I am a sucker for doomed expedition stories and love a good supernatural scare – throw in some complex characters with fabulous writing and you have me! All the While Spaces is the story of a post WWI Antarctic expedition that goes awry leaving stowaway Jo Morgan and the surviving crew to battle supernatural forces, oppressive cold, and their own personal demons to survive the winter ashore. Other authors might have been taking on too much trying to cover the multitude of it all, but Alley Wilkes deftly weaves it all together while preserving the integrity of her characters. I cannot wait to read her next novel! Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this fabulous book!

A tense and engrossing story of polar expedition. It sucked me right in and I was impatient with anything in my life that wasn't reading this book.

I liked how creepy and atmospheric it was. And I loved that there was a trans main character. While I was glad to have a book featuring a trans character that wasn't just all about his transition, I did wish there was a teensy bit more about Jonathan and his relationship with his gender in the specific time period.

The book is incredibly well-researched, as evidenced by the further reading in the back (which I will absolutely be reading from). I was thankful for the crew list in the front, but I do wish there had been maps of the boat and camp. But maybe there was in the published copy!

Loved the character work in this--especially with Tarlington. I found our main character, Jonathan, to be an often frustrating but still relatable character. I appreciated watching his character growth.

Ally Wilkes sure did her homework on this one. The atmosphere was amazing. I feel like I’ve actually spent time in Antarctica after reading this. I could feel the chill in my bones and the dread of isolation. There was some body horror that I freaking loved in this, but the supernatural horror was so-so for me, and that’s part of the reason that this isn’t rated higher.

I love the trans representation in the protagonist. I feel like it was done well without being the main focus, but still had a point to the story.

This was pretty technical, especially in the beginning on the ship. I wanted to DNF this a few times but pushed through because of the setting alone. I waited and waited for something spooky to happen and it just took too long to get there for me. When it did occur, it happened too fast and was over. The isolation persisted though and that part kept my interest.

There were way too many characters for me personally. There is a handy guide at the beginning of the book listing the people and their titles, but I read this as an ebook and it was too hard flipping back to reference that constantly. There were 4 characters I knew pretty well. The rest were so alike that even in the end of the book I couldn’t tell them apart in my head.

If you like snowy survival books, this one is for you!

Thank you to #netgalley and atria for the gifted e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Throw a wonderfully developed trans main character into a historical fiction story with great atmosphere, mystery, and horror, and you’re in for a little treat. It’s like semi-sweet chocolate, firmly between milk and dark. It has speaks on cultural viewpoints on gender and sexuality in early 20th-century US and it isn’t too heavy-handed, but may seem a bit juvenile at times, which can possibly be a bummer. It also has a kick-ass climax, but, unfortunately, it takes just a bit too long to get there. It’s an easy recommend for those that don’t mind slow-burn horror.

Thank you for this opportunity.

What a spooky read! As a scientist whose career path may take them to Antartica at some point, this was such fun to read! I loved the spooky and supernatural element to it. Super fun and original!

This book was a very slow burn suspenseful novel. It was a character driven story and the protagonist’s point of view was enjoyable. It was interesting to read about someone learning about their gender identity.
I would recommend this to someone who enjoys books that revolve around ships and traveling to remote locations.

