Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately it’s not for me. Did not finish @ 9%.

The characters in this story are vibrant and elicit incredibly strong emotions from the reader - whether protectiveness or loathing. I also think it’s incredibly important that the mother is written the way she is, as it highlights why many women “don’t tell”.

This is a powerful, moving and poignant read with a satisfying ending.

From the Publisher:

Tess thought that going away to college would mean she could finally be free from her shattered childhood. That she wouldn’t have to see Ian anymore, the step-brother who sexually abused her. That she could keep space between herself and her mother, who Tess told about the abuse and who didn’t believe her. That she could finally build a life that she felt safe in.

My Thoughts:
As far as surviving abuse and trying to let go of rage stories go, this one is pretty good. It is definitely much better than The Way He Loved Me by Heather Tanti. I could not even finish or stomach that book. It was just unrealistic drama and mysogony. This story, at least is more realistic and subtle. Sometimes parents are not capable of protecting their children. Sometimes safety is not found at home. The characters are a little underdeveloped, verging on stereotypical, however, this is a short novel. The change in characters happens in a two week span in order to close out this story and give it a nice little ending, so perhaps the characters need to be simple.

What I really would have wanted, which I have seen in other YA novels recently is a referral to a national hotline or organization for readers to get help if they are in a similar dilemma. Perhaps the publishers included this on the final publication.

An advanced copy provided by Net Galley and the publishers for an honest review.

A solid story that shows happiness exists in the moments we find it, and that's the best we can hope for. Personally, I loved the story.

The Space within the Silence was such a poignant story. I had been very intrigued when I'd first seen it on NetGalley but after reading it, I think it delivered more than my expectations of it. It's a very moving story of a girl who has been through so much in life but is still striving to survive and to be happy. I really liked the insight it gave me - I cannot say that I understood her, I don't think it's easy to understand what you haven't lived, but it informed me about certain concepts I am not familiar with.

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The story of a young woman who goes home for the holidays to her messed up family, could be anyone’s story right?

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But, Tess’ family is a bit more jacked than others and the reunion doesn’t do much more than make things worse. A horrible situation made worse by the fact her mother, someone who was supposed to support and protect her, failed to do just that and worse didn’t believe her.

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This book, The Space Within the Silence, explores the family dynamic in the face of an uncomfortable truth. It touches on several hot button issues such as emotional and sexual abuse as well as mental illness.

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I would like to say this book was great, but honestly it was just good. I would recommend others read it just for the subject matter alone because it does feel very real in it’s complexity.

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And let’s get real here, abuse is abuse no matter who its coming from or the circumstances it stems from. Tess shows a great deal of strength in not only facing her family, but her abuser, abusers to be more honest, as well. It’s hard to escape someone who is right in front of you. So just a bit more of this real for a minute, if you or someone you care for is being or has been abused in any way there is help available to you. I know it it’s hard and difficult to take that step but you CAN do it!

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And on that note let’s get to the nity gritty my booklings! My star rating for this book is a three maybe 3.5. (See in trying to be nice again!) Okay a 3. The subject matter it’s important the story itself was okay and the writing wasn’t bad.

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A big thank you to NetGalley for supplying me with a copy of The Space within the Silence for a fair and honest review.

When I saw this book on Netgalley, I was intrigued by the synopsis so I picked it up. This book deals with important subjects such as sexual abuse, mental health, drugs addiction, and abuse in general.

We follow Tess, a young woman in college who's been through a lot of bad stuff while she was growing up. Her family's a mess and she's full of anger and bitterness (with good reasons). I was wondering where the story would go, and I wasn't surprised in the end. This isn't a plot twist kind of book but I enjoyed following her through all of this. I'm glad she had Mel and Benjamin. I really liked him. He was so sweet and understanding!

Overall this was a decent read even though sometimes the back and forth between the present and past can be a little confusing.

Thank you for the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read and review this book!

The Space Within the Silence is a heartbreaking story about a girl who was sexually abused by her step brother. When she told her mom what had happened her mom didn't believe her.

Her mother makes life hell by making sure to invite the step brother to all holidays and special occasions. It takes everything Tess has to get through these events. Ian treats her as if nothing ever happened and like he is part of their family even though his dad and her mom split years ago.

Bre Woods captures the reality in this story of how some parents don't want to believe these things happen and how Tess struggles to deal with what has happened to her.
Kudos to you Ms. Woods for writing this story.

First of all - thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I started out this book not really knowing what it was going to be about - I read the description weeks before I read the book and just forgot what the plot was. 15% into the book, I reread the description and knew I was in for a whirlwind. Books about sexual assault are never easy to swallow, but that's not why this book was difficult for me to get through.

The story of Tess and her past with her awful stepbrother Ian was infuriating. Her mother was condescending, rude, and everything that I would never want to be as a mom. Her sister was clueless and a very shallow character. Her grandmother was no better, offering Tess no support or love when she knew the truth about her past. The one character in the book that I really liked was Benjamin - the mystery boy she met at a beach party that she met, hooked up with, spent a week with, and ultimately dumped at the end to be with her best friend, Mel.

