This has good writing but I couldn't get into the story and didn't care for the characters, which is what matters most to me in books.

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.

After soldiers end up killing every man, woman & child in the city of Uruk, the natural balance between the living world & the netherworld is upset & a rift to the netherworld rips across the earth. The rift opens not too far from the family farm of Temen, Meshara & their daughter, Ziz. Temen becomes obsessed with navigating to the netherworld in search of his deceased father. Meshara & Ziz flee their home after they are certain Temen is dead & they will be kicked out of their home.

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.

A warning, however. This book is not for the squeamish. It is a horror story after all.

This isn't just a novel. It's a blending of folklore and allegory. Combined with the Ancient Sumerian setting, it reads like a Biblical parable or myth.

The Space Between Two Deaths follows 3 main characters with an additional 3 supporting characters. The chapters alternate in the same pattern between the 3 main characters and their places in their shared time and compared to each other as well as their culture's myth of their god and goddess. I was impressed by how well Yourdon wrote his hateable male characters and relatable female characters. And his Crow character! He wrote the perspective of the Crow so cleverly!

The themes in this book explore freedom and "being owned" (slavery but more than that too) through the setting of a family and a crack to the underworld in Ancient Sumeria. It's a neat theme, especially where it focused on women's liberation and freedom, but I was mesmerized by Yourdon's use of symbolism throughout the story. Other themes I noticed include the sense of self, what we "owe" to each other, finding purpose. The characters are set up in such a way that the 3 of them are distinct from each other yet connected in their time, place (mostly), and circumstances, so the symbols were creatively interwoven through each 3 individual's realities with a brilliant finale as they finally connect together.

It's a bummer to see this book come into the hands of those who wouldn't like this type of allegorical story regardless of author or content then to give it a lower rating. This isn't character driven, per se, and doesn't provide the lush descriptive setting like you'd expect in a novel. It's an allegory and should be read with a curious mind and attention to the symbols to get the most out of it. This book isn't what I expected, though totally the type of read I love, so I do think the blurb is both misleading and doesn't do it justice.

Lastly, true to the form of the story though I wasn't expecting it, this has some very frank and sudden body mutilation. Nothing over the top, it just comes up so quickly in the scenes and you don't know it's coming, so it's pretty gnarly. The darkness of the drama and action combined with this is what makes it Horror.

I hope to read more from this author! This is a strange and fascinating story, something very different to challenge the palate between Rom-Coms and horror thrillers. Thank you NetGalley and GenZ publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This is a very intriguing novel! I found myself immediately sucked in and wanting to know what was to come!

The story is told through different perspectives. You have a young girl Ziz, her mother, father and a Crow! Each share their perspective on the evens taking place! This story is definitely not boring and one that had me looking up information because of my curiosity.

The ending through is very inspirational and I loved the ideas of this young girl fighting to belong to no one! Great story telling and a very gripping world!

This story held my interest at the beginning, and I really liked the setting and folkloric elements. I think it might have worked better for me if the author had spent more time establishing the relationships between her main characters before sending one of them off into the underworld and separating two others from their home. There was a bit too much opacity there that made it difficult to understand the characters’ motivations later on, especially in the end. I finished this book without too much trouble; still, I was left wondering about the “why” of it all. The writing itself was good on the level of prose, but it’s the big picture that felt weaker and needed more development.

Good story, Ziz's storyarc was great. It was an interesting world Yourdon created.
However, major flaw, there's no evidence for modern landlord and tenant farmer land relationship at Sumer. In fact property was largely a family affair (overseen by the state) and the buying and selling of it was unusual enough to warrant an obelisk when it happened.

I don't really read a lot of horror books even those in young adult fiction but I really enjoyed The Space Between Two Deaths. The Sumerian Mythology that is weaved throughout as well as historical fiction and horror was beautifully done. The world and characters really hooked me and I will be reading more from Jamie Yourdon.