I gave up on the ARC and purchased a copy from the UK to read instead. Maybe this was a mistake, because now I'm stuck with this paperback of a book I don't plan on rereading. The book was okay. The blurb said it was a mixture of The Terror and The Thing and it really wasn't either because both of those things are scary and intense and this one just sort of plodded along. I knew the stakes were high because obviously when you're in Antarctica, it's a matter of life and death 100% of the time, but they never truly _felt_ high. I wasn't really all that concerned with the survival of anyone in the book. And listen, if I had to read about those ding dang brothers one. more. time. I was going to scream. WE GET IT, THEY DIED IN THE WAR. MESSAGE RECEIVED. And honestly, they sounded like dicks so I don't understand why Jonathan was so hung up on them. His motivation for this expedition was both stupid and unclear.
Honestly, having a trans MC added nothing to this story and should have been taken out if the author wasn't going to delve into it completely. I never TRULY felt like the MC was a man. He sounded like a woman (which is maybe because he was written by a woman) and the danger and risk he was taking simply by posing as a man was not fleshed out in the least. Where did he learn to walk like a man? It was set in the 1920's, so he would have grown up wearing all sorts of restrictive Edwardian fashion, but it's simply not brought up. The book never talks about him learning to _talk_ like a man. He blushes whenever anyone brings up anything ~suggestive. What the devil did he do when he got his period??????????? He didn't mention like, rolling up a sock and hiding it in his underwear to give the appearance of male anatomy. He shaves his head and that's about it: masculinity accomplished. The whole angle of a trans character felt performative in this case, and if you want a story that's Actually Really Good and goes into all the above details of a FtM trans MC in historical fiction, read the Leo Stanhope series by Alex Reeve.
And listen, if people kept dying while they were on watch because of the haunted-ass aurora australis, maybe STOP HAVING PEOPLE GO ON WATCH? Batten down the damned hatches and stay inside until the thaw with the dumb dogs.
Honestly there are better cold horror books out there. I'd give this one a skip.

But really, what did he do when he got his period in Antarctica surrounded by dudes & really limited washing opportunities??

2.5 rounded down. I want to go straight in saying this author has clear talent. The writing style - the way Wilkes puts together a sentence - was good. The premise of the story was good - isolation in the harsh Arctic wilderness, dwindling supplies, endless darkness, and a terrifying, unseen presence stalking the stranded sailors. However...

The story arc progressed too slowly for me. (And I'm kind of a slow-burn champion....said more clearly, this story moved really, REALLY slow.) I felt distant and disconnected from the characters - not really anyone I loved, or anyone I loved to hate - I was mostly ambivalent.

Let's now talk about the dogs. Dogs were a crucial part of Arctic exploration; used to pull sledges full of equipment and men across the frozen terrain. And, in my head, I can understand that the conditions would not have been great, the work load would have been ridiculously intense, and death rates of the dogs would have been very high. But I had a very hard time reading about the slow decline of the dogs of this expedition. In an already slow-moving storyline, reading over and over about these dogs dying, or having to be shot, or falling overboard harnessed to each other.....yeah, that was just too much for me. Oddly enough, I can somehow more easily absorb violence toward humans in my reading, but animal suffering, especially when it goes on and on, I can't really deal with.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't a good fit for me. But, that's the great thing about us readers - it will surely fit someone else to a T! :) I will say that I agree with the book blurbs on this one - if you enjoyed Alma Katsu's The Hunger or The Terror, by Dan Simmons (one of which was a DNF and the other just a 'meh' for me), you may really enjoy this one. It just wasn't to my particular taste.

DNF @ page 65 - will not be included in my 2022 reading challenge

I was hoping for horror but what I'm getting is a very technical book about a sailing expedition. I admire the knowledge of the author, I love the trans representation, and the atmosphere is on point but the technical details along with the multitude of characters has me really struggling to continue. I may come back to this at a later date but for now it's going back on the shelf.

This was unfortunately just not the book for me. I was really intrigued at the book description, and I love horror books, but I wasn't really seeing much horror in this novel at all, mostly just the journey of stranded sailors/adventurers in the Antarctic. I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, and halfway through they still weren't defined and unique enough in my brain that I felt like I knew who any besides the main three characters were, and frequently confused them. The pacing and plot were very slow and I had to force myself to keep picking it up. I did rate it two stars because I really liked the atmospheric setting.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC!

Oh my God, this book. Where do I start.

First and foremost: I would absolutely LOVE to see this made into a movie. This would make an absolutely excellent film. It’s powerfully haunting, beautiful and terrifying, hopeful and helpless all rolled into one. I cannot stress enough how much I loved this book.

The critiques I have are few, but they are definitely worth noting. I wanted SO badly to give this book 5 stars, but I cant for these few following reasons:

1. The author is insanely knowledgeable about ships. This in itself isn’t an issue, but I felt myself really struggling wildly to imagine the landscape of the Fortitude and all the dealings within it. Along with the ship descriptors, I also struggled to picture the layout of their camp, the huts, etc. I painted a picture in my mind, but it’s probably way off from what the author intended.

