Romy Silvers is the only conscious crew-member of a spaceship traveling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity among 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. But what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?
Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone…
I’ve always been in love with astronomy and filled with curiosity for „the beyond”. Thus, i always enjoy reading stories which are set up in a broader, larger perspective. I’m curious to know how other people imagine other worlds. Plus, i’m a loner. Therefore this book seemed like a must-have.
To me the story got predictable right after the first 50 pages and yet I enjoyed going through all of it ‘till the last page. There are twists in the story despite it being predictable, so you might want to keep that in mind if you thought you’ve already gotten everything sorted out.
Oh, no, it’s not a cheesy-romantic book. Not at all. Thanks God. I mean.. thanks Lauren. :))
Romy’s naivety was getting on my nerves way too often. But then I had to be honest and admit that I (or any other girl in her circumstances) wouldn’t have done better either. We, as readers, have the whole perspective, while Romy is trapped by her own limited perception of things, carrying her own emotional luggage. All these make room for mistakes and it’s quite understandable for a 17 years old girl like her.
SPOILER ALERT: this review contains spoilers. Please don’t hate me 🙂 It’s quite difficult to review this book without giving away spoilers. But i tried to hide spoilers by using the same color for the font as the one i use for the background. If you want to see it, just select the white paragraph. Ya. You’re welcome 😛
Remember those stereotypical characters in stories where… he’s the handsome rebel and she’s the beautiful daughter of the chief commander or whatever superior, and they’re like.. they never fail, they’re never silly and they never poop? Well, Lauren’s characters are not like that, and it’s refreshing to read about characters who feel real enough that we may all relate to. No artificial fluff. I love the way Lauren manages to build up an authentic character like Romy. However, J. doesn’t look very real to me. He’s just too messed up and it’s hard to imagine that a guy would act like he did in those circumstances. SPOILER:
I’m quite revengeful too if anyone happen to even try to hurt my family. So I tend to understand J.’s outrage. However, I wouldn’t take it on an innocent just to release my anger.
I guess that floating through space doesn’t help sanity too much.
The minute the UPR suggested that I should let them change my OS, I would have told them to fuck off, then switched to a solitaire game or something. I’ve experienced the betrayal of people ever since I was very young, so up to this age I can say I’ve perfected myself in the art of not trusting humans whatsoever. So, if I was in Romy’s shoes, the story would have been that of a girl who traveled through space to a safe distant planet where she set up a colony. The journey was quite boring. The end. Of course, we wouldn’t have been able to read such an amazing adventure, would we?
To me, a major put off was the use of idea that humans would still exploit animals in the future. I hope that humans will never EVER be able to spread around the Universe and colonize other planets as long as they keep hanging on the habit of farming and industrializing nonhuman animals. Exploiting other forms of life for pleasure and comfort is NOT something that humans could take pride in. It’s quite shameful, actually. My expectations for science-fiction novels are high enough to demand this ethical foundation which most of the scientists already understood, value & trying to promote. When this ethical understanding does not happen in sci-fi stories, to me is a sign of amateurism and ignorance from the writer. Reminds me of a scene in Interstellar where they ate burgers while they were whining that all crops were dead. Seems that people tend to be very ignorant with regards to farming. Sad thing. Reconsider.
I somehow understand Talia’s point of view when destroying the embryos. I’ve always thought that no one should decide the life (or death) of another living being. Just as before when humans decided that Laika should have a horrific, painful death in space. To say that it’s deeply unfair would be an understatement. It’s highly immoral and unethical, useless and cruel all at the same time. Once again, humans, think again.
Talia’s feelings for her daughter don’t really impress me much, at least not in the light of all the drama it caused. I’m outraged by Talia’s lack of professionalism.
I still don’t totally understand why did Romy’s parents choose to stay awake when they could’ve been replaced by other crew members? I doubt that anyone would’ve hurt the child.
The main character is relatable, while the context is so eerie. Therefore reading this book gave me a both cozy and eerie feeling. Some people perceived the story to be scary at some point, but I guess I’ve dealt with it quite well. And I don’t even like scary movies. Or… maybe that’s why I didn’t get scared: ‘cause I never watch horror movies. Oh. That would make sense.
I bought all Lauren James’ books I could find (Next together & Last beginning), because she surely got my attention. She can create a great story with just 2 characters, so what more can you ask for..?
In my perspective, here are some PROS & CONS about The loneliest girl in the Universe:
Intelligent writing
Vivid sceneries
Packed with action & emotions
Relatable main character
Fast-paced, page turner
Grim perspective on humanity & on life itself if we consider animal exploitation in the future
A bit of a stretch here and there
Not a life-changing book
Overall, it’s a book i’d recommend. I’ve read it in a day. 🙂
CĂRȚI LA PURICAT 