Anne Corlett

A Recommended Summer Read from The Verge and io9 A Recommended June Read from Hello Giggles and Tor.com When the world ends, where will you go? In a breathtakingly vivid and emotionally gripping debut novel, one woman must confront the emptiness in the universe--and in her own heart--when a devastating virus reduces most of humanity to dust and memories. All Jamie Allenby ever wanted was space. Even though she wasn't forced to emigrate from Earth, she willingly left the overpopulated, claustrophobic planet. And when a long relationship devolved into silence and suffocating sadness, she found work on a frontier world on the edges of civilization. Then the virus hit... Now Jamie finds herself dreadfully alone, with all that's left of the dead. Until a garbled message from Earth gives her hope that someone from her past might still be alive. Soon Jamie finds other survivors, and their ragtag group will travel through the vast reaches of space, drawn to the promise of a new beginning on Earth. But their dream will pit them against those desperately clinging to the old ways. And Jamie's own journey home will help her close the distance between who she has become and who she is meant to be...

The Space Between the Stars

Sheila Goicea

See this full review on my blog along with others at: shesgoingbookcrazy.com

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I think I've let this book ferment for long enough. My thoughts have been stirring over the past week about it, and I think it's finally time to sit down and write a review.

I will warn you: this review is going to be longer (maybe less organized) and more honest than most. Some of my personal beliefs and views will be included, so if you are one to easily disagree with others who may not hold your own beliefs, please refrain from commenting before contemplating. I mean that with the utmost respect.

(I feel ridiculous needing to state that disclaimer. We can all be adults here, right?)

Here we go. But let's start out with a summary, shall we?

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    Survival was a one-in-a-million chance. The virus was a near-perfect killing machine. Contagious as hell, it had a vicious little sting in its tail. It mutated with every reinfection. A single exposure was survivable---with luck---but it was as though it knew humans.
  

Jamie has survived the worst virus to plague the human race yet. She's lucky. In fact, she's very lucky; only one-in-a-million people were estimated to survive the sickness at ravaged the population and planets. 

Living on a small settlement planet, Jamie had liked the life of semi-seclusion. Willingly emigrating from overpopulated Earth, she found herself working as a vet working in animal reproduction. Although there weren't many to begin with, all of the ranch hands that had been working with her before were now merely dust on the wind. 

When Jamie came through the worst of the illness, one thought, and one person crossed her mind: her estranged husband, Daniel. After most of the population had been wiped out, had he survived? The chances weren't likely. They told each other that if anything were to happen, they would meet again on Earth. 

That is where she is heading; to see if not only Daniel, but if anyone else had survived. 

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This was probably one of the best-written (in terms of depth) books I've read in 2017 so far, but also the hardest to rate. I felt like pulling my hair out trying to figure out how many stars this gets. 



The world, or world(s)-building is moderately done, but could have used more explanation and detail. The characters are very complex, and the plot line is well planned out.

Take note that this is definitely an adult novel, because its underlying themes, messages, and innuendos are not for the faint, or young, of heart.  


  Character Breakdown:


I have very mixed feelings about the main character, Jaime. I don't know if we are meant to feel bad for her, but I don't. Unfortunately, I kept thinking to myself, I really don't like this character. If I were to meet her in real life, we'd be having a hearty sit-down-and-face-reality chat. Many of the issues that she had were completely self-inflicted.

I'm a realist, so when someone tries to pass the blame onto another, it just doesn't sit well with me. (This doesn't go to say that I never do this. Because we all fail in all areas of life at some point.) So just own up to your involvement, good or bad! 

Don't get me wrong here, being a realist doesn't mean I'm not empathetic. But empathy and sympathy are not the same thing. The way in which this book is written puts the reader in a position where you almost have to feel bad for Jaime, or else you are criminalized for it. I don't believe this is a good tactic of writing, especially when the MC is in the wrong. 

Feeling bad for someone, involves sympathy. Understanding a person's situation, requires empathy. Empathy and sympathy are two very different views, and sympathy has no place here if the reader wants to view Jaime from a constructive lens.

Considering her past and situation, things happened that were challenging, and undoubtedly tragic. Each person internalizes tragedy in different ways, and Jaime's was to internalize everything and close herself off from others who were close to her. Tragedy can be a beautiful thing; it can open the door for other opportunities--if one only looks for them, and allows them to take root.

Something I just couldn't wrap my head around was how and why did Jaime consent to marrying Daniel if she didn't love him in the first place? Can someone truly fall out of love with another person simply based on the aspect of love itself? I don't think so. Here's why: love in a relationship is not a standalone. Love must be accompanied by: sacrifice, commitment, empathy, selflessness, honesty, trust...the list goes on.  

Is this book allowing the MC to "cop-out" from commitment that she agreed to and had the freedom to decline? Definitely.

Jaime closed herself off to her husband after they had a miscarriage. The irony of this situation is that she didn't even want a child in the first place, and allowed herself to just be talked into things that she did and didn't want, rather than have a healthy discussion about it with her husband. 

Her overall disinterest in the matter, and the fact that she referred to the baby as a "near human," immediately reveal her viewpoint on the matter. I know this is a hotly-debated topic in our society today that I won't get into here for the sake of having a ridiculously-long review, but I think it was necessary to point out because she also had inconsistencies here. If the baby wasn't human (yet,) why did she care so much when she lost it?

I was glad that she did finally realize that she was as much of the issue in her situation as everyone else that she passed the blame to. 

