3.5 Twinkling Stars for The Space Between

"There's a lot more going on out there than what our eyes see."

Renowned astronomer Sarah Mayfield comes home from a NASA presentation to find her husband Ben missing. Initially Sarah is under suspicion as she was seen in a compromising position during the time Ben went missing. The Mayfield's marriage was going through a "rough patch" and upon her husband's death Sarah stands to inherit millions from his well off family's fortune.

Things escalate quickly when a potential business associate of Ben's is found murdered and he is now their prime suspect. The cameras in their home have been wiped, Ben's business partners are alleging that he was actually the one that stole money from them and not the other way around as he initially alleged, a gun shows up in their dresser drawer and suddenly a million dollars have been mysteriously wired into a relatively unused account. What is going on? Sarah has no idea and she has so many unanswered questions. None of the potential answers look good for Ben's innocence. Sarah's world is turned upside down - is her husband in danger or is he the dangerous one? How well does she really know the man she has been married to for the last 15 years.

Sometimes we really can't know the people we love."

While I was honestly engaged in this web of deceit, turning page after page. I was also troubled by a big aspect of it that I simply couldn't move past as the reader. I know this premise has been done before - unsuspecting women who live with a monster and are unknowingly deceived. I've read books where that was the premise & absolutely loved it (like Stillhouse Lake - I bought everything about it). Yet, I honestly never believed Ben was a monster in this book. Sarah's flashbacks were of a genuinely good guy and one that honestly loved her. The moments she thought about were touching and heartfelt. There was even mention from the reporter that everyone she interviewed loved Ben and spoke well of him. Why then was Sarah so quick to believe he could be possible of something so heinous as murder? Since I could never justifiably make that leap the whole premise of the book weighed on me.

I understand that Sarah was insecure in their relationship because Ben was supposed to be handsome and came from family money. Apparently, we were supposed to think he was therefore "out of her league". It was brought up quite a few times within the story to remind us (too many times if you ask me). I just found her insecurities to be whiny and unwarranted. Ben never gave her any actual reason to feel insecure. Her sister was quick to "villainize" him because he had money and was handsome. Therefore, he couldn't be suitable for Sarah. Why the heck not? I just couldn't make that leap. That aspect of the story bothered me quite a bit and it remained, persistently nagging the back of my mind as I read.

Honestly, Ben was actually my favorite character & he wasn't even in the book that much. I don't think this was the author's intention at all. Alas, we can't control our feelings on these types of things can we? As for the actual mystery - I had it figured out early on. I was actually unimpressed with how long it took Sarah to figure it out! She spent 75% of the book too "blinded" by supposed facts being thrown at her to actually figure out what was going on with Ben. She was supposed to be an intelligent scientist after all. I just felt like their relationship deserved a little more trust from her, despite the farfetched circumstances.

"I wonder if I've been accepting the facts of Ben's disappearance but ignoring what might be beyond them. I've failed to search for answers my eyes cannot see. The facts, like the stars we can see, command our attention with their bright lights. They also blind us to what else might be there."

Overall, this was an entertaining read. I really enjoyed the astronomy aspects that were woven in which surprised me. I learned a few new terms - win! The story started out strong but the middle definitely dragged for me. Unfortunately, I also found the plot to be a bit too predictable. Maybe I just couldn't throw myself wholeheartedly into it with the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind?

Thank you to Dete Meserve, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Space Between