BIPOC 2SLGBTQIA+ Science Fiction Thriller featuring an enforcer who teams up with a by-the-books partner and a scientist in order to find an invisible killer but uncovers something much deadlier.

5/5 stars: This is the second entry in Johnson's The Space Between Worlds series, which is a Sci-Fi Dystopian Thriller that features a mechanic and enforcer tasked with uncovering who or what's mutilating bodies who teams up with a fellow enforcer and a brusque-but-brilliant scientist. This book takes place years after the events of The Space Between Worlds and not only is the world building top-notch but Johnson's writing and character work's stellar. The characters are well-rounded, complex and yet remain likable. I really liked getting to know Scales, who's tough and yet hides a inner vulnerability. Additionally, it's great revisiting this world and see where Cara, Nik Nik and Adam are after the actions and consequences of the events of the previous novel. There are some very tough topics tackled, so take care and check the CWs. While this could be read as a stand-alone you'll gain so much more about the world and previous events of you pick up book one, The Space Between Worlds, which was a YA release.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Light spoilers for The Space Between Worlds

Those Beyond the Wall is a sequel to Micaiah Johnson’s 2020 debut scifi novel The Space Between Worlds (which I loved), and although its new narrator might make you think they’re not directly connected, it soon becomes clear that you really need to read the first book first. If you have read it before, consider giving it a reread before you dive into this one.

Both of these books tell of a rather dystopian future America seemingly dissolved into powerful city-states eking out an existence in the wasteland. The novels focus on one city in particular, the cold and gleaming Wiley City, and its surrounding shantytown society, Ashtown. Wiley City surrounds itself with the eponymous walls, brutally policing their borders and ensuring its citizens lives of relative comfort and safety at the expense of those suffering in the wastelands, with the citizens predictably divided most often along gendered lines (with Wiley City primarily being home to White and Asian people and Ashtown home to brown and black people). These books are not exactly subtly in their politics, though Those Beyond the Wall takes it even further, with a (in my opinion, somewhat cringe) foreword explicitly drawing attention to the book’s angry and overt politics and several overt rants given directly to the reader from the POV character’s thoughts. I don’t necessarily think casting subtlety to the wind is a bad thing, and the book does end up offering a truly radical argument in favor of targeted political violence, but it does get grating at times.

While Johnson’s first book was an exhilarating thriller coiled tight around a compelling mystery, a well-crafted scifi setting, and some cogent takes on privilege and power, Those Beyond the Wall is a much messier thing. It lacks the clean structure and propulsion of the first book, instead lashing out at multiple targets, muddling through a central mystery that lacks the urgency and compulsion of its predecessor. Its POV character, Mr. Scales, is a high-ranking “runner” (a mafioso knight driving a Mad Max car) loyal to the brutal emperor of Ashtown, Nik Nik. The story’s central mystery concerns a recent spat of gruesome, unexplainable murders, but most of the book’s actual word count is spent on Mr. Scales, her thoughts, and her relationships with Nik Nik, her unrequited crush and fellow runner Mr. Cheeks, and a former-religious extremist-turned runner Mr. Cross. I liked Mr. Scales as a protagonist, and Johnson remains pretty great at creating these flawed characters that leap vividly from the page in just a few scenes. However, this intense focus on Mr. Scales’ thoughts and subjectivity keeps the greater mystery in the background, seemingly lurching back in forth in importance and yet expecting the reader to be deeply invested in its answer.

Those Beyond the Wall’s most daring feat, however, is presumably also going to be the thing that probably upsets the most readers. Mr. Scales - whose so often thinks in political speeches that could be ripped from 2024 leftist activists’ social media posts - believes strongly in Ashtown’s superiority to Wiley City, especially as it relates to her emperor and fellow runners’ brutal hierarchical rule. Its hard to disentangle Johnson’s personal values and opinions from Mr. Scales’ thoughts - especially since Johnson speaks to the reader directly in the aforementioned foreword - which makes Mr. Scales’ critique of the first book’s protagonist Cara especially fraught. Cara is someone born of both worlds, used by Wiley City and yet also brutalized by Ashtown, who ends the first book with an understanding of both worlds and a clear view on Wiley City as the ultimate perpetrator of the issues. Yet in this book, she’s often viewed by Mr. Scales as having succumbed to the soft, bourgeois life of Wiley City - and it’s hard not to feel like Johnson agrees with her, turning against her previous character and embracing this new violent protagonist, ready to bathe in righteous blood. In Mr. Scales’ eyes, there are no innocents in Wiley City - everyone there is benefiting from the city’s oppression of Ashtown. And Ashtown’s violence and paranoia are necessary to survive; if it creates monsters, then they should live up to their reputation and be monstrous against their creators.

