This was such a good read. I really enjoyed the premise and the execution. It gives you an "insight" on what it feels like when you're a little different and the awkward eyes or questions they may receive but also seeing and understanding them as normal people and not like a spectacle. I loved the familial layers as well, the father daughter relationship just really hit home. I definitely recommend this wonderful story.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life.
When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom—a moment Aimee has never remembered before—she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn’t match up with the story of how her mom left—at least, not the version she’s always heard from her dad.
Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life. Along the way, she realizes she’ll need to reconcile her past in order to save her present.

I enjoyed this read. Amiee's story provided some perspective on what it's like to battle your mental health through the lens of this syndrome. I read Sensory time warp syndrome in the description and knew I wanted to read it. This book was easy to read despite the created parts of this world that set it apart as a fantasy novel. I could appreciate how the ending wasn't perfectly wrapped up, but I also wanted a conclusion to Aimee's story and some closur for her. Reading this book will definitely be more interesting if you know Korean, but it didn't dimish my enjoyment of the story.

The Space between Here & Now follows the story of Aimee Roh, a girl who has a condition that sends her back into her memories based on her trigger, smell. Her disappearances keep sending her back to memories where she is with her mother who left when she was young.
Aimee is a wonderfully written character and has a strong depth of emotions and feelings, trying to belong both in the world she lives in with her condition and connect with her father who grew up in a different country than her. Part of the story takes place with a journey that Aimee takes back to Korea and the way it is written captures how it feels to go back to a place that is both familiar and isolating at the same time.

the speculative-time-travel book of my dreams. time travel and time loops are already a certified favourite of mine, and i love the way the 'magic' was executed here. i loved reading from our main character's perspective. the family ties, the experiences, everything felt so far from reality and yet so real and true and relatable. it transported me back to my days of being a younger teenager, and i love it so so so much

The Space between Here & Now, was beyond phenomenal. This book took my mind on a journey that I haven't been on in such a long time.

⏳The Space Between Here And Now
Written by : Sarah Suk
Genre: YA, Sci Fi/Fantasy, Multicultural Interest
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars
Pub Date: October 30, 2023
Read if you Liked: They Both Die at the End, You’ve Reached Sam, The Time Travelers Wife

⏳Review: TIME TRAVEL. TIME LOOPS. This is probably my favorite trope when it comes to escaping reality in a great book. I have to admit, it has to be done a certain way, and TSBHAN does a perfect job of mixing fantasy with reality. This is also my first experience with the author and I have to say that I am very excited to watch what she does. Her writing is definitely a breath of fresh air and many times in the book I truly felt tied to the storyline: I felt the emotions and I smelt the smells! This also was the first book I binged in 1-2 sittings in quite sometime now! The MC Aimee was extremely lovable from the very beginning and her story of self discovery plays out beautifully between the pages of her memories. Perfect novel to get anyone out of a reading slump: young teens to adults. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED * watch for this one this fall!

QUOTABLE(s):
“How strange it is that someone could be having one of the best moments of their lives just steps away from where someone else is falling apart.”

“I guess that’s how memories are, even for someone like me who can go back and visit pieces of them. Some you hold on to tight, some you lose to time. Some you find again in the present in a new and different way.”

Thank you to @netgalley and Harper Collins Publishing for my copy, making this my first ever netgalley read and review!

⏳Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life.
When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom—a moment Aimee has never remembered before—she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn’t match up with the story of how her mom left—at least, not the version she’s always heard from her dad.
Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life. Along the way, she realizes she’ll need to reconcile her past in order to save her present

