The Space Between Worlds - Book Review

Cara, a girl born in the poverty ridden Ashtown, leaps at the opportunity to leave the climate ruined slums behind and live in the high class Wiley City, taking a lucrative job as a multiverse traveler. What makes her the perfect candidate is in nearly every universe her double is dead - allowing her to travel to more universes than someone who has a higher survival rate. Yet after Cara makes a horrible discovery upon visiting a new universe, Cara has to choose between keeping her job and therefore her citizenship or putting an end to a devious plot.

I first read this book back in 2021 and since then it has remained on my mind, as well as high on my list of favorite science fiction books.
While reading, I like to make predictions and these predictions tend to come true. This book might be the only book that consistently surprised me. All my guesses were wrong, but in a way that left me pleasantly surprised. The story continuously moved in directions I didn’t expect, but would always make sense for the world and character motivations as well as open up new exciting possibilities. Reading this book is like a ball of yarn unwinding. There is much going on but because it's relayed in compartmentalized pieces it never feels overwhelming and each new bit of revealed information gracefully flows into the next as it’s carried along by the plot.
The title “Space Between Worlds” is perfect and sums up many aspects of this story, from the obvious reference to the literal gap between worlds Cara has to traverse in order to reach other universes, to a more metaphorical liminal space Cara exists in between two dichotomies. She is not accepted into Wiley City because of her roots back in Ashtown, yet not welcome in Ashtown either because of her employment in Wiley City. And the book is full of dichotomies, from the rich experience vs the poor to even science vs religion. This book explores the spaces between those two extremes, comparing and contrasting, but the more you try to differentiate the more it all sounds the same with just a different coat of paint on it.
Though the science of the world might be underexplained, I never felt that it was unbelievable. I loved the highly contrasting settings of the high-tech Wiley city vs wasteland Ashtown. The two cities juxtaposed felt very dystopian but also reflective of the very real gap between the haves and the have-nots of our own world.
One smaller plotline is the lesbian romance between Cara and Dell, which is all the more sweetened by how in multiple universes, Cara and Dell fell in love with each other.
But there are more intriguing relationships in this book besides the main romantic one. I loved Cara’s relationship with her step-sister as well as her relationship with her mentor, both of which are very beautifully and realistically complex.
One character who is well established as an enemy in most universes has one universe where they are actually a decent person, which I liked because it shows that no one is inherently evil. Often it comes down to nurture vs. nature.
With a striking pace, a winding unexpected plot, and tackling many social themes, this is a read that will stick in your brain for years to come.