Cover Image: All the Worlds Between Us

All the Worlds Between Us

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I love YA books and I tried to like this book but I really didn’t like this one too much I am not against girls dating girls but I couldn’t get into this one it was a emotional roller coaster and I was not here for it I am sorry I don’t like to give books a bad review but I do feel like People need to read this book

Was this review helpful?

Finally a sporty, tropey YA lesbian romance - I've honestly been dreaming about reading something like this for a very long time! While this book doesn't offer anything I haven't read (in cishet YA) before, I'm glad lesbian YA books that aren't any "deeper" than their cishet counterparts are starting to appear more frequently. And getting recognition, too!

This book was entertaining, full of drama, all the tropes I love (friends to lovers!!) and all in all, a very pleasant read. I loved Quinn and Kennedy together! All in all, just the type of book I was in the mood for and I couldn't be happier I got to read this book!

Was this review helpful?

I am not a big fan of YA stories but I highly recommend this one. It is a very heartwarming, heartbreaking, and realistic tale of two 17 year old girls. One gay and out, the other gay and not out. And how they deal with this and their growing love for each other. The main characters are very likeable, even when you may not agree with them it is easy to understand each others point of view. The dialogue was so natural and moving. It was inspiring to read a story about mature thinking and feeling young adults. I can only hope that the majority of the younger set would be as kind and accepting as the classmates are depicted.
My only complaint is that the book ended but the story was definitely not done. I wanted it to continue.

Was this review helpful?

This is a bittersweet YA romance. Even if you think you are not a fan of YA, this one may make you think differently. This is a well written romance about Quinn and Kennedy, who were once very close, but a move with no communication between them make them virtual strangers when Kennedy returns back to her hometown.
However, they become close once again and become girlfriends despite misgivings between the both of them. All is going well, until a secret Kennedy had been harboring is made public. Will Quinn and Kennedy be able to work through this and Kennedy can make amends?
This is a worthy read that is well written and thoughtful.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

tar Rating: 3.5/5

Rounded Rating: 4/5

–Initial Thoughts–

I thought this was cute and the story was really interesting and fast-paced in a way that I read it in only one sitting! This wasn’t mindblowing in any way and does contain some tropes that I hate but overall, I believe this was a solid story.

–Characters–

Quinn is a swimmer, an amazing swimmer actually and was very close to making it into the olympics despite her age. However, she missed by 3 seconds and it eats at her constantly and we really see that in the narrative. She’s also openly lesbian and has a twin brother (who unlike Quinn, is one of the most popular kids at school). Their relationship is on the decline because of her brother’s new popular kid attitude. Then there’s Kennedy, ex-best friend and first kiss, who creeps back into her life.

The characters were not the most compelling but I did like some of their relationships. There was a nice f|m platonic friendship which I appreciated.

A gripe that I do have is that there’s a good amount of girl hate/mean girl tropes which was rather annoying. It really pulled me out of the story and there really wasn’t a resolution when it came to that conflict. We had a glimpse on the reasoning why the mean girl, Cassandra, is labeled as such but it wasn’t really explored that much.

I do wish there was more sibling relationship development with her twin brother since it’s one of the main subplots of the book. Quinn’s twin was also pretty unlikeable so it was actually difficult for me to empathized with him. He was pretty 2D as well.

Although a lot of people hate flashbacks, I think it would have made a lot of characterization stronger if there were some implemented. The story depends a lot on the past but was barely explored. I think we would have really had a better scope of the relationship between Quinn and Kennedy.

When it came to Quinn and Kennedy, I thought their romance was cute. I think my favorite type of romances are friends-to-enemies-to-lovers and this definitely fit the bill.

–Plot–

The main thing that really brought this book down for me was the plot twists. There were a lot of tropes that I am not a fan of and I do wish the author went a different way. I will say though that the plot is pretty faced paced so we don’t deal with these conflicts for long. I actually liked the ending considering it was a consequence of a bad plot point. It made the story a whole lot realistic and also hopeful.

Another gripe was that I was a tiny bit confused on the story’s timeline because I feel like it kept jumping forward a lot. The story was fast paced but it went a little bit too fast at times.

–Themes–

The book explores a lot of themes such as sexuality. There was a great amount of challenged biphobia, discussions of questioning sexuality, forced coming out (even though it occurred in the book), and there was a brief monologue of sorts about using someone’s sexuality as an insult.

And now Cassandra Jones tried using that gay label as the jab to end all jabs because apparently, if you couldn’t find a clever insult, just use the trump card of someone’s non-heterosexuality.

What I also loved about the book is that it narrated both the positives and negatives (even extreme) experiences of coming out to family members. I especially liked the discussion of the positives because we don’t get that a lot in books. The book explored therapy and school interference in negative, harmful home environments.

