This was turning out to be a fantastic read, but then I got bombarded with other books and never came back around to this one. Still wanted to leave a review though because I was really enjoying this one, I just know my ADHD brain is never returning to it; too much time has past 😅

Delightful blend of Horror, Historical Fiction, and Sumerian Mythology. Incredibly interesting read,

In ancient Sumeria, only a thin veil separates the living from the dead.

The lives of Ziz, her mother, Meshara, and her father, Temen, are disrupted when a mysterious crevasse rends the earth. Temen becomes obsessed with the mystery and, capturing a crow to guide him, he follows a path to the netherworld where he hopes to gain wisdom from his dead father. Yet he soon finds that ancestors don’t always provide the answers we need.

Totally blown away! A delightful horror story that keeps you on your toes! Great great read!

Fantastic read! Did not want to put it down the story building was great and had me sucked in.

It is a thin vail between the living and the dead. How we act while we are alive has consequences for the dead. To read how personal to me this story felt by Jamie Yourdon was the feelings I want when reading any story. Thank you netgalley for the eARC!

When I saw that this book was about ancient Sumeria my interest was immediately peaked and I am so glad I read this. I was surprised at the heavy themes of The Space Between Two Deaths, and I was taken aback at some of the more violent aspects of the book but I still enjoyed it. The book has a bit of a olden fantasy feel to it that most newer books don't have, which added to the magic of Yourdon's writing.

Ziz was a great character and I enjoyed her chapters tremendously, I also enjoyed the Crow's perspective. Yourdon did an amazing job in building the world in this book, it was very descriptive without being too much. I will admit that I wanted just a couple more chapters at the end of the book, to wrap up things a bit better as I felt some characters needed it more.

Overall, a very good book .

The battle for Uruk started a cascade of events forcing the father to setup his daughter early for marriage. This starts another cascade of events... leading to the death of her father her mother's escape and slavery. Its a world of Mythology believe and perseverance. This would be a great story to teach children story creation, dynamic growth and entertainment thought oral tradition

A beautiful reconstruction, between history and poetry, of Sumerian society, family relations, religion and the perception of the extraordinary. A very well written book, certainly based on studies and documentation of great relevance, yet raw with a fantasy feel.
So why such a low rating?
The potatoes, for God's sake, the potatoes.
How can you write that among the vegetables used to make a stew were potatoes, in the time of the Sumerians?

The story is told through each character, including Temen's guide into the netherworld, Crow. It is wonderfully written & a fresh perspective in the horror genre. I usually go into more detail about what I liked & what I didn't when I review a book, but there isn't anything I didn't like. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys the horror genre.

This book tells the story of women who were subjugated to their husbands, deprived of their freedom, of their power, unable to decide for their own lives. Meshara never cared about her daughter because she wanted to savor some of that freedom that was taken from her. A captive woman who never knew what it was like to choose her destiny, who never knew it was true love, could not love her daughter properly. '

I think I fell into a trap with this book. I felt a compulsion to read it, not because of the merits of the book, but because I had decided I needed something very different. The first thirty percent of the story is a blur to me. Sure, events stick out, plot occurs and I know the general direction of the book. But the flavor of it is missing, as if I wasn’t paying attention strongly enough. It wasn’t until I was eighty pages in when things started to click.

One final note: This book has some body gore that I was not expecting. You may want to be aware before reading that there is some self-mutilation and an incident with eyeballs!

I really had no idea what to expect when I started this delightful horror novel. It has the elements of horror, fantasy, mythology & historical fiction all wrapped up in a frightening & gory tale of a farming family in ancient Sumeria.

This was definitely out of my comfort zone as far as reading goes... I'm usually a pretty devout fantasy reader that will indulge in an occasion Horror book if the mood suits. This book has so many facets to it that I'm not even sure I could give it one specific genre label and I absolutely love that about this book. There is fantasy, horror, mythology, and historical fiction all neatly presented within one attention grabbing tale. The story basically follows the separate lives of members of one family after a rip to the Netherlands opens on their farmland. I really loved the development of each character as they grew and made their own decisions-consequences included. 'The Space Between Two Deaths' was definitely on e of the most unique stories I've read in a long time, although that "uniqueness" can almost be too much and make it hard to relate to the story and characters.