It’s possible - and possibly even the intention - to view both these books as in conversation with each other, as each presenting a different approach to the injustice of white supremacist capitalism. But its also framed as an angry repudiation of the first book, one that keeps the original’s burning righteous anger and well-crafted characters, but sacrifices a compelling story, any degree of subtlety, and interesting scifi ideas on the pyre of that rage. I’ve been feeling that rage lately too, looking out at the world around me. I want more books to able to channel that, to unsettle the complacent and inspire the radical. I found Those Beyond the Wall to both reflect my own beliefs and make me feel unsettled, complicit, shaken. It will likely linger with me as the future unfolds around us all. I just wish it managed to tell a story as well as the first book did.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of The Space Between Worlds but Those Beyond the Wall hit differently for me. It was a somewhat confusing frenetic start and although I enjoyed the book it just never came together for me the way her first book did.

It took me a little time to settle back into the world of Ashtown and Wiley City, but once I was in, I was completely engrossed in Johnson's newest novel. The book takes place about ten years after "The Space Between Worlds", and features a very different protagonist, a tough young woman known as Mr. Scales who is an enforcer for Ashtown with quite a few secrets to hide. Scales is a remarkable character, filled with violence and rage and love. When a slate of mysterious and gruesome murders start to happen - with no obvious perpetrator - the fragile peace of Scales's world is threatened. This probably could be read as a standalone, but I would highly recommend reading "The Space Between Worlds" first. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for a digital review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to start this review by saying that I absolutely LOVED The Space Between Worlds. I gave it 5 stars and considered it one of the best books I read in 2022. I reread it a few weeks ago to prepare for this book and while there were a few things that bothered me that didn't the first time, I still really enjoyed it and consider it a great read and an extremely impressive debut.

However, this book? I hated it. I’ve already canceled my pre-order. I considered DNFing but I had to know how it ended, in order to fully compare it to the first book. And so I can confidently say this book did not do the first book justice, and in some ways ruined my impression of the first book retroactively.

Five main reasons this didn’t work for me:
1. The narrator, Mr. Scales, is EXTREMELY annoying. She is so confidently wrong about so many things, which was especially irritating when it was regarding events of the first book that she was literally present for. It seems like this book was actually written for people who didn’t read The Space Between Worlds. She constantly acts like the direct violence of the runners and emperor is so much better (and more civilized?) than the systemic indirect violence of Wiley City, even though the emperor and runners were constantly brutally torturing people for the smallest of infractions. It’s like we’re supposed to forget about Cara’s lifelong trauma from the runners’ violence because Scales said it was necessary to keep Ashtown in check. Her narration style is stream-of-consciousness rambling with random social justice rants that sound like 2020-era Instagram posts with no relation to the plot (there was an entire ACAB rant for no reason). Information about her background is withheld from the reader until just past the halfway point, and until then, Scales is breaking the fourth wall and actually taunting the reader with various lies about her life, which felt especially irritating compared to the first book that revealed Cara’s background 8% in! And the worst part for me is that literally everything about Cheeks and Scales’ relationship and Cross and Scales’ relationship is truly godawful and made me want to scream, especially because of the ending for both characters. Everything Scales does just shows how extremely immature she is, and she doesn’t change throughout the book at all (other than the nonsensical change with Cross).

2. The characterization and interactions of the characters here that were in The Space Between Worlds were completely different from what they were in that book, and there was no explanation or background as to why. This book did Cara SO DIRTY. I did not like that Scales portrayed her as both an annoying wise god-like elder figure and out-of-touch idealistic. Not to mention Cara bickering with Adam like a child. Honestly, just the fact that Adam was alive ruined the ending of The Space Between Worlds for me. That was the perfect note of ominous revenge with no clear resolution, but suddenly this book has Nik Nik worrying over Adam and trusting him with everything. What happened in between the bombing of the hatch in book 1 and this book to make their relationship like that?? We never learn. And why is the abusive Nik Nik portrayed as a loving brother and lover? I also didn’t like how the religion of the Rurals that seemed fairly positive in Space was portrayed as evil and manipulative in this book. Esther and Michael seem no different from any evangelizing Christian in the real world, but in the first book their traditions were completely different and honestly quite beautiful. I feel like the only character who really felt the same between books was Dell, which is really saying something imo.

