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Spaces Between Us
" A girl-centered Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century. "― Kirkus Reviews , starred review
Two outcast best friends are desperate to survive senior year and break away from their dying factory town in Stacia Tolman's The Spaces Between Us , an unforgettable YA debut.
Serena Velasco and her best (and only) friend, Melody Grimshaw, are dying to get out of Colchis. Until now they’ve both been coasting, keeping a safe distance from the bleakness of home and the banality of high school. To make things more interesting Serena fixates on communism, eager to get a rise out of their conservative small town. Her Western Civ teacher catches on and challenges her with an independent study of class and upward mobility―what creates the spaces between us. Meanwhile, Grimshaw takes on a mission of her to make it onto the cheerleading squad, find a job, and escape the weight of her family’s hopeless reputation.
But sometimes the biggest obstacles are the ones you don’t see coming; Grimshaw’s quest for success becomes a fight for survival, and Serena’s independent study gets a little too real. With the future of their friendship and their lives on the line, the stakes have never been so high.
Christy Ottaviano Books
Two outcast best friends are desperate to survive senior year and break away from their dying factory town in Stacia Tolman's The Spaces Between Us , an unforgettable YA debut.
Serena Velasco and her best (and only) friend, Melody Grimshaw, are dying to get out of Colchis. Until now they’ve both been coasting, keeping a safe distance from the bleakness of home and the banality of high school. To make things more interesting Serena fixates on communism, eager to get a rise out of their conservative small town. Her Western Civ teacher catches on and challenges her with an independent study of class and upward mobility―what creates the spaces between us. Meanwhile, Grimshaw takes on a mission of her to make it onto the cheerleading squad, find a job, and escape the weight of her family’s hopeless reputation.
But sometimes the biggest obstacles are the ones you don’t see coming; Grimshaw’s quest for success becomes a fight for survival, and Serena’s independent study gets a little too real. With the future of their friendship and their lives on the line, the stakes have never been so high.
Christy Ottaviano Books
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2019
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1914 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
August 8, 2019
There was some great themes and a well rounded nuanced supporting character but the middle of the novel left me yawning.
My Issues:
*The Middle of the Novel-The novel started off really strong with Serena and Mel but after Serena comes back from Maine, the novel takes a weird tone. The whole cheerleader/Nanci Lee thing seemed like a totally different novel. The two cheerleaders did not have a unique voice and they didn't do anything to advance to plot. This book is full of amazing themes but the middle didn't seem to support any of them. The middle is the reason why I dropped this a whole star.
*Dropped Plots/Pacing to Quick-Serena's time in Maine with her uncle was too quick especially considering he comes back at the end. Serena also does a complete 180 after her summer and the explanation wasn't strong enough. *The upward mobility assignment seemed like it was going to be pivotal but Serena asks randos about it and her teacher doesn't discuss it with her. I understand that the author isn't holding our hands with the themes but the upward mobility discussion seemed to be an after-thought which is a shame considering this book is has some poverty/class undertones. *Cars were an obvious theme that usually means freedom. Once again, I know the author didn't want to hold our hands but I felt like "cars" could have been a larger character in the narrative.
*Nit-Picks-Serena was in Maine all summer and Mel didn't call her. At first I thought this was set in a dateless time because the author didn't mention cell phones until page 75ish. Then I figured they were too poor for phones but a land line is still a thing-HELLO!
The confrontation with Mike was a bit unrealistic. I doubt she would have thought that quickly.
What I Liked:
*The Introduction to Serena-I really liked Serena throughout most of the novel. Irony Man was a great intro to her character and you knew exactly who this girl is by page 5. She had several people tell her about herself EARLY in the novel and she made efforts to change. I hate when characters are beat over the head with their shortcoming by several people and then grow in the last 50 pages. Serena didn't dwell on the fact that people didn't like her. She also didn't have much of an inner-monologue about that which seems unrealistic. I think many of us want to be liked even if we don't want to admit it. Serena sort of fell apart characterwise at the end.
*Melody-Melody was a great character. I don't think she necessarily had a new voice but she was very insightful about her own life and she made huge efforts to change it. I appreciate reading about a teen character who doesn't bitch and moan about how shitty their life is but actually makes moves.
*Melody and Serena's Friendship-I liked how the author showed their co-dependence. I thought it was believable and I think teens would gain a lot of insight into their own friendships.
*Themes-I love a good themey, metaphorical novel and this one had plenty. The aforementioned cars was a bit on-the-nose with the meaning-freedom. But I liked the different ways the author featured cars throughout the narrative. *There's a good overall metaphor on page 56 which I thought summed up the girl's relationship. Other themes included-the savior complex and the measurement of success.
Overall-I REALLY wanted to love this book and it was so close to being great but that middle dragged ass and I just can't forgive that. If you are looking for a good discussion book; I do believe this would be a good choice.
November 9, 2019
Grimshaw and I are a pair of pariahs, like a virus in a lipid envelope. She’s poor and I’m smart, so between the two of us we’re practically an un-American activity. (5)
Hmm. Not entirely sure what to make of this one. I enjoyed the book just fine but am left with the feeling that there was something of a bait-and-switch going on, however unintentionally.
