point, but right now? nope. also the secondary characters like lilith or beelzebub or obie (her brother) were underdeveloped. i wish the author had polished the characters a little bit more, to give them a little shine.
the showdown wasn't much of a showdown. it was pretty ... anticlimactic to tell the truth.
quotes
daphne & truman:
"I have a toothbrush,” I tell him, trying to make him feel at home.
“You can borrow it, if you like.”
He just looks at me. Then he smiles a little, shaking his head. “Toothbrushes aren’t the kind of thing people usually share.” “I know. I haven’t used mine yet though, so it’s new. It could be yours instead.”
beelzebub:
“What you have to understand is that this is his life, and he’s the one who has to live it. People make decisions, and maybe you don’t always agree, but those choices are still their own.”
flashbacks to daughter of smoke & bone:
All I know is that demons are born from chaos. They’re born from rage or blood or fire, or ruined holy water. They’re born from eggs. They come into the world as wisps of smoke or in grotesque forms that splinter off and multiply. There are all kinds of origins, all different ways to be born [..]
love is a bitch:
moloch & truman:
“I’m not a holy man,” Moloch said from behind his hand.
“I’m not pious, and I’m not good. But if I were, your penance would be to start reaching for the things you want and giving up the things that will destroy you.”
possible pairings
books:
films:
constantine
September 8, 2012
The Space Between was filled with atmosphere and beautiful world building much in the style of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The heroine, Daphne, is a demon but not evil. Yovanoff did a lovely job illustrating how a non-human might interact without making demons black and white villains. I was still reminded of the show Supernatural's illusive nuggets about the pit we didn't get to glimpse. I think Pandemonium wasn't as idyllic to other demons but being the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith had it'd advantages. Daphne wasn't subject to the dog eat dog world of hell. I'm not sure why she resisted becoming like her sisters since it wasn't established where Daphne received her morality from. She liked movies but they weren't the humanist films of deeper feelings but stylish classics.
Hell was always out of our grasp. I had to bring in visions of Ruby and her French fries from Supernatural to the table.
Daphne was born in hell as opposed to being sent there which is how we meet Truman during his first suicide attempt.
When she goes to earth to look for her brother she hunts down his last known helpless case. Her brother Obie's job is to help the lost ones. I liked this part of the book. The half angel kids tend to wind up with drug problems or in prison. The atmosphere of having a creepy angel tell them they were worthless was creepy.
Truman was a sympathy kid with a self destructive death wish. I think the main problem was we got the character perspective switch. Daphne was first person but Truman was not.
Daphne was the disaffected manic pixie dream girl who saves the depressed boy. He's the world isn't good enough for me and my problems and she's confused by emotions.
Her brother Obie didn't fit in as a well rounded character by having the answers but her cousin Moloch was cool. He was a demon who worked in the bone yard.
I would have loved to read more about the damned and what made them tick.
Ultimately, this book had a big concept and tons of style. It didn't sweep me up in emotion despite the big themes such as suicide, depression and worthlessness.
The physical character descriptions were very well done and I got a great feel of what everyone was like visually.
Hell was always out of our grasp. I had to bring in visions of Ruby and her French fries from Supernatural to the table.
Daphne was born in hell as opposed to being sent there which is how we meet Truman during his first suicide attempt.
When she goes to earth to look for her brother she hunts down his last known helpless case. Her brother Obie's job is to help the lost ones. I liked this part of the book. The half angel kids tend to wind up with drug problems or in prison. The atmosphere of having a creepy angel tell them they were worthless was creepy.
Truman was a sympathy kid with a self destructive death wish. I think the main problem was we got the character perspective switch. Daphne was first person but Truman was not.
Daphne was the disaffected manic pixie dream girl who saves the depressed boy. He's the world isn't good enough for me and my problems and she's confused by emotions.
Her brother Obie didn't fit in as a well rounded character by having the answers but her cousin Moloch was cool. He was a demon who worked in the bone yard.
I would have loved to read more about the damned and what made them tick.
Ultimately, this book had a big concept and tons of style. It didn't sweep me up in emotion despite the big themes such as suicide, depression and worthlessness.
The physical character descriptions were very well done and I got a great feel of what everyone was like visually.
October 27, 2011
[Thanks to Alexis for letting me borrow this!]
Brenna Yovanoff is quickly becoming one of those authors whose books I will buy without even knowing what they are about. In just two books (The Replacement and now The Space Between), she's convinced me of her skill and understanding and finesse as a writer and made me trust that, whatever she's writing about, I will want to read it. I was a little fearful of the dreaded "sophomore slump" with The Space Between, and clearly there was no need for me to worry.
As she did with Mackie in The Replacement, Brenna captured Daphne's "otherness" in a really interesting, authentic way. It was never over the top, but it was always clear that she was not quite human. So many people write garbage where the MC is supposed to be Other, but is really only in name. Daphne feels Other and seems Other, but still remains relatable. But what's really interesting about her is that she is 'Other' from both sides - she refuses to be like her demon "sisters" but she certainly isn't human, either. She processes things differently, reacts differently, is always enough of an odd duck to feel authentically demonic in origin, but as the story goes on, she sort of becomes more human. She thaws out a bit, lets slip her demonic reserve and shows some passion. More than relatable, she's likable.
Truman has a fair amount of Otherness about him, too, but it is in the very human, relatable way that we all sometimes feel like we don't belong or there's nowhere to turn. What is most appealing about him is the struggle and the small sparks of hope that begin to come through. I think what it comes down to is that Brenna understands show don't tell - or show AND tell - and she understands that the emotion and the core desires have to be real, both for the audience and the characters. Daphne and Truman make such great main characters because the reader can see his/herself in both, and can feel for them and pull for a happy ending, no matter how unlikely it may seem. For all of the characters, human and non alike, I loved the struggle, the almost-humanness, the sadness and the overall message of love, even from those who have no hope of it, or want it more than anything. I said in my review of The Replacement that I don't really find the book itself scary, but that "It's more that it can be so unsettlingly real and human in the best and worst ways that it gets under your skin. And that can be scary." I think this is true of The Space Between as well.
[Note, this is not to say that both books don't have their scary elements and scary moments. Where The Replacement had The Lady and The Cutter - one of my all-time favorite villains - The Space Between has Azrael and Dark Dreadful. There is definitely some scariness and twistedness, and it is delicious.]
I think once you've got a solid connection to the characters, everything else in a story can be nearly incidental. There are plenty of times we read a story and love it purely for the characters, even though there is nothing out of the ordinary in the plot or worldbuilding. Fortunately, Brenna doesn't slack when it comes to these things either. Her Hell and its inhabitants were really interesting and visual. I really liked the transition from Daphne's home in Hell to Truman's here on Earth, and the way the two came together. The use of religion and history, and the mythology that Yovanoff builds is absolutely perfect for the story, fully realized and interesting. And where some people do the whole gritty urban thing for shock value, Brenna's reads much more authentic and just a matter of course, in a sad way. It's an extension of her characters and their minds, and it worked brilliantly from that aspect. There is an icy realness to her writing, and a heartbreaking truth, always. Like she just reaches into the heart of things and lays them bare. There's no cloying sentimentality, no pandering for emotion. Her books are real and raw and lovingly executed, and that's why they always end up on my list of faves.
