Those Beyond the Wall (The Space Between Worlds #2)[March 12, 2024]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson starting on March 12, 2024.


Happy Reading

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

[Erin]

Starting this one today! From what I understand this is a companion not a direct sequel which is good because I definitely do not remember much from Space Between Worlds

[Nirkatze]

Ooh, interesting! I remember very little as well--just some highlights--(view spoiler)[Multiple parallel worlds and technology to visit them--BUT only if the "you" in parallel worlds has died... so people who escaped dangers in their youth are more likely to be able to travel... the MC was actually someone from ANOTHER parallel world whose doppleganger died when she visited a world where she already existed, and then took that version's place... And the warlord in her original world is the same person who owns the company she works for, with the parallel world traveling... I don't remember if it was a version of him, or actually him, and I don't remember how the ending worked out. Except that the company was secretly trying to assassinate the versions of powerful people on other worlds so that those powerful people in Our World could do tourism...

Oh, and the romance between the MC and her handler--got off on the wrong foot because apparently the handler had asked the original version of the MC out--but the prime version was practically a Christian cultist and gay romance was a big no-no, so their relations got cold after that. When the swap happened, the MC was convinced the handler didn't like her at all... in the end everything comes out and they start dating though, I'm pretty sure... (hide spoiler)]

My request for an ARC hasn't been approved--not surprised, it's my first request on Net Galley and it's not like I have a blog or anything so I'm not high priority--but I'm planning on picking up an ebook tomorrow, when it drops. I'll be a bit though since I've got 1 1/2 eyebooks before it...

[Nirkatze]

Oh hey, my request got approved! On release day! LOL! My very first NetGalley! I'm so excited!! Okay, I'm going to be juggling both this and A Court of Thorns and Roses now, since I finished Teixcalaan last night. I'm so excited!

Even just the dedication and acknowledgments had me saying "Hear hear!!" and raising a fist in solidarity.

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 1--kind of feel like being thrown in the deep end with the language, but it's picking up quick, (view spoiler)[and wow what an explosive opening... I'm betting that Helen X's doppleganger just gated in from another world--I *think* that's the kind of thing that happens? One or the other or both versions of the person would have a strange death... add to that that there were five other deaths, simultaneous to the milisecond--and that sounds like a tourist group plopping in.

Also vaguely remember Exlee from the last book... kimono-wearing x-gender brothel owner... and a vague memory of a motorbike. We're in the old MC's version of Earth... where Nik-Nik is emperor... I think his father, the old Emperor, is the one who runs the company in the other world... really want a reread now!

I really like the description of friendship between our MC Scales and Mr. Cheeks, especially this quote: "I remind myself that wanting to shift someone else's boundaries is a burden and a threat, not a gift or compliment."

Also like the random aside on Ripper. Random, but spot-on--I would've pegged a name like that as a serial killer not the killee.

And the memory--wastelander racing the sunrise... being asked for a sponsor just to stand in a doorway and not die ah, there's the Rage... (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

I had the same experience with chapter 1. I was debating if it confusing in an intentionally throwing you to the wolves way or in a I should have reread book 1 kind of way

[Nirkatze]

LOL yes, exactly! Once we got to the gruesome scene I felt like the ???? evened out a bit though.

[Erin]

Through Ch 4: (view spoiler)[ okay definitely settling more into the language that I'm not totally jiving with Scale's voice.

I cannot figure out Scale's relationship with Nik Nik though. I thought he didn't like her but now it sounds like he does? Is he interested in her? A father figure? A surrogate brother? Grooming her for replacing him even though I had thought I'd gotten the vibe that Scales isn't at the top of the totem pole here so why would she be the successor? (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

CH 6: (view spoiler)[okay well that answered my question about their relationship! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Okay! I should be moving faster now that I finished up my other eyebook. Chapter 2--(view spoiler)[The story of Mr. Wills is evocative of those of the victims of police brutality immortalized by the BLM movement. The name "Travin" sounds like Trayvon (Martin), and the line "he couldn't breathe" in the talk of his last words reminds me of the last words of George Floyd. That's even separate of how the story itself is the story of a young man, shot because he was walking while ("wearing enough") black. "Even a hoodie put a scent on enforcement's tongue."

Followed by a protest--and no justice. The peace officer was never even tried, much less acquitted. And then the SF version, for a world where people take justice into their own hands--when the city wouldn't try him, the people did, and he is strung up as a blood scarecrow for the city to see.

Why does it take Science Fiction to see... if not Justice, some form of scale-balancing? says the book.

I love the line: "Stories should never be believed, but they should always be trusted." (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

(view spoiler)[Yeah that was a good line! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 3--(view spoiler)[The description of the Mayor sparks Trump-ish... "Keep Wiley Clean" is in line with the Mexican Wall and "Make America Great" catch phrases... I'm probably just pointing out the obvious, but I like tracing influences...

