Ally Wilkes

POSSIBLR TRIGGERS: Abandonment, & cannibalism
William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition, in which his remaining men only survived by eating their dead comrades, he returned in disgrace. Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same frozen waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing Stevens­—the man who’s haunted his whole life—back home. But when the rescue show more mission becomes an uncanny journey into his past, Day must face up to the things he’s­ done. Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, as well as Stevens’s wife, a spirit-medium whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving. The restless dead are never far behind in this “breathtaking achievement”

Our main character William Day is in every sense of the word, a "haunted" man. He's haunted by his failed expedition, he's haunted by his very own reputation, and most of all he's haunted by Jesse Stevens, his second-in-command on this failed expedition. We soon learn that William Day and Jesse Stevens had a relationship that was a lot more than simply friendship. It was complex...it was personal and intimate, or as intimate as two men could be in the mid-1800's. It simply wasn't talked about in their era. Willima Day, fourth in command on the expedition, was thrust into the captain's role since nearly all the men around him had died from scurvy, and other disastrous endings. One of the themes I found the most intriguing throughout the story was that of his leadership.

William Day, both on the past expedition and in the present one, has been thrust into a position of power that he has no business ever being in, and he knows it and he hates it. Power is constantly at play throughout both timelines between Day and his "crew".... such as it was. I never thought I found that the ship "politics" held a definite fascination and a sharp edge. When order and civility hung by a thin thread; when food supplies became less and less, and when the nights got darker, any wrong decision Day made was more than likely to have severely disastrous consequences. Wounds don't seem to heal in the arctic's freezing atmosphere and "Captain" Day, unintentionally or perhaps otherwise, is constantly in danger of inflicting many types of wounds, both physically and emotionally on his dwindling crew.

The relationship between Day and Stevens is at the heart of both the expeditions in this novel. It's a stark view in not just what could be called an "unhealthy" relationship, but a terminal type of affection that had unthinkable consequences for the surviving crew. Stevens' personality totally dominates, engulfs and overwhelms William Day. We get an up-close view into what could be called a case of "dormant wickedness". Day is very much aware of Stevens’ schemes and plans and yet he decides to ignore them and chooses love over truth and his broken heart. The present-day narrative does a great job of presenting Willliam Day coming to terms with his reckoning.

Day is haunted...haunted by physical manifestations of Stevens and other things. Finally, he will be forced to confront his past. The author is careful how she uses the supernatural. Reality and insanity are constantly intersecting leaving the reader sometimes unsure of what is real and what is figments of the crew's over-active imaginations. I loved the story, but the writing can sometimes be a challenge. At rimes left slightly disorientated. You may fell what I can only describe as a constant uncertainty about what is real and what isn’t, what is harmful and what is harmless". and this is all because of William Day’s actions as captain. His past is fast catching up with his present...and you know that the results are not going to be good.

Questions such as, "What does it mean to be a hero or a villain? A good person or a bad person? As always, the answer is usually found to be neither black nor white but many different shades of gray....and that's where this author excelled with her story and I gave it 5 well-earned stars. show less

I am a sucker for doomed expedition stories and love a good supernatural scare – throw in some complex characters with fabulous writing and you have me! All the While Spaces is the story of a post WWI Antarctic expedition that goes awry leaving stowaway Jo Morgan and the surviving crew to battle supernatural forces, oppressive cold, and their own personal demons to survive the winter ashore. Other authors might have been taking on too much trying to cover the multitude of it all, but Alley show more Wilkes deftly weaves it all together while preserving the integrity of her characters. I cannot wait to read her next novel! Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this fabulous book! show less

Guilt, grief and ghosts in the deepest, darkest corner of Antarctica.

The great war is over and humanity is reckoning with the fallout. A small crew of men, all feeling its impact in some way or another, set out on an expedition to the last uncharted space on the planet, to reclaim some mastery over their destinies.

I don't think selling this as a ghost story does it a lot of favours. For sure there's something otherworldly lurking in the shadows, but it's a very slow burn and the show more supernatural element is kept very much in the background for at least the first half. It's well written and it kept me engaged throughout but I spent a lot of those early pages waiting for something to go bump in the night.

The focus instead is on the other two Gs - guilt and grief. Secrets are being kept and the repercussions are felt as the crew find themselves stranded and having to face the hardships of the Antarctic winter, and camaraderie gives way to fear and despair. show less

Something deadly and mysterious stalks the members of an isolated polar expedition.
This is an epic and horrifying story about an adventure on an Antarctic expedition. As if the horrors of sailing frozen waters in the 1900’s weren’t frightening enough, the story adds an additional level of fear with a paranormal element that lies in wait for the stranded sailors. I love horror and paranormal books, but even I have to say that there were times that I struggled a bit getting through this show more one.

The Jonathan character was unexpected and a bit of a surprise. They were a young woman, who identifies as a male. They decide to board and become a part of the all-male crew aboard a ship headed to a very remote and a very dangerous place. The frozen polar landscape had me wanting to tightly bundle up in a blanket.

The novel keeps a tense, suspenseful, and dark theme throughout. I will warn that there are some events that were very, very graphic as some of the crew members become sick and some are injured, and to make matters even worse, they have a limited number of medical supplies...as you can imagine.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys interesting but extremely flawed characters, or if your desired adventure spot might be an isolated and frozen terrain. It will also help if you really, really like being scared by things you can't see, but can certainly see you, or horror in general long with paranormal elements. show less