Thin Space | Jody Casella | Review
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When we first meet Marshall Windsor he is consumed by grief after losing his twin brother Austin just a few months ago in a car accident where he was driving. One month after the accident elderly neighbour Mrs. Hansel also passed away, but not before she explained the Celtic idea of ‘thin spaces’ to the boys. The theory is that if someone comes into the world and dies in the same place a small space where the living can step through and visit the world of the deceased is created. Convinced that she will create her very own thin space upon her death she shares the details with Marsh as a possible way for him to make peace with what happened to his brother.
The book kicks off with a short prologue which briefly explores the car accident that now haunts Marsh on a daily basis. Unable to find the thin space that Mrs Hansel believed her death would create for him and desperate to be re-united with his brother, Marsh has spent the last two months pacing around town barefoot in the middle of winter in the hope that he will stumble across another thin space. So, when Maddie and her family move in to Mrs. Hansel’s old house Marsh sees an opportunity to get back inside the room where she believed the thin space would be formed.
The concept of thin spaces was new and intriguing to me and therefore made the story stand out as something a little unusual and refreshing different within the YA genre. Not usually one to opt for anything ‘supernatural’ I actually really enjoyed this element as although it was important to the story it wasn’t always the focus and I didn’t feel as though it was overpowering.
As a main character I actually found Marsh very likable. Of course due to the point in his life that we enter the story his situation makes the reader instantly feel empathy toward him however also in general I found myself enjoying his narration. I also found the supporting characters to be well-rounded and described with just enough information to give the reader a good idea of who they are without feeling overwhelmed with unnecessary background information that would slow the story down.
Thin Space does come with a twist, a mysterious secret Marsh can’t bring himself to share, which I’m a little disappointed to say that I did predict before the reveal. Despite having a good idea of what the secret might be (there are definitely clues!) I was still kept intrigued to find out just how it would be revealed and what repercussions it would have. Following on with this theme the book concludes with a powerful one word ending that will leave you wondering just what might have happened next and hoping that things will work out for Marsh.
The writing style is very easy to follow throughout and I didn’t find myself getting confused or lost at all. Coupled with good pacing, a unique plot and a page count of only around 250, Thin Space is a quick and captivating read which is definitely worth picking up on it’s release next week.
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This post was written by regular reviewer Erin, get to know her here
*Review copy c/o Netgalley
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