Serena lives in a struggling factory town, and she wants out. She's not doing anything to facilitate that, mind: she's an overachiever only when it comes to underachieving. She has a passive interest in communism, which is what drew me to the book in the first place; I wondered whether the book was contemporary or whether (I hoped) it was set during the Cold War. It's contemporary, as it happens, though that's not always obvious. Rare mentions of cell phones, laptops, and 'going viral' make the era clear, but I'm sort of sorry for it. I suppose that putting this during McCarthyism would make it more (socially) dangerous for Serena to be overtly interested in communism, but I just wanted more...communism, I guess. That is, not communism exactly: I wanted more of what the description suggested, which is to say a close look at class and upward mobility, and what those mean in the contexts of communism and democracy.
I find that adults are very jaded these days. No combination of hair color, clothes, body piercing, or tattoos can shock them. About the only thing that can still guarantee a reaction in this factory town is communism. So I wear a Red Army cap each day, with the red star. ... I probably overdo it with the communist thing, but otherwise I’m not sure anyone would know I exist. (15)
Instead...there's a bit of lip service to communism, which it's almost immediately clear that Serena is only interested in as something to annoy the adults around her, and then the book takes a left turn to cheerleading and a much more standard YA high-school story. Fortunately, it veers off onto an access road that takes Serena and Grimshaw on a hitchhiking road trip across the States, but...then there's a (metaphoric, metaphoric, I'm seeing how far I can stretch this) car accident, and things get somehow darker but less complicated. I'd have preferred just, you know, more complicated.
So it has its moments, but gosh this has made me want a complicated, gritty Cold War setting in a book exploring, why yes, class and politics.
Hmm. Not entirely sure what to make of this one. I enjoyed the book just fine but am left with the feeling that there was something of a bait-and-switch going on, however unintentionally.
Serena lives in a struggling factory town, and she wants out. She's not doing anything to facilitate that, mind: she's an overachiever only when it comes to underachieving. She has a passive interest in communism, which is what drew me to the book in the first place; I wondered whether the book was contemporary or whether (I hoped) it was set during the Cold War. It's contemporary, as it happens, though that's not always obvious. Rare mentions of cell phones, laptops, and 'going viral' make the era clear, but I'm sort of sorry for it. I suppose that putting this during McCarthyism would make it more (socially) dangerous for Serena to be overtly interested in communism, but I just wanted more...communism, I guess. That is, not communism exactly: I wanted more of what the description suggested, which is to say a close look at class and upward mobility, and what those mean in the contexts of communism and democracy.
I find that adults are very jaded these days. No combination of hair color, clothes, body piercing, or tattoos can shock them. About the only thing that can still guarantee a reaction in this factory town is communism. So I wear a Red Army cap each day, with the red star. ... I probably overdo it with the communist thing, but otherwise I’m not sure anyone would know I exist. (15)
Instead...there's a bit of lip service to communism, which it's almost immediately clear that Serena is only interested in as something to annoy the adults around her, and then the book takes a left turn to cheerleading and a much more standard YA high-school story. Fortunately, it veers off onto an access road that takes Serena and Grimshaw on a hitchhiking road trip across the States, but...then there's a (metaphoric, metaphoric, I'm seeing how far I can stretch this) car accident, and things get somehow darker but less complicated. I'd have preferred just, you know, more complicated.
So it has its moments, but gosh this has made me want a complicated, gritty Cold War setting in a book exploring, why yes, class and politics.
September 12, 2021
I thought this book was good but a little bit all over the place. It took me a little while to get into but then at the end all of these crazy unexpected things started to happen, which was interesting but out of place.
February 15, 2020
So many cliches. Dull plot, unlikable narrator, and nothing imaginative.
July 22, 2019
This book just didn’t do it for me. I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t keep the characters straight- especially all the teachers and random friends. For some reason, I kept thinking the story would focus from the “poor girl,” Mel’s, point of view. It was actually kind of refreshing, though, that it wasn’t. It was different to come at high school from the view of the more well-to-do girl and her own identity struggles. Instead of rooting for the underdog (though I did definitely root for Mel), I liked that someone who had things handed to her and who’s mom ran the school was still struggling. But, sadly, I didn’t like either of them enough to really like the book. And I didn’t really like the writing. The book seemed choppy- dramatic at points then incredibly boring. Big build-ups with quick conclusions. Philosophy and imagery galore, but the locations and timeframe were hard to figure out - not necessarily a bad thing, but a bit irritating. I didn’t know if it was modern or the 80’s... I tried to decider the cars being driven, etc, but it wasn’t till the mention of cellphones that I knew it was “modern” which actually kind of turned me off.
I’m sure lots of people would like this book. An interesting high school coming-of-age with A LOT going on. I’d recommend it to others, but it wasn’t really for me.
I’m sure lots of people would like this book. An interesting high school coming-of-age with A LOT going on. I’d recommend it to others, but it wasn’t really for me.
June 14, 2019
A DRC was provided by Edelweiss in exhange for a fair and honest review.