One thing, too, that was pleasantly surprising was the dual narration. I am not always a fan of multi-narrators because I think the story can seem disjointed or muddled. But getting both Daphne's and Truman's perspectives actually really worked and added dimension to the story. And there's this ominous feeling that comes from the "countdown" on Truman's chapters - each of Truman's chapters is headed with X-amount of days/hours, but the reader never knows what the countdown is counting down to until it happens... It was like having a steadily ticking clock in the background that you know is about to erupt in an alarm, and you don't know what the alarm is for, or when it will go off. It made it a bit unsettling and provided such wonderful tension. I actually felt anxious; I was so terrified of what was going to happen and then when it did -- I said at the time that Brenna ripped my heart out, waited a few beats, and then put it back in. I can't say any more than that, but man! She had a tight fist on my emotions, I'll give her that.
So. If I haven't convinced you that you need to read this by now, I'm not sure what I can say that will convince you.
Oh, other than the fact that I'm giving away a copy... ;P
[If you're reading this after Nov. 5, 2011 - TOO LATE!]
Brenna Yovanoff is quickly becoming one of those authors whose books I will buy without even knowing what they are about. In just two books (The Replacement and now The Space Between), she's convinced me of her skill and understanding and finesse as a writer and made me trust that, whatever she's writing about, I will want to read it. I was a little fearful of the dreaded "sophomore slump" with The Space Between, and clearly there was no need for me to worry.
As she did with Mackie in The Replacement, Brenna captured Daphne's "otherness" in a really interesting, authentic way. It was never over the top, but it was always clear that she was not quite human. So many people write garbage where the MC is supposed to be Other, but is really only in name. Daphne feels Other and seems Other, but still remains relatable. But what's really interesting about her is that she is 'Other' from both sides - she refuses to be like her demon "sisters" but she certainly isn't human, either. She processes things differently, reacts differently, is always enough of an odd duck to feel authentically demonic in origin, but as the story goes on, she sort of becomes more human. She thaws out a bit, lets slip her demonic reserve and shows some passion. More than relatable, she's likable.
Truman has a fair amount of Otherness about him, too, but it is in the very human, relatable way that we all sometimes feel like we don't belong or there's nowhere to turn. What is most appealing about him is the struggle and the small sparks of hope that begin to come through. I think what it comes down to is that Brenna understands show don't tell - or show AND tell - and she understands that the emotion and the core desires have to be real, both for the audience and the characters. Daphne and Truman make such great main characters because the reader can see his/herself in both, and can feel for them and pull for a happy ending, no matter how unlikely it may seem. For all of the characters, human and non alike, I loved the struggle, the almost-humanness, the sadness and the overall message of love, even from those who have no hope of it, or want it more than anything. I said in my review of The Replacement that I don't really find the book itself scary, but that "It's more that it can be so unsettlingly real and human in the best and worst ways that it gets under your skin. And that can be scary." I think this is true of The Space Between as well.
[Note, this is not to say that both books don't have their scary elements and scary moments. Where The Replacement had The Lady and The Cutter - one of my all-time favorite villains - The Space Between has Azrael and Dark Dreadful. There is definitely some scariness and twistedness, and it is delicious.]
I think once you've got a solid connection to the characters, everything else in a story can be nearly incidental. There are plenty of times we read a story and love it purely for the characters, even though there is nothing out of the ordinary in the plot or worldbuilding. Fortunately, Brenna doesn't slack when it comes to these things either. Her Hell and its inhabitants were really interesting and visual. I really liked the transition from Daphne's home in Hell to Truman's here on Earth, and the way the two came together. The use of religion and history, and the mythology that Yovanoff builds is absolutely perfect for the story, fully realized and interesting. And where some people do the whole gritty urban thing for shock value, Brenna's reads much more authentic and just a matter of course, in a sad way. It's an extension of her characters and their minds, and it worked brilliantly from that aspect. There is an icy realness to her writing, and a heartbreaking truth, always. Like she just reaches into the heart of things and lays them bare. There's no cloying sentimentality, no pandering for emotion. Her books are real and raw and lovingly executed, and that's why they always end up on my list of faves.
One thing, too, that was pleasantly surprising was the dual narration. I am not always a fan of multi-narrators because I think the story can seem disjointed or muddled. But getting both Daphne's and Truman's perspectives actually really worked and added dimension to the story. And there's this ominous feeling that comes from the "countdown" on Truman's chapters - each of Truman's chapters is headed with X-amount of days/hours, but the reader never knows what the countdown is counting down to until it happens... It was like having a steadily ticking clock in the background that you know is about to erupt in an alarm, and you don't know what the alarm is for, or when it will go off. It made it a bit unsettling and provided such wonderful tension. I actually felt anxious; I was so terrified of what was going to happen and then when it did -- I said at the time that Brenna ripped my heart out, waited a few beats, and then put it back in. I can't say any more than that, but man! She had a tight fist on my emotions, I'll give her that.
So. If I haven't convinced you that you need to read this by now, I'm not sure what I can say that will convince you.
Oh, other than the fact that I'm giving away a copy... ;P
[If you're reading this after Nov. 5, 2011 - TOO LATE!]
March 8, 2018
I really love the characters! Daphne was such a distance person when Truman was such an emotional character. How she went to Heaven to get him back was so romantic. It was so cute! How she broke down after he was murdered by his father broke my heart. I thought she was going to take her life. Uh this book completely messed with my emotions. I can’t wait to read one of her other novels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2014
Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?
Brenna Yovanoff's The Space Between is the poignant and beautiful tale of a semi-confused and not-like-expected character resulting from the pair of Lucifer and Lilith. The story progresses quickly, the inciting event happening not too far into the book. The writing is gorgeous, as is the norm for a Yovanoff book.
Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible.
You'd think a daughter of Lucifer and Lilith would be trained to feel no good and only think evil, but Daphne is good at not playing the expected and stereotypical part. She's a very unique character, and she experiences a lot over the course of the book, especially the end . . .
Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts.
The Space Between unfolds slowly, containing many intricate and complex plot levels that only a master at the craft like Yovanoff could to. Truman (the human boy mentioned above) is a very complex person, buried under the many guilts he's had to bear over the years, drinking away his sorrows. Daphne has to withdraw him from the world he's immersed himself in before she can get to the one she needs.
As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.
The world-building in The Space Between is fantastically done. The unique worlds of Hell, Heaven (yes, there is Heaven in this book as well) and Earth are all rich, developed places that the characters explore. The characters are developed richly as well. The Space Between is a fabulous book.
Even though the plot isn't as quickly-paced as some other books and the writing is very rich and delicate, the book still stands strong with its plot. Yovanoff obviously spends lots of time in these worlds!
And the ending. Gosh, the ending.
Brenna Yovanoff's The Space Between is the poignant and beautiful tale of a semi-confused and not-like-expected character resulting from the pair of Lucifer and Lilith. The story progresses quickly, the inciting event happening not too far into the book. The writing is gorgeous, as is the norm for a Yovanoff book.
Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible.
You'd think a daughter of Lucifer and Lilith would be trained to feel no good and only think evil, but Daphne is good at not playing the expected and stereotypical part. She's a very unique character, and she experiences a lot over the course of the book, especially the end . . .
Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts.
The Space Between unfolds slowly, containing many intricate and complex plot levels that only a master at the craft like Yovanoff could to. Truman (the human boy mentioned above) is a very complex person, buried under the many guilts he's had to bear over the years, drinking away his sorrows. Daphne has to withdraw him from the world he's immersed himself in before she can get to the one she needs.
As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.
The world-building in The Space Between is fantastically done. The unique worlds of Hell, Heaven (yes, there is Heaven in this book as well) and Earth are all rich, developed places that the characters explore. The characters are developed richly as well. The Space Between is a fabulous book.
Even though the plot isn't as quickly-paced as some other books and the writing is very rich and delicate, the book still stands strong with its plot. Yovanoff obviously spends lots of time in these worlds!