LOL quote: "it's good for a runner to lie sometimes, just to keep in the habit"

Some bits of the previous book coming back... wasn't Adam Bosch some old friend of Nik Nik's growing up... thought dead? Got him mixed up with old emperor... and it also seems like we're in previous book's alpha world, not beta--or another version of it.

I'm part glad that I didn't reread, and part aching for one--some reviews I've seen have said the dissonance in feeling between the two books jarred them out of enjoyment, and some events and characters don't align to the first. Without a reread, I can't comment or be affected by that. Though I can head-cannon this book into a very close dimension slice of the first instead of exact-same, to explain away differences.

I liked the meditation on Helen X, as a preface for a funeral, at the end of the chapter, even if the pieces of the chapter are a bit rough-edged. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Up through Chapter 4--(view spoiler)[My first thought early on when Nik Nik first shed his public face with Scales was, and said she'd have to step up, that she was his sister, and he wanted her to start taking some leadership responsibilities... and it looks like she is. I'm not sure how that works though, with the story also of her parents dying to sunlight, shielding her body... maybe stepdad? Probably half-sibs. I wonder if we'll get more specifics, and if the "important man" whose blood was on her hands at their first meeting was their father...

I'm enjoying the language but it's definitely requiring focus. Can't let the mind wander or I'll miss things. It's very distinctive though, gives flavor to the world.

Feel bad for Scales though--she's been friendzoned hard... though I think she wouldn't mind being friendzoned, if it didn't come with a distancing from close friendship in fear of inviting more... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 5 (view spoiler)[At first I was thinking Scales's distaste for Cross was due to him reminding her of Wileyites--her own kind of racism. The memory put me off because at first for some reason I read the eye color as "barely tinted beer" instead of water, and thought the kid's eyes were light brown. Scales is the type of person who really knows how to hold on to a grudge though--full of first impressions and rage, and seems like has reasons for most of them.

I get why he's "Mr. Cross" now though, at least. And it's kind of nice to know that even though he was a judgmental evangelist child, he grew out of it enough to join this crew... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 6 (view spoiler)[I keep putting pieces of the previous book together as we go through. Like--I kind of remember... didn't Cara put a virulent calcifying agent in the CEO's (Adam's?) eye-drops? A slow death-sentence that would convince him to shut down operations.... or open it up to competition. Which could explain the mechanical eye and leg. Parts of is body breaking down and needing replacement. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[Oh shit, is Cheeks's girl on the side Cara? No, but her... sister? Cross's sister? Yeeech. I do like the way she looked at Bosch and said "I imagine the confession part will take.. a good while." LOL

Cheeks having a wolf on him, and then showing up here... makes me wonder if there's not a good reason for that wolf. Betrayal is another thing to rage at.

Wondering at that information Cross has, about Cheeks and Nik Nik, that he wanted to barter for Scales's hatred. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Through Chapter 9--(view spoiler)[I'm enjoying how the world is being parceled out--definitely heavy on the show with very little tell. I like puzzle piece stories and we've been given a lot of little pieces in a big puzzle. Like the Emperor's Blood thing--all the traditions are like the language, we live it first.

It's also interesting seeing Cara again--I'm enjoying Adam's digs at her "Oh, I don't know, Cara do you think it's possible for someone to come from another world and take over someone's life without anyone noticing?" The subtext is helping me remember the first book more... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Through Chapter 14 (view spoiler)[Ah, well that answers the paradox of fathers. The wasteland story was a lie... and it makes sense that bodies wouldn't be enough to protect a child from solar radiation that could burn such to a crisp... it was a good origin story though.

I was starting to wonder if maybe Cross's first secret, and his solo post, might not be to distance-watch over Scales, like a bodyguard... Still wondering what answers are, and hoping that Cross isn't dead, that the vision Scales saw was not true for this world... unfinished business there.

Scale's rage, how she can take pleasure in Cross's pain and mistakes even as she cares for his injuries, doesn't make her a likeable character but I think makes her more honest...

Also feel like the crap rather hit the fan here--or at least, enough chaos slipped in that I'm not entirely sure what the hell is going on... is Esther a dop? Is Cheeks? There're secrets here, lots of them...

And what is up with the water, the weird out-of-world essence of a black hole? The half-messed up body of Mr. Brand? Someone half-transferred? The damage split between both worlds' peoples? And now, the mass-invasion, of Wastelanders? People who exist to be wasted... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 15--(view spoiler)[Oh good! Cross is alive, and another slice of the cultural puzzle dosed out with the answer to his secrets. Voluntary suicide watch... reminds me a bit of Scythe... yikes. I also like Scales' self-exploration here, understanding that it wasn't Cross specifically that she hated, but the truths he made her face about herself.... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 16--(view spoiler)[A quote in here I like, about drug use--"For some people, wellness is a little oblivion. If someone wants to use it to destroy themselves, better to figure out why they want to disappear than just make sure they never hold a blade again."