3. A lot of the plot hinges on magical elements that were not explained and felt extremely out-of-place in a supposed science fiction book. And this was explicitly commented on by Cara for some reason, so I know it was on purpose. But why include a magical truth serum and a way to see into the future of other worlds, when that was never possible in the first book?

4. The messaging was extremely blatant, which was true in The Space Between Worlds as well, but here it wasn’t even written well. Everything was so simplistic and black-and-white to the point that I found it borderline offensive. The sex trade was portrayed as healing, a female Wileyite getting mad at being called mister was compared to transphobia, the aforementioned runner violence was portrayed as a good thing, and Scales repeated over and over that it’s okay for stories to be lies in order to support a cause (never mind the fact that that’s how misinformation is spread all over the Internet in real life).

5. There were a few scenes that didn’t make sense and seemed to contradict what was described earlier in the book. I can’t talk about the specifics without spoilers but a lot of the runner logic did not make sense to me. It’s hard to understand the motivations of people who beat up some people for just saying one thing wrong or just loving the wrong person but then wholeheartedly trust others who have proven time and time again to be shady. Not to mention that the science of a big part of the ending wasn't explained and doesn't seem possible to me.

Long story short, this book sucked, and at this point, I don’t think I’m going to read anything else from Micaiah Johnson. I guess I’ll have to think of The Space Between Worlds as a one-off. Extremely disappointing considering this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley. I absolutely loved the first book in the series and this second did not disappoint. Love that we got to see more into Ashtown and the world of the runners. Mr. Scales is an incredible character and one I will not surely forget.

I first became interested in "Those Beyond the Wall" because I loved "The Space Between Us," the first book in the series. However, the books ended up being glaringly different, with "Those Beyond the Wall" leaning towards more dystopian and political themes, while "The Space Between Us" fell into a more scientific/speculative category. Personally, I did enjoy the first book more (partially because I love happy endings), and partially because I felt Cara as a main character was infinitely more likable than Scales. In particular, I disliked the arc involving her and Cheeks because I found her perception towards him extremely frustrating and immature. The treatment of Nik's character also somewhat disappointed me, as I found it unrealistic that he could go from being Cara's nightmare of an abuser to Scales' relatively gentle older brother for no compelling reason. Overall, however, I still found "Those Beyond the Wall" extremely entertaining and well-written, with interesting world-building and plot twists. I hope the author decides to write more books in this world, but I hope they focus on a different set of characters.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and netgalley for allowing me to really this book. I usually dont go for sci fi books but this book blew it out the water. I really enjoyed every moment of this book

This book was so interesting. I actually haven't read the first book, so I was unfamiliar with the world, but I still found the characters and the plot so fascinating. This is really unlike any book I've ever read and I like that about it. However, something about the writing style made it hard to follow for me and I got lost in the plot quite a few times. I think with a re-read I would get even more enjoyment out of it. This is definitely a book readers should take their time with because it beautiful but a bit complex.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I really liked the first book. It's been a while, so I needed a refresher, but had a hard time finding one online. Btw, for those interested in Cara, she's mostly just a background character.

I'd give this one 3.5 stars. A lot of it was about romantic angst, which I didn't love. The main character is constantly thinking about the person she loves, the longing related to that person, people she's attracted to at various times, etc. There were a couple of twists towards the end that I thought were interesting and made it better for me. But still, I enjoyed the first book much more.

More people need to be talking about Micaiah Johnson and her works. The Space Between Worlds is one of my favourite sci-fi novels of all time, and I was so excited to get my hands on this, the sequel. It is my most anticipated book of 2024, and it didn't disappoint. Up front, I will say that if you haven't read The Space Between Worlds, you could probably read this one, but you're going to be missing a lot of context to things that some of the characters do. It won't ruin the book by any means, but you will appreciate this one so much more if you've read The Space Between Worlds.

