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laurlaurkn's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
alongreader's review
3.0
Argh that ending!
When I was - probably really too old to be watching it - one of my favourite shows was The Tribe. It was a New Zealand produced show set in a world where all the adults have died from a virus, and the children have sorted themselves into tribes to try and survive. It got increasingly surreal as the series went on - in the first season, they were trying to find food supplies and deal with bullying; by the end, they were fighting an AI representation of a cult leader who wanted to release a new version of the virus that would kill them all - but the sheer campy joy of it has never been equaled. I was expecting something less campy, but with that tone, when I read this book.
It's rather harder science, in spots. I was surprised that the ship's corridors are described as winding back and forth 'organically', as surely that would leave a lot of dead space? Plus, one character hides for several weeks in a very small space, and although they discuss bringing food and water, there's no mention of washing, or indeed where they're peeing. Not the point of the story, I know, but it's something I noticed!
The summary had me thinking that Eli's group would not include Leigh, but actually it does include her, right from the start. There are criss crossing loyalties and people move around a lot during the novel. It's a shame, because actually some of Eli's ideas were very good; she just goes about things in the wrong way.
I'm not saying anything about the romance, just that it's inevitable from their first real interaction. I've heard that this is being shelved as LGBT on some websites; one character is gay, but has no romantic interactions with anyone. The only romance we know about is het.
And that ending? Well, what's there to say about it? As we approached it I started thinking this must be part one of a series, because I couldn't see any way for the characters to have a satisfactory ending. It was clever, I'll give Riley that, but I'm not certain it was satisfactory. I'm still chewing it over.
Not a bad read, but not hard sci fi in any sense of the word. Read it more for the social commentary than anything else.
When I was - probably really too old to be watching it - one of my favourite shows was The Tribe. It was a New Zealand produced show set in a world where all the adults have died from a virus, and the children have sorted themselves into tribes to try and survive. It got increasingly surreal as the series went on - in the first season, they were trying to find food supplies and deal with bullying; by the end, they were fighting an AI representation of a cult leader who wanted to release a new version of the virus that would kill them all - but the sheer campy joy of it has never been equaled. I was expecting something less campy, but with that tone, when I read this book.
It's rather harder science, in spots. I was surprised that the ship's corridors are described as winding back and forth 'organically', as surely that would leave a lot of dead space? Plus, one character hides for several weeks in a very small space, and although they discuss bringing food and water, there's no mention of washing, or indeed where they're peeing. Not the point of the story, I know, but it's something I noticed!
The summary had me thinking that Eli's group would not include Leigh, but actually it does include her, right from the start. There are criss crossing loyalties and people move around a lot during the novel. It's a shame, because actually some of Eli's ideas were very good; she just goes about things in the wrong way.
I'm not saying anything about the romance, just that it's inevitable from their first real interaction. I've heard that this is being shelved as LGBT on some websites; one character is gay, but has no romantic interactions with anyone. The only romance we know about is het.
And that ending? Well, what's there to say about it? As we approached it I started thinking this must be part one of a series, because I couldn't see any way for the characters to have a satisfactory ending. It was clever, I'll give Riley that, but I'm not certain it was satisfactory. I'm still chewing it over.
Not a bad read, but not hard sci fi in any sense of the word. Read it more for the social commentary than anything else.
ranniewhitlock's review
5.0
Truly wonderful.
The character arc is fantastic. Moving from a passive character to an active character while still allowing the character to have a personality and motivations and have readers sympathize with her and understand those motivations…it’s difficult. I’ve read a lot of books that tried to do it and failed. But Riley Redgate has pulled in off brilliantly. I understood Leigh’s indecision, her mediating. I saw both sides of the problems alongside her. And I love how that not only aides in her character arcs, but also in the overall themes of the book: All of us think we’re right, and none of us can know for sure. Everything is a risk, and everything is easily justifiable if you want it to be.