Thank you to NetGalley and GenZBooks for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, I will preface this by saying the writing is amazing. Yourdon’s rich storytelling gets us right in the midst of this book, which although short, definitely packs a punch in terms of visuals and thought provoking themes. The story read more of a dark fairytale a la Grimm, which was intriguing to me. The premise of this is really what drew me to it in the first place, but it fell just short of my expectations.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the story itself. As a character driven reader, I really have to root for characters to enjoy a book, and I just didn’t really root for any characters. Ziz was the closest I got - her simple desire to just be her own person at such a young age was relatable. The rest of the characters were not great however - well written, don’t get me wrong, just.... lacking in likability.

The book itself is short, with three different narrators which kept it engaging. As mentioned, I liked Ziz’s narration, and the Crow’s made me laugh, but I really didn’t like Meshara’s character or narration. The story itself was rather explicit, with period typical violence and gore that had me wincing occasionally - again, a credit to Yourdon’s descriptive writing.

Overall, this was a decent book - just not the one for me!

another great one for my horror friends! i can't wait to give this title to some people that i know would love it. i'm very much a fan of this concept because it's so different from what I usually see in the horror genre, particularly the setting. also i love when horror and history overlap, but I am (and have been for uhh forever!) when history is only brought in in a racist capacity. so i was delighted when that was not the case. the writing style was not personally for me fully, which makes this a perfectly serviceable tale but not my fave.

A world where crows talk in monosyllables and prepubescent children are forced into arranged marriages. A world where the dead don't remain dead, and the living don't know how to live.

The story centres on Ziz and her mother Meshara, both trying to move on upon the death of Temen, the patriarch. Oh, but he's not really dead.

NOT.

QUITE.

Couldn't shake off the icky feeling about Ziz being a child bride and NEARLY being sexually assaulted by her future betrothed. I know it's not a real story, but ew.

However, Ziz's headstrong spirit for someone so very young is commendable. An unsuspecting feminist. I was rooting for her throughout the book.

I had very high hopes for this book. The setting in ancient Sumer, mythology, gods, ... it sounded great.
Sadly it wasn't for me. The story is certainly unusual and might work for some people. For me, it was a bit slow, and I didn't care enough to want to pick the book back up.
There is a lot of gore in this story, too much for me. I usually don't mind it, but in this case, it was just one more aspect that made it hard for me to carry on reading.

I can't comment on historical accuracy, as I don't know enough about the time period.

I enjoyed reading about Meshara's and Ziz' struggles to find their place in the world. I wouldn't say I liked Meshara, but she is definitely an interesting character.
I loved the speaking crow; we need more books with crows!
The time in the Netherworld was fascinating and macabre, and I would have loved to see more of that.

All in all, this story might work for some people, but it wasn't right for me.

I really liked the idea of this book, the setting and time and events were all interesting. I also enjoyed the mythology, especially the goddess ninhursag. the exploration of gender roles in ancient times and meshara and ziz trying to find their own place in the world as women was great. temen’s journey to the underworld and seeing from his crow guide’s point of view was unique and I liked that a lot.

all of this set the book up to be a really cool idea, but it fell a little flat for me. it read like a history book with a bit of a story, which I think will really appeal to some people but made me a bit bored. it felt slow, but was a different sort of story from what I usually see and I appreciated that.

3.5 stars. Loved the themes but not the gore. I tend to love books I can live in and the setting of the book was just not a place I would want to live in. There was a lot going on with the themes, so those that really look for that, I highly recommend this book to you! Also, did I mention that there’s a talking crow?

The characters certainly had dimensions, but for some reason I just didn’t quiet click with them. There weren't many characters I really wanted to root for. One interesting character was a talking crow. There is a plot but I think the more significant aspect of the book is the character’s internal journey.

One overarching theme, as I group it together, is of relationships between people. The characters reflect on the relationships between husband-wife, patron-client, master-slave, and so on. The ending of the book was satisfying and that's about as much as I can say without giving spoilers.