Too often older readers dismiss teen realistic fiction, preferring to indulge in YA dystopia or fantasy. Any novel that tackles class in America deserves attention from a wide readership, especially if the author is not afraid to have her characters face the the burdens that come fro recognizing "the spaces between us." Serena Velasco and Melody Grimshaw are best friends and "a pair of pariahs." The former is too smart and the latter too poor to fit in anywhere in Colchis, the dying mill town in upstate New York, "the burned-over cinder of the American Dream." The town is a hotbed of class anxiety, with young women and men feeling all the disdain, distrust and envy that their parents do.
Grimshaw is a charismatic man-magnet, set on escaping Colchis using herself as currency as she knows "It takes money to get a car, and it takes a car to get money." Everyone knows Serena is too smart for Colchis, but as one of her teachers asks, is that an asset or a liability? Serena's preoccupation with communism, a tribute to her deceased father who believed in giving away wealth, and her repugnance at the snobbery and hypocrisy of Colchis give her motivation to aim low in order to avoid the inevitable separation from Grimshaw. Serena avoids her middle class status even as her PhD educator mother becomes principal at the high school, her entrepreneurial stepfather has moved the family to Versailles, a fancy new housing development, and her sister off to college, however unhappily. She spends her summers in Maine in an old house with her grandmother, sailing, reading and pushing away thoughts of leaving Colchis - and Grimshaw - for good.
Doom stalks them from the moment Serena spots the gold Corvette following their school bus. The girls struggle through their senior year of high school, becoming friends with the "vicious cheerleaders", going to wild parties, contending with both the expectations that Serena excel academically, and that Grimshaw, coming fromm one of the most notorious trailer trash families in town, can't do anything but fail and be left behind. That gold Corvette represent's Grimshaw's conviction of her best chance to leave Colchis, and she does, but not before both girls begin to grow up fast. Serena begins to understand that she has Privilege with a capital P while Grimshaw plans to head West with her creepy older boyfriend, possible to become a stripper. Serena may have privilege, but Melody wants to borrow it, just for a little. Neither can figure out how to stave off the darkness that is coming with adulthood even as they long to grow up and away from their roots. Women's reliance on each other and their emotional bonds are the core of the story, even as the social importance of finding any man, good, bad or just plain weak pulls both girls into different orbits. Tolman sometimes overplays the Class Doom, with Grimshaw asking "Do you ever have...this feeling? Like, you have this feeling you're going to die young?" To which Serena can only reply "I think there are other options than Colchis or death." Tolman has produced a serious look at the stresses facing working class women in today's America, with all the sadness and ambivalence that may mean for her characters.
Too often older readers dismiss teen realistic fiction, preferring to indulge in YA dystopia or fantasy. Any novel that tackles class in America deserves attention from a wide readership, especially if the author is not afraid to have her characters face the the burdens that come fro recognizing "the spaces between us." Serena Velasco and Melody Grimshaw are best friends and "a pair of pariahs." The former is too smart and the latter too poor to fit in anywhere in Colchis, the dying mill town in upstate New York, "the burned-over cinder of the American Dream." The town is a hotbed of class anxiety, with young women and men feeling all the disdain, distrust and envy that their parents do.
Grimshaw is a charismatic man-magnet, set on escaping Colchis using herself as currency as she knows "It takes money to get a car, and it takes a car to get money." Everyone knows Serena is too smart for Colchis, but as one of her teachers asks, is that an asset or a liability? Serena's preoccupation with communism, a tribute to her deceased father who believed in giving away wealth, and her repugnance at the snobbery and hypocrisy of Colchis give her motivation to aim low in order to avoid the inevitable separation from Grimshaw. Serena avoids her middle class status even as her PhD educator mother becomes principal at the high school, her entrepreneurial stepfather has moved the family to Versailles, a fancy new housing development, and her sister off to college, however unhappily. She spends her summers in Maine in an old house with her grandmother, sailing, reading and pushing away thoughts of leaving Colchis - and Grimshaw - for good.
Doom stalks them from the moment Serena spots the gold Corvette following their school bus. The girls struggle through their senior year of high school, becoming friends with the "vicious cheerleaders", going to wild parties, contending with both the expectations that Serena excel academically, and that Grimshaw, coming fromm one of the most notorious trailer trash families in town, can't do anything but fail and be left behind. That gold Corvette represent's Grimshaw's conviction of her best chance to leave Colchis, and she does, but not before both girls begin to grow up fast. Serena begins to understand that she has Privilege with a capital P while Grimshaw plans to head West with her creepy older boyfriend, possible to become a stripper. Serena may have privilege, but Melody wants to borrow it, just for a little. Neither can figure out how to stave off the darkness that is coming with adulthood even as they long to grow up and away from their roots. Women's reliance on each other and their emotional bonds are the core of the story, even as the social importance of finding any man, good, bad or just plain weak pulls both girls into different orbits. Tolman sometimes overplays the Class Doom, with Grimshaw asking "Do you ever have...this feeling? Like, you have this feeling you're going to die young?" To which Serena can only reply "I think there are other options than Colchis or death." Tolman has produced a serious look at the stresses facing working class women in today's America, with all the sadness and ambivalence that may mean for her characters.