2. I felt there were some gaps in the narration and storyline. Lots of inferred tones, conversations, expectations, situations, etc that went over my head. There were quite a few times where I didn’t know what exactly was going on between two characters, or in certain situations. I would have to go back and re-read go see if I had missed anything. Sometimes I’d feel a bit clearer afterwards, but usually I was still a bit confused as to what was going on and only discovered what transpired afterwards. This may seem like a big issue, but it ended up working out.

All that aside, I am so incredible grateful for the opportunity to review this work!!! AMAZING story with so much knowledge and research done by the author. I loved it. Highly recommend!!!!

This book just took me forever to get through, and I had a hard time enjoying it. I felt like it set up for horror and fear, but only had a few creepy moments. I appreciated that it had a trans main character, but found that many other characters constantly just made poor choices. Overall I could have DNF’d it, but decided to stick it out.

An enjoyable read, but a bit slow in the beginning. I liked the paranormal arc to the book, but I felt like the readers need more explanation of the background of the threat. Reminds me of 'Ararat' by Christopher Golden, but longer.

I think that there will be comparisons to The Terror made here. And, yes, the setting and haunting atmosphere and that overall feeling of the horror of isolation will be reminiscent of that masterpiece. However, this isn’t quite so epic or quite so riveting.

It *is* a good read. I loved Jonathan and thought the idea of having a trans character stuck in isolation with a group of aggressive men – especially in a historical period in which he would normally be completely ostracized – was brilliant. I just don’t think that some of it was handled realistically. The reason the author came up with for why Jonathan doesn’t pee where the other men do was…odd. (Yes, out of everything the bathroom problem really stuck with me, but it they were stuck together in tiny quarters in a frozen wasteland. You don’t get your private potty no matter what!)

The supernatural aspects of the book were great. This was definitely both eerie and heartbreaking! Once things really started happening, I was completely riveted and didn’t want to stop reading.

This was a good read and I’d definitely read the author again!

*ARC via Publisher

Exquisitely atmosphere, unsettling, with a well-balanced mix of natural and supernatural horror: All the White Spaces definitely kept me up at night.

Jonathan, a young trans man, joins an expedition to Antarctica after the death of his brothers in WW1, pursuing their memories, their childhood dreams, and an opportunity to live as his true self. But things start going wrong pretty quickly once they get near the continent, and Jonathan keeps seeing strange figures that look eerily like his lost brothers. I won't detail more of the plot, as I'm avoiding spoilers, but it was tightly written and well paced and full of an excellent creeping dread feeling. The characters and their varying relationships were well-written, complex and very human, though I wonder if some of the side characters could have been a little more fleshed out.

There's a supernatural horror element here which I thought was very well done; there's also a wealth of natural horror, provided by the hostile Antarctic climate. (Polar horror is a new genre for me, though I've dipped into it briefly with podcasts – but after this, I'm definitely going to have to seek out more of it.)

Overall: 4.5 rounded up, and highly recommended. I will happily read whatever Ally Wilkes writes next, and will be recommending this one to the horror fans in my life.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this title!

Jonathan Morgan's brothers died during WWI, so he's decided to claim his true identity and run away from his boring life to stow away on an Antarctic expedition with his brothers' idol, James "Australis" Randall. Disaster strikes (of course) and the ship's crew is forced to hike inland where untold horrors await.

I love arctic exploration stories even though it is one of my worst nightmares to be somewhere cold and dark for months on end (hence it is profoundly stupid that I live in Chicago because hello, January). Even if everything goes well on ye olde expedition, the whole situation still sounds beyond awful, and I would for sure be the first one to go crazy/die/be eaten. Suffice it to say, things go decidedly NOT well on Jonathan's journey with Randall. The boat is ruined. There's frostbite and starvation and infighting and so many people die and/or lose their minds. Oh, and for extra fun times they're all seeing ghosts and wandering off and there is no sunlight -- the only light is from the aurora that is making everything green and extremely creepy and AAAGH.

Jonathan was a great character, and I loved so much about this book. The pace got a little slow and things felt a bit repetitious in the middle, but this was overall a great read and a spectacular debut novel. I can't wait to see what Ally Wilkes comes up with next!

