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chronicallybookish 's review for:
Under the Milky Way
by Vanessa Barneveld
Quick Stats
Age Rating:
Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
I was very apprehensive going into this book. I received an eARC via Entangled Teen and NetGalley because the blurb sounded interesting and I have a very eager trigger finger when it comes to requesting ARCs. But after I was approved, I looked a little more into the book… and it’s an alien romance. Which is very much not my cup of tea. Twilight-esque paranormal romances that are heavy on the cheese are always much more cringy than enjoyable for me, and based on the reviews I’d read, I was sure that was exactly what I was in for. And I wasn’t wrong, but I also wasn’t right.
Now, all of this is not to say that there is anything wrong with those types of books. I have just never been into them personally. If you love twilight and cheesy paranormal romances? That’s great! And you very likely will enjoy this book as well, because it definitely has those aspects. It just also had more substance than I was expecting.
In this book we follow Cassidy, a pretty average teenage girl in the aftermath of her mother unexpectedly checking herself in to an inpatient psych rehab. As Cassidy struggles with feelings of abandonment and some spooky—maybe even extraterrestrial—happenings, she begins to grow closer to the shy, mysterious new kid, Hayden.
As the book begins, it seems like a very typical alien-abduction storyline. But there are pieces that don’t quite fit and leave you guessing. For a while some of the storylines seem disconnected and disjointed, but as the story starts to pick up, I got too caught up in the plot twists and characters to be bothered by it, and in the end everything wraps up nicely with just enough open endedness to leave me hopeful for a sequel.
There were points at which the writing was a bit cheesy. A few overly cliche declarations of love and one instance in which a character says they have “skillz”. With a Z. That was painful to read. But it was otherwise very well written.
All of the characters felt fleshed out and interesting. I loved Alondra and the representation of a Deaf individual as well as Cassidy’s knowledge and use of sign language. Cassidy and Hayden’s romance wasn’t my favorite ever, but there was enough chemistry that I did end up rooting for them in the end.
In the end, I enjoyed this book, and if there is a sequel someday, I would definitely pick it up.
Age Rating:
Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
I was very apprehensive going into this book. I received an eARC via Entangled Teen and NetGalley because the blurb sounded interesting and I have a very eager trigger finger when it comes to requesting ARCs. But after I was approved, I looked a little more into the book… and it’s an alien romance. Which is very much not my cup of tea. Twilight-esque paranormal romances that are heavy on the cheese are always much more cringy than enjoyable for me, and based on the reviews I’d read, I was sure that was exactly what I was in for. And I wasn’t wrong, but I also wasn’t right.
Now, all of this is not to say that there is anything wrong with those types of books. I have just never been into them personally. If you love twilight and cheesy paranormal romances? That’s great! And you very likely will enjoy this book as well, because it definitely has those aspects. It just also had more substance than I was expecting.
In this book we follow Cassidy, a pretty average teenage girl in the aftermath of her mother unexpectedly checking herself in to an inpatient psych rehab. As Cassidy struggles with feelings of abandonment and some spooky—maybe even extraterrestrial—happenings, she begins to grow closer to the shy, mysterious new kid, Hayden.
As the book begins, it seems like a very typical alien-abduction storyline. But there are pieces that don’t quite fit and leave you guessing. For a while some of the storylines seem disconnected and disjointed, but as the story starts to pick up, I got too caught up in the plot twists and characters to be bothered by it, and in the end everything wraps up nicely with just enough open endedness to leave me hopeful for a sequel.
There were points at which the writing was a bit cheesy. A few overly cliche declarations of love and one instance in which a character says they have “skillz”. With a Z. That was painful to read. But it was otherwise very well written.
All of the characters felt fleshed out and interesting. I loved Alondra and the representation of a Deaf individual as well as Cassidy’s knowledge and use of sign language. Cassidy and Hayden’s romance wasn’t my favorite ever, but there was enough chemistry that I did end up rooting for them in the end.
In the end, I enjoyed this book, and if there is a sequel someday, I would definitely pick it up.