I received this book for free from Borrowed, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Space Between the Stars by Anne CorlettNarrator: Mary Woodvine
Length: 12 Hours 13 Minutes
Published by Penguin on 2018-02
Genres: Fiction, Literary, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Borrowed, Publisher
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Goodreads
A Recommended Summer Read from The Verge and io9 A Recommended June Read from Hello Giggles and Tor.com When the world ends, where will you go?
In a breathtakingly vivid and emotionally gripping debut novel, one woman must confront the emptiness in the universe--and in her own heart--when a devastating virus reduces most of humanity to dust and memories.
All Jamie Allenby ever wanted was space. Even though she wasn't forced to emigrate from Earth, she willingly left the overpopulated, claustrophobic planet. And when a long relationship devolved into silence and suffocating sadness, she found work on a frontier world on the edges of civilization. Then the virus hit...
Now Jamie finds herself dreadfully alone, with all that's left of the dead. Until a garbled message from Earth gives her hope that someone from her past might still be alive.
Soon Jamie finds other survivors, and their ragtag group will travel through the vast reaches of space, drawn to the promise of a new beginning on Earth. But their dream will pit them against those desperately clinging to the old ways. And Jamie's own journey home will help her close the distance between who she has become and who she is meant to be...
Why Did I Listen To The Space Between The Stars by Anne Corlett?
The Space Between The Stars by Anne Corlett has an absolutely glorious cover. I mean, the cover is blue and pink and science fiction oriented. OF COURSE I was interested. OF COURSE. Granted, this book was pitched to me with some comparisons to sci-fi movies that I have not seen. Still, I grabbed it off Netgalley because I generally like books from this publisher – Berkley. Alas, I did not make it a priority because of all these other competing interests. The moment I saw this audiobook available on Scribd though, I got super excited. So, I listened to it because I am trying to whittle down my eARCs but also because I wanted something different from the YA and contemporary adult fiction books I have been devouring.
What’s The Story Here?
Anne Corlett’s debut is about a woman named Jamie who lives on another planet. Jamie has survived a virus that has decimated the majority of the human population. She’s emigrated from Earth — however, unlike other people, she went willingly. She had served as a veterinarian. Anyways, so she and a group of other survivors band together and journey back to Earth when they get a garbled radio signal that other people may be alive. As it turns out, one of those people may be from Jamie’s past. Sooo, this book delves a little bit into miscarriage and I want to bring that up because I know for some people it is hard to read about that. That’s essentially the whole gist. But also, we see the survivors in The Space Between The Stars really cling to their ways – ie religious people being super religious, etc.
How Did I Like The Space Between The Stars?
Honestly, this book wasn’t super memorable or all that great to me. I did find it hard to listen to the bits on her miscarriage — not that I have experienced a miscarriage. Just, I don’t know, it was difficult. There’s a few characters that are kind of interesting. We get to see some intersectionality as the book covers racism and ableism. On the whole though, I just didn’t feel a whole huge amount of interest for this book while listening.
How’s The Narration?
The Space Between The Stars audiobook is narrated by Mary Woodvine. I’ve never heard her narration before now. Will I actively search out books narrated by her? Probably not, no. I have nothing to complain about or no real particular dislikes. However, there’s also nothing that really WOWed me with the narration as well. I think that also I may just not be a science fiction person whether that is via print or via audio.
Other reviews of The Space Between The Stars by Anne Corlett:
- The BiblioSanctum – “my overall enjoyment was admittedly dragged down by some pretty deep flaws“
- It Starts At Midnight – “Everything about this book was incredibly thought provoking“
- Nudge-Book – “The characters and plot are well thought out“
Purchase or preview The Space Between The Stars by Anne Corlett:
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I’m going to have to stop reading your blog. You keep featuring books that sound perfect for me and my to read pile is already massive! I will keep my eye out for this book.