I wanted to love this book SO BAD. I mean, the concept of it is amazing. Who out there would not try and find a thin space to see a lost loved one? Unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me.
Alright, you can go now. No need to read the rest of the review. Jking.
The first issue I had was the bare feet. Does this count as a spoiler? I don’t think so. It doesn’t ruin any of the book, it’s just an integral part of the plot. In order to find a thin space, you have to be able to touch it with your bare toesies. Which makes complete sense to me. So he doesn’t miss finding a thin space, Marsh walks around bare foot. All. The. Time. To school, to the mall, in the middle of winter. All. The. Time. And I get that the adults want to let him grieve, but I don’t think in reality, people would let a kid walk around with no shoes on. I would assume the school would have had to send him home, at the very least. I know my parents wouldn’t have accepted it.
I wanted to like both Marsh and Maddie, but I didn’t feel connected to either of them. I’ve never gone through the type of grief and guilt that Marsh was experiencing, but his attitude towards life was a little much for me to handle. I liked the blooming friendship between him and Maddie (the girl who moves into the house with a thin space) but I didn’t really get a good sense of her. She was just kind of there.
Also, how Marsh knows about thin spaces just seems a little too coincidental for me. He learns about them then BAM, his brother is dead. The timing on that is just a little too perfect.
And finally, the ending. This was weird for me. I actually liked the ending, but I walked away going “that’s it?”. Maybe because I was basically done by this point, but I would have liked it if this whole part was a lot bigger. It’s twisty and I like it.
I mean overall, it wasn’t a HORRIBLE book. I read the entire thing, which is saying something since I’ve DNF’ed a couple of books lately. I’m trying not to push myself into reading things that don’t catch my full attention. So if it interests you, pick it up.
Just set your expectations low and maybe you’ll be blown away.
