I already teased this gorgeous new YA sci-fi in my recommendations for autumn reads to curl up with this upcoming season, and for a good reason. Out of all the young adult novels I've had the pleasure to read recently this was by far the most interesting and innovative one. Author Lauren James has created a chilling and completely gripping adventure set in the bleakness of space and I was hooked from the very first page and now crave more books like it.
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe already sounded interesting when I first heard about it at Walker Books' blogger event last year but I never considered myself much of a sci-fi fan and beyond its concept of a lonely girl in space I wasn’t sure what to expect from it… Well, I certainly didn’t predict I was going to get my mind blown by this highly imaginative and constantly thrilling space adventure!
Chilling to the core, I was gripped by this totally unique novel from the very first moment we meet protagonist Romy, a teenager left in charge of the spaceship she was born on, The Infinity, on a mission to reach an inhabitable planet far away from earth to establish a new civilisation. Her parents are dead, in fact the entire crew of The Infinity outside of Romy is dead, and while we don’t know yet why we do get the sense that the truth is horrifying.
Romy’s only lifeline to another living being is her regular communications with Molly at NASA, her therapist, friend, teacher and mentor; until Romy discovers that another spaceship is on its way to her. As The Eternity is fitted with the latest technology it’ll catch up with her ship in just a few years and Romy will no longer be completely alone.
It may sound like the best news imaginable but when something happening on earth breaks the communication lines between Romy and Molly, and Romy is alone once more, doubts start to set in about Earth, The Eternity and everything she’s been led to believe.
Man, I loved this book on so many levels! From its confined setting through to the mystery of what's truly happening on Earth and the Eternity lingering sinisterly at the edges, and from the slowly unraveling horrifying history of The Infinity to its kick-ass main character. Romy may not have been the intended commander of The Infinity but she has taken the challenge with both hands and at an extremely young age at that.
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe went a little over my head timey wimey wise at times (emails that were being send didn't arrive until months or even years later after a time the people in question would've already met? I was so confused!), but even so I haven’t felt this gripped by a fictional story in many months and it's opened my eyes to an entirely new genre so now I want to explore more YA space adventures!
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is published by Walker Books and you can purchase your copy now from Foyles or your own preferred retailer.
Connect with the author:
Twitter: @Lauren_E_Jamesr
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