And the ending. Gosh, the ending.
March 7, 2012
Read more of my reviews at Falling Books!
I really enjoyed Smoulder. I found it entertaining and extremely well written. Brenna Yovanoff is brilliant at scaring you. Blood, guts, whatever! She delivers an exciting adventure that you don't want to stop reading about.
I love books about demons! I find them just....purely awesome. I love how they are described. But the problem with my brain is that when I see the word 'Demon' I think of little red things with horns. And I just can't bring myself up to take them seriously. But Brenna Yovanoff managed to put a truly terrifying picture of a demon in my head. Sharp razor claws and teeth. *Shudder*
The characters were likable and easy to understand, I was keen to read more about each of their pasts. Especially the main character's, Daphne. She is an unloved girl who has grown up in a world with a mother who didn't pay much attention to her, and too many sisters. Her brother, Obie, is the only person who can make her smile and laugh. Until he's gone. He moves to the human world to follow his heart, but after Daphne's mother has a vision of him getting beaten up, Daphne can't help but want to find him. She flees to the human world in search of her brother. She's not stupid! If you lost the person you loved most, would you sit back and do nothing?
Daphne is a strong and courageous character. Everything she did was based on helping people. Personally, I don't think she is much of a demon. Demons are meant to kill and hurt, but I guess she didn't do that because she IS half-fallen angel! Awesome or what? And then things get so much better when she meets Truman! I would have liked his character to be described better. I really want a clearer picture of him in my head. I do think that lots of the characters could have been described in more depth. I did love Truman though. He was sweet at times and had a very intriguing personally.
I wish there were a sequel. I think a lot of people would love to read more about Daphne and Truman, how their lives change, etc. But, there isn't. So for now I'll have to use my amazing imagination!
Overall, Smoulder is a great book full of shocks and twists that will have you biting your lip, hard. Read it! And make sure you try out Brenna's other novel, The Replacement. Just as great as this one!
I really enjoyed Smoulder. I found it entertaining and extremely well written. Brenna Yovanoff is brilliant at scaring you. Blood, guts, whatever! She delivers an exciting adventure that you don't want to stop reading about.
I love books about demons! I find them just....purely awesome. I love how they are described. But the problem with my brain is that when I see the word 'Demon' I think of little red things with horns. And I just can't bring myself up to take them seriously. But Brenna Yovanoff managed to put a truly terrifying picture of a demon in my head. Sharp razor claws and teeth. *Shudder*
The characters were likable and easy to understand, I was keen to read more about each of their pasts. Especially the main character's, Daphne. She is an unloved girl who has grown up in a world with a mother who didn't pay much attention to her, and too many sisters. Her brother, Obie, is the only person who can make her smile and laugh. Until he's gone. He moves to the human world to follow his heart, but after Daphne's mother has a vision of him getting beaten up, Daphne can't help but want to find him. She flees to the human world in search of her brother. She's not stupid! If you lost the person you loved most, would you sit back and do nothing?
Daphne is a strong and courageous character. Everything she did was based on helping people. Personally, I don't think she is much of a demon. Demons are meant to kill and hurt, but I guess she didn't do that because she IS half-fallen angel! Awesome or what? And then things get so much better when she meets Truman! I would have liked his character to be described better. I really want a clearer picture of him in my head. I do think that lots of the characters could have been described in more depth. I did love Truman though. He was sweet at times and had a very intriguing personally.
I wish there were a sequel. I think a lot of people would love to read more about Daphne and Truman, how their lives change, etc. But, there isn't. So for now I'll have to use my amazing imagination!
Overall, Smoulder is a great book full of shocks and twists that will have you biting your lip, hard. Read it! And make sure you try out Brenna's other novel, The Replacement. Just as great as this one!
August 26, 2014
This is a weird book. I neither hated it nor loved it, despite the fact that it's highly creative. Part of the problem is the narration from Daphne -- she's a demon, who barely experiences emotion, and so despite the horror imagery and some really terrifying things that happen, there was a sense of distance or disconnect of some sort that kept it all from registering very strongly for me. Parts of the story are told in third person from Truman's POV, and I personally found those bits much more involving -- but then it would switch back to Daphne, and I would stop feeling the story very much again.
The writing was beautiful, the pacing was tight, and the plot twists were clever and unexpected. I would say this is definitely a good book. I just wish I had felt more invested in the story, as demon Daphne helps Truman face his own internal demons, and all the threads came together at the end with shocking results. It was stunning and unexpected -- but I didn't quite care.
Maybe I'm just missing something.
Note: It didn't help that I hate, hate, hate this dead girl cover. I kept my bookmark solidly over that disturbing picture when I was reading this in public. Yech. I'm so glad that trend was fairly short.
The writing was beautiful, the pacing was tight, and the plot twists were clever and unexpected. I would say this is definitely a good book. I just wish I had felt more invested in the story, as demon Daphne helps Truman face his own internal demons, and all the threads came together at the end with shocking results. It was stunning and unexpected -- but I didn't quite care.
Maybe I'm just missing something.
Note: It didn't help that I hate, hate, hate this dead girl cover. I kept my bookmark solidly over that disturbing picture when I was reading this in public. Yech. I'm so glad that trend was fairly short.
June 16, 2012
I've been wanting to read this book for a looong time. Granted, it may have been mostly because of that jaw-dropping cover, but I was also intrigued by the premise of the story. A YA novel told from the perspective of Lucifer's daughter is not something that you encounter every day. I haven't read much literature when it concerns angels and demons: a theme that has rushed in to take the place of the vampire craze post-Twilight. If the general GoodReads population is to be believed, most of these new books are not worth the time. That isn't to say there aren't any good examples in the YA world, of course. For every Fallen or Hush, Hush, there is a Daughter of Smoke and Bone or Angelfall.
Unfortunately, The Space Between doesn't reach the level of success of these latter books. It is, by no means, a terrible book. It's quite good. But that's all it is. Good. Nothing special, but worth a solid day's worth of reading. I'll admit that I'm a bit disappointed, as I've heard very good things about Yovanoff. I take comfort in the fact, however, that it could have been a lot worse.
The Story & Its World
I suppose my biggest problem with this book is that it feels too cliché. While the major premise is certainly unique, the majority of the story's content plays out in a way that you have likely seen numerous times before, especially if you've read a substantial amount of YA. Which is a shame, because I adore the novel's worldbuilding, especially at the book's onset. The cover art perfectly captures the world of Pandemonium, and it's a gorgeous thing to picture: a city crafted entirely of metal. It's a fantastic imagining of Hell, but plays such a small role in the novel that it feels like a wasted opportunity.
The book starts off with such promise, but quickly goes on to squander it. Daphne, the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, spends her days with trinkets from Earth and attempts to avoid her succubi sisters, who are the offspring of her mother and other, lesser demons. She is forced to visit Earth for the first time when her brother, the son of Adam and Lilith, travels there and promptly disappears. At this point, the story transforms into one that you've likely encountered numerous times before. The hunt for a lost relative. The meeting of a supernatural entity and a "simple" mortal (I use quotes because ), both of whom begin to develop feelings for the other. The mysterious deaths of other, secondary characters, which spurs the couple on to solve the mystery. The final confrontation, which leads to . It's simply a conglomeration of ideas and themes that we've all seen time and time again. Daphne's struggling to understand Earthly ways was a nice touch, but her naivety and the humor that occasionally arose from it were both things that, again, I've encountered many times before.