The Space Between Here & Now, by Sarah Suk is not your average Proustian, diasporic Korean coming of age with sci fi elements novel (;p) ! It follows Aimee Roh, a Korean Candadian teen with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome or STWS as she tries to make sense of her life. Suk does something extraordinary here by not necessarily world building, but world retrofitting. She sets the novel in our current, everyday society with one miiiiiiiinor tweak....the world has been aware of a small segment of the population that, when stimulated by a particular sense, disappears into their own past to witness memories as they unfold. While this does require the reader to suspend disbelief, it is very easy to do with the way Suk builds her story and the identities of her characters. She infuses the narrative with excerpts from online STWS chat forums, segments of notes from Aimee's school counselor, and Aimee's journal. Aimee struggles with this syndrome, the constant fear of potentially disappearing at any moment, and the anxiety it creates in her daily life. While very unreal, it feels very real and can easily serve as a representation of the struggles many face with differences in mental and physical health and they ways their family, friends and community respond.
Aimee has grown up without her mother, and feels communication with her father shrinking by the day. When she feels she has to find answers, she boldly decides to take her fate into her own hands. This book becomes at turns a search for self, a suspenseful thriller and a way for Aimee to find strength and safe places in herself and others. I especially loved the characters which were complex, flawed and beautiful. Aimee's love interest is swoon-worthy not because of his jawline or the depths of his dreamy eyes, but because he is sweet, funny and able to say how he feels. He offers real friendship and support to Aimee as well as adorable, realistic banter.
With well placed ruminations on art, memory, perspective and reaching out versus shutting down, there is so much to this novel! I'm on my second read now and highly recommend.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

If you read science fiction, or if you read YA, and especially if you read both, you'll be able to predict all the beats of this book. If you're an adult, that is, and that's an important caveat. Because YA is not primarily for adults, and YA is part of how people learn what the tropes and story shapes are in the first place.

Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a condition that makes her disappear for seconds, minutes, even hours at a time when she encounters a sensory impression that triggers a memory. No one can predict which memories will carry this baggage when--the trigger sense even varies among STWS sufferers.

Her bicultural father is opposed to her seeing a therapist to help deal with this. He also doesn't want to tell her why her mother left, where she is now, what happened. He doesn't seem to want to talk at all, having seemingly embraced the most taciturn parts of Canadian and Korean cultures.

Aimee finally decides that she has to seek out answers herself. Does her mother also have STWS? Could she be caught in a loop, as other STWS sufferers have been? What can Aimee's parents' past teach her about herself and her future? As I said to begin with, the answers to these questions are going to seem pretty obvious as you read. What will not seem obvious, though, is the verve and specificity with which Aimee as a young artist apprehends the world. She and her friends and family are extremely well-drawn, and the characterization makes this short novel very much worth the time.

This book takes you back to the time of being a teenager while adding in the nuanced complexity of dealing with a medical condition where you have no control. Following Aimee Roh and the tense relationship with her Appa after her mother leaves, you’re taken on a whirlwind of an adventure where Aimee works to understand more about her condition, STWS (Sensory Time Warp Syndrome) and what happened with her mother. Aimee’s condition thrusts her back in time to observe her own memories before dropping her back to reality where she’s often disoriented and trying to grasp how much time she’s lost. As she gets pulled back into more and more memories with her mother, she starts to wonder what it is that’s actually happened to her and why she’s not around.
The imagery used in this book is encompassing, the characters are lovable and relatable, and the family relationships and friendships that grow and flourish are heart-warming.
I related to this book on a personal level, having experienced a seemingly-randomly triggered medical condition, coupled with a parent who wasn’t present during my childhood; the emotional descriptions in the book were everything and more that I felt and wanted to put to paper more times than I can count.
This is the kind of book you read when you need to feel seen when you feel invisible, when you’re looking for answers that have evaded you, and when friendships and family feel like the only tether you have.

