I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion
Genres: Sci-Fi (YA)
Pages: 272
Goodreads
When Lucas Walker inexplicably recovers from a terminal illness, everyone is astonished --except for his girlfriend Emma, who never gave up hope. However, as friends and family celebrate the miracle, Emma becomes alarmed: Lucas has changed. He speaks haltingly, can't recall past events, and even his own dog doesn't recognize him. Emma begins to suspect something is terribly wrong. What happened to the Lucas she loved? Does his strange behavior have something to do with the shooting light that fell into Lucas's backyard the night he recovered?
As the two set off on a road trip in search of the truth, the journey takes an unexpected turn. First they're shot at by unknown enemies and then helped by unlikely allies. Before long, Emma and Lucas are plunged into a desperate life or death race against time.
Packed with intrigue and emotion, FROM A DISTANT STAR is a riveting novel about loyalty and the power of love.
If you missed any earlier October Authorly Love posts in which I feature Karen McQuestion, visit them here!
*This review was originally published on GoodReads (before I had a blog), so it is much shorter than what you may be used to.
I actually don’t read many books about aliens, so I was definitely skeptical going in. But I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book!
Emma’s boyfriend is terminally ill, he is basically just waiting for cancer to kill him while in a coma. And Emma is by his side every single day. This made me love Emma from the beginning. To be in high school and be able to handle this situation shows her strength at such a young age. She’s willing to do anything to save this boy that she loves, whether that’s naïvety or not, she stays true to her feelings.
Lucas’ (her boyfriend) mother was the least likable character for me. She was so cruel to everyone, even the family dog. Honestly, I felt so bad for the dog so many times because of how the mother treated him. I just felt that if his mother knew her son at all she would know that he would want Emma there every day and would want Mack (the dog) to be treated with love! Jerk.
I enjoyed the story, while it was a little slow on the get go, it really picked up pace towards the middle. Going in, I thought this was going to be strictly a sci-fi romance novel, but it was much more than that. It becomes a book focused on mystery and even some action. It will keep you entertained until the end.
There were a few things that could have been explained more thoroughly, like who the two agents that were hunting them down were/where they came from, how did they know about the fallen pod if the brother and sister were the ones that shot it down? Just a few unanswered questions for me, but it was still an enjoyable story.
My last point is that I LOVED Scout! He was so innocent and I loved his dialogue. There are a few chapters here and there with his point of view, but only a page or two long. I finished the book wanting WAY more from Scout than that! He was by far my favorite character, and I wouldn’t mind an entire book from his point of view. McQuestion definitely writes characters that you just love and want to root for.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-read, entertaining sci-fi romance, this is for you!
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| Overall: | 4 / 5 |
2 Comments
Oh I remember reading this, so good! And I don’t read books with aliens as well, so this one was a fun surprise.
It IS! I finished it in a day. 😀