Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for sending me an ARC of THE SPACE BETWEEN HERE AND NOW by Sarah Suk!

17-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her fear of vanishing at random has, at times, kept her from living a normal life, like going on dates or to school dances. In a search for answers about her Mom, who left when she was a child, she goes to Korea to try to unravel the mystery of her memories.

I really enjoyed this take on a “time travel” story. I’ve read a handful of stories before where a protagonist experience some kind of extraordinary phenomenon, but what I liked about this story is that STWS was a real, documented, and diagnosable condition in this world. Granted, it doesn’t come without its stigma and misunderstanding.

At the end of the day, this story wasn’t even really about STWS. It was about family, grief, trust, and how we understand our memories. Aimee’s relationship with her father grew and changed and reshaped itself. She reconnected with a friend from childhood that could potentially blossom into something more, if only she’s willing to let her guard down and let people in.

What I found really interesting about this story is that, in the end, she doesn’t get the answers she was hoping or looking for. But she gets something even greater - a connection with her father, new friendships, and confidence she never had before.

Perfect for fans of The Astonishing Color of After, or anyone who likes their YA books with some extra heart.

*4.5 stars*

The Space Between Here and Now was unique because the main character, Aimee, has a fictional condition called Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, which causes her to physically disappear and relive memories. Unlike most time travel stories, she is not able to change anything, she's just an invisible observer. While not common, the condition is known by the general public, but not understood very well.

We meet Aimee as a 17-year-old high school senior in Canada. Her mom disappeared when she was just 6, and her relationship with her father is strained. Recently her disappearances have become more frequent, making her afraid to really live her life because she doesn't know when it might happen again. Plus, her memories are revealing information about her mother that she didn't realize before. In order to learn more about her mother, she travels to Korea during Spring Break to see what she can find out.

While STWS is fictional, the stigma and feelings associated with it could be applied to many conditions in our real world. I think it's a good lesson for all of us to have empathy for others who are different from us instead of dismissing them as weird or giving them unwanted attention.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked Aimee, and it was interesting to experience her rare condition through her eyes. There's a lot of looking at family relationships and how they change over time. There's a sense of mystery as Aimee tries to figure out what happened to her mother. A little bit of romance mixed in. And the setting in Korea was interesting, beautiful, and gave insight into Korean culture. I enjoyed watching Aimee grow over the course of the story, and I liked that things didn't always turn out quite how I was expecting.

I loved Aimee's determination to find answers to her condition by traveling to South Korea to try and find her mother and mother's family. I enjoyed her relationship with her aunt, but wish her dad had been honest with her from the beginning about her mom. I also wish the relationship component between Aimee and Junho had been reduced to just friendship, but at least the focus of the story was on Aimee instead of the love interest. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

Aimee is a young woman in Vancouver who suffers from STWS, where she literally disappears into memories triggered by smells that can last from a few minutes to hours. She seeks help from her father, but he refuses to acknowledge that she needs to go to a specialist. So many of her memories are tied to her absent mother so she journeys to Korea to seek answers.

I loved that the book was steeped in culture. The different areas of Seoul, the language, the food. They even touch on why her father is so resistant to admitting she needs help. The STWS is interesting and I did like how they talked about it as a forgotten disorder, like so many of the smaller disorders out there seem to be.

With that being said, I had a hard time finishing this book. It was rather slow moving and I don't know that I particularly liked Aimee. They never really addressed why her father shut down to the degree he does, which seems to be the motivating factor for the story.

3 stars based on originality and cultural elements

Amazing and creative premise!!!!

This novel follows Aimee as she deals with STWS—a condition that makes Aimee disappear into her memories unwillingly. Aimee is left with questions about the where a bouts of her mother and travels to Korea to find answers.

Things I loved…
-the world building was spectacular, I felt fully immersed in this world where STWS was real.
-STWS as a rare condition was fascinating and made me want to keep reading more. I love the touches of having the forum posts and pieces from Aimee’s diary.
-Nikita - loved their long distance friendship showcased throughout the book! They have a very healthy and supportive relationship that I love to see in YA.
-Aimee and Junho were so sweet!
-great group therapy and support groups portrayed
-At its core—this is a novel about a father and daughter. I loved seeing their relationship change throughout the story and grow into something stronger.

5⭐️ Looking forward to the author’s next book! PS: this cover is beautiful!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publish for the ARC ❤️

The Space Between Here and Now was a delight. I’m a sucker for books that play with time, and this does exactly that - Aimee Roh is a Korean-Canadian 17 year old who has a condition that physically shoots her back into her past when she’s triggered by certain nostalgic smells. Her father is very traditionally Korean and doesn’t talk about Aimee’s mom much, who left them when she was younger. She’s grappling with her identity, unsure of what her future holds for her while Aimee’s past has such a strong grip on her present. I’m so happy that I read this - there was so much heart in it, especially dedicated to Aimee and her dad’s relationship.