The story ends up losing momentum, and eventually wears down by the time we reach the story's finale. This is a problem that is worsened by the fact that the book is so short that it feels rushed. The big encounter with the antagonist is disconcertingly quick and simple. There is no big confrontation. There is no drama in the moment. The villain says a few ominous things, threatens to kill a few people, and is convinced to stop his dastardly ways and leave when another character unexpectedly shows up and delivers a few lines of dialogue. And that's it. It's so lacking in tension and excitement that you're left wondering what the point of it all was. It's followed by a twist that, while surprising, doesn't inspire any kind of real emotion or shock in the reader. At this point, its worth nothing more than a raised eyebrow, at most. This little twist is very quickly resolved within the following dozen pages, and so the story ends with the neat little bow that everyone was probably expecting.
There are some very clever and enjoyable touches to Yovanoff's world-building, but these moments are the exception, not the rule. It's unfortunate that these great bits are quickly brushed aside, as the novel's length forces the narrative to rush along. As the story deals, ultimately, with religious doctrine, some may be offended by the liberties the author takes with certain aspects of the Bible's canon. As a Christian, I know a good deal about the Bible and its dealings with the nature of angels and demons. At no point, however, was I turned off by Yovanoff's ideas. Her creativity is extensive and enjoyable, but never becomes offensive. She treats her source material with respect, while simultaneously giving it her own spin to allow her story to distinguish itself from others in the genre.
The Characters & Their Relationships
Daphne was a likable enough protagonist. She spends the first half of the novel as a sturdy and determined girl who can think for herself and make intelligent decisions. Eventually, however, this all goes down the tubes when she falls for Hunky and Tortured Male Lead. And I don't use that title in order to be funny. I use it because I honestly can't remember his name.
Once the two of them start making out, Daphne becomes your typical YA heroine, spending most of her time fawning over her new boyfriend and gushing over his sheer perfection. Sure, he has demons in his past. Sure, he's done some bad things. But none of these imperfections add anything to his character or make him likable. It all just feels tailor-made to make him the usual, oh-so-dreamy and tortured love interest. Thankfully, Daphne manages to continue to make some reasonable decisions, and HTML ends up being the one who does nothing. And, unlike many YA relationships, this one ends up taking a bit of time to get rolling. Instead of allowing their relationship to develop at a reasonable pace, however, it simply ensures that the insta-love doesn't occur until the middle stretch of the novel. It ultimately undermines both leads and makes their relationship feel false and melodramatic.
The Writing & Its Flow
The writing, as a whole, works wonderfully. Yovanoff's style has a smooth and poetic lilt to it, making it easy to read and oftentimes beautiful. For instance:
My brother was born on a bed of black stones, under a blood-red moon. Our mother named him Ohbrin, a name of mysteries, in a language only she knew. He was like her in almost every way, with her sleek black hair and gray eyes, but he laughed sometimes and smiled up at her. She knew she wasn't meant to raise a child, and she took him back to show Adam a son whose smile was so like his own.
Here's another example:
Now, with the city dark, I can take out all my pictures and my books and charms and tiny glass figurines - all my things from earth - and they don't melt or burn up like they would if the furnace was at full blaze. My favorite artifacts are delicate and bright - paper streamers and tiny dolls with satin dresses and plastic wings. In the twilight, my whole room is cluttered with trinkets.
What I find most interesting about Yovanoff's writing style is the contrast between the two perspectives that she employs to tell the story. Daphne's chapters are narrated in a first-person, present-tense style, titled with a number and brief phrase or single word. HTML's chapters are narrated in a third-person, past-tense style and are titled with a date and timer. This juxtaposition is odd, and takes a bit of time to grow used to, but proves to be a very unique and enjoyable combination. It certainly keeps the two characters easily distinguished, which is something that many YA novels fail to do well.
In any case, Yovanoff is clearly talented, so its rather disappointing to see the actual content of her words not reach the same level of quality as the words themselves.
So, in the End...
The Space Between is not a bad novel. It's just not a great one. It may never end up on my shelves, permanent and waiting to be read and reread, but I do not regret the day that I spent with it. I'll be reading whatever Yovanoff comes up with next, as there's a lot of potential here. Let's just hope she can escape the trappings of the contemporary YA story next time.
Oh, and I just remembered. The HTML's name is Truman.
Unfortunately, The Space Between doesn't reach the level of success of these latter books. It is, by no means, a terrible book. It's quite good. But that's all it is. Good. Nothing special, but worth a solid day's worth of reading. I'll admit that I'm a bit disappointed, as I've heard very good things about Yovanoff. I take comfort in the fact, however, that it could have been a lot worse.
The Story & Its World
I suppose my biggest problem with this book is that it feels too cliché. While the major premise is certainly unique, the majority of the story's content plays out in a way that you have likely seen numerous times before, especially if you've read a substantial amount of YA. Which is a shame, because I adore the novel's worldbuilding, especially at the book's onset. The cover art perfectly captures the world of Pandemonium, and it's a gorgeous thing to picture: a city crafted entirely of metal. It's a fantastic imagining of Hell, but plays such a small role in the novel that it feels like a wasted opportunity.
The book starts off with such promise, but quickly goes on to squander it. Daphne, the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, spends her days with trinkets from Earth and attempts to avoid her succubi sisters, who are the offspring of her mother and other, lesser demons. She is forced to visit Earth for the first time when her brother, the son of Adam and Lilith, travels there and promptly disappears. At this point, the story transforms into one that you've likely encountered numerous times before. The hunt for a lost relative. The meeting of a supernatural entity and a "simple" mortal (I use quotes because ), both of whom begin to develop feelings for the other. The mysterious deaths of other, secondary characters, which spurs the couple on to solve the mystery. The final confrontation, which leads to . It's simply a conglomeration of ideas and themes that we've all seen time and time again. Daphne's struggling to understand Earthly ways was a nice touch, but her naivety and the humor that occasionally arose from it were both things that, again, I've encountered many times before.
The story ends up losing momentum, and eventually wears down by the time we reach the story's finale. This is a problem that is worsened by the fact that the book is so short that it feels rushed. The big encounter with the antagonist is disconcertingly quick and simple. There is no big confrontation. There is no drama in the moment. The villain says a few ominous things, threatens to kill a few people, and is convinced to stop his dastardly ways and leave when another character unexpectedly shows up and delivers a few lines of dialogue. And that's it. It's so lacking in tension and excitement that you're left wondering what the point of it all was. It's followed by a twist that, while surprising, doesn't inspire any kind of real emotion or shock in the reader. At this point, its worth nothing more than a raised eyebrow, at most. This little twist is very quickly resolved within the following dozen pages, and so the story ends with the neat little bow that everyone was probably expecting.
There are some very clever and enjoyable touches to Yovanoff's world-building, but these moments are the exception, not the rule. It's unfortunate that these great bits are quickly brushed aside, as the novel's length forces the narrative to rush along. As the story deals, ultimately, with religious doctrine, some may be offended by the liberties the author takes with certain aspects of the Bible's canon. As a Christian, I know a good deal about the Bible and its dealings with the nature of angels and demons. At no point, however, was I turned off by Yovanoff's ideas. Her creativity is extensive and enjoyable, but never becomes offensive. She treats her source material with respect, while simultaneously giving it her own spin to allow her story to distinguish itself from others in the genre.
The Characters & Their Relationships
Daphne was a likable enough protagonist. She spends the first half of the novel as a sturdy and determined girl who can think for herself and make intelligent decisions. Eventually, however, this all goes down the tubes when she falls for Hunky and Tortured Male Lead. And I don't use that title in order to be funny. I use it because I honestly can't remember his name.
