If I had this book when I was fourteen it would've been an oasis in a desert that would've had my profound gratitude not to mention all of the wear on the pages from my likely numerous re-reads. Truth be told, this seems like a book that would've taken place 20 or 30 years ago when the concept of lesbian was completely foreign, taboo, and absent from any popular cultural reference or representation. Infidelity, betrayal.yeah, it's there but, because the girls are SO in the closet (even to themselves) and fear the repercussions of coming out, to the state of panic, I could actually see this play out the way it did.and the brother was getting douchier (yeah, that's a word in my world) by the minute so guilt on my part as the reader rooting for these two girls is less. Throw in that Harper is technically dating Sarah's twin brother at the same time as they are falling in love, and acting on those true feelings, we have a mess. The girls have insta-attraction/intrigue but actual love comes way later and, as strong of a feeling as these two have for each other, neither one declares love prematurely.īUT, there's a complication.

I really liked all of the interactions between Harper and Sarah and I considered this to be a slow burn romance. Some other readers found this repetitious and I had a twinge of that but, hey, this stuff happens. And, that hem and haw often has more to do with what they think is right or wrong in the moment or wondering how a popular girl would actually want to befriend the unpopular girl than a romance does she like me, like me not kind of thing.

So, the angst is off the charts and you'll see the girls hem and haw, going back and forth about what they think the other feels for them or what they should do but, at the same time, they keep plowing forward, escalating their relationship in a really satisfying way. I know other books have done something similar but the way this author did it just seemed different to me. One in which the two people go into it not yet understanding they are gay and are intrigued by each other for who they are.and that slow, super slow unraveling of day by day excitement and jitters and growing affection and discovery on both of their parts that makes them lead with their feelings not able to say what they are (i.e. What we get is a love story between two unlikely girls one being the most popular and the other being the unpopular pariah.and, it's a very specific love story.

What this book got right is the feeling of being a teenager the intensity of feeling and the microcosm of high school with the pressures it can entail. My overall verdict is that it was worth reading, at least for me, because it resonated. 'The Space Between' is a YA novel that has its issues but there's a lot that it captured that was just right, too. Full disclaimer, I'm having a hard time writing a review for this.

The space between michelle l teichman