The Space Between (a quantum thriller) [Kindle Edition]

I received a free copy of this book for my review. Before reading the Space Between, my exposure with Sokoloff's works had been limited to her blog and her book, Screenwriting Tricks For Authors and Screenwriters. Since reading The Space Between, I started reading The Unseen. The Space Between is targeted for the YA audience, several decades removed from where I am in my sojourn. That notwithstanding, I enjoyed the novel. Sokoloff is gifted in talking a complex subject, quantrum mechanics, and making parts of it reader accessible and applicable to the thrust of the novel. The subject matter has been described as dark with an ambiance of verboten added to the mix. The protagonist, Anna Sullivan, is a sixteen-year old girl infatuated with Tyler Marsh, another student at her school. Both characters share similar dreams. These dreams are primarily warnings of an impending massacre at their high school with Tyler being killed by his best male friend, Darren. The shared dreams are often repeated with additional aspects added each time as Anne seeks to ward off the doom. As the novel progresses we lean Anna's mother, believed to have abandoned the family, turns out to be a kind of savior for a young man named Jason Penman. Jason, in one world would have been kidnapped, but was saved due the actions of Anna's mother. When Anna seeks out Jason, she learns from him the intricacies of Heisenberg's quantrum mechanics and parallel worlds. It is here Anna realizes her dreams have been a kind of Heisenberg's Groundhog Day (This is my description. Not Anna's nor Sokoloff's). In the film, Bill Murray has these reoccurring Groundhog Days where he eventually learns to use the day to his advantage instead of fighting its reoccurence. Anna learns the same and applies the Observer Effect of quantrum mechanics to overcome the adversity. In the end we are left hanging as to what happens to Anna, but are lead to believe she is reunited with Tyler and her mother in a, hopefully, better world. Having started on Sokoloff's The Unseen, I can compare her writing style. The Unseen was written for a mature audience while the Space Between for young adults. This speaks to Sokoloff's flexibility to relate to different age groups, a skill for which she is to be commended.

Dark. That's the first word that pops into my head about this book. The open ending didn't make me feel a heck of a lot better, either. I thought it was extremely well written and the author was able to make me see all the images vividly - like a movie in my head. I could feel Anna's angst and longing. I cheered her strength and determination. (Not sure what it says about me that the teens having unprotected sex bothered me more than the bullying and violence.) I raced through this book, not because I didn't like it, but because I couldn't wait to see how it ended. I received this for free in exchange for a review. Needless to say, I'll be looking for a sequel--and will gladly pay full price for it.

Sixteen-year-old Anna Sullivan has never really fit in, or tried to. When she was five her mom vanished and since then she's been charged with taking care of her war-traumatized, alcoholic father.

Once Anna goes to sleep, horrible dreams seem to seek her out. They're terrible. In them she sees classmates and teachers die horrible, bloody deaths at the hands of a crazed killer. Classmate, and Anna's out-of-her-league crush, Tyler appears in these dreams too... and he always dies.

When Tyler seeks Anna out and confides that he knows what she's dreaming and he's a part of it somehow, Anna becomes convinced they're being shown the future so they can stop it... but that's not exactly the case. The truth is much deeper and mind-blowing than she could ever have imagined. Alternate universes are what they're dealing with.

This book is a work of awesome. I devoured it in less than 5 hours. Alexandra Sokoloff wove an intricate story line with threads of horror and science fiction. There were even points I laughed because her characters are so real and easy to relate to. Also, the detail in which the story is described is concise, yet absolutely amazing without all the sparkly, superfluous words of description. You are right there with Anna choking on the smoke, feeling the fear that drives her, experiencing the Santa Ana winds at your back.

I cannot stress how much i enjoyed experiencing this book. Buy it, the alternate universe you probably already has... ;p

---Angela