Once the two of them start making out, Daphne becomes your typical YA heroine, spending most of her time fawning over her new boyfriend and gushing over his sheer perfection. Sure, he has demons in his past. Sure, he's done some bad things. But none of these imperfections add anything to his character or make him likable. It all just feels tailor-made to make him the usual, oh-so-dreamy and tortured love interest. Thankfully, Daphne manages to continue to make some reasonable decisions, and HTML ends up being the one who does nothing. And, unlike many YA relationships, this one ends up taking a bit of time to get rolling. Instead of allowing their relationship to develop at a reasonable pace, however, it simply ensures that the insta-love doesn't occur until the middle stretch of the novel. It ultimately undermines both leads and makes their relationship feel false and melodramatic.
The Writing & Its Flow
The writing, as a whole, works wonderfully. Yovanoff's style has a smooth and poetic lilt to it, making it easy to read and oftentimes beautiful. For instance:
My brother was born on a bed of black stones, under a blood-red moon. Our mother named him Ohbrin, a name of mysteries, in a language only she knew. He was like her in almost every way, with her sleek black hair and gray eyes, but he laughed sometimes and smiled up at her. She knew she wasn't meant to raise a child, and she took him back to show Adam a son whose smile was so like his own.
Here's another example:
Now, with the city dark, I can take out all my pictures and my books and charms and tiny glass figurines - all my things from earth - and they don't melt or burn up like they would if the furnace was at full blaze. My favorite artifacts are delicate and bright - paper streamers and tiny dolls with satin dresses and plastic wings. In the twilight, my whole room is cluttered with trinkets.
What I find most interesting about Yovanoff's writing style is the contrast between the two perspectives that she employs to tell the story. Daphne's chapters are narrated in a first-person, present-tense style, titled with a number and brief phrase or single word. HTML's chapters are narrated in a third-person, past-tense style and are titled with a date and timer. This juxtaposition is odd, and takes a bit of time to grow used to, but proves to be a very unique and enjoyable combination. It certainly keeps the two characters easily distinguished, which is something that many YA novels fail to do well.
In any case, Yovanoff is clearly talented, so its rather disappointing to see the actual content of her words not reach the same level of quality as the words themselves.
So, in the End...
The Space Between is not a bad novel. It's just not a great one. It may never end up on my shelves, permanent and waiting to be read and reread, but I do not regret the day that I spent with it. I'll be reading whatever Yovanoff comes up with next, as there's a lot of potential here. Let's just hope she can escape the trappings of the contemporary YA story next time.
Oh, and I just remembered. The HTML's name is Truman.
July 7, 2012
I had really expected this book to be good. A setting in the Underworld, a girl going to find her brother on Earth and falling in love with a human when she is demon, doesn't sound new but I have always been drawn towards books with really dark settings. The book started as boring, promised improvement along the way, became predictable, took an unexpected twist towards the end and then ended leaving me dumb-struck. And not in a good way.
The problem wasn't with the writing. If not for the writing this book would have been a 1 star. The plot was okay, predictable yet okay, the characters were even less expressive than a rock and the ending was just terrible.
So, first of all Daphne is a really unimpressive name for the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer. But that's not even worth noting. She was so dull and bland that I really had a hard time continuing reading for the first few chapters. But later it was made quite clear that she was going to remain as unemotional as ever. In fact the other demons or Lilims or her cousins seemed much more interesting. When she finds out that Obie might be dead, Lilith creates a fuss, but all she does is stand there and wonder if her mom would go that berserk when she went missing. And then when her mom decides to make her daughter the search police, she goes up to Beelzebub and then starts reacting as if her brain just registered the enormity of what happened.
Really?
I don't really dislike her and she wasn't very annoying but just plain boring. She was determined to find her brother and help him but the way she knew exactly what to do when she had never been to Earth even once before was definitely unbelievable. She might have been a top-notch demon but you don't know everything just by watching TV and btw, Daphne watching TV in hell was unimaginable. The idea of Pandemonium being just like any city with steel everywhere and the furnace in the middle and with huge brimstone skyscrapers and a museum seemed an interesting idea. However, it failed to impress me overall.
Truman was a depressed soul. I know how it feels to be depressed and wanting to hurt yourself but I don't know how it is to feel like killing yourself because your mother died. I understand it must be very hard but then the way Truman's world crumbled after his mom's death seemed too much exaggeration. I know I am no one to comment on that but I can't help but feel that he was really a coward who couldn't get a grip of himself and was too afraid to even keep the promise he made to his mother. But I guess I can understand that when once you start getting depressed you just keep going down till you are sunk so far deep that there is no one who can help you. Besides, Truman being the broken guy what really bothered me was his readiness in believing everything. It all went down like:
Daphne: *imagine a robotic voice* "You have to help me find my brother. You have to follow me everywhere I go because it's not like you have anything better to do."
Truman: "But I don't even know you."
Daphne: "I am Daphne." *pauses* "And I am the daughter of Lucifer."
Truman:
Daphne: "Give me your cigratte." *burns her skin with the butt of a lighted cigratte*
Truman: "Are you cra.." *watches the wound heal*
Truman: "Okay. Let's go."
Then when Truman meets Moloch and Myra in a bar, neither of them question Daphne about what he's doing among all demons. They don't even care that a human knows about them and it's just shocking. Truman is okay with everything. The only problem he has believing is that the angels might be doing something wrong by killing demons. Otherwise he is hardly surprised finding about demons, hell hanging out with them, or angels or a talking demon baby.
Seriously?
Oh I know why! You are fucking suicidal and stupid or your brain has shut down and doesn't know how to react or your facial nerves have died. Either way, it's not NORMAL!
It was obvious that hardly anyone in this story was remotely normal or knew how to play normal and barely cared about what happened around them. Obie seemed like the most real character to me. It was totally weird to have a demon baby that talks and has metal teeth, eat normal food.
Now I should mention a few things that were remotely interesting in the book before I again start with my rant.
- Daphne's power. I liked how each demon's blood could do something special. Daphne's blood could make more of her look-alike demons and it was totally bad-ass.
- I think I'm going to complain once again but please don't mind me. Dreadful was supposed to be a really horrendous and grotesque monster right? I admit that I got the picture and the way Myra and Deidre died and how Azrael planned all that was clever but it was just in theory. I mean, authors have the power to turn words into something real and solid and I have read some morbid scenes that gave me goosebumps but reading the torture in this book hardly affected me. I did flinch reading that one scene where Obie is tortured. But overall, it was disappointing. I was looking forward to only one thing, which was Daphne's encounter with Daphne and my reaction:
- Beelzebub and his plotting. I must admit that I had predicted almost everything in the book before it happened other than Beelzebub's involvement and his intentions. It caught me by surprise. But after that the book went from boring to awful after a chapter or two.
Now, shall I tell you what I hated the most in this book?
The ending.
I was okay with Truman dying. I really was. He deserved to live longer but then his own father killed him so I was okay and he had a reason, a flawed reason but then it made sense. Then, why in the hell did Daphne have to be selfish and bring him back? Okay, scratch that. Why did the author have to bring him back! WHYWHYWHY?!
I have read books where characters are brought back from Heaven and I didn't mind so much but here, it was unnecessary, totally selfish and a bitch move. And then the happy ending just made me want to punch or break something.
Everything about the ending is wrong. Beelzebub shouldn't be dead. Lucifer's appearance in the ending didn't improve anything. Daphne going to heaven and then Azrael letting her go and find Truman and Truman appearing so damn easily in front of her eyes made no sense.
I'm done and I want my hours back. Damn book and the damn ending!
