Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

65 reviews

contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe follows Romy Silvers, the first ever child born in space and the 16 year old commander of The Infinity. Her parents were sent on a mission to set up an new planet earth many light years away but when Romy is born, the mission has to be adapted, and then when disaster strikes, Romy finds herself alone and at the helm of Earth's hope of survival. Until The Eternity shows up with the mysterious J on board. What follows is a desperate fight for truth amongst a confusion of misunderstood history and outright lies.
I read this book for a book club under the genre Paranormal Romance which is most definitely not what I would consider this book to be. I think this is a Young Adult Thriller. When put in the correct context it is a thrilling story in an unusual and fun setting about a character who has foibles but is still very loving given the circumstances. At first I thought the writing was quite simplistic and there was a lot of suspension of disbelief to get on board with what was happening. But reframing the book as YA helped me and in the end I found it entertaining, fast paced and I was rooting for Romy. I would recommend to the right person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Vomit

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Mental illness

Minor: Emotional abuse

shogani_sumaru's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Grief, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: War, Alcohol, Cursing, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

lakeofstars's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

my dad gave me this book like five years ago bc he said he thought of me when he saw it and i think i was so offended bc of the title that i subconsciously put off reading it until now. 

this was an equal-parts frustrating and neat little sci-fi thriller. i didn't put it down once other than to solve the time dilation problem! 


misc thoughts/critiques:
- the first half was very tell>show, but this improved as time went on
- i wish we had more time with romy before the eternity, to connect with her and better understand her loneliness and subsequent excitement
- the fanfics were so short! i know that if they were longer it wouldve impeded on the story, but... a sixteen y.o. w nothing better to do writing half pages? 
- i rlly dont like the juvenile writing style most YA books have... felt like it took away from the story, and made the graphic scenes really jarring (and not in a good way)
- loved the portrayal of mental illness. that is what really made me understand romy's character.

[SPOILER-ISH]
- personally i found every twist Very predictable

and was quite frustrated with romy's naivete, but i understand that... of course she is? she doesn't have the same human experiences with selfishness and poor motives as the rest of us. but also. as someone w paranoia. I wouldve checked those files' physical source Before downloading.

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let's be honest, no way is NASA hiring that guy.

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i felt so happy for romy at the end.

super satisfying ending, but again i wish we had a bit More!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

kayshamarie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Blood

kathygotpugs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

kholmes510's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Blood

michaelion's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love Romy. That's literally my baby girl child.

This is my second time reading so I knew what was gonna happen but it's been years. But the twists! The turns! I still have whiplash!!! 

And to all the baby girls out there, this should be required reading! Master manipulators / groomers use the same tactics J used in this book! Every girl is special and wonderful and need to trust their instincts! Romy doubted herself because she's a girl, because she thought she was a foolish child; but I need every baby girl to know that you are wiser than you realize! You can doubt the world but don't doubt yourself!!!

Such amazing thrilling writing. I opened the book at 3 pm and finished it by 11 pm! Then I went and added several of James' books to my TBR as soon as I finished this. Lauren James you will always be famous!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Confinement, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Stalking

Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol, Fatphobia, War, and Adult/minor relationship

kryskross's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, and Death of parent

themorrigan43's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

emperor_aj's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Torture, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death

Minor: Pregnancy, Medical content, Vomit, Stalking, Blood, and Alcohol