An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This book was amazing, teenage angst just jumped off the page. I loved Quinn immediately and as I was taken on her journey I got more involved in her story and her feelings for Kennedy. I felt as if this was a realistic representation of high school first love and the tremendous up and downs that comes along with that. I laughed and cried as the book continued and still cant decide if I like the ending or not. Overall this is a fantastic read of first love and first heartbreak, and I will be definitely looking out for this author in the future.

Cover to cover this is teenage angst and drama but completely immersive. So much so that the emotions spill over way after you’ve completed the book. And no, it doesn’t matter whether you are way past your teens – the emotions that the book evoke are valid across ages.

Quinn Hughes, a high school senior, is a swimmer. She missed qualifying for the Olympics by a hair’s breadth and is now determined to qualify for the next Olympics and earn a couple of World Championships too, and follows a punishing schedule to achieve that. She is also open and proud. Her friends in school comprise other out people and some of her swim team mates. The group is not very high on the popularity pole of the school. The popular group is made up of the girls’ soccer team and the boys’ football team, which includes Quinn’s brother, Liam and Kennedy Reed. Kennedy and Quinn were best friends from age seven to thirteen. At thirteen, Kennedy’s parents were moving. The two girls promised to keep in touch and while saying goodbye, Kennedy kissed Quinn for a grand total of three seconds. After that Kennedy disappeared on Quinn. When she returned in the sophomore year, she froze Quinn out and since then ignored her completely. Except that now, she seems to be reviving the friendship.

The book is written in first person from Quinn’s PoV so we know every thought and feeling that she has. But, honestly, we didn’t like Quinn. Especially her behaviour with Riley. Plus we found her supremely self-centred. Yes, she is seventeen, but there are other seventeen year olds in the book giving her advice to at least try to understand where another person is.

Kennedy Reed. We fell in love with this girl and she was really the reason we sacrificed our sleep to read this through the night. Searching, scared, strong…she is beautiful.

However, the end left us feeling rather low. Very low, in fact. We need an epilogue to know that Kennedy is happy.

On the whole, read this and be prepared for heartache at the end – which is beautiful, but still sad.

3.5/5

Basically, the story revolves around Quinn, a talented swimmer who is aiming for the Olympics, after failing to qualify for the London Olympics. On top of that, she is struggling come to terms with Kennedy Reed, her ex-best friend who practically cut ties with her a few years prior and is suddenly back into her life.

In all honesty, I thought this story was handled rather well. Quinn is a tough and determined girl, who seems to be around a few nasty people who make her life unnecessarily harder. For example, Liam, her twin brother. Never liked the kid. I'm not sure why but he annoyed me because his attitude was inconsistent. One moment he is all sweet to Quinn, the next he's being a complete jerk and making more of a mess in her life. Also, Cassandra, the classic Queen Bee, was mean to Quinn for no apparent reason and is always using the same mean line over and over again. An overall unnecessary character that soiled the story.

Despite a few bad eggs in the story, Quinn still manages to develop into a more mature character through the story's progression. I thought she handled her relationship with Kennedy really well, given the circumstances and her youthful mentality, since she is seventeen. Additionally, despite how accepting the people that surround Quinn of the LGBT community, it doesn't take away the fear that closeted individuals feel, which I thought was well written.

Overall, this was a nice quick read that carried enough drama to keep you interested but not too much that would drive you away. The ending was semi-conclusive/open-ended, but I'm not mad about it because it wasn't a cliffhanger. For the most part, emotions were given closure and that was good enough for me.

I think this is a debut novel for this author, and my favorite thing is when it's a good book! I love being exited about future books from a brand new author.

My hope and guess is that this book is the first in either a series, or there will at least be a sequel. I want to give the heads up to future readers that you're not going to get a complete resolution. It takes nothing away from the book, however. In fact, I actually think it added to the realism of high school loves and how complicated they can be.

That leads me to another great aspect of this book, which is that it actually felt and sounded like a teen drama. The MC's talked like teenagers and the way that the drama evolved was very much high schooler-ish (new word). It also brought me back to all the feels of a first love, including wanting to slap the two sometimes lol. They just need to grow up a bit, naturally.

I can't say many negative things about this book. It's pretty close to being rated a 5 star book, I'm just waiting for a bit more emotional depth that I'm sure will come down the line from these two.

All the Worlds Between Us is a fun story about Quinn, a girl who is working towards going to the world championships in swimming. She had previously missed out on the Olympics by a mere 3 seconds. Quinn is a lesbian and has been out for quite some time. This is a story about love and loss and so much more. I absolutely loved this story! Quinn was an incredibly likable character and the story was compelling. It was a light, fun read. If you like YA Contemporary you will enjoy this one!