The problem wasn't with the writing. If not for the writing this book would have been a 1 star. The plot was okay, predictable yet okay, the characters were even less expressive than a rock and the ending was just terrible.
So, first of all Daphne is a really unimpressive name for the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer. But that's not even worth noting. She was so dull and bland that I really had a hard time continuing reading for the first few chapters. But later it was made quite clear that she was going to remain as unemotional as ever. In fact the other demons or Lilims or her cousins seemed much more interesting. When she finds out that Obie might be dead, Lilith creates a fuss, but all she does is stand there and wonder if her mom would go that berserk when she went missing. And then when her mom decides to make her daughter the search police, she goes up to Beelzebub and then starts reacting as if her brain just registered the enormity of what happened.
Really?
I don't really dislike her and she wasn't very annoying but just plain boring. She was determined to find her brother and help him but the way she knew exactly what to do when she had never been to Earth even once before was definitely unbelievable. She might have been a top-notch demon but you don't know everything just by watching TV and btw, Daphne watching TV in hell was unimaginable. The idea of Pandemonium being just like any city with steel everywhere and the furnace in the middle and with huge brimstone skyscrapers and a museum seemed an interesting idea. However, it failed to impress me overall.
Truman was a depressed soul. I know how it feels to be depressed and wanting to hurt yourself but I don't know how it is to feel like killing yourself because your mother died. I understand it must be very hard but then the way Truman's world crumbled after his mom's death seemed too much exaggeration. I know I am no one to comment on that but I can't help but feel that he was really a coward who couldn't get a grip of himself and was too afraid to even keep the promise he made to his mother. But I guess I can understand that when once you start getting depressed you just keep going down till you are sunk so far deep that there is no one who can help you. Besides, Truman being the broken guy what really bothered me was his readiness in believing everything. It all went down like:
Daphne: *imagine a robotic voice* "You have to help me find my brother. You have to follow me everywhere I go because it's not like you have anything better to do."
Truman: "But I don't even know you."
Daphne: "I am Daphne." *pauses* "And I am the daughter of Lucifer."
Truman:
Daphne: "Give me your cigratte." *burns her skin with the butt of a lighted cigratte*
Truman: "Are you cra.." *watches the wound heal*
Truman: "Okay. Let's go."
Then when Truman meets Moloch and Myra in a bar, neither of them question Daphne about what he's doing among all demons. They don't even care that a human knows about them and it's just shocking. Truman is okay with everything. The only problem he has believing is that the angels might be doing something wrong by killing demons. Otherwise he is hardly surprised finding about demons, hell hanging out with them, or angels or a talking demon baby.
Seriously?
Oh I know why! You are fucking suicidal and stupid or your brain has shut down and doesn't know how to react or your facial nerves have died. Either way, it's not NORMAL!
It was obvious that hardly anyone in this story was remotely normal or knew how to play normal and barely cared about what happened around them. Obie seemed like the most real character to me. It was totally weird to have a demon baby that talks and has metal teeth, eat normal food.
Now I should mention a few things that were remotely interesting in the book before I again start with my rant.
- Daphne's power. I liked how each demon's blood could do something special. Daphne's blood could make more of her look-alike demons and it was totally bad-ass.
- I think I'm going to complain once again but please don't mind me. Dreadful was supposed to be a really horrendous and grotesque monster right? I admit that I got the picture and the way Myra and Deidre died and how Azrael planned all that was clever but it was just in theory. I mean, authors have the power to turn words into something real and solid and I have read some morbid scenes that gave me goosebumps but reading the torture in this book hardly affected me. I did flinch reading that one scene where Obie is tortured. But overall, it was disappointing. I was looking forward to only one thing, which was Daphne's encounter with Daphne and my reaction:
- Beelzebub and his plotting. I must admit that I had predicted almost everything in the book before it happened other than Beelzebub's involvement and his intentions. It caught me by surprise. But after that the book went from boring to awful after a chapter or two.
Now, shall I tell you what I hated the most in this book?
The ending.
I was okay with Truman dying. I really was. He deserved to live longer but then his own father killed him so I was okay and he had a reason, a flawed reason but then it made sense. Then, why in the hell did Daphne have to be selfish and bring him back? Okay, scratch that. Why did the author have to bring him back! WHYWHYWHY?!
I have read books where characters are brought back from Heaven and I didn't mind so much but here, it was unnecessary, totally selfish and a bitch move. And then the happy ending just made me want to punch or break something.
Everything about the ending is wrong. Beelzebub shouldn't be dead. Lucifer's appearance in the ending didn't improve anything. Daphne going to heaven and then Azrael letting her go and find Truman and Truman appearing so damn easily in front of her eyes made no sense.
I'm done and I want my hours back. Damn book and the damn ending!
December 29, 2011
I really didn't know that angels of the non-fallen variety would be a part of the plot. Had I have known that I probably wouldn't've been anxiously awaiting the release of The Space Between. As a general rule of thumb, for some strange reason, I don't particularly care for stories revolving around demons and archangels battling it out. It might be because, strangely, angel lore/stories/movies bore me to tears. Supernatural and Daughter of Smoke and Bone are my two exceptions. But demons on the other hand? Love them, love stories revolving around them. And I prefer for them to be humanized. But enough of my musings . . . .
The Space Between started out with a bang. The setting is in Hell. So cool, right? And Daphne's (the protagonist) mom is Lilith. So cool again, right? The coolness factor was in full swing. Hell's chrome and steel cityscape was being described. Uniqueness, check. Silver flower and metal-vined gardens fashioned from steel. Glossy buildings. Glowing red Pits. Furnaces. Various occupations being setup. Sexy as hell fallen angels strutting around in pinstripe suits - Beelzebub anyone? You so want to read this book, right? Enthralled was I until . . . Hell and its fiery brimstone was vacated within a few chapters. Yep, Daphne jump-doored it outta there. Ugh! I wanted more of the Hell setting. Why? Because it's unique. I'm so sick of the same old same old. What is life in Hell for Daphne like? I'm afraid that question, as far as this book is concerned, will never be answered. And unfortunately life in Hell is what I thought this book would entail. Nope. Instead us readers get Chicago as the setting. How fun.
But let's chat about the plot. I don't know. The plot held my interest in the beginning, you know, while characters were chillaxin' in Hell, but honestly, said interest began to wane about 2/3 or really 1/2 of the way through, once appeared. I'm sorry. I know this is fantasy, but I began to have horrendous flashbacks to my Breaking Dawn reading experience. Spoiler reminded me way too much of . And said spoiler was downright bizarre to say the least. Didn't make any sense and . . . there are no words. It certainly didn't help wrangle my wandering mind back into the story. But you know, spoiler was the tip of the iceberg. The plot wasn't, well, plotty enough for me, I guess too thin for my tastes. At the end of the day, I was expecting a different novel. I'm disappointed. But it's not this book's fault. I had a completely different premise painted in my mind.
So 3 stars it is for the unique setting in the beginning, for a unique premise. For a well-written lost soul who goes by the name of Truman. I truly could feel this character's pain, his agony, his having nothing to look forward to in life. The black pit of despair he was holed up in. And for Daphne, the demon girl who so desperately wants to save him.