The character development in the book was spotty at best, the plot was predictable, the storyline was frustrating and really didn't resolve itself at the end. I wanted SOMETHING good to happen for Tess, but it just didn't. She went back to being secretly in love with her best friend and that was it. Nothing came of it, she still hated her mom, she dumped the cute and nice boy, and went back to a mediocre life. If a mediocre life is what the author wanted for this character, she achieved it. But I wanted Tess to have a really good WIN -and it just didn't happen.

This was a well written and raw book about Tess rebuilding her life. This novel was a great read. I will be seeking out more books from this author in the future!

Tess was in Earth Science as there wa going to be an extra credit assignment given and both she and Mel could use the help with their grade. Ess had met Mel in her freshman year of college and they were now best friends. Tess had a weakness of ignoring things she didn’t want to deal with in hopes they would simply disappear through sheer neglect like the phone call from her mother it didn’t happen but… Then her sister Anya texted her- who Tess loved more than anyone else and was her favorite person in the world- that Ian wanted to stay at their house and their mom was mad at Tess for not answering her phone. But then again Tess’s mom was always mad at her . Iam was Tess’s step brother who had sexually abused Tess when she was younger. She never wanted to see him again bit their other treated him as thought he were her biological child even though she was no longer with Ian’s father. She had never believed Tess about Ian. When Tess was even younger she had been with her dad and a family friend- Nick who she had known all her life when her father was out of the room Nick Pulled Tess on his lap and was grinding against her, Tess knew it was wrong but didn’t know what to do she had only been eight or nine so she did nothing and her dad came back in the room. Tess loved living alone and building her own life away from Ian and her mom and she could feel safe. One time she had left her apartment or talked to anyone but the Jimmy John delivery guy for eight days. No one made Tess feel as accepted as Mel did. Mel didn’t have a real good family life or history just like Tess.Tess was a control freak and terrified of people hurting her. Tess knew she was going to have to face Ian during this Christmas break the last thing she wanted to do.
I couldn’t really connect to this story. It wasn’t the subject matter but the way the story had too many flashbacks and unfinished sentences for me. I also got confused at times jumping back and forth between the past and present. The way the book was written it was hard for me to relate to the characters. This book just wasn’t for me.

** spoiler alert ** The space between the silence is very angry. And because it was so angry it made me very sad. Sad for Tess and her lack of mental and emotional support. She was not only sexually molested by her step brother but she was neglected by her parents. Her basic needs were only sometimes met and that is very disappointing. No wonder Tess is so angry. In the book she mentions her therapists but it seems her dr hadn’t really been able to help her. I wish she was able to find an awesome therapist because she really needed someone in her corner besides Mel. Thank god for Mel and friends like her but she also had some issues of her own that she needed to work through.

This book covers a very mentally difficult and emotionally exhausting time for Tess. It’s amazing how resilient the human spirit is.

I wish I could read more so I could know how Tess ends up in the future. I’m hoping that her future holds good things for her!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

The Space Between is a debut novel from Bre Woods that is in part taken from events from her life. I commend the author for taking on such a personal topic and I find her brave for laying her wounds open for everyone to see. A book about surviving and being able to find the strength to continue living is one that I will always stand behind. There are not a lot of books out there that taken on the aftermath of sexual assault and the guilt and shame that the victim takes on and the isolation that comes with the fear that they will not be believed. This book is not the best I have ever read, but it is one that will touch a lot of readers and will affect their lives long after. I recommend this book to women out there that do not want to feel so alone with their story. This ARC was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The characters are well written, especially Tess and her mom, but I had a difficult time following the timeline of the story as it jumped back and forth too often and the way the author wrote the flow was difficult for me to be able to relax into this read. I liked the plot, and it was a unique way to go about it, but the jumpiness of the timeline and the flow of words just weren't working with my reading style.

The Space within the Silence tells the story of Tess, a college student reluctant to go home for Christmas where all that's waiting for her is a troubled relationship with her mother and the confrontation of sexual abuse that she suffered as a child at the hands of a family member.

This is a difficult book to review. The subject matter is important and worth exploring, but this all felt very....clinical. I felt detached from Tess and never felt like there were any real emotions that came from any of the characters here - everything came across as robotic as in, this is the emotion I feel but never any real in-depth exploration of them. Perhaps a lot of this is due to the style of writing - time jumps/flashbacks and short, clipped sentences left me feeling like I never really got to know or understand anything about Tess. I only knew what I was told but I never felt anything. Tess also fluctuated wildly in her personality, which I struggled with. For example, her internal monologue tells us that she is outgoing and wildly talkative but then in the next paragraph she tells us she shuts down and can't talk to people. It was confusing.

To me, the story felt clipped and abrupt and rushed without much going on beneath the surface. A missed opportunity, in my opinion, to be sure.

I received this ARC as a courtesy from NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Yellow Taxi Press for the arc of this book.
I really liked this book, it was raw and personal, and well written,