[Review] The Loneliest Girl in the Universe – Lauren James

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe
Lauren James

Genre: Sci-fi, Young Adult

Rating:   

Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst 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. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?

Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone . . .

If you’re going to read only one book in September, make it The Loneliest Girl in the Universe.

I was one of the lucky space troopers who managed to buy an early release copy at YALC back in July. I kept seeing announcements throughout the weekend that it had sold out and were scrambling to find more. When I finally arrived on Sunday, the first thing I did was make a beeline for the Waterstones booth to pick up my gorgeous copy.

I love space. I love spaceships. I love stories set in space with spaceships doing spacey things. Obviously, since Loneliest Girl checks all those boxes, I knew I was going to like this book. But I didn’t know I would love it.

Romy, with her anxiety and nightmares, actually seemed like a girl who had been on her own for years. Slightly detached from reality, but had come to terms with her situation. She was timid and awkward, but she was also smart and resourceful.

The tension builds up so well you don’t even realise it until your knuckles are white and you need to take a few minutes to tell yourself that you’re in the real world and not stuck on The Infinity with Romy. Be warned, this thriller is not a book you can stretch out over a week or two. You’re not going to be able to put it down!

The mystery, the plot twists, THE ENDING. It’s all so well done.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe may even my favourite book from 2017! It 100% lives up to the hype surrounding it.

Thank you, Lauren James, for writing the book I didn’t know I needed.

And it was just announced that the North American rights have been purchased so US and Canadian readers can get their hands on this wonderful book in 2018!  Though, if you’re impatient and need it right now (I support this decision), you can grab a copy now from Book Depository with free international shipping — so it’s a win/win really.

Loneliest Girl is out in the UK on September 7. Don’t miss out!

Book Links: Book Depository | Amazon US | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK