I’m a girl of simple tastes. I see “swimming” and “gay” in the same sentence and I glomp onto it like an overattached koala. All the Worlds Between Us is an ownvoices second-chance story about two friends navigating the rocky paths of first love. It was quick and light and fine but didn’t really scratch my swimmer romance itch. Most of the story revolves around highschool drama and less of Quinn’s experiences as an aspiring Olympic swimmer, which was kind of disappointing. When a romance story is set against the backdrop of a sports world, I want the sports side to be as well-developed as the relationship aspect. That’s not always the case, though.

The narration also felt more juvenile than Quinn’s age warranted, and combined with a few explicit scenes, it got a bit jarring. I did find Kennedy’s experiences of being a closeted teen portrayed pretty well, however, and I enjoyed the mix of sweet and heartbreaking moments.

Overall, it’s not a bad sports f/f (especially if you’re new to the subgenre) but definitely not the best I’ve read either.

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions on the book. I was first drawn to this book from its intriguing cover which enticed me to read the description and I immediately thought great a light-heart teen high school romance. I was wrong. This book is so much more than that and is far from light heart, it deals with big issues that teenagers experience especially if you are part of the LGBTQ+ family. I rated this book 5/5 stars and it is my first ARC from NetGalley to get this rating. I honestly adore this book. If you have been through any school system you will know just how cliques work, how popular kids rule the school and how anybody who does not conform to their norms is weird, a loner or bullied. Miller takes these preconceived ideas and turns them on their head.

Quinn Hughes is your typical over achieving seventeen year old girl. Oh, only she has almost made it into the Olympics and it working toward the Swimming World Championships in ten months time when the novel begins. So, as you can imagine, now is not the right time for any distractions in her life. Here we meet Kennedy Reed, her ex-best friend who she has not spoken to since she was fourteen. Quinn seems like your average teenage girl, only she is openly gay and not afraid to tell anyone about it. She is proud and makes sure that anyone who puts her down for it, gets what they deserve. Quinn begins trying to balance everything her swimming meets, her studies, her social life and reuniting her friendship with Kennedy. Only, it quickly develops into more than just a friendship. There is only one issue, Kennedy is not out and wishes for that to be something she does in her own way in the future, Oh and there is a second issue, Quinn’s twin brother Liam also has feelings for Kennedy.

This book was so much more than I thought it would be. It deals with friendship, family, sexuality, self-realization, accepting yourself, the harsh reality of high school and the difference between getting to tell your own story and having your own story exposed. Each character plays a vital role in Quinn’s life and tells the story of this book perfectly. Quinn is such a lovable character, she just has you on her side from the first page.

This was a pretty okay book. It wasn't my favorite, but I still enjoyed it. The plot was enjoyable and fits it target audience of teenagers perfectly. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I was still a teenager, but there was just too much that wasn't relatable anymore.

Gay romance. Been done before. Still important. If you’re gay this might speak to you. I’d check it out because own voices is relevant.

I recived an ARC from Netgalley.

Quinn is set on getting a medal at the swimming World Championship in 10 months. That means no distractions, but then her ex best friend Kennedy starts squeezing herself back into Quinn's life.They haven't spoken since Kennedy moved when they were fourteen and when she came back nothing was the same. Now Quinn has to balance swimming, her feelings for Kennedy and the fact that maybe she's not the only one with these feelings, Quinn's twin brother Liam seems pretty interested Kennedy as well.

Oh wow. I loved this a lot. It was so much more impactful than I thought it would be. I thought this was just gonna be a quick, light book but it was so much more. This is definitely an important book that handles a lot of important topics. Friendship, family, discovering your sexuality, finding yourself, accepting yourself.. It was a beautiful yet heartbreaking story. I hope this book gets the recognition it deserves.

I really enjoyed Morgan Lee Miller's writing, the fact that she more than once mentions Lexa from The 100 made my heart very very happy. I think all characters were very well thought out and I loved them all. This book made me laugh, it made me cry.. at one point I was listening to a song mentioned and just sat there for a good 10 minutes tearing up.

The only thing I had a problem with in this book was how she sometimes treated her friend and ex girlfriend Riley. The way she left to pick up her brother and then just didn't text or call her back or anything was kind of... yeah. Then I also thought Riley was a bit annoying but she made up for it by the end. I also didn't like the way Quinn said multiple times that Kennedy didn't want to come out cause she was embarrased about Quinn. Coming out to everyone you know, friends and family is a very scary thing and I felt that if anyone could understand that it was Quinn.

I rated this book 4/5 stars, it would've been a 5/5 if not for those two things but overall it was amazing for being Morgan Lee Miller's first novel and I can't wait to see what she'll publish in the future, I'm definitely hoping for a sequel to this one.

I didn't realize how much I needed a contemporary read until I started this book. I need to start switching it up more.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Quinn as a main character and that, for once, she wasn't the one in the closet. It's quite refreshing to read from the pov of someone who's out and proud. Overall, a really great read.

Warning, though, there are some very not-YA sex scenes in this book.

This is not my typical genre but I gave this book and this author and I’m glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised. Without writing spoilers, I like how this book handled sexuality, teenagers finding themselves, and sports/perseverance. At first, I found the bullying elements to be a bit much, but when I gave it some thought, I realized that this is how life is today for a lot of people. And it sucks. I like that the author remained steadfast with the bullying background storyline so the reader really could get a glimpse of teenagers and what they might be going through that we don’t realize.

This book was well written and flowed easily. I enjoyed the characters but am still conflicted about the ending. I’m not sure if I like having things left to my own imagination or if I would have preferred an epilogue. For the author’s first published work, I’m impressed. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was actually really really cute. The romance was slightly painful to me because it reminded me a little bit of my past, but it was still enjoyable to read.

What I really loved about this is that it will be the perfect read for young queers. I wish there was more books like this when I was in high school. The only books even remotely similar to this focused way too much on the coming out aspect of being queer, as well as the parental rejection. This book will be so so so good for the baby gays. It’s so supportive, but also shows the harsh reality of being gay, without the book being about that.

I think the only reason I didn’t LOVE this was that it’s not super mature. But like, it’s about teenagers so it really doesn’t have to be. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more as a teen, and I can’t judge it too harshly because I am not the target audience.

I loved the main character, Quinn, a lot. I think it’s super interesting that she’s a serious swimmer. I liked Kennedy and Gabriel a lot too. I didn’t love Liam much, but he seemed sincere in the end.

Parts of this were SO cute that I was almost in tears. Like when Quinn and Kennedy go to Swensen’s to talk everything out. That was probably my favorite scene.

Overall I think this was a really cute read and I’m so excited that girls first exploring their sexuality will have a book like this!

All the Worlds Between Us has all the elements of your standard final year of high school romance story: the house parties, the dreams after high school, the uncertainty over the last few days in a familiar environment, the popular mean girls, the ambitious but not quite popular protagonist with a crush on the estranged best friend who left town and returned to be one of the most popular people in school. Except: it’s gay. In this story, protagonist Quinn Hughes is aiming to qualify for the swimming Olympics and a scholarship to university. A mild complication comes in the form of her former best friend Kennedy Reed, whom she has feelings for.

For the most part, this was a light and easy read. The writing style was colloquial, like Quinn is talking to you to tell her story. And the book weaves between the growing romance/sexual tension between Quinn and Kennedy, as well as Quinn’s slight struggle in juggling a not-out-of-the-closet girlfriend with her intense training regimen in order to qualify for the Olympics. I was concerned that this book seemed too much like the typical high school romance kind of story, except for the fact that it’s full of queer characters. But it’s precisely Kennedy’s not-out status as a queer girl that drives the tension between the central couple. All the Worlds Between Us takes the template of the high school romance and injects the colourings of the struggle of a queer girl coming to terms with her sexuality and trying to come out to the people closest to her, unsure of the outcome. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and Kennedy and Quinn make a really sweet couple, but I wish there was more ethnic diversity in the characters apart from that one Spanish guy who I kept forgetting was Spanish anyway.

