A review by books_onthe_ground
The Disasters by M.K. England

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

This book came out of nowhere, threw me into a spaceship, tried to kill me then dragged me along on one of the most fun rides I've ever been on.

Seriously, where did this book come from?! I had never seen this book before or heard anyone talk about it so when it came up on my amazon (amazon of all places) recommendations I was interested but I had no idea what to expect. Because of this (plus the rainbow on the cover and the witty tag line) I bought it and then just put it on my very tall pile of books to read. It was pure chance that I’ve been on a bit of a Sci-fi kick recently and decided to pick it up. I read it in a day. It's been SO LONG since I’ve done that. I could not put it down. 

This book was fun from page one. It's been a while since I’ve laughed this much at a book. I adored the main character, Nex, who has joined the very small group of character’s I’m happy had 1st person narratives. He was hilarious, incredibly realistic as a 17-year-old and also a bisexual which made my little bisexual heart cry with joy. He even said the word bi!! You would think that wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but you’d be surprised how many bisexual characters don’t actually say the word bisexual or bi and it feels amazing to see the words on the page. He's also very bisexual throughout the book, not just when the plot needed him to be, which made me so happy reading his thoughts. He has realistic reactions to what’s going on and I loved the development between him and the other characters. The only thing I would have liked more of is more scenes between him and his brother, as he spends a lot of the book thinking about his brother but when they meet they don’t have a lot of time together. 

He’s also Pakistani/American and you are reminded of this throughout the book. It's not just a fact that mentioned and never brought up again, it’s part of who his is and it’s a constant part of his character. And I know you’re probably thinking “Duh” but I’ve read so many books where I’ve found out a character's ethnicity, race, religion or native language halfway through or even after I’ve finished a book; especially if the author is white and the character isn’t. Same goes for Amar, she prays, fixes her hijab, etc. and it’s so nice to see.

It’s a breath of fresh air to read a Sci-Fi book that’s not incredibly western. Adult Sci-Fi is renowned for its diversity, it being FAR more ‘progressive’ (for lack of a better word) than genres like Fantasy and Contemporary, and it was amazing to see that coming over into young adult Sci-fi. I adored this book and I’m definitely going to read more by the author. I really hope this book gets spoken about more especially as I know it could really blow up on places like booktok both because of the diversity and rep but also because of the great plot, structure, tension and characters.