Kind of feel like that approach would be useful to all drug-crimes as well, or a lot of crime in general... treating symptoms doesn't cure a disease... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 17--(view spoiler)[The Wileyites showing up with donations... but they didn't even stop to ask--what do you need? Do you need? It's the assumption that's the insult, the assumption that they are better and that their trash is Ashtown's treasure.

The contrast of the second person, giving money and letting them choose for themselves what they need, and recognizing the exploitation... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 19--I really love how this series treats gender. Check this quote: "[Wileyites] want gender like a border, something fixed, something to be defended from trespass. We like genders like landmasses here, like puddles that congregate, evaporate, and re-form." (view spoiler)[More quotes too--like how the Mayor's coloring makes it look like she's only a few generations Wileyite, and that maybe "hating others is the easiest way to prove you belong." Sad truth, that... like how LGBT people tend to be more reviled in communities that are already marginalized and minority... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Finished! Really enjoyed this! Right up my alley. (view spoiler)[I recently watched the Oscars performance of the song "I am Ken" so that was playing in my mind during the big epic battle, especially the part where it goes "I am Ken--and so am I... We are Ken!" just thinking of all the Ashtowners together, fighting for their right to live... and then even some of the Wileyites join in, their children sent in on scholarships or scraping lives at the lower levels, come back to support their roots... I totally choked up during the fight, and again at the very end, with Devon remembering one memory from the pool, maybe a fake one, but one universe where all three of them, Cross, Scales, Cheeks, could have grown up together as friends... "here's the best part."--my eyes are getting a little misty even now.

The whole scene in the cave/pool--made me think of the Avengers, Doctor Strange holding up one finger to show only one path through time ends with them all surviving...

I also like how the revelations came about--in pieces--that Cheeks died, how he died, why he died... and at the very end, that his dop is out there somewhere... Really I liked this aspect of the book entire, the piecemeal way information was dropped out.

And we even got a little romance! Enemies to lovers, but TRUE enemies to lovers, without any emo!! Totally there for it--especially after the very painful revelation of what Cheeks truly thought of his friendship with Scales... how those who we love have the most power to harm. (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

Dang you sped by me haha. I was out of town all weekend and didn't have any ebook reading. But I'm planning to pick it back up again tonight!

All your spoilered posts are taunting me lol

[Nirkatze]

This was my first ever NetGalley book! So I was trying to be a very conscious reader and took notes and things... Tried to do a detailed review to be a good reviewer....

[Erin]

Ch 10: (view spoiler)[ooh okay I didn't see Cross being the wolf coming (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

re: Chapter 10--makes sense, ultimately though... (view spoiler)[Oh man, I was laughing with Scales in that one... if only he knew the can of worms he was opening there... (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

Nirkatze wrote: "Chapter 15--[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ooh yeah I can see that comparison to Scythe here for sure (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

Okay just finished this one! (view spoiler)[ Unfortunately this one was just okay for me. The Space Between Worlds is one of my favorite sci fi books so I had high hopes for this one and it just felt flat for me. I did like the mystery plot itself. However I deeply did not enjoy Scales as a main character or as a narrator so that just really put a damper on it because I never wanted to be in her head. Stream of consciousness style narration can work for me but I gotta like the character who's doing it (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Grats on finish!--Totally get that--Scales's head is VERY different place from Cara's... and comes across very strongly.... no attempt to make her a likeable or accessible character.

I hope the next one hits you better though!

[Tonari no Emily]

I was really hoping to squeeze this one in, but I don't think I'll have time 😪
I didn't know there would be a sequel... It seems I rated the first one 3 stars but with how much I remember of it, it should probably be a round 4 stars for me...
Wow my rating not-system is a mess :D

[Nirkatze]

I know how you feel--my tastes and scales have definitely adjusted given time and more reads...

This one seems pretty divisive, so I'd definitely be curious what you think, Emily...

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "I know how you feel--my tastes and scales have definitely adjusted given time and more reads...

This one seems pretty divisive, so I'd definitely be curious what you think, Emily..."

If I end up reading it I'll have to remember to come back here!

[Nirkatze]

If, alternatively, you want to do a reread of #1 then jump into #2, I'd probably be up for that... I wouldn't mind doing a reread even not too far off, try the audio...

[Tonari no Emily]

Sure! I'm not sure when, but probably not till the end of the year at the earliest...

[Nirkatze]

I'll put a note in my tracker to poke you in like, September.

[Tonari no Emily]

Sounds good!