So good, so creepy, love this cover! Definitely recommend! Loved the cult-like vibes and the creepy setting.

This was completely different than anything I have ever read before, I usually stick to YA or fantasy but this really drew my eye. I enjoyed it quite a bit, it was a very unique read and there are many different themes this book analyses that are very real and draw emotion out of you. Definitely recommend for anyone a fan of this genre or willing to step outside of their boundaries to try something new.

My favourite character was the crow. It was an interesting read; I had never been reading a book set in Sumeria. It was a nice read and I enjoyed it very much. Temen was the character I liked least because he was.... Well, let's just say as it is: He was a complete asshole and he deserves everything that happened to him.
Ziz and her mother were... nice? Can I say that? Reading about them was interesting, but - like I said - I prefered the crow's part of the narrative to any other.
I am not sure whether or not I will read another book by this author because the writing was very... stilted and sometimes confusing. (I miss quotation marks in books, I really really do...)

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I prefer to get weird with my reading sometimes, and often that can be hard when there are so many releases. Especially when those releases fit into nicely worn grooves, adding to a genre or subgenre I feel immersed in. I am obviously more comfortable reading science fiction, especially if it's a space opera, near future dystopia, or climate fiction because those are my wheel houses. I am also completely okay with relaying my experiences in weird arenas that I have no background in, especially when a book speaks to me on so many levels that it’s hard to distill for a digestible review. However, sometimes I decide to take a big bite into something that needs digestion, needs time to think through. That’s where Jamie Yourdon’s The Space Between Two Deaths comes in. It’s a short novel that takes its time dealing with the subject of death, and how it might impact one’s life in ancient Sumeria.

The Space Between Two Deaths follows the lives and deaths surrounding a small family with a farm in ancient Sumeria. When a nearby city-state is sacked and pillaged, a crevasse opens up on the land that Meshara and her husband, Temen, cultivate. Too many deaths caused a rupture in the underworld, and it happens to be on their land. Temen can’t help but explore this opening. He steals the tail feather of a crow so that it may guide him to the bowels of the underworld in search of his father. Meshara, and their daughter Ziz, are frustrated with his absence especially when the landlord arrives to check in on things. When the landlord is pulled into the opening himself by a tiger from the depths, Meshara and Ziz have to flee their land to escape punishment. After being taken in by a generous and wealthy woman, will Meshara and Ziz find a new life, or will they be forced to be slaves?

I think I fell into a trap with this book. I felt a compulsion to read it, not because of the merits of the book, but because I had decided I needed something very different. The first thirty percent of the story is a blur to me. Sure, events stick out, plot occurs and I know the general direction of the book. But the flavor of it is missing, as if I wasn’t paying attention strongly enough. It wasn’t until I was eighty pages in when things started to click.

The story itself feels like a modern rendition of an old fable. I don’t know much about ancient Sumeria, but the story feels like a tale from that time and place. It’s alien in some respects, more brutal, and grounded in a reality I don’t quite understand. Some reviewers mention this is supposed to be a horror book, and while it certainly has those trappings, it feels too mythological to be “horror.” Does it explore some of the same psychological tendencies that horror often does? Yes, but there is a deftness to the way those aspects were handled that made me think more in the vein of ancient myths. The horror isn’t the point, it’s just so deeply entwined within their lives.

Yourdon’s writing is saturated with this feeling of being between two worlds. It’s not quite a fever dream, but it’s close. It’s more like when you’re waking up from a dream in the middle of the night. You can clearly delineate the fact that you’re in a bed and the crow you were having a pleasant conversation with is not real. But when you walk down the dark hallway to get a glass of water, the shadows have no definition and a dark bird flies by the window, you start to question. Yourdon cleverly slips into this state in his writing, having different characters interact with the world in different ways. Meshara is firmly rooted in the workings of the human world, trying to find a way to continue living the life she has always led. Temen is anchored in the underworld, accepting incredibly dark and absurd things until that’s just how he sees the world. And Ziz, at ten years old, is in between, never knowing what is a story and what is reality. It’s just kind of a muddle of both, neither truly distinct from the other and it’s fascinating.