There are a couple of plot things that don’t make the most sense ever, but the character and theme payoffs were SO worth it that I don’t care. And I disagree with the reviews complaining about certain aspects because…
*BIG SPOILERS*
Some people are complaining about the ending and sure, it’s not what we all wished would happen. BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT. Leigh struggles the whole book with making decisions - and taking action on behalf about others in a way that aligns with her values instead of minimizing herself and becoming a mediator who never takes a definitive stance. Then she decides that Eli’s method is extreme, and that saving a single person’s life is worth a risk. But this is less about saving the person aboard the Hermes (therefore putting all our main characters at risk of starvation) and more about a rebellion toward Eli’s dictatorship and the way it has already cost Irena’s life. Then at the end, a single person is still saved - Anis, about whom she wrote the line “…that’s what I’d save. If someone asked me now, it’d be you.” Which makes her decision in the end the most consistent and character-growing decision possible.
Also the callbacks to the note she wrote to Anis, and the deaths is the VR room/approaching the true earth are wonderful tie-ins that were most definitely foreshadowing but wonderfully subtle and I didn’t even catch that that was going to be the ending.
As far as the ending being “easy/deus ex machina” - I feel like the state of earth isn’t really the point of this book. The reveal of the explosion is reiterating what the whole book has been building up to - that none of us know what is right, but we’re all convinced that we do - so much that we will resort to violence to ensure our method is enacted. Even Leigh does this to some extent. That’s the point. Our certainty in our own opinions brings about death just as much (and more so) than natural disasters.
I’m so glad I read this. I am thankful this book exists in the world, and I will be telling others to read it for years to come.
The character arc is fantastic. Moving from a passive character to an active character while still allowing the character to have a personality and motivations and have readers sympathize with her and understand those motivations…it’s difficult. I’ve read a lot of books that tried to do it and failed. But Riley Redgate has pulled in off brilliantly. I understood Leigh’s indecision, her mediating. I saw both sides of the problems alongside her. And I love how that not only aides in her character arcs, but also in the overall themes of the book: All of us think we’re right, and none of us can know for sure. Everything is a risk, and everything is easily justifiable if you want it to be.
There are a couple of plot things that don’t make the most sense ever, but the character and theme payoffs were SO worth it that I don’t care. And I disagree with the reviews complaining about certain aspects because…
*BIG SPOILERS*
Some people are complaining about the ending and sure, it’s not what we all wished would happen. BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT. Leigh struggles the whole book with making decisions - and taking action on behalf about others in a way that aligns with her values instead of minimizing herself and becoming a mediator who never takes a definitive stance. Then she decides that Eli’s method is extreme, and that saving a single person’s life is worth a risk. But this is less about saving the person aboard the Hermes (therefore putting all our main characters at risk of starvation) and more about a rebellion toward Eli’s dictatorship and the way it has already cost Irena’s life. Then at the end, a single person is still saved - Anis, about whom she wrote the line “…that’s what I’d save. If someone asked me now, it’d be you.” Which makes her decision in the end the most consistent and character-growing decision possible.
Also the callbacks to the note she wrote to Anis, and the deaths is the VR room/approaching the true earth are wonderful tie-ins that were most definitely foreshadowing but wonderfully subtle and I didn’t even catch that that was going to be the ending.
As far as the ending being “easy/deus ex machina” - I feel like the state of earth isn’t really the point of this book. The reveal of the explosion is reiterating what the whole book has been building up to - that none of us know what is right, but we’re all convinced that we do - so much that we will resort to violence to ensure our method is enacted. Even Leigh does this to some extent. That’s the point. Our certainty in our own opinions brings about death just as much (and more so) than natural disasters.
I’m so glad I read this. I am thankful this book exists in the world, and I will be telling others to read it for years to come.
millennialbookreview's review against another edition
4.0
Alone Out Here was an entertaining and engaging read overall. The plot, while not action-packed, was interesting and complex, and posed a lot of questions to the reader. The cast of characters was fun to follow, and each brought something intriguing to the story. I liked the writing in general. At the same time, there was a lack of nuance to certain characters. The conclusion was disappointing and a bit messy. It’s a good book overall, and I can think of plenty of readers who will enjoy this kind of story.
My full review can be found here
My full review can be found here
bookstobarbells's review
3.0
I was really hoping to love this more, but as it moved on I found myself getting bored.
The book opens with a strong premise: massive volcanic eruption will change life as we know it, so humans must evacuate. However, once on the ship, this felt like a snooze fest. I wanted to feel the tension and the rush inside of the story, but it fizzled out fast.
The characters were interesting and you can see the "Lord of the Flies" relation, but it just felt like a million things were thrown into the plot just to make it interesting.