The premise of this book is having people travel back in times to watch a memory. These trips are triggered by one of their senses tied to the memory itself. I really enjoyed the premise especially how revisiting the memories brought clarity to the traveler. The book had the right balance of the magical realism in the time travel, current story, and back story memories (as it could have been very easy to focus on one aspect too much). I also greatly appreciated the ending … but no spoilers here. I highly recommend checking out this book upon its release. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley; all opinions are my own.
First of all, I really appreciated how Ms. Suk described all of her characters in this book. Junho especially is one of the best drawn love interests I've seen in a YA book- there's one line especially where he describes Aimee's film developing as sounding like a "holy" experience, and it made me stop and think, "Wow, these two are really perfect for each other." It wasn't just that this line shows how much he listened and appreciated her thoughts, but that it shows how they think about things in much the same way; in some ways their personalities are great for each other. While Junho had flaws, they made sense in the context of his family life. He felt like his own person and not just an "Aimee's love interest" character.
I also loved the nuance displayed in the book; it was made clear that one character's behavior was hurtful and probably not the best way of handling a certain situation, but at the same time, the character who was hurt was able to step back, take cultural and generational differences into account, and give grace. I thought this aspect of the book in particular was really well done.
I also enjoyed how emotional this book was. I almost cried when I was reading the section with the school counselor's notes, and Halmeoni was honestly pretty irritating (her actions were understandable, but at the same time she handled the situation horribly).
On the flip side, some of these great elements did get a little overdone at times- there's such a fine line between making characters emotionally compelling and making them caricatures. Overall Ms. Suk did a good job with keeping them believeable, though. Junho's clinginess/concern got a tiny bit grating at times, but he very clearly meant well and was operating out of his past experiences, so it made sense. I also thought the pacing was slightly off- the book stayed fairly slow for the majority of the plot but then all of a sudden we had answers and tension fit into a short period of time.
Overall, however, these are minor quibbles; if you're looking for an emotional plot and believeable characters, I would definitely recommend this book!

I’ve been hankering for a good contemporary stand-alone with time travel elements, and this one really did a good job!

Ever since she was young, Aimee has been afflicted with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome. It’s a very rare condition that causes uncontrollable time travel to past memories and is induced by smells linked to said memories.

Usually Aimee is only gone for a few minutes at the time, and her father writes it off as something she will grow out of. But when she disappears for NINE HOURS into a memory of a mother she barely remembers, things start to get too real.

Definitely check TWs, for although this is a YA book, it delves into topics such as grief, personal identity, cultural dynamics and complicated families. Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it gave a different perspective of mental health battles in the form of a created “syndrome” (Sensory time warp syndrome). Aimee is the main character who is in her senior year of high school as she begins experiencing more issues with her STWS. The story follows he investigation and confrontation with her family and past to unravel some long-held mysteries of her life. I would certainly recommend this book, it was a good and easy read, but still gave you something to think about. I also appreciate the end doesn’t provide you with a neatly “happy” ending.

This is a story about a girl who has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome which is similar to PTSD flashbacks with some differences. It is uncertain if STWS is caused by trauma and when someone gets sent back in time, the memory they see is not necessarily a traumatic one. The main character is on a journey to find her mom and uncover more information about STWS. If you know Korean and can read the romanization of it, then that will help you read because it takes place in America and South Korea. The world-building and character development is phenomenal. This is a great YA story with a happy ending.

“The Space between Here & Now” by Sarah Suk follows Aimee Roh, a 17 year old girl who struggles with a condition known as Sensory Time Warp Syndrome. For Aimee, she is sent back in time when she smells a scent connected to a memory. When she spends nine hours in a memory that contradicts the story that her father told her about her mother leaving them, she decides to embark on a journey in Korea to unravel the truth about her mother and her condition.

While the synopsis and cover of “The Space between Here & Now” are what initially drew me in, once I started reading, it was everything else that kept me completely enraptured. The writing style flows so well that it is almost lyrical. Right from the start, I was completely enraptured and stayed that way the whole time. I was completely astounded by how quickly I was reading it. On top of this, the characters are complex and relatable, especially Aimee; her experience with STWS reflected a lot of the feelings I have regarding mental health issues I deal with on a daily basis, so I felt like I really connected with Aimee. I loved how this novel handled deeper topics such as identity, cultural differences, and family dynamics. The strained relationship between Aimee and her father felt so realistic, especially given the differences in their upbringings. I really enjoyed reading about Aimee’s experiences in Korea and discovering things about herself and her family.

I genuinely loved this book and would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys books that center on relationship dynamics and character growth.