The plot itself revolves mostly around these two women and how their lives are shackled by the laws of ancient Sumeria. Obviously, to them this is the way that life is, and they have to navigate the world with desires of just a little bit more. It is striking that neither of their wants feels too out of place for the rules that Yourdon is setting. Again, I know very little about ancient Sumeria, but it feels realistic for my general understanding of the ancient world and how it viewed/treated women. I wouldn’t say it’s gripping, but it is a compelling exploration of their lives, and how they have to play the game. Yourdon introduces a few snags that ramps the tension, and he’s generally successful at making you care about how their lives turn out.

The further away from reading it, the more I find myself thinking about this book. I think I took it too lightly in the beginning to fully enjoy it and may end up rereading it. I do want to make a quick warning: this is a brutal book. There are depictions of gore, some child abuse, and just general uneasy subject material. I’m usually not fazed by these things, so they fit fairly naturally to me within the context of the story. I also buried the lead, but Temen’s story is told through the perspective of the crow who had his tail feather stolen, which was just delightful. He talks, but can only use one syllable words to convey meaning and it’s delightful even if it’s the gorier sections of the book. If you want to step outside your comfort zone, The Space Between Two Deaths is a good way to do it.

Rating: The Space Between Two Deaths 7.5/10
-Alex

Very unique and interesting. I loved the cover and the title, they drew me in. The plot was unexpected! Weird, but good weird.

This book was okay. Not what I originally thought it would be. Wouldn't recommend friends to go out and buy. Just borrow from the library.

The Space Between Two Deaths is so well written! I really loved the authors voice in this story. That being said, this wasn’t really for me. I will be buying and revisiting this story at a later date. I find that most stories have a time and place; unfortunately this just isn’t it.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in return for an honest review!

The Space Between Two Deaths had a fascinating premise, very little modern literature focuses on Sumerian culture, religion and mythology. I thought that the story started off very strong with the sack of Uruk by the army of Nippur which throws off the balance between the land of the living and the netherworld. As a result of this imbalance a rift opens up in the earth leading down into the netherworld. Here is where I felt the author missed an opportunity - though the rift did play a role in the lives of the main characters, the larger implications of the rift on Sumerian society was ignored, it was as if no one else was affected by this supernatural event. It had seemed as though the author had set the scene for the dead to rise and overwhelm the living, for mythological creatures or deities to assert their influence, but none of this occurred.

The rest of the novel was, in essence, a family drama. Though some aspects were interesting, I personally found all the main characters to be rather unlikeable and as such I felt it difficult to become emotionally invested in the tale. Temen, Meshara and Ziz were all callous and self-interested without a sense of care or concern for the other members of their family. Temen was violently abusive and lacking in work ethic, Meshara was deeply resentful and happy to abdicate any sense of maternal duty, and Ziz thrilled in carrying out theft and violence with little sense of consequence. Themes of physical and sexual abuse, child marriage, slavery, mutilation and even cannibalism seemed to be casually thrown into the book without much commentary or critique.

I think my favourite parts of the book were the chapters narrated by the crow, who was the least problematic and most interesting character. I did really enjoy the ending, (at least for Ziz and the crow). Overall the book beginning and ending of the book are very strong, its just the muddle in the middle that I'm not sold on.

Thank you to NetGalley and GenZ Publishing for providing a e-copy of this book for review.

The Space Between Two deaths
By Jamie Yourdon
The battle for Uruk started a cascade of events forcing the father to setup his daughter early for marriage. This starts another cascade of events... leading to the death of her father her mother's escape and slavery. Its a world of Mythology believe and perseverance. This would be a great story to teach children story creation, dynamic growth and entertainment thought oral tradition.

This book was very Lovecraftian to me in the way it read and the way that it was written. I love those types of books.