Scan barcode
ejfisch's review
3.0
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Let me just start by saying that I was really torn about the rating for this book. Parts of it were really enjoyable, and parts of it irritated me to no end (and much of that has to do with my personal preferences). Objectively, it was a good story. I read another review that likened it to A Wrinkle in Time, which was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I could definitely see the parallels. 3 stars honestly seems like a low rating – realistically I’d give it 3.5 – but 4 just seemed a little too generous. The book had merit, and I want to acknowledge that.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the young adult genre, so I felt like I was taking a small step out of my comfort zone by reading this. The premise was great, if a tad clichéd: ordinary teenage girl discovers she and her family are anything but ordinary when ageless human-looking aliens come into her life and announce that she is the key to saving Earth from being invaded by other aliens who want to destroy everything. Interstellar plots, undercover agents, new dimensions, wormholes…I eat that stuff up. I would have liked to see that be the bigger focus in the book. It seemed like everything was leading up to some sort of big showdown between Julie and The Others, but suddenly everything on that front seemed to be resolved and the rest of the book went back to focusing on Paris.
I have to give Julie credit for keeping her wits about her and being a fairly on-the-ball, down-to-Earth girl, but she could still be a little dramatic for my personal taste. Teen angst, high school drama, boy problems. Not my thing. I felt like she was being totally irrational during all the drama/angst at the beginning of the book, and I was half-tempted to stop reading. Then once all of that cleared up and the actual plot got going, it was more enjoyable and I actually found myself wanting to know what would happen next. Then at the end, the drama was back, and so was the overreacting. It seemed anticlimactic compared to what the story had seemed to be building up to.
While the book ended up not really being for me, I’d definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy a little more drama in their sci fi. It’s not hard science fiction by any means, but some of the elements from my favorite old stories were definitely there.
Let me just start by saying that I was really torn about the rating for this book. Parts of it were really enjoyable, and parts of it irritated me to no end (and much of that has to do with my personal preferences). Objectively, it was a good story. I read another review that likened it to A Wrinkle in Time, which was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I could definitely see the parallels. 3 stars honestly seems like a low rating – realistically I’d give it 3.5 – but 4 just seemed a little too generous. The book had merit, and I want to acknowledge that.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the young adult genre, so I felt like I was taking a small step out of my comfort zone by reading this. The premise was great, if a tad clichéd: ordinary teenage girl discovers she and her family are anything but ordinary when ageless human-looking aliens come into her life and announce that she is the key to saving Earth from being invaded by other aliens who want to destroy everything. Interstellar plots, undercover agents, new dimensions, wormholes…I eat that stuff up. I would have liked to see that be the bigger focus in the book. It seemed like everything was leading up to some sort of big showdown between Julie and The Others, but suddenly everything on that front seemed to be resolved and the rest of the book went back to focusing on Paris.
I have to give Julie credit for keeping her wits about her and being a fairly on-the-ball, down-to-Earth girl, but she could still be a little dramatic for my personal taste. Teen angst, high school drama, boy problems. Not my thing. I felt like she was being totally irrational during all the drama/angst at the beginning of the book, and I was half-tempted to stop reading. Then once all of that cleared up and the actual plot got going, it was more enjoyable and I actually found myself wanting to know what would happen next. Then at the end, the drama was back, and so was the overreacting. It seemed anticlimactic compared to what the story had seemed to be building up to.
While the book ended up not really being for me, I’d definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy a little more drama in their sci fi. It’s not hard science fiction by any means, but some of the elements from my favorite old stories were definitely there.
More...