The Space between Here & Now by Sarah Suk is a beautifully written and gripping YA novel that tells the story of Aimee Roh, a teenager with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Aimee's fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life until she disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom, a moment she has never remembered before. Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life.

Suk's writing is lyrical and atmospheric, drawing the reader into Aimee's world of memories and time travel. The plot is intriguing and the characters are complex and relatable, especially Aimee, who struggles with her condition and the pain of her past. The exploration of memory, grief, and the painful silences we must overcome to discover our truest selves is poignant and thought-provoking.

Overall, The Space between Here & Now is a must-read for fans of YA fiction that explores themes of identity, family, and self-discovery. Suk's debut novel is a powerful and emotional journey that will stay with readers long after they finish the last page.

This was a great read. I connected with the main character and love the world the author built (which is, of course, the real world with STWS). I enjoyed the interludes between chapters using messages, diary entries, and lists. Aimee went on an incredible journey, and I was really rooting for her to find her mom. I was worried, but I am so happy with how it resolved. Would definitely recommend to teens interested in fantasy.

I love when an author is able to write about one thing while actually addressing a deeper and more meaningful truth. But, no spoilers, so I’ll leave that there. Such a creative premise, which is darn refreshing. A well written YA novel with beautiful mix of reality and fantasy. Girls will adore the best friendship shown here—finally a nontoxic friendship for us ladies! Also, the love interest, which doesn’t dominate our main character’s life (thank god) is sure to be a hit as well. This book is going to have a huge following, it’s an important story. Especially since it includes some awesome Korean culture! #diversebooks #readit

Aimee's struggle with STWS mirrors many internal struggles affecting teens today, albeit without time travel. This book is sweet without being saccharine and the relationships are portrayed with depth and nuance. Each new location Aimee visits is described with all five senses, and each scene is both unique and seamlessly interwoven with others from Aimee's life. Overall a wonderful book.

These are potentially not a full list of content warnings needed, but I wasn't originally planning on listing them, so I didn't keep notes on it. However, I thought some of them were definitely needed and didn't want to send anyone in blindly, so just take these with a grain of salt.

TWs: depression, anxiety, anxiety attack, missing persons

I found out about The Space Between Here & Now because of it's beautiful cover catching my eye on Netgalley, and I'm so glad it did. This is probably my favorite 2023 release I've read so far, it has everything I love about a book, paired with gorgeous writing.

The story follows Aimee, who has STWS, a medical condition that makes her disappear into a memory when triggered by scents. Not only was this such a creative concept, but it was a breath of fresh air when it came to overused tropes like the main character ignoring their best friend. I absolutely adored Aimee and Nikita's friendship, it was so cute and supportive and reminded me of my own best friend. Also Junho was SO CUTE. Everything about him was awkwardly charming and genuine, and he was the type of YA love interest we need more of. Watching Aimee discover her past and figure out her present contrasted with her time travelling flawlessly, and exploring Korea with her was so much fun. I don't want to get too spoilery, but The Space Between Here & Now is a story of family at it's heart. Both blood and found families too, which I really appreciated.

Honestly, I could ramble about a lot of things, but I think the story is better without knowing too much. Suk's writing will easily draw readers in and keep them enraptured in the tale, and her writing skill. Seriously, I'm jealous of how well this was written. Suk wove various media interspaced between chapters, and made it not only feel completely smooth and natural, but tied it directly into Aimee's story. The repeated echoes through the story held everything together so beautifully that it makes me want to go back and annotate a finished copy when they're out so I can try to learn how to do it myself. The relationships felt so real and the story was so emotional that I ended up lowkey sobbing at one point.

The Space Between Here & Now is a must have for any YA lover, people who love emotional tales, or stories about family. I'm not only planning on pre-ordering myself a copy, but I'm going to be recommending that my local libraries buy copies of it because I loved it so much. I'll be impatiently waiting for Sarah Suk's next novel in the meantime. Please do yourself a favor (or any readers in your life!) and read this book!