The Space Between Us: Poetry and Prose

by Courtney Peppernell, Zack Grey

A universal narrative on the significance of distance with love; remember to hold on to what you believe in. Ideal for those “whose love knows no bounds," The Space Between Us is full of profound anecdotes and messages, illustrating the courage and heartache of enduring physical distance.The Space Between Us explores the trials of love and what it's like to live a life separated by distance from someone you care about. Its content is thoughtfully divided into five chapters, or phases, of the long-distance First GlanceLiving for TomorrowLonely NightsGrow Together/Grow ApartWhen I See You.A combination of poems and prose are sporadically connected with small graphics and maps to visualize the journey of physical distance. These poems serve as an adhesive between the reader and the ones they miss, the longing, the anticipation, and the eventual relief. Though both authors bring with them a unique perspective, the lens is singular; each is attuned to navigating this complex terrain.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Romance, Queer, LGBT, Love

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2025

About the author

Courtney Peppernell is an acclaimed best-selling author from Australia, celebrated for her inspirational poetry collections, including the beloved Pillow Thoughts series, Watering the Soul, I Hope You Stay, Time Will Tell and more. With over two million sales worldwide, she continues to lead the forefront of today’s poetry genre. Courtney spends her days writing and working on many projects with her beloved dogs and chickens in tow. She hopes to continue exploring expression and the art of healing through stories, novels and poetry for years to come. Stay tuned for the latest releases from Courtney and her team!

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Space Between Us is a lovely book of poetry written by two authors - Courtney Peppernell and Zack Grey and describes the love and relationship between a long distance relationship couple.
Each poem makes you feel the love hope, anguish, despair, heartache and longing between the lovers living so long apart and away from each other.

This was a delightful read.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This poetry collection was so nice! It's all about long distance relationships and it explores all the emotions and feelings that go into them. It isn't an easy situation because it obviously means that the person you want the most is miles away from you, but in the end it's all worth it because of love. These poems are infused with all the strong and meaningful emotions that this kind of relationships entails and I believe a lot of people could see themselves in this. I totally recommend this book!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Space Between Us is a poetry collection which conveys love across a long-distance relationship. I adored the pure delight which was created from the lines of longing and yearning with promises of love and hope whilst also reveling in the despair of not knowing when or if such a distance will ever end. This collection details late night calls under the sheets and checking of the time zone added into a phone. It creates this dichotomy of love and loneliness and feeling joy and heartbreak and their simultaneous co- existence. I loved the lyrical detailing of how distance can bring you to learn more intricately about a person then you would have every thought. I loved these poems and the balance of melancholy, desire, and hope which they all held simultaneously.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Leonie · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a romance reader I appreciate all of the yearning in these poems, but overall this book was just too repetitive for me to enjoy. The writing style was also too “tumblr poetry-ish” for my liking. 1.75 stars.


[I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

[Sara Jovanovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This was an extremely pleasant suprise. I'm a fan of Courtney's writing, but this is the first time I'm reading something by Zack Grey, and he did not disappoint. Everything about this collection worked perfectly for me, from the topic, to the emotion incorporated in pieces, writing style, everything was flawless and I think this might be my favourite Courtney's work to date.

The overall theme woven through collection is long distance relationship. It describes every aching moment from lonely nights, waiting to meet the person, and the beautiful ones that come in a short periods of time but are impactful nevertheless. I loved it, and I deeply felt every single word. Maybe it's something about the topic, but I feel like this was perfect for me.

Poems were constantly switching from Courtney's to Zack's and it perfectly captured feelings coming from both sides. It was bittersweet, but I never wanted it to end. And I appreciate the honesty, because this was everything I could've wanted from a single collection.

"i see you"
she says
but her eyes are
closed.

