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Alyssa

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Alyssa is Currently Reading

Alyssa is currently reading

The Space Between

by Brenna Yovanoff (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: paranormal, sci-fi-fantasy, teen-fiction, urban-fantasy, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in November, 2011

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Alyssa said: " Originally Posted at Redhead Heroines!

WARNING: Reading this book may slice and dice your heart and put it back together again several thousand times. I am of the opinion that books which do not do this are not worth reading. If you feel the same way, Originally Posted at Redhead Heroines!

WARNING: Reading this book may slice and dice your heart and put it back together again several thousand times. I am of the opinion that books which do not do this are not worth reading. If you feel the same way, carry on.

This deeply lyrical novel was such an emotional rollercoaster! I love when a book is able to deliver a full range of emotions throughout the story, while also keeping you incredibly entertained. Yovanoff was also able to do this in her debut, The Replacement, but I feel that The Space Between is the stronger of the two.

The connection that you feel as a reader to Daphne and Truman, as well as a host of minor characters, is nearly instant. The characterization is very skilled in this book, with both Daphne and Truman's current situation, past experiences, and relationships with those closest to them being illustrated with ease.

When we are first introduced to Daphne, the strangeness of her world is almost a little unsettling. Pandemonium, a version of Hell, is in itself a little difficult to understand, as is her relationship with her mother, Lilith.

However, the novel moves fairly quickly, which allows you to get over the slightly confusing descriptions of Pandemonium and the relationships between the characters who live there.

By the time that Truman is introduced and Daphne heads to Earth for the first time to rescue her brother Obie, the characters carry the narrative along. Yovanoff gets her hooks in deep with characters like Truman, impossibly tortured, bordering on mentally destitute, breaking my heart with every page.

Daphne is such an interesting narrator, because growing up in Pandemonium makes her a veritable fish-out-of-water on Earth. This results in several non-sequitors between her and other characters that really help to lighten the mood!

Pairing Daphne's other-worldliness with the fragility of Truman's situation creates a relationship that only these two characters could have. Daphne is honest and already understands Truman's hardship going into their first meeting, making it impossible for him to hide behind whatever walls he usually puts up to cope.

The mystery side of this novel, who kidnapped Obie and why?, is very fast-paced, leading Truman and Daphne on a strange journey where they meet even stranger characters along the way.

At the end of the novel, the changes that you see in Truman and Daphne are exquisite, with enough character growth and development of their relationship to make their journey of strange incidents and suffering and mystery seem all too worth it. ...more "

progress:

(page 153 of 363)
— Nov 27, 2011 08:41PM

Jan 21, 2012 08:41AM · see review

Alyssa’s Quotes

“Your page stands against you and says to you that you are a thief.”
― Martial, Epigrams

tags: creative-process, creativity, literary-theory, literature, tradition, writers, writing, writing-process

12 likes

“Life, raw life, the kind we lead every day, whether it leads us into the past or the future, has the curious property of not seeming real enough. We have a need, however illusive, for a life that is more real than life. It lies in the imagination. Fiction would seem to be the way it is processed into reality. If this were not so we should have little excuse for art. Life, raw life, would be more than satisfactory in itself. But it seems to be the nature of man to transform—himself, if possible, and then the world around him—and the technique of this transformation is what we call art.”
― Wright Morris, The Territory Ahead

tags: art, authors, creative-process, writing

8 likes

“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize."

[Modernism's Patriarch (Time Magazine, June 10, 1996)]”
― Robert Hughes

“How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me?”
― Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers

638 likes

“I don't know many rules to live by,' he'd said. 'But here's one. It's simple. Don't put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles--drug or tattoo--and...no inessential penises either.'

'Inessential penises?' Karou had repeated, delighted with the phrase in spite of her grief. 'Is there any such thing as an essential one?'

'When an essential one comes along, you'll know,' he'd replied.”
― Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke & Bone

1430 likes

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