Sebastian is an outsider bullied by everyone because he is very different than us. There has always been something off about him. His best friend is his overprotective mother, Samantha. She is all the family that he has, or so he thought. At the age of 13, he witnesses a gruesome murder by a supernatural being that no one else can see, but him.

Plot

The beginning of this book falls into a very familiar trap. There is an interesting prologue but the story then jumps immediately into backstory. It was all important information to the plot, but it did slow down the pacing to a crawl. After that point, it was hard to pick up momentum again. For a fantasy novel, I was expected things to be a bit faster and full of more twists.

Characters

While Sebastian was a well-rounded main character, I struggled to connect with him. He is ostracized by his peers to such a degree, that he doesn’t even have a friend at the beginning of the story. That changes, of course, but I was continuously wondering why everyone else through he was so strange when he seemed like just a normal kid to me. Once other characters began to connect with Sebastian, I had an easier time relating to him, but it took time.

Setting

The world set up in this book was intriguing and unique. I absolutely loved the concept of being an “In-Between” and the correlation the author draws to the real world. Vanessa Dunn does a great job in creating one of a kind and vivid “monsters” that will be stuck in my mind long after finishing the book.

My Recommendation

Sebastian: The In-Between features an exciting world and unique magical creatures. The author also does a great job creating a correlation between her character’s struggles and real-world issues. Unfortuantely, though, the pacing at the beginning of the book was slow and it took a long time for me to feel really “hooked” after the prologue. Additionally, the main character was difficult to connect to. This book would be great for young teens who are looking for a laidback paced book.