As I mentioned, there is a lot of gore, which I’m typically fine with, but there just seemed to be so much that it made the world feel inescapable. For example, one of the main characters is 10 years old and has to go through so much that it feels like there is little that is redeemable about the world.

In terms of trigger warnings for the book: child marriage, domestic abuse, mass suicide, gore, mutilation.

Overall, I liked the book but it's not really the type of historical fiction I tend to read. Still, I liked the themes explored and the fantasy/mythic/magic realism elements in the book.

***I received an ARC copy from NetGalley***

Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC.

I received a free review copy of The Space Between Two Deaths from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review - my sincerest thanks to both the author and the publisher. :)

Absolutely positively blown away by this story. Mr. Yourdon does a masterful job of weaving Sumerian Mythology, Historical Fiction, and Horror into this novel.

As a history lover let me just say that I'm very impressed to run into something set in Ancient Sumer. It's what immediately drew me to this title from the description. The prose flows easily, vividly, and draws you in. A real page turner for me if you can't tell. Mr. Yourdon does an excellent job of making you feel what the various characters are feeling and more than once I gasped or cringed while reading.

At its core this is a story about discovering one's self through multiple characters, some learn their lessons, some do not. A modern day parable if you will in the style of the ancient classicists and mythologies. I sincerely hope Mr. Yourdon writes more historical fiction in this style.

This story has a lot of energy but the prose reads to me like fan fiction. Really good fan fiction, but still it's not my cup of tea in terms of prose style.

I enjoyed this short, fast paced book so much! I didn't know what I was getting into when I first picked it up, but I'm happy I did. Taking place in ancient Sumeria, the lives of a small family are changed forever when a rip to the netherworld opens on their farmland. From there, the story explores each of the characters journey towards freedom and the consequences of their actions therewithin. Grim, fun and fantastical..

The human characters are purposefully flawed and unlikeable, but I felt like their characterizations were believable and realistic. My favorite character and POV is of the crow, who had witty dialogue and helped keep the story exciting and unique. The setting was interesting to learn about since lore and light mythology is stippled throughout. Oh, and I absolutely loved the ending of this book.

My only critique is that Ziz, the young girl, came across as older than her actual age - which is actually something that is brought up by her mother. Even though it is acknowledged, I still felt that the daughter read older than 10 years old.

I highly recommend giving this one a read!

It is definitely a different kind of book, and I see how it can be appealing to a lot readers. Unfortunately, it is not a book for me.

Thank you for the advanced copy and the best of luck.

"The Space Between Two Deaths" by Jamie Yourdan tells the story of Ziz, her family, and the chaotic reality she must navigate after her life unravels: After settling in a new home where they felt was safe after fleeing from home, but nothing everything is what it seems....especially when the dead are involved.....

It is an interesting book, a fresh sort of book, as it is unique in many ways. Very unlike most books I read. I just wish there was more about ancient Sumeria because oftentimes I would forget things or it just seemed like an afterthought. And, the book seemed to be overly focused on bloodlust and macabre? Hard to connect at times for me. Of course, this is my opinion, and my apologies for offending anyone.

I just reviewed The Space Between Two Deaths by Jamie Yourdon. #TwoDeaths #NetGalley

THE SPACE BETWEEN TWO DEATHS: 2.75 rounded up

THE SPACE BETWEEN TWO DEATHS left me really wanting. I was so happy to get approved for this ARC based on the description. Magic, hints of gods and mythology mixed with mysticism, and fairytales sprinkled in - I’m there! But this was an interesting start that got more and more beleaguered as the story went on. And I didn’t really find redeeming qualities in any of the characters.

NOTE, I was provided an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks NetGalley!

Unfortunately, this book just was not for me. It was very strange and macabre, but it all felt very low stakes and I could never fully connect with it. It does have the fairytale type feel and does that very well, but the lack of tension and attachment to the characters prevented me from enjoying it.