Sunday, February 16, 2014

Review: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

The Space Between

Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Release: November 14th 2011
Genre: Angels, Demons, Supernatural, YA


Plot:

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.


Review:


This book has a very intriguing premise, something fairly unique that you don't encounter every day in YA, topped off with a stunning cover and it's really not bad, I have to say. It's just that it's mediocre in every aspect that matters.

I will say that, as interesting as the premise may sound, it wasn't that spectacular. The world-building was sloppy at best, we don't get to know that much about Pandemonium and the characters that lived there, like Beelzebub, Lilith and Lucifer. I just didn't think Yovanoff wrote them that good. I did like Beelzebub and Lucifer, as little as we actually see of him, was also okay, but Lilith ... she seemed a little too bipolar for my tastes, and I think I liked her better in The Mortal Instruments, to be honest.

Our heroine, Daphne, was also pretty okay for the most part, she never truly annoyed me but I never got around to really liking her either. She was... in between (haha see what I did there?). Now, Truman though, was an extremely fascinating character and I think his character arc was excellently done. He's no YA trope I've seen a hundred types, but rather, a more creative character. Daphne wasn't that "mainstream" either, but I have come across a few like her before, but Truman? I think I've encountered guys like him only a couple times here in YA. 
I also think that the romance was nicely done. I could definitely understand why Daphne and Truman might work and I think their relationship developed at a leisure pace.

What I did have a bit of a problem with however, was that Truman just took everything in stride. Daphne tells him she's a demon, the daughter of Lucifer, her cousins suck people's souls (basically), she can melt metal and burn people with a single touch and all her other relatives are pretty weird, too. But Truman, oh, he just shrugs like that's what he has to deal with all the time with his girlfriends. Right.

The plot was pretty standard, basic formula: Sibling gets abducted, MC sets out to save them, there's an obvious villain striding around that wants to destroy the MC and thus, chaos ensues. There was also some kind of vicious beast the villain held as a pet and set loose to do his dirty work for him, killing a few of Daphne's family in the process. Now, there was a plot twist in here that I really liked, BUT.

BUT. I think the way Yovanoff ended her story was more than cheap. It was really ridiculous and I felt damned cheated after that. Yes, the ending would have been very tragic and sad, but I'd rather have had that ending than the one I actually got. That was just a little too sappy and too convenient, you know. 

Anyways, bottom line is, The Space Between wasn't a bad book. The plot moved at a snail pace, but to be quite honest I didn't mind too much, although I did skim/skip some unncessary paragraphs here and there. It's a rather unique story with somewhat nice characters and entertaining enough. You might want to check it out if you're really interested, but I don't think it'll blow your mind. 

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