I’d say, pick up this book if you’re into high school romances but also tired of how they’re dominantly heteronormative - because evidently changing the gender of one of the love interests isn’t enough to capture the struggle of a popular/unpopular kids pairing when they’re both queer and one is still in the closet.

I loved this, great exploration of friendship, great lgbt representation. Characters were really well written, loveable and relatable. It’s a great debut novel.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

“All the Worlds Between Us” is the debut YA novel by Morgan Lee Miller, centering around Quinn, a teen lesbian and her obstacles with her love life and her dreams of qualifying for Olympic swimming. Overall, I’d rate this book a 3.5, and it was decent for a debut novel. I was interested in the book for the swimming storyline, which is a bit different than other YA books, and would have enjoyed even more focus on that. I think the book is more high school (vs. middle school) appropriate due to some of the scenes between Quinn and girlfriends. The storyline was okay overall, and it was a quick, easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books, Inc. for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Netgally Review:

I enjoyed this book immensely! It was a perfect YA novel and I could relate to a lot of those "first relationship feelings". I also liked that I was never really sure how it was all going to pan out. A special acknowledgment for the ending, which I think had a realistic and healthy outcome (relatively) for a relationship at age 17.

I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book
The author did such an amazing job making me fall in love with these characters.
The plot was riveting I literally had to know what was going to happen next!
I loved our main character and felt like I was on such an emotional rollercoaster with them.
5 fully deserved stars.

<i>Being gay, or any part of the queer community, you have to come out to every person in your life who you want in your life. I wish I could just send a memo out to the world that I am gay so I can stop coming out, but, unfortunately life doesn’t work like that.</i>

I thought this was such a cute book and discussed so many important things! Such as the importance of coming out being on that persons terms not people who think they should come out. How being gay shouldn’t change who you are to your friends and to your family but unfortunately, sometimes it does.

I really liked our main characters! Quinn was a really good protagonist, I generally liked the story being in her POV. Although, I did have an issue with the way she dropped Riley to go pick up Liam and then ignore her and didn’t try and make things better with her for a while afterwards! But overall, she was a character that I felt an emotional connection to and I was fully routing for her when it came to swimming and to Kennedy. But again, at parts it really felt like she was trying to force Kennedy out and that didn’t sit well with me either.

Kennedy again was a character that I really loved. I know firsthand how hard it is keeping the secret of being gay is. Knowing that everyone is going to start treating you differently just because you are going against the social “norm” but I thought that the way she let herself deal with it after being with Quinn was healthy and good representation of what that is like. I did have big issues with how she just didn’t do anything when her friends were so horrific to Quinn, yes, it’s so scary standing up against your friends and knowing it can cause you to go to the bottom of the social period - not that I know about that I had as much popularity and friends as a piece of dirt when I was in high school but it just doesn’t sit well with me in books when people can’t stand up for their friends/girlfriends etc just because they’re scared of their popularity.

I really hated Riley for most of the book honestly but grew to like her by the end. In fact, I liked a lot of the side characters especially Gabe what a soft, sweet boy he was!

My main issue with the book is that there wasn’t a lot of plot. It was like Quinn and Kennedy hate each other, now they’re smiling at each other and now they’re together and now they’re hiding it and now they’re arguing and now they’re okay again and it was like okay is anything else going to happen at all? No? Okay. I did like the relationship between them, don’t get me wrong when they were together they were sweet and it was obvious that they cared about each other! And, as a lesbian, it sucks that there isn’t a lot of lesbian rep out there and I’m so glad I found this!!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be interested in the authors future works!

