Nicole is a popular, party girl. Even though she has tons of friends and everyone wants to be like her, she feels alone and dead inside. She goes out partying one night and when she wakes up the next day she's a ghost... well sort of. She is hovering in some place between life and death. Her body is badly hurt and no one can see her spirit. Then she finds that Dale, a boy who she's humiliated in the past, is the only one who can hear her. Dale being the nice guy that he is, makes it his mission to help Nicole find her body and save her from her injuries, the elements, and the person who put her where she is.

My Thoughts:
I really liked the mystery of this book. The intense and dire situation that Nicole was in made me fly through it. I was glad that the book was a shorter one, because I found myself so worried about this girl laying somewhere in the woods alone. I mean an animal could come by, she could bleed to death, not to mention there were other people who wanted to make sure she didn't get out of there. It was definitely intense.

My thing was (sorry but I had a thing) I wanted there to be more mystery to what happened to Nicole. When we were introduced to the person responsible for Nicole's predicament, I knew immediately that this person was the one. There were too many things that maybe the author thought were small, that to me were glaring. I didn't like the preachy nature of Dale. I found him to be a little bit of a stalker and too much of a do-gooder type. I don't like it when a guy in a book acts like he's in love with a girl, but then reveals he can only give her the time of day if she completely changes. I'm not saying Nicole didn't need to change, but clearly Dale was only overly physically attracted to her and nothing else. I don't buy the whole "I can tell you're different" crap. You can't tell if someone you don't know is different or if she's just like that.

This book also suffered from the dreaded telling and not showing. Nicole especially did this. In spite of that though, I really liked Nicole. I liked how she was able to re-evaluate her life even though she wasn't sure if she was going to make it out of there. The story of self-loathing and acceptance really got to me and that was my favorite part.

OVERALL: An book with a good message and just an okay romance. The mystery of what happened to Nicole and if she was going to survive was intense and made me read this really fast. It's definitely a fast-paced enjoyable book if you can overlook Dale's judgy-ness.

My Blog:

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The Space Between Heartbeats by Melissa Pearl is a uniquely engaging novel that I really enjoyed reading.
This book is an emotionally gripping, heart stopping novel of love, life and how the choices we make, both good and bad, come with consequences that can be far reaching.

{Likes}

I really liked the plot ~ girl missing, now a ghostly-like presence seeking help from the most unlikely source. I also liked how the story unfolded in layers with each new piece of information building a deeper picture, showing more of Nicole's history as well as Dale's. It made for suspenseful reading!

I was impressed with the underlying themes the author wove into the story ~ choices/ consequences/ dealing with grief/ forgiveness to name a few.

{Dislikes}

This one will be hard to explain as I don't want to give too much away but there was one part of the ending that didn't sit too well with me, though overall I really liked the ending.

Thank you to Alloy Entertainment and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I really enjoyed Betwixt! With realistic, flawed characters and a super cool plot, the book will definitely enthrall reader's and keep them up past their bedtime.

Nicole is in a little bit of a tough spot. Her body is in the middle of nowhere, seriously injured. Thankfully, Nicole’s spirit is free to roam around and get help. Easy, right? Nope. Dale is the only person that can hear her, and the two of them have a bit of unpleasant history. Dale was an intriguing character. He seemed to have his priorities straight, unlike Nicole, and had some cool backstory. I really wanted to slap Nicole for, at first, acting so terrible around him.

Watching Nicole grow was one of the best parts of the book. No better time to reflect on your life than when it is in danger of ending! Experiencing her revelations about Dale and her lousy choices was awesome. Lastly, Nicole’s voice was perfect, I loved reading with her narrating.

Also, I should mention the mystery involving the hit-and-run driver who nearly killed Nicole. This was a very interesting part of the story!!! Also, all the action that unfold after finding the culprit are some of my favorite scenes. In the end, I am not sure if the villain got what he deserves, but, never fear, my complaint is fixed in the nest novella!

Overall, Betwixt was a very, very addicting read! The mystery, characters, and development were splendid. ( )

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Way to write a debut novel!Characters are well developed, story line is easy to follow and intriguing, and there are some intense moments. You are shown what a young adult world looks like and what is sometimes behind the cruelness that exists there. You get this glance through the eyes of a girl who is a little bit different for a while (don't want to give away a spoiler so won't tell you how she is different). ( )