Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - The Between: Novel, A

This is a beautifully written book that deals with grief, survivors, guilt, and perception of reality. It is also horror fiction that plays (gently) with the idea of the multiverse and what it would be like to live in a state between life and death. Warnings for: hate crimes, more casual racism and infidelity.
I selected "strong character development" because Hilton develops A Lot in this novel but he doesn't necessarily end better than he started. I enjoyed the writing, the pacing, the tension and the sense of unreality that seeped in as Hilton's dreams steadily got worse.
10/10 would recommend if you want to have an unhealthy relationship with sleep for a hot minute.

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danimacuk's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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savvylit's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Between is a time-bending paranormal mystery that fits squarely in the category of "fever dream." Alongside Hilton, Due has her readers questioning what is real and what is a dream. Or are our dreams really just portals into alternate timelines? The eventual suggestion that you could be stalked by a murderer via your dreams is truly chilling. Additionally, the way that Due fuses Hilton and his wife's trauma-informed anxieties about racially motivated hatred with the paranormal terrors makes this already nerve-wracking book even more so.

As a whole, I really enjoyed descending into sleepless mania with Hilton as he attempted to solve the mystery of his unusual life. My only qualm with The Between was that I wanted to know more about Hilton's grandmother and how she discovered her dream abilities.

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florecita_lectora's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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jonathaneden's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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sdsmith80's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

<strong>What a debut!</strong>

I read this book for a bookclub I'm in (shout-out to the Ghoulish Discord bookclub!) and I'm very pleased with the pick! It is truly very well written, and it's really hard to believe that this was her debut novel. The characterizations were excellent, and it was easy to slip into Hilton's head as he felt like he was losing his sanity.

By the end I very much cared about each person, and dreaded the conclusion. Even though there were plenty of clues leading up to the final moments, and I had a good idea of what was going to happen, it didn't lessen the emotional impact when it came.

There is a reason Tananarive Due is so well regarded, and this book illustrates it clearly.

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