All the White Spaces is an absolute must read! This new take on "southern gothic" marries staples of the genre - grief, guilt, and ghosts - with the brilliant and wildly terrible reality of the furthest south location in the world. It balances the slow burn of terror with disorientingly quick paced action. The prose is so tight and concise, building a world of unforgiving ice, damp galleys, and tumultuous seas; a world so cold and dark that ice invades even the warmest and softest lit rooms. If you are looking for a spiritual success to the first season of the Terror TV series, look no further. Wilkes embraces queerness, solitude, and solidarity in a story that captures not just the grand adventure of exploration, but also the shadow and horror of war.

A quick note, as a transmasc person myself, I found this book to be a satisfying representation. I love that she captured the casual ways you reinvent, settle into, and flourish when you get to be unapologetically true to yourself. It can be difficult to make a main character that so broadly embodies an experience that can be so personal and unique, but Ally Wilkes absolutely did a stand up job!

10/10, I will absolutely be preordering myself a hard copy! Can't wait to reread and see what else I pick up on the next go around.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Horror + Historical Fiction

All The White Spaces is the story of a transgender main character during World War I. Jonathan Morgan loses two of his brothers during the war. He wants to prove himself as a man who can be as a hero as his brothers were. Along with his friend Harry he decides to join an expedition going to Antarctica. During this journey on the ship, Jonathan faces many challenges be it by the crew or the dangerous climate. But what the crew did not expect is the horrific force they are going to face that brings them fear and terror.

This book was very atmospheric. One of my most favorite tropes is being stuck somewhere in the cold. This book has this trope and I think the author has used the climate perfectly as a force of terror. I feel that was the biggest challenge that the crew faced in this story. I enjoyed a lot this atmosphere that the author has created. However, I felt the pace was too slow. The plot takes a long time to reach the supernatural horror. The historical part of it is very well done. The horror part is mainly depending on the climate itself. Yes, the isolation itself is horrific but I expected more than that and with a faster pace. Another thing I truly wish the author concentrated more on was the transgender aspect. Yes, there are mentions here and there but they were not enough. In the middle of the story, I completely forgot that I was reading about a transgender character. It would have been great to see how a transgender character would have felt and thought about in that era. I think the book will be most suitable for readers who enjoy a story that is a slow burn and needs some time to move forward.

Many thanks to the publisher Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. WWI-era Antarctic expedition with a trans protagonist and strong horror elements? Yes please. Wilkes' writing from the start is deeply-atmospheric and held a lot of promise for an Antarctic horror novel.

What I didn't expect was such an agonizingly slow burn the entire way through the story. The hype for this spoke of spine-chilling horror and a terrifying plot-line; personally, I found this little more than a typical story of a lost expedition surviving the elements against all odds. That, coupled with what I feel was misleading hype around the horror genre classification led me to feeling bored the whole time.

What could have been a knockout cast of characters was diluted by just way too many of them; personalities, descriptions, and dialogues bled together, and by the end of the story, I didn't find myself having an emotional connection to a single character. There were brief moments where I thought the story was turning a corner into something more exciting, but ultimately this one fell flat for me.

*Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for my advanced reading copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

I have been striking out lately and ALL THE WHITE SPACES was a severe let down.

The intro to the book asks if I’ve locked my doors and turned on all the lights. I was ready and willing to be scared shitless by a historical fiction horror story. It did not deliver. If you’re going to hype yourself up with a “check under your bed” intro, I better wind up with fear-induced insomnia.

Instead, I got pages and pages and pages of a slog through an adventure story with a couple of creepy moments that did not stress me out in the least.

Honestly, I should have DNFed, but I was CONVINCED it would be worthwhile. ‘Twas not.

On a positive note, the writing was deeply atmospheric. I could feel the cold and the despair of this crew stranded in a brutal and unforgiving place.

I also appreciated having a trans MC who embraced the adventure to his core. However, many of the other characters were one dimensional and constantly making choices that seemed blatantly poor.

Had this book not gone so hard on setting itself up as a terrifying horror read, I might have enjoyed it more. The majority of the story was the adventure into The South and the disasters that occur to these adventurers. I wish it was being marketed as historical fiction with a creepy twist, rather than a heart-pounding horror story. Unfortunately, I feel like I was set up to fail with this one, which is just too bad.