–Last Thoughts–

If you’re looking for an easy, quick cute f|f read, you should give this a try. This isn’t the best contemporary I’ve read but I still think it’s worth the read. I feel like there isn’t enough f|f YA contemporaries (or maybe there are a lot more independent books in this category). There was an abundance amount of progressive events and experiences in the book which made this a more memorable read for me. This was a solid debut and I can’t wait to see what else this author publishes in the future!

Was this review helpful?

A lovely heartwarming read. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and friendship groups that developed. It was also nice to see both sides of LGBT “coming out” in a sensitive way.
A good amount of teen drama, but with a lovely relationship at the heart of it.

Was this review helpful?

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a roller coaster of a read. The protagonist, Quinn, is a lesbian who also happens to be an Olympic swimmer. Her twin brother is your typical popular football player and they both also happen to be pinning for the same girl. I loved how the book had queer representation!

I loved Quinn a lot. She was unapologetic about who she was and worked hard towards her goal of qualifying for the Olympics. The characters were all really well written. I just wish that there was more racial diversity in it.

Overall, it was a cute book! It also touched on important subjects like coming out on your own terms and how your sexuality shouldn't change your relationships. My biggest issue with the book was the ending. It just left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. While it was realistic, it was disappointing. I hope that there will be a sequel to this book because while I didn't love some of the author's story choices, it was a good debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

It's a perfect YA romance, with teens who get into so much trouble with their messy feelings, a pseudo love triangle, some drugs, and a gifted lead who is often bullied for their gifts.

Quinn Hughes is an out lesbian, an Olympic Level athlete, and an outcast. Her twin brother, Liam, on the other hand, is the proto typical dumb jock, who shot up the school hierarchy by being good looking and pretty good at football. They both like the same girl, the beautiful Kennedy Reed, a girl who has a secret: she thinks she's into girls as much as boys (maybe more) and she's terrified. Quinn's crushing hard on Kennedy, dealing with school bullies and trying to make the US national swim team for the summer Olympics. Can Quinn handle all of the pressure, or will she fall to it?

I found about two or three things about the book that were interesting. One is that Quinn, while being a jock - she's fit, good looking, and is on the swim team - is actually ostracized for being too good and too dedicated to her sport. A ton of the kids that pick on her remind her that she failed to qualify for the US Olympic team when she was younger (15!!) out of shear jealousy. This can also be said of Liam, who is popular mostly because he's good but not too good at his sport. Quinn's sexuality isn't really that big a deal for her bullies, they're too focused on bringing her down a peg based on her athletic ability. And that brings us to Kennedy, we see Kennedy come to terms with her sexuality through Quinn's eyes, and we see and feel Quinn's frustration in regards to that. It hurts Quinn, but also Kennedy is so visibly terrified at times that I did want to smack Quinn over the top of the head for being too callous. Kennedy also made some terrible decisions that were amplified by other events in the book, making the last third of the book pretty devastating.

I personally don't like this type of romance -especially with that bittersweet ending - but it was well written, with very few cookie cutter characters. Quinn is an excellent lead, and Kennedy is a great love interest who is complex enough on her own to give Quinn a run for her money. Recommended for teen romance fans of all ages.

Was this review helpful?

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sadly I wasn’t feeling this one. It’s been done so many times before that the story was nothing new. There was no depth in the characters and I’m tired of having a character like Kennedy in every other book. It’s good for when you want a short lesfic book to read.

Was this review helpful?

s a librarian I am always looking out for YA novels LGBT+ characters in them, so I end up reading a lot of teen romance novels, a genre that I was never into, even as a teen. This is one of those novels. It's a perfect YA romance, with teens who get into so much trouble with their messy feelings, a pseudo love triangle, some drugs, and a gifted lead who is often bullied for their gifts.

Quinn Hughes is an out lesbian, an Olympic Level athlete, and an outcast. Her twin brother, Liam, on the other hand, is the proto typical dumb jock, who shot up the school hierarchy by being good looking and pretty good at football. They both like the same girl, the beautiful Kennedy Reed, a girl who has a secret: she thinks she's into girls as much as boys (maybe more) and she's terrified. Quinn's crushing hard on Kennedy, dealing with school bullies and trying to make the US national swim team for the summer Olympics. Can Quinn handle all of the pressure, or will she fall to it?

