Gave up 2 hours in

I have read all the wonderful reviews on this book.. but I've listened to 2 hours of it, and everything that has happened could be summed up in one short sentence. Very little. Sorry I just found the pace tediously slow.

2 people found this helpful

#OwnVoices shoots for the stars

I really enjoyed this. I love stories about space and while this isn't set in space, it gives me enough space talk to keep me hooked. The world building was solid considering this is a debut novel. This is a story that's so full of heart and personal touches. It's so stinking cute. There's a lot of important topics in here too. Mental health (in both adults and teenagers) exploration of queer relationships and the dichotomy of personal life and social media presence. Almost all the characters are very likeable. And there's enough balance between the light stuff and the heavy to not bog it down too hard. I highly recommend this.

1 person found this helpful

totally worth the time

excellent well read love the story line. characters were rounded and I felt emersed in the environment

loved every second

Heart warming story with the perfect mix of drama added in, found myself both laughing at some parts and almost brought to tiers by others.

the cast are amazing and do a great job bringing these characters to life.

Good, but falls a little short

Really enjoyed this book! I’ve been reading a lot of heavy stuff lately so this was really really nice and light. Read it in two days. I loved the voice acting, Michael Crouch did a great job. My only niggle is the main character is just a bit too pretentious, I didn’t like him very much. His relationship with Leon didn’t seem very intense or meaningful. There was never any major drama! Depression isn’t a personality trait. Nor is owning a cassette player.

Is this revolutionary? No. But that’s not always a bad thing. This was a nice easy middle of the road book. A nice get away.

Fab book

Ok so hi my name is Ash , if your reading this hi!
i thought that this book was amazing and i really understood Cal and Leons relationship, as a closeted Pansexual and nonbinary older teen i am in awe of theese characters comfidence in themselfs, i loved the general storyline and related to Leons Depression I really love the idea of the Orpheas 5 mission and everyone should give this author a round of applause this book is very underated. Cal’s persona was perfectly captured by Micheal Crouch , His Female impression for Cal’s Mother,Deb and Cat is So good i could belive that i was really with them (though i do wish that)
I came to this Book because it was recomended to me after i listended to They Both Die At The End which is another Amazing LGBTQIA+ Novel narrated by Micheal Crouch. This was suxh an emotional roller coaster and i have listended a solid 4 times, this book really made me think about LGBTQIA+ Rights as where i live The government is denying Non-Binary rights ! please Listen to us and this book !!!!!!! thanks for listening to my rant and congrats if u made it to the end xx be proud of who you are and enjoy your evening :D

Beautiful ✨

Queers & Space are my two favourite things, this story is so beautiful, I could picture every scene and visualise everything thanks to the amazing narration! 💛

Underwhelming

This wasn't terrible but it was dull. The shooting stars aspect just never grabbed me and although I could suspend belief over the Mars thing the way the story pans out is, frankly, a little dumb.
The biggest problem I had is that at no point did I care about the characters, I never became emotionally invested in them especially the development of Cal and Leon's relationship which at best feels like a minor side plot, a boring one at that. I've listened to hour long radio dramas where I've cared more about the characters. Cal isn't exactly dislikeable but nor is he particularly likeable and Leon barely registers, the family relationships offer something which is better than the nothingness of the rest if it but it feels like we only ever scratch at the surface. It was a struggle to make it through to the underwhelming and predictable conclusion.

The previous two books I've listened to in this genre- 'The Infinite Noise' and 'We Contain Multitudes' are vastly superior at putting you inside the heads of the characters, making you care for them and actually feel something. I'd reccomend them over this any day.

It was great

I liked the m/m romance the most. Definitely a sweet little read. 3.5✨
I would reread.

Loved the story

The voice cast did an excellent job portraying the characters and the story was really good.