The Space Between started out with a bang. The setting is in Hell. So cool, right? And Daphne's (the protagonist) mom is Lilith. So cool again, right? The coolness factor was in full swing. Hell's chrome and steel cityscape was being described. Uniqueness, check. Silver flower and metal-vined gardens fashioned from steel. Glossy buildings. Glowing red Pits. Furnaces. Various occupations being setup. Sexy as hell fallen angels strutting around in pinstripe suits - Beelzebub anyone? You so want to read this book, right? Enthralled was I until . . . Hell and its fiery brimstone was vacated within a few chapters. Yep, Daphne jump-doored it outta there. Ugh! I wanted more of the Hell setting. Why? Because it's unique. I'm so sick of the same old same old. What is life in Hell for Daphne like? I'm afraid that question, as far as this book is concerned, will never be answered. And unfortunately life in Hell is what I thought this book would entail. Nope. Instead us readers get Chicago as the setting. How fun.
But let's chat about the plot. I don't know. The plot held my interest in the beginning, you know, while characters were chillaxin' in Hell, but honestly, said interest began to wane about 2/3 or really 1/2 of the way through, once appeared. I'm sorry. I know this is fantasy, but I began to have horrendous flashbacks to my Breaking Dawn reading experience. Spoiler reminded me way too much of . And said spoiler was downright bizarre to say the least. Didn't make any sense and . . . there are no words. It certainly didn't help wrangle my wandering mind back into the story. But you know, spoiler was the tip of the iceberg. The plot wasn't, well, plotty enough for me, I guess too thin for my tastes. At the end of the day, I was expecting a different novel. I'm disappointed. But it's not this book's fault. I had a completely different premise painted in my mind.
So 3 stars it is for the unique setting in the beginning, for a unique premise. For a well-written lost soul who goes by the name of Truman. I truly could feel this character's pain, his agony, his having nothing to look forward to in life. The black pit of despair he was holed up in. And for Daphne, the demon girl who so desperately wants to save him.
January 16, 2012
4 Stars and a caution
This story is definitely not for the faint of heart.
I am not going to give away the plot.
Nor the beauty of the demonic world created by Brenna Yovanov, or the luscious prose, and amazing characterization.
Just few hints:
Take one emo kid named Truman
(Think of Sam , without the guitar and wearwolfism, and add 1000 times more angst on top of it!),
add a demon girl named Daphne
(think of Karu ,
without blue hair, tatoos, colorful beading nacklace, and all that joy de vivre and kick-ass attitude),
then place a couple of doors/trains/platforms
(kind of like the ones in the London Below but with a destination that goes from Earth to Pandemonium -aka Hell!- and viceversa).
Mix it with a good dose of gore
(EXACTLY ala Passion by Mr. Gibson (ps kudos to anyone who managed to watch the full movie)),
and then place a dash of the aesthetic coolness for Belzebub
(ala Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction).
What you have is a brilliant horror story, a journey about:
Love
Grief
Hope
and
Redemption
I just closed the last page and I still feel bewitched.
I think I will have to sleep with the lights on tonight..
February 23, 2012
Sad to say I think giving this book a two is actually somewhat generous. It feels as something of a mash-up with Melissa Marr and Julie Kagawa and unfortunately the worst of their traits.
Something that really bothers me quite a bit is when an author refuses to actually explain the basic bones of the story. I have no idea who Lilith is and her story is barely touched upon, but still, I'm left with questions which shouldn't be occupying my head if I'm trying to get into the story. Why would a demon have been given to the first man? Wouldn't the Creator who is omniscent know that pairing a human man with a demon is a no-go? Or did she become a demon after leaving him? What exactly do Daphne's sister's do? What exactly does Obie to to save souls? These questions don't really matter, but I'm so stuck on them that the story is pale in comparison.
The story is fairly dull with lots of going here and going there, but until maybe the last fifty pages it doesn't add up to much. I'm left with the concept that angels are evil and demons are just misunderstood which, I don't know, but I think the whole fallen angels genre simply isn't for me. The idea that an angel would kill in ways that are almost mocking the Crucifixion, I don't even know what to say about that.
And the ending.....are you kidding me?
Something that really bothers me quite a bit is when an author refuses to actually explain the basic bones of the story. I have no idea who Lilith is and her story is barely touched upon, but still, I'm left with questions which shouldn't be occupying my head if I'm trying to get into the story. Why would a demon have been given to the first man? Wouldn't the Creator who is omniscent know that pairing a human man with a demon is a no-go? Or did she become a demon after leaving him? What exactly do Daphne's sister's do? What exactly does Obie to to save souls? These questions don't really matter, but I'm so stuck on them that the story is pale in comparison.
The story is fairly dull with lots of going here and going there, but until maybe the last fifty pages it doesn't add up to much. I'm left with the concept that angels are evil and demons are just misunderstood which, I don't know, but I think the whole fallen angels genre simply isn't for me. The idea that an angel would kill in ways that are almost mocking the Crucifixion, I don't even know what to say about that.
And the ending.....are you kidding me?
January 12, 2017
This would have been an AMAZING book, only if it had (at least) 400 pages. I was intrigued by the world and the interesting take on demons & offspring of Lilith (aaand Lucifer, aaand a bunch of other demon dudes) , however, for the most part this book seemed rushed. There was so much more space to build the world, develop characters and flesh out the relationships. If only this was the fist book in series, I could overlook the flaws, but, alas, it's a standalone novel, so this is all we get.
However, if you're willing to overlook the *this could be so much more* vibe that will follow you as you read, you're in for a surprisingly interesting book. Yovanoff has great imagination and writes well- I'll definitely check out more of her books.
However, if you're willing to overlook the *this could be so much more* vibe that will follow you as you read, you're in for a surprisingly interesting book. Yovanoff has great imagination and writes well- I'll definitely check out more of her books.
December 13, 2012
If you'd told me that my YA keeper shelf would contain a book about one of Lucifer's daughters and how she leaves hell and gets help finding her brother from a guy who wants to kill himself, I would have said, Sure, and then we'll all get free ponies!
Guess what? This book *is* on my keeper shelf. I've never read anything else like it--the premise is beyond intriguing and Daphne and Truman--well, let's just say I like to think they're out there somewhere, eating pie together.
The only reason I can think of for you to not read this book is that--Nope. Can't think of a reason.
It's that good.
Now go read it!
Guess what? This book *is* on my keeper shelf. I've never read anything else like it--the premise is beyond intriguing and Daphne and Truman--well, let's just say I like to think they're out there somewhere, eating pie together.
The only reason I can think of for you to not read this book is that--Nope. Can't think of a reason.
It's that good.
Now go read it!
January 30, 2019
3 stars for a rather "meh" read.
Slow start, engrossing middle, ridiculously stupid ending, that almost ruined the entire book for me.
Did Maggie Stiefvater kinda copy this book (Brenna Yovanoff is her friend) when she wrote All the Crooked Saints? Because the "stoic unemotional powerful girl and vaguely naive/ good intentioned/ traumatized boy" is straight outta this book, but written way worse than here. Awkward.
Slow start, engrossing middle, ridiculously stupid ending, that almost ruined the entire book for me.
Did Maggie Stiefvater kinda copy this book (Brenna Yovanoff is her friend) when she wrote All the Crooked Saints? Because the "stoic unemotional powerful girl and vaguely naive/ good intentioned/ traumatized boy" is straight outta this book, but written way worse than here. Awkward.
August 7, 2011
One of my besties GENEROUSLY loaned me her advanced reader's copy of this book. I took it with me while on vacation and cracked it open in Germany. Wow. LOVED the divergent take on the creation story. Read quickly & thought about the characters in between walking tours and sightseeing. That said, this is not a book for 12 & older as the book cover states. This story is for mature teens only. It is dark, violent, and contains mature themes. Even so, I still enjoyed it.
read in Frankfurt
07/11
read in Frankfurt
07/11
November 1, 2011
The Space Between was wonderful book with very interesting characters. It was something new and refreshing :o) 5 stars it had me up all night to finish it. I loved everything about it and will re read in the future.