  
    "It was something you could control," Lowry finished. Jamie didn't answer for a long moment. All those times she'd battened down the hatches against her mother, her stepmother, Daniel, she'd always felt under siege. Like her silence was something that had been forced upon her, not something she'd chosen. Had there really been a stubborn little nub of satisfaction, right down at the bottom of it all? She turned over a couple of memories, examining them. Daniel, after the baby, begging her to talk to him. Her stepmother, coming up with the idea for things they could do together. "Yes," she said. "I think that was it."
  

Because of everything stated above, I think that Daniel was over-criminalized throughout and in the end, and became the self-fulfilling prophesy Jaime wanted him to be. Because she was looking for an excuse to separate herself from him, it worked out all-too-perfectly that Daniel turned out to be the shady creepazoid that he was. Up until that point, he wasn't. If the book was true to his character, I really don't think Daniel would have ended up being portrayed the way that he was. I actually felt worse for him than I did Jaime, because she did him wrong. Being completely dishonest, Daniel was constantly on the receiving end of her passiveness towards him and everything about their relationship. 

  
    "It was never quite the same. When heaven came within reach, faith found that it wasn't welcome after all. Very few people took their religion with them to other worlds."
  

Lowry had been a Catholic priest at one point back on Earth, and also on one of the planet settlements. Somewhere along the lines, he moved away from his responsibilities as a priest and Rena became a love interest. Even though he states that he's "moved away" from religion and has "his own type of religion now," he seemed very conflicted and discontent with that. I don't know what exactly to say about him, personally. He was great for helping other characters out with sorting out their own issues, but there wasn't anyone in the story to help him with his own. I know there is a lot more to be said about him, but I just am not sure which stance to take on him.

Rena Rena Rena. Rena was a brilliant bioenginner scientist who had a very damaged past. There is so much irony surrounding her character that it almost negates everything else that this book is trying to accomplish. Rena clearly has developed some sort of manic/depressive disorder. Where majority of the characters are empathetic towards other characters who have "setbacks" she is also overly-criminalized for hers. 

I very much dislike how Rena was portrayed in this story. Another character done wrong, she became one of the "religious stereotypes"---prejudice, critical, two-faced---times 1000, and then some. Everything she said and did, she did so hiding behind the name of "god." I'd like to point out here that the "god" that she was referring to is not the God Christianity follows. Never ever would he exclude any of his people in the way that Rena did with Finn and Mila. Nor do any of his teachings say to do so...EVER! So, this stereotype, doesn't represent a Christian---it represents a person who says they believe in something, but doesn't follow those beliefs, and replaces them with their own and all sorts of hogwash. 

One good thing that came from Rena's character was that she made one reflect on the fact that we all have pockets of prejudice in our character. By no means am I saying this is right or good, I am simply pointing it out as a fact that addressing those prejudices always needs to stay at the forefront of our minds.   

Callan was unfortunately a "filler" character more than anything. He had a few good lines here and there, but didn't have much of a purpose other than getting Jaime off the planet and to become a emotionless love-interest. 

Finn, an autistic teen didn't necessarily have much "page-time," but his role was huge. He constantly challenged the reader to address their prejudices towards disabilities and how they aren't what they seem to be. 

Mila, born in a brothel and of lowly status, had become a prostitute herself to survive. Despite her tough life, she has remained tender-hearted. I loved how her character, although experiencing many injustices, was able to be kind and empathetic towards others even if they were cruel towards her.   

Jamie's Step-mother (I cannot recall her name!) was a character that I wish we could have seen more of. What we did see showed us the extent of Jaime's isolation from others, and how even with people trying to reach out to her, wasn't enough. 

Gracie, Callan's engineer, also didn't play much of a role, or have much impact on me personally. 

The point is that all of these characters have some sort of baggage. It depends on how they deal with that stuff that indicates where they will wind up in the end.


  Back to the book, itself.


There is so much happening mentally that the pacing of this book didn't even phase me. At times, it slowed down. But it never was fast either. It wasn't like most other sci-fi stories, with loads of action, oddities, and the like. This was more of a contemplative fiction with some sci-fi twists.

With everything said above, I couldn't help but feel that this book was attacking religions, especially Christianity, in very stereotypical ways. For a society who speaks against believing stereotypes, I'm surprised at the way this story turned out to be exactly that. (When I mean stereotypical, I mean ways that have been attached to the designation of "Christian" that are portrayed by people not following what their beliefs teach them to do.) 

Points that the book is trying to push here are:

1. There is no God, (or gods, depending on the religion.) Hence, where the title "The Space Between the Stars" originates from. 

2. People who are religious, especially "devout" are prejudice maniacs. This was exemplified in Rena's character.

3. The significance of life is up to you, and within you. 

And so on and so forth.

With all of that being said, I'd like to point out that I appreciated how much this book made me think. I could have easily pulled out the "offended" card and DNF'ed, but I like things that challenge my beliefs, and make me think about them in depth. This book made me do that. A lot. (If you couldn't tell.) I think as people in general, we need offense in our lives, or else we never have the opportunity to cement our beliefs and views, nor have much of an ability to grow. As humans, we are made to thrive in a challenge. We grow when opposition is placed right before us, and this book succeeded at that---speaking only for myself. I think that if you are a contemplative reader, who doesn't mind being challenged, offended, and slightly put-off, this might be a read for you.

Vulgarity: Quite a bit.
Sexual Content: Yup.
Violence: Some.

3 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

The Space Between the Stars

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