The thing that really sets Johnson's works apart for me is the writing. She has this beautiful writing style that isn't purple prose or overly descriptive - it is, in fact, fairly straightforward as far as writing styles go. But they way Johnson can craft a sentence to hit you where it hurts? Is unparalleled. She is a deeply insightful writer who can really explore themes in a way that isn't preachy and leaves lots up to the reader to interpret while still making the themes of her works clear. That was very true of Those Beyond the Wall. It's a hard book to read, frankly, what with... *gestures at the world*... but I think it's a very necessary read. It does a good job of making you think about your ethics, your morals, your values, and consider where those lines are for you, and how those lines could or might move. I really love that Those Beyond the Wall doesn't spell out a hard "this is right, this is wrong", but instead acknowledges that while there are some things that are right or wrong, the way we deal with that is very, very varied and may not have a hard moral absolute. Because of that, I think that readers will react in varied ways to the actions of Mr. Scales, Nik Nik, Adam, and Cara.

Speaking of - while I think that Johnson's greatest strength in her books is her writing style and her way of getting you to really think about things, that's not to say that the other areas of her writing aren't as amazing. I love these characters. I hate these characters. I love hating these characters. I hate loving these characters. Every character in this book is made up of what circumstances forced them to be, and then the choices they made in reaction to that. Scales is a really interesting protagonist to follow. She is, at her core, a good person who has made, and will continue to make, some very difficult choices that she has to live with. I think it's an interesting choice, especially in comparison to Cara, who we get to meet again and interact with. I loved the opportunity to get to know Nik Nik and Adam is such a different space (and this is why I think it's incredibly valuable to have read The Space Between Worlds first, because otherwise you are missing out on a LOT of context here that informs the themes of the book). I loved the expansion of runner culture and ethics through Scales, Cheeks, and Cross. (I will just note here: the romance was unnecessary, it really didn't add anything to the story or themes.)

There were a few fumbles, though. There were some plot elements that didn't quite tie together, and some character choices that felt like they needed another 50 pages of build up because they felt somewhat sudden or forced. And I will admit that this book doesn't feel as tightly put together as her first one, with many messier pieces and less thematic precision. But that doesn't really matter to me, because this is still Johnson doing what she does best. This book is definitely going to linger with me.

An eARC was kindly provided by NetGalley; all opinions are my own.

“The night is long and dark, Rage says, but I will keep us warm.”

This is just one, of MANY lyrically moving quotes I highlighted as I read through this book. One of my favorite books of 2020, and possibly my favorite Sci-fi book of all time, was The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. So when I found out she was returning to the same world in Those Beyond the Wall, I was ecstatic!

Those Beyond the Wall, however, is so much more moving, poignant, and important in a way that The Space Between Worlds wasn’t. The Author, Micaiah Johnson, states in an Author’s Note at the beginning of the story that this book was largely conceived during the sixty-two-day sit-in at Nashville’s Tennessee State Capitol in 2023. This work of art, for art is what it should be called, is so beautiful in its entirety.

This story follows Mr. Scales, a runner in Ashtown that has the Emperor’s ear in a way most runners don’t. Which is a good thing because you find out early on that Mr. Scales is one of the first to experience that traveler’s are coming from parllel universes into our own Ashtown. But if those parallel universe travelers also exist in this plane, it very brutally murders the resident of this Ashtown, to make space for the parallel universe’s version of that person. You do see the reemergence of Cara and Dell from the first book, but this is wholly Scales’ story and journey. And a moving one it is.

The story that follows is a beautiful representation of race, privilege, gender, and family. The family you chose, versus the family you’re born with. The privilege you’re born with, and how you can still be different and shunned for that difference.

This story is one I can tell will stay with me for a lifetime. I loved every moment of this book. Make sure to pre-order this now to ensure you have your copy when it comes out on March 12! Thank you to #NetGalley and #DelRey for this ARC of #ThoseBeyondTheWall by #MicaiahJohnson in exchange for an honest review.

fun and well done scifi with a deeps written protagonist. thanks so much for the arc! i would recommend this one a lot.

Those Beyond The Wall was a phenomenal read. When I tell you I was on the edge of my couch feeling so many different emotions. I don’t think I was ready.The passion and anger of injustice were screaming through these pages. It hit hard on so many topics.. I was impressed by The Space Between Worlds so I had to request this ARC and I’m so glad I did. Even though this story deals with racism, elitism and anger there is truly a beautiful even optimistic story behind it all. I 100% recommend this book and I look forward to the authors work in the future.

A tale of rage and justice, a story of ultimate vengeance, THOSE BEYOND THE WALL is the perfect sequel to Micaiah Johnson's THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS with a twisting plot and lush prose.

I was so excited for this sequel/companion, and it did not disappoint! I loved seeing this other side of this world building, and I really enjoyed the characters. I hope this isn't the last we see of all this!! (And even if it is, it's very satisfying to have what we do have!)