Thanks to the Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on this poetry collection. On one hand, I absolutely adored the poems written by Courtney Peppernell, and I knew that would because she is one of my favorite poets. But on the other hand, the poems by Zack Grey did not quite work for me. Maybe if I read his work on its own I would have liked it more, but because his poems were switching with Courtney's I would find myself loving one poem and then being so-so on the next poem.
But,overall, it is a solid poetry collection about long distance relationships and all the feelings that come with it.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Anne (Not of Green Gables) · Rating 3 out of 5]

While cute, I found this to become quite repetitive which was a disappointing.

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

All this wishing for you to be near, and yet my greatest fear is, what if we don't work when we are closer together? What if our love is only love because we live apart?

A heartfelt collection that explores the ups and downs of long-distance relationships. This was a quick read that I enjoyed but overall, I have mixed feelings.

On one hand, the authors do effectively convey the complexities and nuances of a long-distance relationship. You can also truly feel their yearning and raw emotion. But on the other hand, some of the poems are very basic and did nothing for me.

I definitely prefer Courtney Peppernell's work, which seems to have more depth, meaning and emotion. A couple of Zack Grey's are good but he also has really cringey ones like:

she calls me her
world
when she's
on top of me

— on top of the world

Like, what even?

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for the Netgalley ARC. It's been over 3 years since I downloaded this but better late than never!! 😂

[Phoenix Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

God this book made me cry so much. It's so relatable. It was such a wonderful book.

[BreAnna (Bre'sBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

**ARC copy received from NetGalley for honest review**

This was one of my first forays into poetry in a long time, and I found it to be very sweet. Though most of the content wasn't relatable to me, I enjoyed the dual perspectives and collaboration of both posts to create this specific and unique work.

[Chamali Raigama · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boyfriend gifted me this book as an anniversary gift — it’s the perfect poetry book to reflect and appreciate the little things about long distance relationships and love. This came to me at the 2-year mark of my relationship while we had been separated for 10 months due to COVID-19. It was truly special to read such reflective and relatable poetry written by both authors — it’s a definite heavy feeler read but well worth the time.

It’s also a great gift idea to a significant other! My boyfriend annotated within the book with reminders of moments the authors talk about that he felt were reflective of our relationship — so that’s a cute idea if anyone would find that helpful for gifting :) Enjoy!!

[Andrea Pole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Space Between Us by Courtney Peppernell and Zack Grey tells the heartfelt story of a long distance love that moves between the heady euphoria of attraction to the logistical complexities of two longing hearts separated by what often feels insurmountable. Told from the highly personalized perspective of each partner through a lush blend of poetry and prose, the experience of maintaining a long distance relationship is laid bare, and is raw in its honesty and profundity. This was a beautiful and very relatable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Urs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schöne Gedichte dabei, aber es gibt eine feine Linie zwischen wortgewaltigem Empfindungsausdruck und Pathetik, die hier manches Mal überschritten wurde.

[Laraib · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful and unique collection of poetry that perfectly encapsulates the experience of a long-distance relationship.

Each word of this collection was so personalized and relatable, it felt as if somebody had been monitoring every emotion that I’ve felt in the last six months and had recorded it down to the last detail just to put it in this book. I loved the way that both authors split their works into five sections, with each representing a phase of a long-distance relationship. The writing from both Courtney Peppernell and Zack Grey was incredibly vivid in the best way possible as I could literally feel the love, yearning, and heartbreak seeping out of each page as I read it. They managed to nail every detail down. The little illustrations accompanying the poems were lovely too.

Definitely a must read for anybody currently in a long-distance relationship.

[Mele · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book could've done without Zack Grey.

[Aiyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zack Grey’s poems carried this book. I got so excited when I saw this was a collaboration with Courtney, but sadly Courtney’s poems kind of sucked.

