Review: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on October 21, 2016 | 1 Comment


Review: The Space Between by Brenna YovanoffThe Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
Published by Razorbill (11.14.2011)
Genres: Horror, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 363 pages
Source: I own it


4 Stars

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

My thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I’ve been wanting to read it for FOREVER but was hesitant because I wasn’t sure it would be a “me” book, and also because I hated Fiendish. I’m so glad I gave Brenna a second chance! (See, sometimes giving authors a second chance DOES pay off!)

I absolutely LOVED the premise of this book! And I loooove the world. Metal flowers and steel streets, how awesome is that? I would have loved to see more details of Pandemonium (Hell, basically). I enjoyed the background story of Lilith and Lucifer, it was fantastic! I wanted to soak up every little detail of the dark and stunning world that Yovanoff created!

The book had a very strong Constantine feel, which may have been part of why I enjoyed it so much…I LOVE that movie!

I feel the need to state this: This book is ROMANCE. Not a horror! (But still good.) Looking at Goodreads now, it’s not even marked as horror so I have no idea what led me to believe it was *facepalm* But that’s okay because the expectation didn’t lower my enjoyment any. It actually had a very dark feel to it, almost kind of like a gothic romance. And it did have some lovely bloody scenes in there!

The romance really didn’t do anything for me. I mostly liked the characters, but didn’t love them and also didn’t feel much for them. Actually, my feels were kind of low for this, which is what keeps me from giving it a higher rating. View Spoiler »

I’m not really sure how I felt about the ending. I loved how shocking it was, because I wasn’t expecting that, but I feel like the part with Azrael was over a bit too quickly. View Spoiler »

Side note: Daphne’s blood ability was BAD. ASS.

Overall, the world was really what made this book for me. I love the feel of this book, and I would definitely recommend it!

horror-factor-3

2 skulls

mild

When it comes to “horror,” this book falls short. It’s fluffy and romancey. But it did have a lovely dark feel to it, and there were one or two gory/bloody scenes. Dark Dreadful was pretty creepy though!

Overall Assessment

Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 3.5/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
World-building: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 1.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 4/5

Jessi (Geo)

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