I found about two or three things about the book that were interesting. One is that Quinn, while being a jock - she's fit, good looking, and is on the swim team - is actually ostracized for being too good and too dedicated to her sport. A ton of the kids that pick on her remind her that she failed to qualify for the US Olympic team when she was younger (15!!) out of shear jealousy. This can also be said of Liam, who is popular mostly because he's good but not too good at his sport. Quinn's sexuality isn't really that big a deal for her bullies, they're too focused on bringing her down a peg based on her athletic ability. And that brings us to Kennedy, we see Kennedy come to terms with her sexuality through Quinn's eyes, and we see and feel Quinn's frustration in regards to that. It hurts Quinn, but also Kennedy is so visibly terrified at times that I did want to smack Quinn over the top of the head for being too callous. Kennedy also made some terrible decisions that were amplified by other events in the book, making the last third of the book pretty devastating.

I personally don't like this type of romance -especially with that bittersweet ending - but it was well written, with very few cookie cutter characters. Quinn is an excellent lead, and Kennedy is a great love interest who is complex enough on her own to give Quinn a run for her money. Recommended for teen romance fans of all ages.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book.

I think it provided a realistic portrayal of a young girl's queer experience. I liked Quin, and I loved how unapologetic she was about her queerness. It was also really awesome to have an LGBT+ book with a supportive family, as I feel that's rare in YA lit.

I will say, there was a little bit of forced outing that kind of didn't sit well with me. Quin, the character who makes the comments, later retracts them, but it still left me a little uncomfy.

Was this review helpful?

This is my first YA novel, and admittedly I wasn't sure what to expect. If this is the standard, then teenagers today are so lucky. Written in first person from Quinn's POV, we get access to her dreams of swimming success along with how she handles the near constant bullying from the popular kids for her owning of her queerness. Quinn's parents are fantastic and very supportive. Her brother is her twin, which led me to expect more support from him because of the "twin thing". There were an awful lot of parties and a LOT of underage drinking throughout the book. In New York state is the legal age 18? Or 19? It seemed like the access to alcohol was easier than normal and there were zero bad consequences from all the drinking. Would all the parents just be okay with it?

As this is my first YA, I was surprised at the fairly explicit love scenes, but they were extremely well written and sensitive. I REALLY wouldn't want to be in high school again. There was a lot of angst due to the whole clique thing and the high school end-of-the-world thing, and I thought the ending was pretty realistic. I would be very interested in another installment post-college that has Quinn and Kennedy catching up.

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Quinn is determined to be in top shape in swimming to win World Championships since she wasn't qualifying for the Olympics.

As she tries to get her confidence back she worry that her relationship with her brother is getting worse and to top it off her childhood friend Kennedy comes back into the picture.

While she tries to deal with the first girl she ever love her brother Liam might have feeling for Kennedy as well then you have Quinn ex Riley trying to get her back.

I loved that Quinn parents support her and she knows who she is and doesn't apologize for it. The relationship between Quinn and Kennedy was sweet and how she was patience when she coming out.

This was very angst book with light humor and the sex scenes were hot.

Was this review helpful?

Quinn and Kennedy were best friends as kids until Kennedy left just before high school, but not without a first kiss that changed both their lives forever. Now Quinn is just starting her senior year of high school and she's dedicating her sole focus to swimming. But when Kennedy returns, she refuses to talk to Quinn and instead hangs out with the popular group, which likes to pick on Quinn. Quinn doesn't need distractions at a time like this, but when the opportunity to reconnect with the only person she's ever loved comes up, how can she refuse. Een if it means risking everything.

This was a very very cute romance. One of those classically sweet books about reconnecting and falling in love with your best friend you always thought was straight but magically she wasn't. I love reading about first love, because even as you fall in love, you're still finding yourself. Not everything fits into place in a young romance. You're still discovering yourself and seeing if that person reconciles with what you thought you were. It's very realistic and natural and just a beautiful story of
how deep your first love can be. I loved Kennedy a lot. I also liked that Quinn was accomplished and strong, she wasn't played like a gay girl who needed rescuing.

I loved the big role family and the other supporting characters played in the story. Its very realistic, the number of people that fit into your circle when you're young, everyone seams so important.

This was an exceptional first novel by Morgan Lee Miller and I look forward to their fall release.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This book was incredibly well written and it had an excellent plot and storyline, however it wasn’t a book I normally would have read despite sounding really good and unfortunately I wasn’t able to enjoy it. I did only dock one star for my being uninterested due to the book being well written

Was this review helpful?

📖 All the Worlds Between Us 📖
🖋 Morgan Lee Miller

📚 Series: No.
📚 Genre: LBGTQ+ / YA Romance
📚 POV: First person.
📚 Cliffhanger: No, but written with an open ending.

⚠ Content Warnings: Forced outing. Homophobia. Underage Drinking. Consensual sex (quite descriptive for a YA read).

All the Worlds Between Us is a promising YA debut from Morgan Lee Miller. I have to admit it is one of my first f/f reads, and it is quite enlightening to view a relationship in a young lesbian's eyes. The great thing about this read is the influence of sports, specifically swimming, in the life of the main character and having it a large factor in her decision making throughout her senior year.