August 8, 2019
While I liked parts of this book immensely, the author seems to have lost her way somewhere along the middle. I'd hoped that there would be more development of the theme of social class and upward mobility, the independent study project assigned by Mr. C. The few references to that were intriguing and offered possible insights into how our economic and social systems function and made me long for more. After all, how many of us now and back in high school have pondered whether our destinies are shaped primarily by our social class and the family to whom we are born? But despite the intriguing nature of this line of thinking, it isn't developed as much as I might have wished. Instead, readers are treated to a road trip in which Serena Velasco heads to LA to save her friend Melody Grimshaw from herself and the man with whom she's become entangled. I agree that her heart is in the right place, but it is dangerous and judgmental to try to save someone when we don't know the whole story. Readers are expected to think that Serena knows more about Mike and the relationship and how to handle him than Melody does. Given that Melody has been portrayed as a heart-breaker with abundant experiences with men while Serena has little to none, I just couldn't buy that. the mercurial changes that Serena seemed to experience almost came out of nowhere, and I'd have liked her uncle to have been included more since that summer in Maine was most likely part of what started her change. I did like the idea of two outcasts, shunned by their classmates for different reasons, becoming friends, but I don't know how likely that would have been, given their very different upbringings and family backgrounds. As it turns out, Melody wants to fit in, as seen in her interactions with the cheerleading squad. But no matter what she does, she will never be able to escape the stigma that surrounds her family and their reputation. It's often those who have little against which to rebel such as Serena who end up doing the rebelling. As I finished the book, troubled by the ending, I kept asking myself how hard it is to escape one's past or the expectations placed on one by those around us. Can we ever fill in those spaces between us? There were some interesting characters such as Prof that might have warranted more development while the point of some others such as Nanci Lee left something to be desired. I ended up enjoying many parts of this book and thinking about some of the issues it raised while wishing those had been examined even more. I'll be thinking about these two girls and wondering how Melody could have pulled off her escape in any other way than the path she chose. I'm also wondering about how many Melodys there are out there.
September 27, 2019
The road trip felt weird. Like, totally disconnected from the beginning of the book. And the summer spent in Maine. What was the point? It felt like everything I thought the book was leading to just disappeared, exchanged for a different story with a different point. And, yeah, Bo is great, but I don't really believe in him. He doesn't feel real.
Melody sees how Serena lives her life with confidence, and Melody chooses to live like that - and look where it gets her?? Dead. Murdered by a creep who wants her to come back and work in his LA stripper club. That confidence that Serena exudes out of her pores? It comes from her rich white family privilege . So, why did Grimshaw have to die? Why did Grimshaw have to die? Why does Serena always call her Grimshaw? Her name was Melody. Her whole character was supposed to be fighting to be free from the curse of her "white-trash" family name. Instead, her whole character is just a damn tragedy. Why? To prove a point that upward mobility is just a lie, that what really drives this country is privilege? If that really is the purpose of this book, then I find absolutely no hope in it. Especially since Bo is supposed to be the trigger for Serena, and the reader's hope, and I don't really buy Bo's character.
(Why don't I believe in Bo? He just didn't feel real.)
I understand that young adult books are supposed to be pushing beyond the hopeful safety of childhood, allowing readers to grapple with the uncertainties and complexities of the "real" world. I get that. But if a book is going to be classified as "young adult," by the last page, I still want to see some sort of realistic hope.
Not gonna lie, this book has left me in a bit of a bad brain-space. I don't like it when a book exacerbates my own very real concerns for our country, and then refuses to give me a satisfactory piece of uplift. While I think the point of the book is a very valid point, I still want some hope for the future. I didn't hate the book, and I definitely raced to finish the last third of the book all in one sitting. And Serena and Melody's story is going to live with me for a long time. So it's definitely not a bad book. I just think it's missing something very sappy and yet very, very necessary in this broken world - hope.
I know I used the word "hope" a lot in just a few short paragraphs, but it really does matter to me that I read and recommend books that do something good for the soul.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2019
Serena and her best friend Grimshaw are just trying to make it through high school and out of their poor, rundown town. There is no future for either of them there. They both come from less than perfect family situations. Both have fathers who died when they were young. Serena is little more well off. Her mom is the principal and she has a step-dad and siblings. Grimshaw's family is considered the "trash" of the town.
Both girls feel stuck. Grimshaw the most. She aspires to be a dancer, and she uses her beauty to use guys to her advantage. When she starts dating an older guy named Mike, Serena can tell only bad things are coming. As Grimshaw decides to leave town with Mike and start her career, Serena tries to do everything in the power to save her friend.
There is no easy way to explain The Spaces Between Us. A lot happens in this story. It encompasses about a year in the life of Serena starting with her failing a class at the end of her junior year, going to Maine for the summer, and then coming home to find Grimshaw has made new friends. This is only maybe the first few chapters. From there the story jumps around, at times with no warning. There are several times when we are in one scene and the next line will suddenly take place weeks later.