I wish I had more to review, but I was so detached from the reading that I don't have a lot to say. This had so much potential and fell really short for me.
The book opens with a strong premise: massive volcanic eruption will change life as we know it, so humans must evacuate. However, once on the ship, this felt like a snooze fest. I wanted to feel the tension and the rush inside of the story, but it fizzled out fast.
The characters were interesting and you can see the "Lord of the Flies" relation, but it just felt like a million things were thrown into the plot just to make it interesting.
I wish I had more to review, but I was so detached from the reading that I don't have a lot to say. This had so much potential and fell really short for me.
zu_reviews's review
5.0
This one kept me turning pages and on the edge of my seat! A brilliant thoughtful sci-fi story that we need more of.
100pagesaday's review
4.0
It's the year 2072 and the world knows that in the near future there will be a massive volcanic eruption that will mean the end of life on Earth. A global plan is in place to build rockets to send some people to the nearest inhabitable planet. When an eruption happens months too early, 53 of the kids whose parents are working on the rocket prototypes are the only survivors. They boarded the prototype Lazarus that they were there to tour and launched into space on a journey of over 1000 years. Luckily, Eli, the pilot's daughter, is onboard along with Leigh Chen, First Daughter of the US President. Leigh is well trained as a politician, to say the right thing at the right time, to give answers that aren't really answers and calm everyone's nerves. Eli, who has never had friends her own age, relishes her position of power and becomes the de facto leader of the group of kids from around the world. Leigh is appointed Chief of Staff, a voice to Eli's one-sided decisions based solely on survival. However, as tensions rise within the group over everything from time in the VR simulator to food to turning around to rescue an astronaut that may still be aboard a space station, Leigh begins to question her decisions and find a voice of her own.
Alone Out Here is a suspenseful and realistic young adult science fiction story of survival. I loved the premise of Earth's political leaders being woefully underprepared for a climate catastrophe and unable to come to consensus on how to solve it without greed and corruption taking hold. A bunch of teens and pre-teens aboard a spaceship alone goes about as well as anyone would expect as they try to survive with limited resources, constant power struggles, differences in opinion and trying to manage the grief and disbelief of their planet and everyone on it being destroyed. The characters were a very diverse group since they were children of Lazurus' engineers, scientists, pilots and World Leaders. Leigh and Eli's characters were focused on the most as their seemingly similar personalities diverged as they discovered who they truly were aboard the Lazarus. I enjoyed watching Leigh develop from a people pleaser into a person who could still help others while being true to herself. Her relationship with Anis was also well done, helping her realize her potential while not overtaking the story. Eli's character is interesting, at first it seems like she is the only one willing to make difficult decisions and have a plan, but as she becomes more powerful, her decisions seem more and more self-serving. While being set in space in a not-so-distant future, Alone Out Here still deals with very real teen issues such as depression, addiction, friendship and romance in thoughtful ways. With a thrilling and unexpected ending, Alone Out Here is an exciting young adult science fiction drama.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Alone Out Here is a suspenseful and realistic young adult science fiction story of survival. I loved the premise of Earth's political leaders being woefully underprepared for a climate catastrophe and unable to come to consensus on how to solve it without greed and corruption taking hold. A bunch of teens and pre-teens aboard a spaceship alone goes about as well as anyone would expect as they try to survive with limited resources, constant power struggles, differences in opinion and trying to manage the grief and disbelief of their planet and everyone on it being destroyed. The characters were a very diverse group since they were children of Lazurus' engineers, scientists, pilots and World Leaders. Leigh and Eli's characters were focused on the most as their seemingly similar personalities diverged as they discovered who they truly were aboard the Lazarus. I enjoyed watching Leigh develop from a people pleaser into a person who could still help others while being true to herself. Her relationship with Anis was also well done, helping her realize her potential while not overtaking the story. Eli's character is interesting, at first it seems like she is the only one willing to make difficult decisions and have a plan, but as she becomes more powerful, her decisions seem more and more self-serving. While being set in space in a not-so-distant future, Alone Out Here still deals with very real teen issues such as depression, addiction, friendship and romance in thoughtful ways. With a thrilling and unexpected ending, Alone Out Here is an exciting young adult science fiction drama.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
katemarieshorts's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25