I barely know where to begin to write this review. I enjoyed The Space Between Worlds immensely when I read it a few years ago, and I was not prepared for a sequel but I am so glad to have been able to read this book. The whole story was so soaked in rage and pain, at times it hurt to read. This book is violent and cruel and full of impossible choices and deceptive stories.

The novel follows Mr. Scales, a runner for the Emperor of Ashtown, a town barely hanging onto survival in the shadow of the rich and protected Wiley City. Both communities are faced with a multidimensional threat, and we follow Scales through the twists and turns of the conflict. The characters in this book are as cruel and unforgiving as their environment, and just as stubborn. Scales has a fascination with storytelling, and throughout the novel she tells stories about her town, her family, herself, and her future that eventually contradict one another, and you learn that she sees stories as a powerful tool to be used in order to produce a result. This inconsistency makes for an even more engaging story!

The links between this story and recent and historical events surrounding racism, police brutality, and systemic corruption all may be seen as heavy handed, but to me this was an appropriate reflection of the gravity of the situation. The rage and grief spreading from the author to the pages was tangible, and I do not find fault with that.

This review can also be seen on my Goodreads Account here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5961175743

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!!

Micaiah Johnson the genius that you are. This book is such a fresh and well done sequel that takes the same world and upends it in brilliant ways. While you certainly get a sense of the authors political sensibilities in the Space Between Worlds, it’s a little easy to assume that they’re the typical SFF fare- one class oppressed, one class in power. Here we’ve been given a political manifesto that seems to argue the necessary evil of violence. For some, maybe even a structure they need to survive. I loved reading this and drank up every word. I continue to love Exlee and the House and the comfort within.

The sequel to The Space Beyond Worlds, set roughly a decade after the events of that book. Narration is handled by Mr. Scales, one of Nik Nik's runners who was only casually mentioned in the first book. Scales is not fully aware of the events of the first book, as she was only involved in one part of it, so there is little recapping of the world or what happened before. The people we knew from book one are there, but those in Nik Nik's orbit take center stage this time.

The plot pulls you in from the beginning when Scales witnesses a brutal death without a murderer, only to learn it was one of many that day. Tasked with finding out what happened, Scales moves between Ashtown, Wiley City and the Rurals, running into those we've seen before as she tries to solve the case and prevent more deaths.

In the first book, I understood why Cara acted the way she did and usually agreed with her choices. That wasn't the case with Scales. Scales was hard to love and harder to understand. Her stream of consciousness method of storytelling made things she understood not always clear to the reader. She also occasionally lies to the reader.

I'm glad I read the book, even if I didn't love it the way I did the first. I'll definitely read more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance arc.

I loved The Space Between Worlds when I read it many years ago. I recommended it widely and sang its praises, so I was very excited when the publisher offered me an advance copy of the long awaited sequel, Those Beyond the Wall. If what I say here sounds interesting to you though, read The Space Between Worlds, (and actually, if it’s been a minute since you read The Space Between Worlds, I’d recommend going in for a reread before diving in here) as this is a true sequel that will assume you’ve read the first, and have a lot less to offer you if you haven’t read it.

I love Johnson’s word building, which continues to feel real, true, and fresh, even in the sequel. Sometimes second books lack some of the wonder and propulsive curiosity that drives the first as the world has already been fully explored. Not this sequel. I could feel the dirt and the dust, see the sparkling skylines, and smell the blood. As a warning: this book does have a decent amount of blood, guts, and body horror, but it never feels gratuitous or unearned.

The thing that I think this book does the best is complexity. The characters are complicated--they have trauma, they have desires, and sometimes they want one thing one moment and another the next. They feel like real, complicated, messy people. There is nothing as simple as a one way redemption arc here--they take hesitant steps towards improvement and then they backslide. It’s also not a book that’s going to make you feel comforted or satisfied at the end of it. You’re going to be asking questions. You’ll probably not know exactly how you feel about it. If you like N.K. Jemison, The Expanse, or A Memory Called Empire, I’d give this one a shot.

This book is also unapologetically genre, and genre at its best. It doesn’t hedge by saying it’s “elevated genre” or “literary genre” or “lit fic with a genre twist.” This book is clearly written by an author who loves genre, for people who love genre. Johnson is a rising star and I can’t wait to see where she goes next.

The publisher gave me an advance copy on NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

(To Post March 1 on Instagram, Goodreads, and blog)