Quinn is a high school senior slash amazing world class swimming athlete. She has achieved so much at such a young age and is still facing heavy-bearing (Olympics level) meets in the near future plus landing College athletic scholarship grants. This equate no distractions, no holds barred training in the distant future.

But, life gets in the way. Ex bestfriend Kennedy Reed is squeezing her way back to Quinn's life. Twin brother Liam might also have feelings for Kennedy. Ex girlfriend Riley also might be trying to win Quinn back.

This is such an amazing YA read because of how admirable Quinn is. She is out and proud of it. She knows herself and what she wants. Her parents are the sweetest and backs her up. She has groups of friends, too.

The relationship she has with Kennedy is also eye-opening, as Kennedy is not really out yet. It is a journey of giving support to your partner and being patient as coming out is a different experience for every individual.

All in all, this is a great YA contemporary. Light and fun but also very angsty. Also with a surprisingly steamy descriptive sex scenes for a YA, almost written as New Adult. Best part for me I think is how mature Quinn handled romantic life decisions in the face of all the changes awaiting her.

Much thanks to NetGalley, Broad Strokes Books, Inc. and Morgan Lee Miller for this complimentary copy. This review is voluntary and opinions are fully my own.

☁ THE CRITERIA ☁

🌻 Blurb:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Heroine:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Love Interest:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Support Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Writing Style:⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Character Development:⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Romance:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Pacing:⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Ending:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Page Turner:⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Book Cover:⭐⭐⭐⭐

☁FINAL VERDICT: 3.72/5 ☁

Was this review helpful?

5/5 ⭐️
One of my fav LGBT reads of the year. Everything about this book was cute and sad and beautiful and hella relatable. I’m glad it didn’t end the way I thought, it’s a empty ending so you can think of your own.

Was this review helpful?

I’m a girl of simple tastes. I see “swimming” and “gay” in the same sentence and I glomp onto it like an overattached koala. All the Worlds Between Us is an ownvoices second-chance story about two friends navigating the rocky paths of first love. It was quick and light and fine but didn’t really scratch my swimmer romance itch. Most of the story revolves around highschool drama and less of Quinn’s experiences as an aspiring Olympic swimmer, which was kind of disappointing. When a romance story is set against the backdrop of a sports world, I want the sports side to be as well-developed as the relationship aspect. That’s not always the case, though.

The narration also felt more juvenile than Quinn’s age warranted, and combined with a few explicit scenes, it got a bit jarring. I did find Kennedy’s experiences of being a closeted teen portrayed pretty well, however, and I enjoyed the mix of sweet and heartbreaking moments.

Overall, it’s not a bad sports f/f (especially if you’re new to the subgenre) but definitely not the best I’ve read either.

Was this review helpful?

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions on the book. I was first drawn to this book from its intriguing cover which enticed me to read the description and I immediately thought great a light-heart teen high school romance. I was wrong. This book is so much more than that and is far from light heart, it deals with big issues that teenagers experience especially if you are part of the LGBTQ+ family. I rated this book 5/5 stars and it is my first ARC from NetGalley to get this rating. I honestly adore this book. If you have been through any school system you will know just how cliques work, how popular kids rule the school and how anybody who does not conform to their norms is weird, a loner or bullied. Miller takes these preconceived ideas and turns them on their head.

Quinn Hughes is your typical over achieving seventeen year old girl. Oh, only she has almost made it into the Olympics and it working toward the Swimming World Championships in ten months time when the novel begins. So, as you can imagine, now is not the right time for any distractions in her life. Here we meet Kennedy Reed, her ex-best friend who she has not spoken to since she was fourteen. Quinn seems like your average teenage girl, only she is openly gay and not afraid to tell anyone about it. She is proud and makes sure that anyone who puts her down for it, gets what they deserve. Quinn begins trying to balance everything her swimming meets, her studies, her social life and reuniting her friendship with Kennedy. Only, it quickly develops into more than just a friendship. There is only one issue, Kennedy is not out and wishes for that to be something she does in her own way in the future, Oh and there is a second issue, Quinn’s twin brother Liam also has feelings for Kennedy.

This book was so much more than I thought it would be. It deals with friendship, family, sexuality, self-realization, accepting yourself, the harsh reality of high school and the difference between getting to tell your own story and having your own story exposed. Each character plays a vital role in Quinn’s life and tells the story of this book perfectly. Quinn is such a lovable character, she just has you on her side from the first page.

Was this review helpful?

This was a pretty okay book. It wasn't my favorite, but I still enjoyed it. The plot was enjoyable and fits it target audience of teenagers perfectly. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I was still a teenager, but there was just too much that wasn't relatable anymore.

Was this review helpful?