I also adored all the side characters - I really appreciated that Aimee’s best friend Nikita wasn’t swept to the wayside while Aimee is battling her own identity, family, and self understanding! So many YA books fall into the “forgotten best friend” pit, it’s so old so I loved that The Space Between Here and Now avoided that. Junho was also a very sweet, easy-to-love love interest for Aimee! Their budding romance was a side plot, which I’m more than fine with, but I feel like he was his own person with his own ambitions who really had the spirit to support Aimee. Aimee’s father was a pivotal character, and I loved how their resolution was handled - it actually made me cry (LOL I am a sucker for parental/daughter relationships) - and what the author was trying to say about immigrant parents and their heart but sometimes lack of communication.

Overall, this book had a lot of hearty sentiments about self identity/acceptance and familial bonds. I’ll be looking forward to reading more of Sarah Suk. Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 ⭐️
Wow. What a truly beautiful story that is light enough to devour on one rainy day, but deep enough to have my crying for the last 10% of the book.
First off, the premise of this alternate universe where there is such a thing as time traveling, but it is syndrome, like any other disease a person could inherit or develop. And you can’t influence time, you only replay certain memories of yours, watching it like a ghost. And the time traveling is triggered by your senses. For the main character it is smell. But the author then made this into a sort of allegory for anyone with a mental or physical illness. The feeling of sometimes being lost in it. Of disappearing. Of being known not as yourself but as your disease. It sort of reminded me of Fault In Our Stars. In the sense that we have a FMC who is disappearing into her illness, becoming distant and ghost-like until something (for her leaving for Korea) interrupts and allows her to learn more about herself and her illness and to finally give herself permission to live her life. She still reverts back into herself and pushes away but she’s learning. And part of it isn’t just her disease but because of her upbringing too.
To balance all that out, not only is her aunt amazing, but the love interest. He is exactly how I think anyone with any mental or physical illness would want someone to act. Plus he is adorable and they’re both artsy and their text messages are so cute and funny.
I could talk endlessly more about this story. I walked in with honestly low expectations. I thought it’d be a fun, light, time travel, YA read. But this ended up being something so much more. It was beautiful and thought provoking. I’m going to be yelling at everyone I know to read this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollin’s Publishing for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

I am once again reminded and validated in my opinion that young adult sci fi books are superior to every other genre. This book was not only intriguing in its premise (time travel - I am always a sucker for any spin on this trope) but also delivered such an emotional, thought-provoking, satisfying story about a Korean-Canadian teen who wants to learn more about her absent mother and also has to deal with the annoying yet fascinating (fictional) Sensory Time Warp Syndrome. I flew through this book and could have read 300 more pages. This reminded me in many ways of The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, one of my all-time favorites and I’d highly recommend this book to fans of that one! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eBook in exchange for an honest review! I hope everyone picks it up on its publication date of Oct 31, 2023 🙌🏼

What an amazing story, the concept of this one was fantastic! I’m always a big believer in how a certain smell can transport you to a certain time in your memory and loved that about this book.
Well written, and very engaging. A must read!

What a cool concept for a book! The writing in this book drew me in from the beginning as we get to know Aimee better and her condition where she disappears and goes back in time.
I liked her friendship with Nikita and how supportive they are of each other.
I can understand why Appa just wants her to grow out of her condition, as there is more to that backstory.
I liked Aimee going to Korea and trying to find the answers for herself.
This is a great YA read that I know many teens in my library will like and that I hope gets a lot of attention because it's a different story that stands out!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

The Space between here and now is such an awesome book concept. I really enjoyed the time traveling and when Aimee would learn more about herself. Once I started this novel, i couldn’t put it down! We need more time travel books. I felt for all of the characters, Aimee, her father and her mother.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this DRC.
This is a completely fascinating book about a teen girl with Sensory Time Warp Syndrome. Aimee Roh physically returns to past memories that are triggered by scent. Aimee is also dealing with a other who has physically left and a father who has emotionally checked out.
I loved that Aimee is not the only character with STWS. There are support groups and on-line chat rooms that help explain this condition. Not everyone experiences it the way, and her eventual willingness to explore and research her condition was fascinating. It added a wonderful layer to the story and to her. I definitely did not want this story to end.
#TheSpacebetweenHereNow #NetGalley

The Space Between Here is a really interesting speculative read: what if there was a disorder where someone popped into memories in the past for extended periods of time? Aimee has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome (STWS) goes back in time with triggering smells. She doesn’t know how to control her ability, and recently she’s been going back more and more often, all of her memories somehow connected to her mother who disappeared.

