The Space Between the Stars

I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, and this one did grab me to start, as our protagonist Jamie, wakes up on a planet deep in the solar system, to discover everyone else has turned to dust. As someone who had escaped her past on Planet Earth by moving to this remote outpost, you'd think she'd be over the moon that the rest of humanity had been wiped out, but as the loneliness kicks in and she hears a scrambled message from Earth, she decides to set out to find out if there are other people left in the solar system besides herself.
What follows is a slightly odd quasi-romance / thriller / sci-fi adventure that sometimes feels like it's trying to do too much at once. Also, Jamie is a bit of a disappointing heroine as she seems determined to try and stalk her idiot ex around the solar system. As she teams up with other survivors, can she take steps to save the human race, or is she inadvertently dooming it to extinction? Well, you'll find out if you read the book, which on the whole is worth the effort. It does get a bit daft at times, but does have a good solid tale at its core.

I try my darndest not to read reviews of books before I have read them myself, particularly where ARC titles are concerned because I want to be sure that I'm giving you guys my opinion and not just rehashing what another book blogger has already said. But with The Space Between the Stars I happened to catch a glimpse of a couple of reviews that seemed to be a bit cross that this wasn't overly sci-fi-y. Now if you need parades of aliens or detailed spaceship analysis to enjoy a sci-fi book that is totally fine, we all have our preferences and this book may not be your cup of tea. But for me, someone who isn't averse to science fiction but just needs a lighter dose this was perfect. I think the sci fi setting was necessary for the plot to work, the long distances between planets, the isolation and also the science and technology needed to make this make sense would only work in a futuristic setting.

But it is the themes of the story that are the most important (in this instance at least) and those themes would make for compelling storytelling even if you took them out of this setting. The exodus these characters undertake is in many ways timeless, the whole book is a homecoming, it's striving to find hope in a time of hopelessness, it's the joy and also the pain of survival against the odds, it explores complexities of faith when faith doesn't make any sense. In a more 'definite' sense this book deals a lot with infertility and a lot of the complex emotions that can spring up from that.

What struck me most (and what I really wasn't expecting) was the close bonds I formed with the characters by the end of the book. I know some people have said they found the female protagonist Jamie to be a bit whiney but honestly if basically everyone I had known had died I might be inclined to be a tad miserable too! So, though I would never have believed it when I started the book, I ended the book in tears I was just so emotional! Ok yes, I cry at a lot of things, never let me watch the first 10 minutes of Up but even so- me crying at a book that involves a spaceship is practically unheard of.

This book deals with a lot of big topics, I've already mentioned infertility, there's also a character with Autism and a character who is a sex worker. There's a bit of non-consensual activity which might trouble some readers (if you ever have a question about a book and you want a bit more information to see if it will be ok for you to read please feel free to contact me via my twitter or my contact page and I'll be happy to respond as best I can). As I am not someone who has Autism or who is a sex worker I'm obviously not the person to decide that this representation is suitable, however there didn't seem anything overly problematic about it (again, always happy to be called out if I'm wrong about something).

I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. Again, if you're looking for high sci-fi you might want to search elsewhere, but if you want a book that makes you really think about what you might do in similar situations (though hopefully we never find ourselves there) then why not pick up The Space Between the Stars which publishes June 1st.

My rating: 4/5 stars (because it wasn't perfect, perhaps a few too many worthy moments)

By the way, I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher (Macmillan) via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I wouldn't recommend it if I hadn't enjoyed it!