Serena is definitely a different kind of YA narrator. She is whip-smart and mature. She deserves more than what she is dealt and that includes a friend like Grimshaw. We see Serena do literally everything to help Grimshaw, but we never get a sense of Grimshaw being worthy of Serena's loyalty. She isn't a good friend to Serena and is often times trying to ditch her. I liked Serena a lot and her story is interesting with a realistic setting. But there are a lot of parts of the story that didn't fit together or left more questions than answers to what is going on.
I still appreciate the originality of the story and the setting.
**I received an e-ARC from Netgalley**
Both girls feel stuck. Grimshaw the most. She aspires to be a dancer, and she uses her beauty to use guys to her advantage. When she starts dating an older guy named Mike, Serena can tell only bad things are coming. As Grimshaw decides to leave town with Mike and start her career, Serena tries to do everything in the power to save her friend.
There is no easy way to explain The Spaces Between Us. A lot happens in this story. It encompasses about a year in the life of Serena starting with her failing a class at the end of her junior year, going to Maine for the summer, and then coming home to find Grimshaw has made new friends. This is only maybe the first few chapters. From there the story jumps around, at times with no warning. There are several times when we are in one scene and the next line will suddenly take place weeks later.
Serena is definitely a different kind of YA narrator. She is whip-smart and mature. She deserves more than what she is dealt and that includes a friend like Grimshaw. We see Serena do literally everything to help Grimshaw, but we never get a sense of Grimshaw being worthy of Serena's loyalty. She isn't a good friend to Serena and is often times trying to ditch her. I liked Serena a lot and her story is interesting with a realistic setting. But there are a lot of parts of the story that didn't fit together or left more questions than answers to what is going on.
I still appreciate the originality of the story and the setting.
**I received an e-ARC from Netgalley**
January 17, 2020
Ok, I'd be the first to admit I'm not really the demographic for this novel, but I do remember being in my last year of high school and desperate to graduate and leave home and do something with my life. When I started reading this book, I identified with Serena: younger than her classmates, fairly bright but not pulling the marks to show it, full of sarcastic humour and rebelling at just about everything that moved. Very quickly though I started feeling more empathy towards Melody Grimshaw and got quite attached to her, and was ultimately shattered by what happened. I made some really dumb choices as a teen but nothing THAT dumb, and it was hard to believe that Melody didn't seem to know what she was getting into. What an ending. And I didn't believe Bo for one single second. The whole book seems to be a cautionary tale but I'm not sure an age-appropriate reader would get that.
I do want to add that this is a well-written novel with great, realistic dialogue and what appears to be good editing. (Good editing is always conspicuous by its invisibility.) Here are some great, sharable lines that illuminate the characters who say them:
I do want to add that this is a well-written novel with great, realistic dialogue and what appears to be good editing. (Good editing is always conspicuous by its invisibility.) Here are some great, sharable lines that illuminate the characters who say them:
We know you know everything already but what we don't know is if that's an asset or a liability.That last one perfectly encapsulates every teen who ever lived.
I try to look into my future but there's always a manhole cover in the way.
So I just sit there in the boat on the beach... and feel more deserving of my own pity than anyone has ever felt.
March 9, 2019
Once I found myself halfway through the book I started to question the grave yard on the cover of the novel, but in the end I had my answer. Wow, what a good read! Adults as well as younger versions - crossover read - can connect with the conflict of questioning if a person's made the right choice. We have those people we'd love to save, but really all of us need to save ourselves. From deep conversations with cross-country truckers to the rituals of American high school, this story moves beyond the typical cheerleader drama to hit the metaphors hard and provide a compelling story of America in the now. Can we move beyond our family and our hometown? Are we the people our families want us to be? Such deep questions; meaningful answers provided.
October 21, 2019
Really wanted to like this book. Really just... didn't. The side characters (parents, friends, etc.) didn't seem believable. It was totally unnecessary to (spoiler alert)...
kill someone off at the end, like, why???
Also, there was a really great thread that ran through the whole story (about her upward mobility essay) that could have been so much more developed and the author just kind of let it lie there. Pretty disappointing.
kill someone off at the end, like, why???
Also, there was a really great thread that ran through the whole story (about her upward mobility essay) that could have been so much more developed and the author just kind of let it lie there. Pretty disappointing.
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January 26, 2026I don’t know if I’ve ever said this about a book— it should’ve been longer. Not in the way that I was so obsessed with the story or characters. I wanted more development. Let me preface by saying: I really liked this book. It’s a beautiful debut, and I would’ve liked to see deeper behind the characters beyond just short of 300 pages.
The pacing was all over the place. I almost DNFed by chapter 6, though I’m really glad I stuck it out. By the cheerleading section, things went at breakneck speed that we went from September to May in the blink of an eye. I loved the cross-country trip. I think Tolman was smart by not staying there and giving too many details; It was about the destination to get to Melody, not the journey. I also loved Bo as a character and the dynamic between him and Serena.
About Melody: she’s a typical flighty best friend/“cool-girl” who wants to make it to the big city. I wanted more development for her. Her story was so tragic, but I wasn’t surprised by the ending. I didn’t get a chance to know her, her characterization was all over the place. She reminds me a lot of Daisy in Daisy Jones and the Six, though it seems Daisy had more development.