<i>Arc was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own. </i>

3.5 Stars. I thought this was a pretty good YA read. I also think this may be Miller’s first book so I thought it was well written for a debut. I didn’t love all of Miller’s story choices but overall it was a decent read.

I have been reading quite a few YA lesfic books lately. Not sure what’s going on but there seems to be more books coming out than usual. I always mention that I am not the biggest YA fan, but I’m starting to wonder if that is true. I have been enjoying these YA books more than I expected so I think I might have to start changing my tune.

One thing I look forward to in good YA books are ones that make you feel. Books that can make you cry one minute and fill you with good feels the next. That is what I wanted and I was glad to say this book delivered on that. I was really engrossed in this story and the first person POV of Quinn. I felt like I really understood her feelings and she was easy to connect with.

While this is a romance it is an angsty romance. Quinn is out and bullied for it by the popular crowd. Her potential love interest is happy being popular but struggles with the fact she may be bisexual and what would happen to her popular standing. This is a YA romance, but the intimate scenes are a little on the explicit side. Not over the top but the characters are seniors in high school so it is pretty realistic.

I think my biggest issue with this book and where it lost a bit in my rating was the end. I just wasn’t crazy about it. It’s not a bad ending but it left me feeling a bit unfinished. I was hoping the book would skip forward so we could experience more of Quinn’s Olympic dreams. The swimming aspects of this book were interesting and made this stand out from a regular high school YA so I really wanted more. There is also another big storyline that is left unfinished but I don’t want to spoiler anything by mentioning it. Again while it was realistic, it was disappointing. If I knew for sure Miller had planes to write a sequel, that Quinn’s story was not over, I would feel a million times better about the ending.

If you are a YA fan, chances are you might enjoy this. It didn’t completely work for me but it was a pretty good debut book. I’m keeping my fingers crossed we get a book 2.

'ARC provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher in exchange for an honest review'

**'Write the thing you as a writer has to write: the story you are on fire for, the one that might break your heart that only you can tell..The simpler you say or write it, the more eloquent it is...'

In 'ALL THE WORLDS BETWEEN US', Ms.M.L.Miller is able to move beyond the (granted,fascinating) swim practices that did occupy much of the storyline, instead focusing simultaneously on furthering the romance,teenage problems,growing up & disagreements and on providing more nuanced characterizations for both the primary and secondary characters. She even showed a remarkable ability to place the athletic experiences in the context of telling the story.
For Quinn trying to redo her past Olympic trials and making it's future swim team -- the success would only add to her college credentials even with some difficulty at times but eventually so satisfying. She's an unassuming out teenager who likes to stay invisible at school and tends only to be focus on her swimming. So having a steady girlfriend was simply not in her heart's desire -- enter Kennedy: beautiful and popular at school,only hang with the popular kids,a star soccer player and was unsure about her sexuality.
The author included additional insights into their own thoughts and growing attraction -- with Quinn finally opening up to Kennedy about her feelings, she found something that she never felt before with anyone else: someone who felt and thinks the same way as her. While Kennedy, having no qualms about returning her obvious affections but only behind closed doors. With this strong attraction that led her to do some heartfelt soul-searching -- comes a choice of admitting to their relationship in the open or hiding behind her snobbish friends. But for Quinn, after finding herself she did realize that even if her life might seem okay on the outside it will only get better having Kennedy in it.
The action was perfectly balanced with a softer more emotional side to the storytelling. Nothing happened too fast and the storyline never dragged on: it was also perfectly paced,readers will get a few happy moments,it's also not all sunshine & rainbows and the writing showed the realism of young love;- you cannot rely on anyone to help you become who you really are.
I really enjoyed and loved the story and I think we all have had our own teenage coming out moments in dealing with our own sexuality and the many questions. In at the end I still wanted more of this book.
A highly recommend YA story!

