I’ve never read a book I’ve related to more. All the things I’ve said to my friends as we’ve gone through our twenties and more so all the things we haven’t said, but have definitely experienced quietly and alone. But she never compromises her soul. Shes good to herself, and shes good to the person shes in love with. There are small issues about the book that I won't go into...this is already too long as it is...So my personal biggest complaint about the book is that about 90% of the way through suddenly most of the main characters start speaking from this mature place in long monologues that just didn't seem real for the ages or the characters themselves. Chop all of that up and whittle it down to stumbled, rambling, can't quite articulate but getting the point across enough kind of speech...much like this book review...and there you go. Everything’s great for Harper Isabelle, the most popular girl in grade nine. That is, until she meets Sarah Jamieson.

The Space Between Us (novel) - Wikipedia The Space Between Us (novel) - Wikipedia

Emotions build between these young women until they both reach their breaking points, and they need to make a choice about coming to terms with who they really are, and what they can and cannot live without. The romance was perfectly and devastatingly sweet. The smile on my face reading this story was ridiculous and mighty embarrassing at work. It was really nicely paced and very natural and super super super cute. The romance - which was what drew me to the book - is beautiful. It’s cheesy and over the top, but there’s definitely moments that touch the right tones. It goes from fluffy to steamy, but it’s got a tad more angst than I can appreciate. The dual POV also robbed the book of any suspense and made the book sort of frustrating because the reader could brush off each girls doubts immediately. surprise, but also the overwhelming love. I take another step forward, my leg burning, my chest aching. I reach out my hand, palm up. She can take it, she can take my hand and we can walk away, leave all this behind together.

A space for online talks, workshops, book-club, new experiences, community initiatives & creative expression, a canvas through which new things may emerge. Micaiah Johnson’s debut is a punk album, presenting a world where even our possibilities are colonized. I loved every twisting minute of it.” —Alex White, author of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe a book written by 2 white 20-something girls for white 20-something girls. that's all. it was a nice, heartwarming, engaging read at times. at other times, i felt myself either skimming through the waffle, or questioning how relatable this actually was to me. i'm a 20-something, but my field of work is extremely different to zara's and michelle's, and i'm a queer woman of colour, so obviously our experiences are so vastly different. maybe i was expecting too much in terms of relatability. my bad.

The Space Between by Zara McDonald - Penguin Books Australia

I know other books have done something similar but the way this author did it just seemed different to me. Disclaimer: A free copy of this book was received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Also I felt the urge to mumfriend everyone in this book. Ninth graders shouldn't be drinking and smoking and having sex all over the place. I don't care if it happens, it's a miserable state of affairs and I hate that this is the world we live in. I hate that girls who haven't even settled on a bra size yet feel pressured into have sex. I hate that the in-crowd of high school is a thing, although I fortunately avoided that after the age of about thirteen. I hate that this happens and I hated having to sit there and read about it happening. There is not a moment in this book where I thought, "this does not apply to me", or "I never experienced that in my early twenties". Unlike their podcast which focuses on the latest in pop culture and the news cycle, the girls share a lot of their personal selves in this book. They are incredibly generous in their story telling, which makes the content so relatable. I was in this book once, in the sense that I had a really hard time coming out "all the way" when I was younger. I was out to most of my friends and online but not to my family, and that was stressful as hell and insulting to the person who is now my spouse. So every time the Uncool Girl was like "I need more time" I totally got it. I also got how hard that was for Cool Girl. I hope kids who are still wrestling with that find validation in this kind of representation. (And you know what? I don't think the book makes it clear whether or not Uncool Girl has come out to her parents even three years later as the girls are about to leave for college together, and that's good because coming out is not safe for everyone and it's important for those kids to be validated, heard, and represented, too.)I let my hand hang there and all she has to do is take it. My heart thuds a heavy, desperate beat as she looks into my eyes, a bright, shining love there. Around us, her family is shifting, her brother laughing, her dad murmuring angrily, the groom’s family confused and stunned. And him, he’s still holding her hands, a somber expression on his face. But I don’t see them, I don’t hear them, I only see Andi. Not to mention I believe that some of the essays skimmed over the reality and depth of situations that come with being in your twenties - resulting in ‘surface level’ reflections. Often described as a ‘roadmap to your twenties’, I found little practical advice throughout this book. Nowadays? It depends. It seems strange that, in the day of gay marriage and lesbians now depicted in television, novels, history notes, on the internet, and celebrity personalities that being lesbian in high school would be so completely lonely, isolated, and unidentifiable? stars | From the creators of the hit Australian podcast ‘Shameless’, came this book where the hosts reflect on their experience as young women in their twenties, so far.

The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone | Waterstones

But maybe therein lies the point: maybe there is no resolution or conclusion because our priorities are fluid, our energy in flux and our time, while constant, subject to both of those things."

I felt that the podcast is goodg, however for the most part was somewhat not relatable and self indulgent. So I was disappointed. I felt like it should have been for a younger age group. I don't think I can name anything I didn't like about it, to be honest. It was fun at times, at others sad, exciting, sweet... I have read a few similar stories, yes, but I still greatly enjoyed this one. It just felt so real, so honest, with well-written, relatable and likable (or unlikable) main and secondary characters to make me love it even more. My review comes with 3.5 stars, purely due to the relate-ability of some of these essays - which felt, in the light-hearted stories, that they were romanticising the notorious decade of your ‘twenties’. Easy to do on retrospect, but took away an element of relate ability, I think? I’ve loved riding the wave of this novel, through the poignant and honest stories of Michelle & Zara. It is clear that they have placed parts of their hearts & souls into this book, and for that, I am grateful - as I imagine putting this much of yourself out into the world is not easy.

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar | Goodreads The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar | Goodreads

Also, things wrap up a little too tidy but I'd rather have a happy ending in my romance books that seems too pat than be left bereft. Harper Isabelle has always been popular thanks to her big sister Bronte. Her life’s always been perfectly planned. That is until she meets Sarah Jamieson a weird loner with dark make-up who loves art. Sarah is used to being the outcast, she doesn’t need any friends. Despite their paths being set, both girls start to find something entirely new within each other. Unfortunately, halfway through the book I realized this was definitely not the book I was hoping for. Maybe someone who doesn't read LGBT books all the time would like this, but I'm exhausted of the same tropes being used over and over again in F/F YA books. Stop making lesbians date guys just because society is forcing them to do that. I don't want to read about that, it makes me uncomfortable and I've read this trope a hundred times already. Jace and Andrea. Andrea and Jace. From the moment of their fate-filled first meeting in Central Park they’ve known one true thing—they’re meant to be.The top of the dress is tight, strapless, showing the thin line of her shoulders and the smoothness of her