My biggest gripe, as I said, was the pacing. Yes, the main characters are teenage girls. I have been one too. They change moods at the drop of a hat. No pun intended, how did Serena go from being the “Holden Caulfield” outsider (not my comparison btw, the front cover literally compares the book to Catcher) to a cheerleader worried about the drama of her classmates? I’m not upset at the change, I would have preferred more background about the emotional and mental change going through Serena. Instead, she just does it because Melody wants her too.
Small aside: We got some development about side characters which I liked. Especially how Scot took Serena to look at colleges, but we find out he can’t afford it and Allegra was on scholarship. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I wanted some insight on Nanci. We got a small glimpse into why she’s messing around with Scot, but she seems evil to be an antagonist. What’s the other side of her story?
All in all I did really like this book, I’ll probably reread it a couple years down the line and annotate it further. Don’t let the “21st century Catcher in the Rye” review put you off like it did me initially.
The pacing was all over the place. I almost DNFed by chapter 6, though I’m really glad I stuck it out. By the cheerleading section, things went at breakneck speed that we went from September to May in the blink of an eye. I loved the cross-country trip. I think Tolman was smart by not staying there and giving too many details; It was about the destination to get to Melody, not the journey. I also loved Bo as a character and the dynamic between him and Serena.
About Melody: she’s a typical flighty best friend/“cool-girl” who wants to make it to the big city. I wanted more development for her. Her story was so tragic, but I wasn’t surprised by the ending. I didn’t get a chance to know her, her characterization was all over the place. She reminds me a lot of Daisy in Daisy Jones and the Six, though it seems Daisy had more development.
My biggest gripe, as I said, was the pacing. Yes, the main characters are teenage girls. I have been one too. They change moods at the drop of a hat. No pun intended, how did Serena go from being the “Holden Caulfield” outsider (not my comparison btw, the front cover literally compares the book to Catcher) to a cheerleader worried about the drama of her classmates? I’m not upset at the change, I would have preferred more background about the emotional and mental change going through Serena. Instead, she just does it because Melody wants her too.
Small aside: We got some development about side characters which I liked. Especially how Scot took Serena to look at colleges, but we find out he can’t afford it and Allegra was on scholarship. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I wanted some insight on Nanci. We got a small glimpse into why she’s messing around with Scot, but she seems evil to be an antagonist. What’s the other side of her story?
All in all I did really like this book, I’ll probably reread it a couple years down the line and annotate it further. Don’t let the “21st century Catcher in the Rye” review put you off like it did me initially.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2022
Honestly I didn't come into this book looking to like it, but honestly? It almost feels like so bad its good sort of novel. I want to mention how I absolutely believe that these two characters are dumb teenagers and I've yet to see a book encapsulate being a stupid teenager all throughout the entire book. People talk about realism and how believable all the characters are but I've almost always found stories with too perfect characters and the drinking at parties with so few consequences way more out there than any of the characters in this book. It's hard to keep track of them sometimes? But honestly? They feel like teenagers. The book also sucks! It ends sadly and badly for one of the characters and maybe sometimes we as people need to see books that just end poorly for the people involved? Some stuff works out for some characters, but a lot doesn't. Characters also kind of go through phases of wanting to do different things which I also think is just on brand for what dumb teenagers do. Of course the two teenage girls what to get into cheer leading for some other gain of their own? I wanted to get into volleyball because I had a crush on a girl on the team (and I didn't even GET THAT FAR to joining it!)The communism bit also feels more like a jokey thing than anything serious, so maybe that why I didn't look to closely at the upward mobility part of the story most people are upset about not being so cleanly done. Perhaps I should have so I could be more angry about it in my review.
The book could use a lot of cleaning up, it could lose some of its scope or cut some of the stuff out and really streamline the story but if it had I don't know if I would have liked it as much? Sometimes you want a book that's chaotic and messy and doesn't end well! Who's to say!
The book could use a lot of cleaning up, it could lose some of its scope or cut some of the stuff out and really streamline the story but if it had I don't know if I would have liked it as much? Sometimes you want a book that's chaotic and messy and doesn't end well! Who's to say!
December 20, 2020
Upward mobility. Not a concept that you expect to be discussed in a young adult novel, but such is the case with Stacia Tolman's debut book The Spaces Between Us. This novel tells the story of two best friends from different socio-economic backgrounds living in a dying rural town, and examines how much the hand they were dealt in life affects their future.
Serena Velasco should be doing better in high school than she is. Her mother is principal of her high school, she is intelligent enough for college, but she just isn't applying herself despite the privileges she has been granted. Her best friend Melody Grimshaw is also flunking out, but such is to be expected when you come from a family like hers. Considered the "trash" of the town, Melody never had a bright future ahead of her.
Following the friends through their senior year of high school as they try out for the cheerleading squad, date inappropriate guys, work on school projects, and figure out their futures, The Spaces Between Us is a thought-provoking and provocative social study. That said, I didn't like this book. The story line is grim, and the characters are unlikeable and disconnected from the reader. Furthermore, the writing in The Spaces Between Us is choppy and vague.
