All the Worlds Between Us (All the Worlds Between Us #1) by Morgan Lee Miller
- Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, 2019
- Genre: Young Adult, Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: Ebook
- Page Count: 240 pages
- My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
Quinn Hughes never knew why her best friend Kennedy Reed broke off contact after moving away and refused to acknowledge her after moving back. It had been four years since that goodbye peck on the lips when they were thirteen.
Since then, Quinn had came out, failed to qualify for the Olympics, and did her best to move on from losing her best friend. When she ran into Kennedy in the restroom at a party, they really faced each other for the first time in four years.
But Quinn could not allow herself to be side-tracked when the swimming World Championships were coming up. Plus, Kennedy had acted that she did not exist for the past four years. Could they pick up from where they left off and be best friends again? Or whatever it was that they were both feeling? With Quinn’s twin brother Liam also crushing on Kennedy, things were destined to end up in a mess. Right?
I am so glad I decided to read this one instead of skipping it and read its sequel, or I would have missed out big time on a wonderful book.
Unlike most romance, All the Worlds Between Us is not exactly an HEA. So if that is what you are looking for, you might need to read both books in this series in one go. At least, I assume the second book would have a happy ending. Otherwise, it is not for you.
All the Worlds Between Us is written from Quinn’s point of view in first-person narrative. I liked how Quinn sort of rambled, inviting us to her flowing thoughts. Perhaps I really enjoy a sincere, first-person narration in YAs. It reminded me of Courtney Peppernell’s Keeping Long Island, one of my favorite wlw romance to date.
With most queer YAs having a big coming out storyline, this book was not a complete exception. While coming out scenes were in the picture, I think it had more important events going on, making it more eventful than the average queer YAs. Also, in YA standards, the descriptions of sex were rather graphic but were not lengthy or too detailed.
I admit it was frustrating and painful to watch Quinn and Kennedy figuring themselves out. But I think most queer kids have been there and what our mains were suffering from was extremely relatable. We cannot bring ourselves to blame Quinn when she lost her temper or get angry over Kennedy’s hesitation of coming out. I think both teens handled the aftermaths of their many disasters surprisingly maturely. After they calmed down, of course. And their interactions were tender in a way only high schoolers could manage.
For a while, I thought there should have been a prologue telling us what happened between Quinn and Kennedy when they were thirteen. Then when the details surfaced during the current and only timeline, I realized it was so much better to deliver this way. It was like Quinn had deliberately forgotten about Kennedy, only to be forced to remember later on and hence tell us what happened. This conscious choice by Miller made it all the more heartbreaking.
Apart from the angsty high school romance, I need to talk about Quinn’s amazing friend group. I love how Riley, Quinn’s ex and teammate, had a big part in the story. She seemed like a very sensible and relatable character, too. Maybe we would one day get her own book. Gabriel, Quinn’s platonic boyfriend and Liam’s best friend, was the most lovely and supportive guy. Meghan, also Quinn’s ex, seemed to be quite a character, too. I enjoyed that these secondary characters were believable people, not those that were sort of just there like many other books.
It was a little weird that there were no descriptions of Kennedy playing soccer. Given that she was a goalie, it was surprising that there were no instances where she talked about her games or training. But we do get to hear about Quinn’s swim meets.
All the Worlds Between Us is a cute and wistful YA story with some funny narration. If you do not mind the melancholy undertone, I definitely recommend checking out this great story. [2 Jun 2020]
