The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff(Cover picture courtesy of Bookyurt.)

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.

This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.

After reading and hating The Replacement I was pretty skeptical about reading another Brenna Yovanoff book.  But hey, the cover was awesome and the first chapter had a little more promise than her debut novel.

I liked the main character in The Space Between so much more than I did in her first book.  Daphne lacks emotion and this time it’s not because of poor writing but rather that’s how her character should be (and is).  She’s the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer and her rather alien perspective on the human world makes sense in that context.  When she starts falling in love it’s interesting to see the war she goes through with herself as she tries to discover if she really is capable of love, unlike her half-sisters the Lilim.  Overall I felt her love for Obie her brother was stronger than her love for Truman, but that’s really minor.  I did enjoy Daphne as a character.

What I liked this time is Brenna Yovanoff’s world-building.  She actually tried to explain certain elements and while she didn’t explain everything to my satisfaction, I could actually understand what was going on.  I loved meeting Beelzebub, Lilith and Lucifer and thoroughly enjoyed how tired old heaven and hell tropes had new twists put on them.  The ambiguous nature of both sides instead of the traditional good vs. evil was refreshing.

What I didn’t like, however, was the plot.  It seemed to slow down to a crawl in the most unnecessary places and then was completely rushed where I wanted to know more.  Some of the motives for the characters weren’t very believable to me, but I can’t tell you about that without any unnecessary spoilers.  Let’s just say that I’m not surprised about Truman’s father but his father’s actions are poorly justified when we learn what they are.  The ending was incredibly rushed and I’m still not sure I entirely understand it.  Perhaps that’s just me or perhaps Brenna Yovanoff still needs to work on conveying her story more.

Would I recommend The Space Between?  Sure, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.  But should you go out, buy it immediately and read it all without taking a break?  No, it’s not one of those books.  It’s good, but not great.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

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Your Shameless Book Self-Promotion Thread

Just like my blogger self-promotion thread I’ve decided to have a book self-promotion thread.  Are you an author?  Have a book out?  Well, plug away in the comments below!  Why should my readers and I read your book?  Where is it available?

You can include up to three links in your comment if you like.

Look What Just Arrived! (#12)

Carrie Pictures 2013 062Yes, I bought more books!  And I received some for my birthday, which was on Sunday.  So what are some of the new books I have?

  • Thirst No.3 by Christopher Pike
  • Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
  • Darklight by Lesley Livingston
  • Wake by Amanda Hocking
  • Othello by William Shakespeare
  • Hidden by Sophie Jordan

The book I was most excited about out of all six of these was the one I got for my birthday: Emperor of Thorns.  I actually just finished it today and there’ll be a review up soon.  I don’t want to spoil anything, but Jorg is up to his usual tricks in the last book in the trilogy.  Othello was a book I ordered from Amazon because I won a $20 gift card in one of The Masquerade Crew’s many contests.  I used to hate Shakespeare but I find that when I read it on my own without analyzing every single line I quite enjoy it.  Also: Iago is an awesome villain.

The other books I received were either second or third books in series, but Wake by Amanda Hocking is a completely new book to me.  I’d seen it on bookstore shelves previously but was waiting to find a paperback version to give it a try.  I’ve read it already and let’s just say I have mixed feelings about it.

Well, that’s what I’ve been reading lately.  So what have you been reading?  Do you see anything you like here?

 

Discussion: Your Favourite Genre

I know it’s a little early in the week for a discussion post, but I just feel like mixing things up a bit.  So that’s why there’s a discussion for today and a review for tomorrow.

As you guys have noticed I read a wide variety of genres.  However, if I had to pick my absolute favourite genre it would be historical fiction.  When the right author tackles the right time period the results can be amazing.  Take, for example, Colleen McCullough’s First Man in Rome series.  It consists of massive 1000 page books but those huge page counts are needed to tell her story on that grand, epic scale I’ve come to adore.  The same can be said for Pauline Gedge’s historical novels set in ancient Egypt.  Truly, those are part of what started my obsession with ancient Egypt and they certainly kept my mind away from -40 weather on that cold, miserable Christmas.

That’s the thing about historical fiction: it’s very diverse.  There are so many time periods authors can cover and so many people within those time periods.  You can have completely made up characters, well known historical figures, obscure historical figures and/or fantastical elements.  There is just so much potential.

So what I want to know now is this: What’s your favourite genre?  Why?  Do you have more than one?

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater(Cover picture courtesy of Book Box Daily.)

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Well I suppose that The Scorpio Races at least has good descriptions.  That’s pretty much all the praise I can give this book.

This is the first book I’ve read by Maggie Stiefvater and it will very likely be the last.  The Scorpio Races is a book that’s 404 pages long that tells a non-existent story.  (Spoilers ahead.)  Puck, or Kate as she’s properly called, is a young girl living on a mysterious island that has caipall uisce.  Essentially they’re vicious, flesh-eating horses that live in the water.  And the crazy people on the island (the ones that stay there anyway) race them on the first of every single November.  Kate’s older brother is leaving for the mainland to make a better life for himself and his orphaned siblings but oh no, Kate can’t have that!  She decides, on a whim, to enter the Scorpio Races in order to delay her brother’s departure…by one whole month.  Yep, that’s her great plan.  Maggie Stiefvater later inserts further drama about the house coming close to being foreclosed on but it just seems like a lame justification for Kate’s stupidity.

I should have liked Sean as a character but I couldn’t muster up the energy to give a crap about him.  He works for an awful man because he wants to buy the horse he’s become attached to.  That’s it.  He often speaks with the mainland horse buyer George Holly, but Holly’s main purpose as a character is to offer exposition and generally pad the length of the novel.  He serves no useful purpose, believe me.  And it seems the only purpose Sean has in the end is to save Kate’s stupid butt when she decides to enter the Scorpio Races on a regular horse.  Amongst flesh-eating caipall uisce.  Does her stupidity have no end?

I nearly fell asleep by the time the races started.  The races start on page 380 in a book that’s 404 pages long.  The rest of the novel is meaningless ‘training’ sequences that always seem to end in forced, awkward ‘romance’ between Kate and Sean.  It just seems like added drama rather than a genuine romance.  I mean, if George Holly hadn’t said that Sean and Kate obviously had feelings for each other I really don’t think I would have noticed.  There’s a fine line between subtle and non-existent.

Ugh, for a novel with a great premise, The Scorpio Races was a complete bomb.  To be honest I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I give this book 0.5/5 stars.

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