SPOILERS:

The mystery with the mother is an engaging engine for the narrative, and I appreciated the anticlimactic reality, that her mother wasn’t stuck in a time loop. She just abandoned her family. It’s devastating and mundane and so real. But it also means Aimee has to come to terms with her mother’s choice and absence, and figure out how to relate to those who are present in her life now. The way Aimee reconciles with family members was so beautifully done

The way the author Sarah Suk captures the nuance of stigma with STWS—it feels so authentic and realistic, the way people treat them and romanticize the illness, or talk about it in uncomfortable ways. It’s a smart way to critique the kind of stigma and ableism we face in our real world. This is a really innovative take on the time travel genre, infusing the speculative with grief make for such a powerful, memorable read.

Such a great book and unique concept ...traveling back in time revisiting memories. The story was well developed and rather mature in its take on acceptance other people's choices although those choices may cut you to the core. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thanks NetGalley.

Memories are precious and fleeting. What if we could go back in time via a vivid memory and relive certain times again? It is this unusual plot idea that drew me to Sarah Suk’s newest novel. The Space Between Here and Now is a speculative work where certain people have a condition which makes them transport back to a past time in their lives based on a sensory experience. This situation can happen at any time for Aimee, a teen who is embarrassed by it, yet also intrigued by the memories that she relives. Aimee’s Mom left her family years ago and when Aimee relives the memories of her, she sees details that are new. So the teen decides to look for her Mom and try to find out the answers behind why she left. Being a Young Adult selection, this book has great pacing and I read it in two days. I love this author’s writing as her characters are realistic for their age, without being cutesie and immature. The friendships are real and the family relationships are loving. Aimee is Korean and I was drawn in by the food and culture, which was explained but not over analyzed. This story was sweet with the smallest bit of romance and science fiction ideas that were set in places seamlessly. A quick read, it added supernatural situations and smiles and I suggest it for a reading slump or between heavy novels. I will be following this author in the future! Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC in return for my honest opinion.

This was a very interesting novel. Almost immediately one is brought face to face with the protagonist's problem: disappearing into other time periods and missing seconds of the present.

I loved the world building of this novel. The author wastes no time in throwing the reader into the story and making me want to turn the page. I found it to be enjoyable. The setting of going back in time to Korea was also very good. Although the story dragged in some parts, I thought that this was a novel I would recommend to my friends who like sci-fi type of stories as well as stories set in multiple countries.

For world building and the idea of the plot I give this book 5 stars. Since it dragged for me in some places, I give it 3, so over all 4 stars.

I look forward to seeing what this author will write next!

This is my honest review.

Wow. This book was so good! Well-written. Beautifully written characters. The time travel element was flawless. The power of connection and family. Not only blood family, but chosen family. Wonderful. Thought-provoking. So many feels. I absolutely LOVED this! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

This book!! What a gorgeous, perfectly developed look at the impact of memory on our family history and identity—the speculative hook worked so well, and each character was finely-drawn and sympathetic. A winner on many levels.

The Space between Here & Now is a cool YA story with a time travel focus. I was drawn to it by the premise, Aimee has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome (STWS) which projects her back in to old memories at various times. She finds these time traveling events both nostalgic and unsettling. As she experiences more and more intense episodes she realize she needs more answers to things in her life that her father won’t talk about.

Some things I really liked:
-inclusion of Korea as a setting
- new concept of STWS
-complicated family dynamics with cultural expectations as another layer

Some things I’d have liked to see:
-more about time travel OR deeper into the family dynamics. Both could have been developed much further
-more time spent on time loops

Overall, a nice story that could have been longer!

This is so good! I'm not usually a YA reader, but I liked Sarah Suk's Made in Korea so I was very intrigued by her new book. I think the reason I am not usually a YA reader is that I'm a bit too mature of an audience for it. I'm not in my teens anymore, so sometimes the themes, particularly regarding parent-child relationships feel simple and frustrating. I can't tell if this is just me since I'm older, or if teens also feel this way. In any case, Sarah Suk's The Space between Here & Now is far from that. The parent-child relationship is something that feels so nuanced and very natural. It still has some of the simplicity for a teen audience, but I feel like the author also trusts her teen readers to have nuanced emotions towards their parents and be able to have enough maturity to grapple with those complexities, especially when they learn that there is more to their parents than meets the eye. The story is also fun and feels so much like being in a Korean drama!