Release Date: June 2, 2010
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Rated: YA 14+
Format: Paperback
Source: Pansing
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website
Evie's not sure why she started lying to the girls at school about her friendship with Jonah, her fellow paper route employee. Jonah is older, a college dropout with broad shoulders, a streak of scarlet in his hair, and mystery in his eyes. More than anything, Evie just wants something to happen, so she invents a nonexistent romance out of a crush. But when Jonah discovers a body in the woods—a girl Evie knew when she was little—Evie's lies grow more complicated. As Evie hunts down the killer, she comes to find that her lies are the only things she can trust. Readers will churn through the pages of Katie Williams's suspenseful debut novel and feel the chill of goosebumps in its wake.
First off, I’m kind of jealous, because I saw the hardcover, and it looks absolutely GORGEOUS. The trees covering the title page? I NEED to get my hands on it soon. Anyway... this one took a little bit of time getting into, but when I did, I couldn’t stop. The Space Between Trees, other than the slow beginning and the somewhat anticlimactic end, was an interesting exploration of death and friendship, how one event can change a person’s life. I’d heard of Katie Williams’ books before, but I’d never read any of them until now. Absent sounds a little bit like this one, and should have the same brilliant creepy atmosphere, so now I’m dying to read it!
I hate to say this, but I found Evie’s character really annoying. I know, I wish I didn’t. It would have made this book a lot more enjoyable. I think it’s also why it took me a while to get into this one: her character’s voice stuck out so much during the first ten pages or so, and it sounded SO childish for a sixteen year old, so I was kind of put-off by the narrative voice. I really liked Hadley’s character though. Even though normally I don’t take a liking to the overly-confident-acting-older-than-the-actually-are-in-the-most-annoying-way type of people, I could actually stand her character because she seemed REAL.
What I enjoyed was the different relationships that grow in this novel, and I particularly liked the interaction between Evie and Mr. McCabe. Instead of a book that solely focused on the death of Zabet, I was pleasantly surprised that the plot actually looked at other things, with the murder running as an undercurrent to the novel. Obviously, the main plot is trying to find out who murdered Zabet, but the events throughout the book didn’t actually have much to do directly with it. However, as I mentioned before, I didn’t like the ending. It felt a little flat after the build up and suspense that I felt when reading the book. I was really hoping for a lot more!
Katie Williams’ is an author I’m definitely going to be on the look out for. Her debut is a moving story not only about murder and the death of a friend, but about friendship, truth and growing up. The Space Between Trees was fresh, real and beautifully written.
If you like this, try...
- The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer ● Goodreads
- Find Me by Romily Bernard ● Goodreads