November 30, 2011
Brenna's debut novel, The Replacement didn't really appeal to me. Don't get me wrong; the novel was a study in world building with a story line that's quite unique. But the lyrical writing left me completely baffled. I thought that the book was better suited for the intellectual types, because heaven knows, I've yet to figure out what it was about.
When I saw this book on Goodreads, I'd given it a somewhat lukewarm reception. I was expecting the same writing style - puzzling in a lot of ways but beautiful nonetheless. But after reading just the first two chapters of The Space Between, I could tell that my reactions to Brenna's books would be as different as night and day.
The simplistic beauty of Ms. Yavanoff's writing quickly ensnared me. I know that lyrical prose are just the bees' knees but sometimes, authors tend over-write a story. I'm a fan of say what you mean, and mean what you say principle in life and the same goes when I read. Don't over think a scenario. Don't convolute the story with flowery words that has a tendency to complicate the simplest of things. If we were to speak in fashion terms, don't over accessorize. I think Brenna's straightforward writing in this novel made my reading experience much more pleasant.
There are a lot of ways where TSB trumps all the other angels and demons books that are out there. First of all, angels blur the line of good and evil and the same goes for the demons. It was so easy to root for the demons because other than collecting souls destined to hell, they weren't the homicidal, evil bunch that we've come to know. Angel Azrael particularly, makes the perfect candidate for the most sinister, pyschopathic character of the year. He's an angel...of the blood-letting, torture-loving variety. The good and evil scale was certainly imbalanced in this book. There were more good on the demons' side than on the angel's side. Confused yet? It's simple really. It was a role-reversal of epic proportions. But not all demons were sporting an invisible halo - as was in the case of Beezlebub. I'm still on the fence about where to categorize him but knowing the reasons for doing what he did, I could sympathize to a point.
Daphne, the main character is a spawn of Lilith and Lucifer who decided to go earth-bound to find her brother Obie. The best thing about these siblings is that they seemed to have not gotten the memos that they were supposed to be evil. Obie, for instance, saves broken souls from an imminent eternal stint in hell. Granted, his father is Adam (yes, that Adam!) but her mother is Lilith. In Jewish Mythology, she was Adam's first wife - the disobedient one and consequently, the evil one. Obie decided to leave Pandemonium for good in exchange for a dismal life on earth. But when he disappeared, Daphne had no choice but to find the only semblance of love she knows - that of her love for her brother. On the surface, it would seem like she's just a half-demon, half-angel who was suffering from an identity crisis. But deep inside, she's really consciously fighting her true nature - the succubus. This girl has some pretty wild abilities. Aside from being a firestarter, she could take away a person's dark emotions - sadness, grief. She could also walk in your dreams and her shed blood turns into an army of Daphne. I honestly think that being a demon doesn't fit her bill. She wasn't evil - maybe a little confused about her identity but definitely far from evil.
I know this review is getting longer but I really must say a few words about Truman. He's angsty, rebellious and had a predilection to suicide. I just want to take this boy home, feed him, clothe him, cuddle him. It's the mother in me. His loneliness was so real that the sadness just drips off the pages. And this was where Daphne had to fight her instinct to drink all of Truman's darkness away. In fact, she could've easily have taken all his pain but she chose not to because it wasn't hers to take. Truman also has a bit of a history. The fight to skip through pages took a lot from me. I was impatient to know the real Truman and when the revelation happened, it was a little...underwhelming. There wasn't much fan fare. I thought that his reactions toward the appearance of Daphne and her kind in his life was too nonchalant - as was his reaction when he learned who his real father was.
Even so, this book was amazing. I think that Ms. Yovanoff went over and above all the angels and demons myth retellings that we've been reading. The most admirable element about her writing is her ability to create the most visceral and yet fantastical world. The Space Between clearly shows her versatility in such a way that she was able to go off tangent from her inaugural work. I couldn't say it was a personal growth as a writer but I think she just widened her spectrum to reach a broader audience.
When I saw this book on Goodreads, I'd given it a somewhat lukewarm reception. I was expecting the same writing style - puzzling in a lot of ways but beautiful nonetheless. But after reading just the first two chapters of The Space Between, I could tell that my reactions to Brenna's books would be as different as night and day.
The simplistic beauty of Ms. Yavanoff's writing quickly ensnared me. I know that lyrical prose are just the bees' knees but sometimes, authors tend over-write a story. I'm a fan of say what you mean, and mean what you say principle in life and the same goes when I read. Don't over think a scenario. Don't convolute the story with flowery words that has a tendency to complicate the simplest of things. If we were to speak in fashion terms, don't over accessorize. I think Brenna's straightforward writing in this novel made my reading experience much more pleasant.
There are a lot of ways where TSB trumps all the other angels and demons books that are out there. First of all, angels blur the line of good and evil and the same goes for the demons. It was so easy to root for the demons because other than collecting souls destined to hell, they weren't the homicidal, evil bunch that we've come to know. Angel Azrael particularly, makes the perfect candidate for the most sinister, pyschopathic character of the year. He's an angel...of the blood-letting, torture-loving variety. The good and evil scale was certainly imbalanced in this book. There were more good on the demons' side than on the angel's side. Confused yet? It's simple really. It was a role-reversal of epic proportions. But not all demons were sporting an invisible halo - as was in the case of Beezlebub. I'm still on the fence about where to categorize him but knowing the reasons for doing what he did, I could sympathize to a point.
Daphne, the main character is a spawn of Lilith and Lucifer who decided to go earth-bound to find her brother Obie. The best thing about these siblings is that they seemed to have not gotten the memos that they were supposed to be evil. Obie, for instance, saves broken souls from an imminent eternal stint in hell. Granted, his father is Adam (yes, that Adam!) but her mother is Lilith. In Jewish Mythology, she was Adam's first wife - the disobedient one and consequently, the evil one. Obie decided to leave Pandemonium for good in exchange for a dismal life on earth. But when he disappeared, Daphne had no choice but to find the only semblance of love she knows - that of her love for her brother. On the surface, it would seem like she's just a half-demon, half-angel who was suffering from an identity crisis. But deep inside, she's really consciously fighting her true nature - the succubus. This girl has some pretty wild abilities. Aside from being a firestarter, she could take away a person's dark emotions - sadness, grief. She could also walk in your dreams and her shed blood turns into an army of Daphne. I honestly think that being a demon doesn't fit her bill. She wasn't evil - maybe a little confused about her identity but definitely far from evil.
I know this review is getting longer but I really must say a few words about Truman. He's angsty, rebellious and had a predilection to suicide. I just want to take this boy home, feed him, clothe him, cuddle him. It's the mother in me. His loneliness was so real that the sadness just drips off the pages. And this was where Daphne had to fight her instinct to drink all of Truman's darkness away. In fact, she could've easily have taken all his pain but she chose not to because it wasn't hers to take. Truman also has a bit of a history. The fight to skip through pages took a lot from me. I was impatient to know the real Truman and when the revelation happened, it was a little...underwhelming. There wasn't much fan fare. I thought that his reactions toward the appearance of Daphne and her kind in his life was too nonchalant - as was his reaction when he learned who his real father was.
Even so, this book was amazing. I think that Ms. Yovanoff went over and above all the angels and demons myth retellings that we've been reading. The most admirable element about her writing is her ability to create the most visceral and yet fantastical world. The Space Between clearly shows her versatility in such a way that she was able to go off tangent from her inaugural work. I couldn't say it was a personal growth as a writer but I think she just widened her spectrum to reach a broader audience.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews