Book Review: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

Hi all! I am here with another review for you. I first became aware of this book because a few of my blogger friends had wrote reviews on their own site and I was intrigued! Therefore, I checked the ebook out from my library!

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Title: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe

Author: Lauren James

Pages: 290

Publish date: July 3, 2018

Publisher: Walker Books

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Trigger Warnings: Loss of a parent, night terrors, vomit (emetophobia), panic attacks, trauma, emotional abuse, latrophobia (slight), and dentophobia.

This was a whirlwind of a story. I was thoroughly surprised at the twists and turns that this novel took. Through the first half of the book, I thought I knew exactly where it was going, but I was… dead wrong! My review notes go from “We all know what is going to happen… super obvious” to “What the.. this is actually super unexpected.” If you think you are in for a cute sci-fi romance, you would be wrong. I definitely was.

Things I liked

  • The Setting: I love space! I have such a deep appreciation for the subject so I thoroughly enjoyed reading a fictional book about it. I thought the descriptions of the science was perfect for the young adult genre. It was incredibly interesting and easy to understand. Also, the spaceships sound so nice. I would live there… maybe
  • Romy: I loved the main character! She was incredibly relatable and smart. I loved her obsessions with TV shows and fanfiction. I mean, she literally screenshotted her favorite character from a TV show and made it her screensaver. I do this… a lot.
  • The plot: This was one of the most unique story lines I have ever read. Obviously, space has been written about 1,000,000,000 times, however the twists and turns that this story took, especially at the end, made the read so interesting. It is definitely a page-turner.

Things I didn’t like

  • The writing: The world-building was clear enough for me to have a picture in my mind of what was happening, however, I never felt like I got to taste, feel, hear, or smell the book… if that makes sense. I wanted the descriptions to be fleshed out more. All I know about the spaceship was that it was round. The dialogue was also choppy, awkward, and a bit uncomfortable at times.
  • The pacing: It wasn’t until about halfway through the book that I became invested in the story and characters. The beginning was important but not as interesting as I would have liked.

Talk to me!

Have you read this book? What did you think?

What is your favorite science-fiction book?

Would you travel to space if you could?

Let me know in the comments below!

Love,

Jackie

21 thoughts on “Book Review: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James”

  1. I love books set in space, so maybe I should try this one out!
    Illuminae is by far my favourite! A long way to a small angry planet is also really good!

    (www.evelynreads.com)

  2. I loved this book, I do get what you mean about the pacing but I think as I read it in one sitting it was less obvious. Great review! 🙂

    1. I definitely flew through the end once I sat down to read it. It could have also been the clutter in my brain at the beginning of the book that slowed me down haha. Thank you!

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