While there are certainly girls like Serena and Melody in the world, and while stories like theirs definitely need to be told, The Spaces Between Us just does not do a good job of it. Teens will have trouble making sense of this muddled story and will find little hope or solace for the future if they are living in a similar situation to any of the characters.
Serena Velasco should be doing better in high school than she is. Her mother is principal of her high school, she is intelligent enough for college, but she just isn't applying herself despite the privileges she has been granted. Her best friend Melody Grimshaw is also flunking out, but such is to be expected when you come from a family like hers. Considered the "trash" of the town, Melody never had a bright future ahead of her.
Following the friends through their senior year of high school as they try out for the cheerleading squad, date inappropriate guys, work on school projects, and figure out their futures, The Spaces Between Us is a thought-provoking and provocative social study. That said, I didn't like this book. The story line is grim, and the characters are unlikeable and disconnected from the reader. Furthermore, the writing in The Spaces Between Us is choppy and vague.
While there are certainly girls like Serena and Melody in the world, and while stories like theirs definitely need to be told, The Spaces Between Us just does not do a good job of it. Teens will have trouble making sense of this muddled story and will find little hope or solace for the future if they are living in a similar situation to any of the characters.
June 22, 2019
First off: I received this book in a goodreads giveaway and it was shipped to me from the publisher. This in no way whatsoever affects the review below.
This book was advertised as similar to Catcher in the Rye, which I have read. And I can safely say the feel is quite the same. If you felt you understood Holden, if you enjoyed his view points, Serena’s story is a safe bet.
This novel has a certain power. It feels relatively laid back, but it’s interesting. I read this in less than four hours, I was never bored. Every time I set it down I came right back.
The writing was amazing. The realism was great, the characters felt well developed - I did wish we had a little more time with some of the side characters but it didn’t really take away that we didn’t.
This book also has what I tend to call a pseudo dream feel. It is not fantasy. But if you’ve ever read Catcher in the Rye, you’ll know it has a hazy almost dreamy quality to the writing. Spaces managed to duplicate that.
There is s bit of romance - though it’s all left very open ended. Think what you like I suppose.
I believe I’ll be keeping an eye out for this author’s other works.
This book was advertised as similar to Catcher in the Rye, which I have read. And I can safely say the feel is quite the same. If you felt you understood Holden, if you enjoyed his view points, Serena’s story is a safe bet.
This novel has a certain power. It feels relatively laid back, but it’s interesting. I read this in less than four hours, I was never bored. Every time I set it down I came right back.
The writing was amazing. The realism was great, the characters felt well developed - I did wish we had a little more time with some of the side characters but it didn’t really take away that we didn’t.
This book also has what I tend to call a pseudo dream feel. It is not fantasy. But if you’ve ever read Catcher in the Rye, you’ll know it has a hazy almost dreamy quality to the writing. Spaces managed to duplicate that.
There is s bit of romance - though it’s all left very open ended. Think what you like I suppose.
I believe I’ll be keeping an eye out for this author’s other works.
May 5, 2021
I loved this dense exploration of friendship and freedom. It got in my head in that way where I needed an emotional reset after finishing it. In writing style/tone/pacing it really reminded me of The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Sometimes books want to pan out further than a neatly packaged story might expect, and I think that the roadtrip aspect of the book really makes it and is necessary. Although we don't get to know Serena a ton (because she doesn't know herself) Tolman grounds her in her thoughts and allows these to show unexpected growth. The plot shies away from well worn beats - instead of a rivalry or a friendship torn between the old introverted friend and the new shiny cheerleader friends, it gives us a new uneasy but heartfelt alliance between four girls. Instead of an emotional wrap-up full of respect and lessons learned with the Civ teacher there's something much more complex happening. The stepdad isn't a one note villain. My main criticisms are: I did want more delving into Grimshaw, and midway through I was like "what year IS this?" but then they talked about apps and cell phones - it reads like it is set in the 90s tbh.
September 21, 2019
Kirkus calls it "a girl-centered Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century" which I don't see but it it a dark and deep book about friendship and about how money and family can separate people. I don't think the theme of upward mobility was fully developed despite being a large part of the theme and that irked me because if it had been, I could have used this book for We Need Diverse Books. I liked the first of the book and the ending of the book more than the middle where it got a little "draggy" for me. Definitely for older teen readers--almost could be considered New Adult plot wise but age of characters make it young adult
November 30, 2019
Basically the story of two teenage girls, Serena and Melody, growing up in a rural town, longing for a bigger and better life. Lots of twists and turns in this one, which keeps the plot moving along. There are a few good insights, too, but too few to make the book great. There's a bit a formula at work here, too: the poorest teenager, from the least socially desirable family, comes to the worst ends, while the wealthier teen, whose Mom is the high school principal, ends up better off. So many potentially interesting situations were set up, but never fully realized. Still, there's plenty to talk about if you read this with the teenager in your life.
April 30, 2023
This is another book that immediately jumped out as right up my alley - a book about cheerleading communists? Proof that another living soul tumbled down the rare-but-there college-cheerleader-to-communist pipeline? But as much as I wanted to love it, the plot ended up being kind of muddled and honestly bait-and-switchy. Honestly, this felt like two or maybe even three different books all wrapped up into one. Still, I'm giving it four stars because I really enjoyed the main character Serena's narration, the relationships between the characters and the descriptions. I would definitely re-read it sometime in the future.