[Rene]

Not for me but I can’t judge too hard because it did say that this book is for long distance relationships and friendships (didnt see much of the friendship aspect though). i feel like the poems were very surface level and i did gravitate more towards courtney’s writings. Zack’s poetry really isnt for me i feel like they are very very simple (which not saying poetry cant be that) but they dont say much besides what’s written there. and what’s written reads like a tumblr post.
not saying poetry should be hard to understand and inaccessible but we really dont hold the same standard for poetry as we do for novels because this really did not seem like a final draft. Zack’s poems that were longer were much better than the three word ones in my opinion, if he were to give himself more time and space to build on the simple ideas I think he would have a better contribution to this collection. peace and love though

[iz✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down

I really liked this! As someone whose best friend lives on the other side of the world, this hit a bit too close to home and I cried,,, multiple times. In more surface-level terms, I'm in love with the cover (it's leathery with shiny gold bits and is just generally Very Cool) and parts of it were very gay which was a nice surprise. However, a lot of the poetry felt a bit lazy and it began getting a bit repetitive by the end. Some of it was really good but we had a classic 'you get me/so you get/me' which made me want to die a little bit. The structure also felt a bit strange, I get what it was trying to do, but it did take away from the impact of the end. So, while I enjoyed it, it gets a lower rating because of the lapses in quality.

[Λίνα Θωμάρεη · Rating 3 out of 5]

Το συγκεκριμένο μου το άφησε μια φίλη προφανώς για να το διαβάσω αν και παρόλο όπως είπα και στην προηγούμενη κριτική δεν είμαι σε μουντ διαβάσματος και έτσι δεν πίστευα ότι θα το έπιανα καν στα χέρια μου και θα το γύρναγα αδιάβαστο πριν 3 μέρες άρχισα λίγο να το διαβάζω.
Ποίηση η συγκεκριμένη κατηγορία και η στην Αγγλική.
Ε για άτομο που δεν είναι σε μουντ διαβάσματος καλά τα κατάφερα!!!! Και το τελείωσα... και το ευχαριστήθηκα (υπήρχαν αρκετά καλά σημεία) και δεν θα επιστραφεί αδιάβαστο!!!!
Γιούπι για μένα :)

[Mailee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down. These authors never seem to disappoint when it comes to the embodiment of human emotions. Through these authors I have learned what love truly feels like, what it’s like to love yourself, what it feels to not love yourself, and what it feels like to love someone else. This book is an astonishing collection of the ups and downs of long distance relationships. I truly love this book and I highly recommend it.

[cossette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved how Courtney Peppernell writes, and was incredibly excited that she was releasing a new collection with Zack Grey - While I haven't read much of his stuff, I've enjoyed what I've seen of it. This collection was filled with yearning and longing, and I think was especially relatable during this time of COVID19. I could feel the heartbreak and the loneliness and the joy and the pure love radiating off of the page.

[Nia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy read. Great beginner poetry. In all honesty I took most enjoyment from Courtney Peppernell's writing, and while I enjoyed some of Zack Grey's poetry, it mostly came off as very juvenile? It felt surface level and very tumblr-ish. Still a wholesome/heartbreaking read that anyone who's experienced long-distance love can relate to.

[❥ Nathalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I told my love, "The space between is not measured by how many lonely nights we spend apart but rather all the beautiful moments always connecting my heart to your heart"

I adore these poetry books. Always makes me feel whatever I'm going through, someone out there understands as well.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

the perfect collaboration between two hopeless romantics, depicting long distance love under its truthful light and darkness, between love and despair, holding hands and flight tickets, glowing hearts and broken ones.

[Ava Orofino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally think I am in love with everything Peppernell writes. Rereading this almost everyday I think.

[Mimi Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive at its best.

[Jamsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice very good work. But mine ended on page 237… where are the rest of the pages?

[amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wish the space didnt exist ever also i wish men would stop writing poems

[Audrey MacRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

simple, but hit me right where it hurts

[Elizabeth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The alternating poems with Zach was lovely to see. For a few, I thought they were written by the other if I wasn’t paying close attention. They have similar styles but are different when you really pay attention. The sub categories of the collection flow together really nicely as even the transitions of the poems between the chapters progress to the next. Read this as an ebook from a library and think it would’ve been better to have the physical copy.