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The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James Genres: Space, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller/Suspense, Young Adult
ISBN: 978-1406375473Can 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 travelling 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 . . .
ASIN: 1406375470
Published by Walker Books on September 7, 2017
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Source: Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
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The book cover was what drew me to this book in the first place. It’s simple, but definitely works for a title that says, “Loneliest in the Universe.” I like the colors as well. So, I picked up the book after checking out the cover and the title seemed intriguing too. When I read the back blurb I wasn’t quite sure, but it sounded good enough, so I decided to give it a try.
Romy is stuck on The Infinity, a rocket ship that blasted from Earth years and years ago. She’s 16-years-old and has never stepped food on solid ground, she has no idea what Earth is like, nor does she know any human contact other than from her parents, who are now dead. She’s on her own, waiting to get to Earth II to start a new world there. NASA is sending The Eternity with another human on board to keep her company and to make it to Earth II faster. But things aren’t going too well on Earth. The Infinity is old and falling apart. Romy is going stir-crazy.
This is science fiction, so I’m entirely sure how accurate any of this rocket ship and NASA talk is. I’m also not sure how realistic this would all be – though like I said, it’s fiction. Still, it’s not a bad plot. It’s all easy to read and it definitely keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next. I enjoyed it.
Romy and J were great characters. I also really liked Molly, Romy’s therapist from Earth. I’ll admit, Romy did get annoying here and there, though, given her circumstances, I couldn’t blame her.
She started to develop a crush on J which I wasn’t sure was needed. I couldn’t tell if it was there for the sake of a romantic subplot or if it was because Romy had read and seen a TV show with relationships in it and she was wondering too much what it felt like.
This book was a quick read and certainly easy to follow. The chapters were short and they were broken up into days counting down until when the Eternity would arrive. Most of it was Romy trying to keep herself entertained or letters between her and J that took months to reach each other.
That was the one thing that confused me with this book – the time. Time is different in space but I sometimes felt it wasn’t going in order or it wasn’t matching up with the chapter headings.
Overall, this was a fun read. I found the plot and characters to be interesting and it was uniquely written. It was something a little different than what I typically read and I’d for sure lookup more books by this author.
Rating: 4/5 Coffee Cups
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Rachel Poli is an indie author, podcaster, and content writer working on her debut cozy mystery novel.
Although she favors mystery, Rachel is a multi-genre author with too many ideas and characters in her head, often experimenting with short stories and flash fiction.
When she’s not writing, she’s reading, organizing something, or playing video games. She currently resides in New England with her zoo.