August 27, 2024
4.0 ⭐
this book actually pleasantly surprised me! i wasn't sure if I would be able to get into it, but I ended up really relating to Serena after a while. i also really liked Melody, and I was rooting for both of them to get good things in life. the ending definitely made me sad, not enough to cry but sad nonetheless. i think the only thing stopping this from being a 5 star read for me was that the story was more character-driven than plot-driven, at least in my opinion. that doesn't mean that I enjoyed it any less because of this, it was just a bit different compared to what I usually read
this book actually pleasantly surprised me! i wasn't sure if I would be able to get into it, but I ended up really relating to Serena after a while. i also really liked Melody, and I was rooting for both of them to get good things in life. the ending definitely made me sad, not enough to cry but sad nonetheless. i think the only thing stopping this from being a 5 star read for me was that the story was more character-driven than plot-driven, at least in my opinion. that doesn't mean that I enjoyed it any less because of this, it was just a bit different compared to what I usually read
March 16, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc copy of this novel.
I was a little thrown off by this one at first. The story is told from Serena's point of view only, but it is about both young ladies trying in different ways to beat their home life situations. I think from being a parent and librarian myself it is written in a more mature tone. I do like the subject matter it deals with coming from a small town myself in much the same situation that these girls find themselves. I highly recommend this book! It is very realistic and sadly more common than most realize.
I was a little thrown off by this one at first. The story is told from Serena's point of view only, but it is about both young ladies trying in different ways to beat their home life situations. I think from being a parent and librarian myself it is written in a more mature tone. I do like the subject matter it deals with coming from a small town myself in much the same situation that these girls find themselves. I highly recommend this book! It is very realistic and sadly more common than most realize.
July 6, 2019
*This book was given to me by the publisher to do an honest review*
I was really disappointed with this book. I was hoping to see something happen but nothing really did. There wasn’t much of a plot but you could tell it was a coming of age story. When I read the summary I was super excited but the problem was that I wasn’t hooked to the book at all. Even though I finished this book quick was because I wasn’t to get it over with. There were some cringe worthy stuff and some scenes were rushed with little explanations. The ending was a little good but other than that this was my least favorite read of July. I hate leaving bad reviews but this is how I feel.
I was really disappointed with this book. I was hoping to see something happen but nothing really did. There wasn’t much of a plot but you could tell it was a coming of age story. When I read the summary I was super excited but the problem was that I wasn’t hooked to the book at all. Even though I finished this book quick was because I wasn’t to get it over with. There were some cringe worthy stuff and some scenes were rushed with little explanations. The ending was a little good but other than that this was my least favorite read of July. I hate leaving bad reviews but this is how I feel.
April 3, 2020
This teen read had it's moments. Overall the story's theme carries the somewhat awkwardly constructed characters to a meaningful ending.
Both central characters are outliers in the high school spectrum; social outcasts with a chip on their shoulder. Lifelong friends, they each some up with a different plan for making their way in the world. The story makes you angry, and then it makes you sad, but it makes you keep reading.
Both central characters are outliers in the high school spectrum; social outcasts with a chip on their shoulder. Lifelong friends, they each some up with a different plan for making their way in the world. The story makes you angry, and then it makes you sad, but it makes you keep reading.
September 1, 2020
Three stars because I finished it. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book - I thought that Maine and the father-narrative would be a more significant part of the story. I wish it had. From there, it just became jumbled - too many narratives, characters, and events. The book was too ambitious in scope and lacked development. I wish it had been two novels - the prequel and the father story and sequel - the melody story.
August 15, 2019
I really wanted to like this book. The story was slow and I almost gave up on it. By the end, I’m glad I kept reading. I didn’t fully connect to the characters, and wish I cared more about the characters. I did not expect that ending at all. Not being able to have made amends before her death and dealing with that guilt and loss hit me. Serena knew something bad would happen, but I didn’t expect that ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2019
the writing was so beautiful and reeled me in even when i had no idea what the plot was (which was often). i could not tell you what this book is about (neither will the jacket description) but if you like complex characters & corn & soul-searching road trips u will probably like it
also big tw for intimate partner violence/murder
also big tw for intimate partner violence/murder
September 15, 2021
Don’t quite know what to make of this one. I’d like to give it 3.5 stars. Took me a while to get into it and grasp the characters and their paths but once I settled into it I was curious to see how things would pan out. The ending wasn’t satisfying for me but overall there was some good food for thought
January 9, 2022
Personally, this book just didn’t do it for me. I found it a bit chaotic at times with all the different events and characters being introduced that it made it hard for me to become invested in the story. It’s still a good book and I would recommend reading this however I just don’t believe I was the target audience for it.
March 31, 2022
This book is choppy and all over the place and the characters legit suck so much. They are kind of horrible people but something about all of that made me get sucked into the world. The blurb doesn't really match the tone of the book. But once you get past that and how grim the story gets, its so sad. But so good. Not a happy read, but a good one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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