I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. As a book set during their high school years, a majority of it was focused on drama, drinking, and sex. The characters are slightly redeemable, but some of them I couldn’t stand. Quinn is a talented swimmer destined for the Olympics. Her love interest, Kennedy Reed is the girl who used to be her best friend. Those two were okay, and I think the author did a good job of developing Quinn’s character. However, Liam, Quinn’s twin, was a character I never really liked. I really hate it when I read about sibling relationships that aren’t supportive of each other.
In the end, the book had more drama than substance for me. It was more of a beach read than a book to take seriously.

5/5

Quinn Hughes is a swimmer in her senior year and her main focus is on making it to the olympics and win a medal. She has a strict schedule, diet and no time for relationships. When her childhood ex-best-friend, Kennedy, suddenly enters Quinn's life she finds herself choosing between love, drama and her future.

Let me start by saying this book surprised me. The summary did not make the book look as interesting as it really is. So, I was pleasantly surprise, so much that i finished it in a day (squeezing readings at work ).

I am a sucker for YA and this book was a rollercoaster of emotions. Sure, it was a bit juvenile but that is expected when you write about teenagers. I finished the book because I could not stop reading. I needed to find out what was next for Quinn and Kennedy. That being said, I would have loved and epilogue - or perhaps a second book????

In summary, great YA book. lots of drama, love, tension and confusion.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books through Netgalley for an honest review

This was fine in every sense of the world, but nothing extraordinary. The main character was likeable with an interesting hobby, but the book had next to nothing of a plot. It was a bit too high school drama, mean-girl and drama for the sake of adding drama for me. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good angst novel, but this wasn't my favourite of them.

From the outset, I want to mention that this type of troupe is typically not my normal type of read. Yes, this one is definitely f/f, but it's definitely more of a YA/NA read. There are some lightly explicit sex scenes included, but it's rather tame with all characters in their senior year of high school, so all 17 or 18 years old. I would categorize the main themes of this one as coming out, friends to lovers, and second chance romance.

For what it is, I thought that Miller handled this story well, but the excessive bullying did really bother me in this one. MC Quinn is a serious swimmer and is an Olympic hopeful. She missed the cut by 3 seconds, and now spends all of her free time in the pool training for the next qualifying race. I'm not sure I really understood all of the reasons for the bullying behind this one. It seemed to stem from one character's jealousy over Quinn's swimming success and attention somewhat, but then maybe a bit of it was her being different as an out lesbian also. I was lucky enough to avoid bullying in school, and no one that I hung out with would stand for it either, so it didn't make much sense to me to see it happening in this novel. In my group, Quinn would have been cheered on and praised for her success, not bullied for her misses. I guess I was just lucky, but I just don't understand how so many characters in this story just stood by and let the bullying continue to happen, especially Quinn's twin brother who she supposedly had a great bond with.

The other MC Kennedy is one of the popular girls. She never participates in the bullying, but she never stops it either. Kennedy was Quinn's best friend growing up, but she moved away at 14 and when she came back everything changed. Starting on the first day of sophomore year, she ignores Quinn and won't even look her in the eye. We quickly find out that there was a kiss back on the eve of Kennedy moving, and all of their drama stems from this moment. Kennedy is not an out lesbian, and she feels that ignoring Quinn will help her stay in the closet. Since the book is now set in their senior year, it felt like Quinn forgave Kennedy extremely fast once they talked it out.

This novel had potential to be really impactful, especially to a younger audience, but left me feeling a bit meh. I wish that Miller has shown us more with Kennedy and Liam standing up to the bullying on Quinn's behalf, but that never happened. I do applaud Quinn's maturity in her handling of the situation at the ending, but I think it will leave a lot of readers wanting more.

There's mention in the acknowledgments that this was Miller's written first novel, even though it wasn't her first that was published, and I think that showed a bit. Maybe it will work better for younger audiences. Although I enjoyed the read, this one just feet like it could have been so much more... I guess this one just left me wondering what the point of this read was once it was over. 3.5 stars.

**Many thanks to Bold Strokes for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.**