Tomorrow is release day for Meet Me in Outer Space, but today is the start of the blog tour! Today I have a review of this book, because thanks to the publisher and Xpresso Book Tours, I received an ARC to read and review! Let’s take a look at what I thought of this book.
Meet Me in Outer Space
Melinda Grace
(Swoon Reads)
Publication date: March 12th 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Smart and unflinching, this #OwnVoices debut contemporary novel stars an ambitious college student who refuses to be defined by her central auditory processing disorder.
Edie Kits has a learning disability. Well, not a learning disability exactly, but a disability that impacts her learning. It isn’t visible, it isn’t obvious, and it isn’t something she likes to advertise.
And for three semesters of college, her hard work and perseverance have carried her through. Edie thinks she has her disability under control until she meets her match with a French 102 course and a professor unwilling to help her out.
Edie finds herself caught between getting the help she needs and convincing her professor that she isn’t looking for an easy out. Luckily for Edie, she has an amazing best friend, Serena, who is willing to stitch together a plan to ensure Edie’s success. And then there’s Hudson, the badly dressed but undoubtedly adorable TA in her French class who finds himself pulled into her orbit…
Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads, Meet Me in Outer Space is a sweet, heartachingly real story of love and college life by debut author Melinda Grace
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
REVIEW
I have to start off by saying that I love that this is an own voices book about a central auditory processing disorder. I honestly didn’t know much about this disorder or have I ever read anything about it in YA books. Authors that write books like these are amazing and I am happy I know about this now. The author brought it in an interesting way to let the readers understand what it is!
Edie is an amazing character. She knows that this auditory disorder makes it harder for her to pick things up. She needs French for a requirement, but also to make her trip to Paris easier. I love that she knew what she needed and fought for it! That was a journey that was so interesting to read about! I loved that she had an amazing friend group that had her back! Serena was a lot of fun.
Hudson is a character who seemed really sweet, but at times I felt we didn’t learn enough about. Yeah, he’s smart and caring, but who is Hudson? He really stayed on the surface and we only got glimpses along the way! I think this book would’ve been just a bit more interesting if we had more insight on Hudson.
The romance added to Edie’s journey was really cute. It was fun, because it definitely wasn’t instalove. It took time, but once they gave in to their feelings it was really sweet. There were a lot of swoonworthy moments that had me smiling along the way. I have to say Edie did annoy me at times when she started pushing him away. I felt that because some of their romance stayed on the surface, it was harder to understand her pushing Hudson away! The ending was also a bit abrupt. I love how it ended, but everything that got us to the ending didn’t seem completely resolved!
All in all, this was such a cute and interesting read. I loved the balance of fun and serious moments. Edie is a character who knows what she wants and is willing to fight for what she needs! I think it’s important that we have more strong characters who show that no disorder will stop them from following their dreams! Add a cute romance and this story is complete!
Author Bio:
Melinda Grace wrote her first piece of fiction in middle school, but didn’t write a complete story until an introduction to creative writing course at SUNY Oswego, where she earned a BA in human development. She went on to earn a MS E.D. in counseling and currently works as a school counselor. When she’s not guiding the youth of America, she’s planning her next vacation to Disney World, laminating anything she can get her hands on, and binge watching Netflix. MEET ME IN OUTER SPACE is her debut novel, publishing March 2019.
TOUR
Of course, I’m not the only one participating in this blog tour. Click here to see the full schedule! It’s updated every day with the links to the post about Meet Me in Outer Space.
GIVEAWAY!
There is a tour wide giveaway. For US/CAN readers, you have a chance at winning a print copy of Meet Me in Outer Space! The giveaway ends on March 21st. Check out the Rafflecopter link below!
Meet Me in Outer Space was a very interesting read! I really appreciate it when books are own voices. That makes the reading experience just a little more special. I learned a lot while reading this book and definitely plan on keeping an eye on this author!
Great review, Candyce! This sounds like a very well written read with great, three dimensional characters, too! Glad you liked it! 🙂
Oh this looks good!