The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe
by Lauren James

Read: March 28, 2019
Publication Date: July 3, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction

Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met, never even spoken to  — someone who is light years away?

Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship traveling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst the stars. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth  — with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.

Their only communication with each other is via email  — and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit across space. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?

Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone… 

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Why did you read this book?

It was the title that initially drew me into this book. I found it while used book shopping and the description really intrigued me. As a sucker for a good science fiction story, I naturally bought it. And it was only $1, so I had to.

What did you like about this book?

There were a lot of things that I liked about this book. The setting and mood of the book were done very well. We spend the majority of the book with Romy and she really is the loneliest girl in the universe. She’s likeable enough as a protagonist. The two parts about this book that really kept me investing was the relationship between Romy and J and the mystery of what happened to Romy’s parents. The slow build and anticipation to for the conclusion of both of these story lines were done so well. There were also a few plot twists that really caught me off guard  — not sure if that’s because I was too involved in the story and not trying to figure out exactly what was going to happen or if they were actually really well written plot twists. I’d like to think it’s at least a little bit of a mixture of the two.

What didn’t you like about this book?

I know it’s science fiction, and therefore, not real, but I could not get over how unrealistic some aspects of this story were. I’ll give Romy a little slack, considering she was born and raised in space and hadn’t known anyone other than her parents, but her struggles with being alone in space seemed very superficial. She seemed like a cookie cutter version of any lonely, female, YA protagonist. Besides the circumstances of her situation, Romy was a very flat character. The biggest issue I had was with J. His initial story, that he was a 22-year-old astronaut that just happened to be chosen to man a very important ship for a very important mission without any formal education past unfinished medical school and that he was sent by himself, was absolutely ridiculous. Then when we discover his actual story, it’s just as ridiculous and so painfully young adult (although I was very caught up in the story as Romy discovered that J was not who he said he was). There were several parts of the story that felt like it was much more fiction than science.

Bottom-Line: 

It was an entertaining, quick read which, despite its faults, was actually enjoyable to read. It was a solidly average book that could have done so much more, but I’m content with the result. It managed to surprise me even through its mediocrity.

 

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Everyone Brave is Forgiven 
by Chris Cleave

Read: January 13-24, 2019

Publication date: May 3, 2016

Genre: Historical Fiction

It's 1939 and Mary, a young socialite, is determined to shock her blueblood political family by volunteering for the war effort. She is assigned as a teacher to children who were evacuated from London and have been rejected by the countryside because they are infirm, mentally disabled, or—like Mary's favorite student, Zachary—have colored skin.

Tom, an education administrator, is distraught when his best friend, Alastair, enlists. Alastair, an art restorer, has always seemed far removed from the violent life to which he has now condemned himself. But Tom finds distraction in Mary, first as her employer and then as their relationship quickly develops in the emotionally charged times. When Mary meets Alastair, the three are drawn into a tragic love triangle and—while war escalates and bombs begin falling around them—further into a new world unlike any they've ever known 

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Why did you read this book?

The first thing that really drew me in was the title of this book: “Everyone Brave is Forgiven”. I just loved it. I am also very interested in WWII era novels, so this book quickly made it to my to-read list.

What did you like about this book?

One unexpected thing about this book was the humor in it. There were several moments that a character would say or do something that made me start to giggle out loud. I am thinking specifically of the double date that the four main characters go on. Most of these moments I would then read aloud to my roommate. It is rare that a book makes me laugh, even intentionally comedic books, so the fact that this one did was pretty impressive. This book also managed to capture some of the worst parts of war in such a nonchalant way that left me in shock after it happened. I’d have to go back and reread several paragraphs just to make sure I read it right. Important moments happened so abruptly and the characters were left to deal with the aftermath. I think that is one area where this book shined — capturing the desolation and helplessness that comes after the characters go through what they do.

What didn’t you like about this book?

The pacing of this book fluctuated in a way that made it difficult for me to get through the book. It started slow, picked up a little, slowed back down, sped up, crawled, etc. The book felt like it went on for ages without anything happening. I have read books like this before and enjoyed them, but in those cases I felt very connected to the characters. I didn’t find that in these characters. Most of them I felt indifferent towards at best. Alistair was the one character I remotely liked and even then, he was just the best out of a handful of bland options. The main thing that really turned me off to this book was the unsatisfying conclusion. I can put up with a slow-paced book if the end is good. The ending to this book just...ended. The story lines that had been slowly building throughout the whole book were not resolved. I was very unsatisfied.

Bottom-Line:

I’m glad I read the book. It was worth reading at least once. I may even read it twice. However, this is not going to be a book that I pick up year after year, excited to reunite with the setting and the characters. I would recommend this only to lovers of books and lovers of history.

Favorite Quotes:

“The worst thing would be to decide that it was love, and then to discover - after one was taken - that it hadn't been. No: the worst thing would be to decide that it wasn't love, and then to discover years later - old and unconsoled - that it had been. No: the worst thing - the worst, worst thing - was this having to decide.”

“This was how a kind heart broke, after all: inward, making no shrapnel.”

“But what good is it to teach a child to count, if you don't show him that he counts for something?”

“To be in love was to understand how alone one had been before. It was to know that if one were ever alone again, there would be no exemption from the agony of it. It wasn’t the happiest feeling.”

“Stupid is you can’t learn, ignorant is you haven’t learned yet.”

Books 2018

 Hello and happy 2019! I know it's been a few months and I have been crappy about writing book reviews, but I'm hoping to do better this year. Here is the list of books I read in 2018 in the meantime:


January

• Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen * * * *
  

February

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone * * * * *
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare * * * *
• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare * * * *
  

March

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy * * *
• Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare * * * * *
• All I Need by Susan Colasanti * * *
• Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen * * * * *
  

April

• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black * * * *
• Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen * * * *
• Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen * * * *
• Fire by Kristin Cashore * * * * *
• Cress by Marissa Meyer * * * * *
• Winter by Marissa Meyer * * * * *
• Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman * * * *
• The Start of Me and You * * * *
  

May

• Blacksouls by Nicole Castroman * * * *
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard * * * * *
• Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard * * * *
  

June

• King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard * * * *
• If I Didn't Care by Kait Nolan * * *

July

• The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon * * * * *
• Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum * * * *
• Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven * * * *
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling * * * * *
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling * * * * *
  

August

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling * * * * *
• The Martian by Andy Weir * * * *
  

September

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling * * * *
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling * * * * *
• Divergent by Veronica Roth * * *
• Moo by Sharon Creech * * *
  

October

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling * * * * *
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein * * * *
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis * * * *
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society * * * *
  

November


December 

•  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern * * * * *
• Bound by C.K. Bryant * * *
• Broken by C.K. Bryant * * *
• Beloved by C.K. Bryant * * *
• The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister * * * *
• Caraval by Stephanie Garber * * * *
• Legendary by Stephanie Garber * * * *
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart * * *