Rating: ★★★1/2
Blurb (from GoodReads): Sally Jensen–once a famous astronaut–thought her days in space were over. She was wrong.
The object entered our solar system, slowed down off the rings of Saturn, and began a steady approach towards Earth. No one knows what its purpose is. It has made no attempt at communication and has ignored all of NASA’s transmissions.
Having forsaken manned flight, the space programs of the world scramble to enlist forcefully-retired NASA legend Sally Jensen–the only person with the first-hand operational knowledge needed to execute a mission to make contact.
With no time to spare she must lead a crew with no experience farther than mankind has ever traveled, to a visitor whose intentions are far from clear…and who, with each passing day, gets closer to home.
The Last Astronaut doesn’t waste too much time getting to the heart of the issue, which I loved. it maintained a pretty quick pace throughout the book, alternating between bouts of action and bouts of discoveries about this alien object. The setting and tone are consistently dark, grim, desolate, and lonely. The image of lights on a space suit cutting through a misty darkness were used repeatedly, which is perfect for this kind of book.
Which is why it baffles me that I didn’t love it more than I did? Unfortunately, and this could just be the mood I was in, I found it really easy to pick this book up, but I also found it really easy to put the book down. I never dreaded picking it up again, and I definitely wanted to finish, but I wish it had compelled me a little more, kept me up late at night because I just had to see what happened next.
I will say the last 25% had me glued to the page so it ends much stronger than it started. If I had to pinpoint where I struggled with this book I can point to two factors, one of which is a spoiler, but the other of which is the characters. I did like all of them, but I think the character I connected to most, Sunny Stevens, the guy who kick starts the whole book, is absent from the 2nd half. He is the comic relief, he is the character that feels most alive to me. All the other characters are serious, grim types. Which is fine- most scientists probably are that way, but I really needed his jolt of personality to keep me caring about the events of the book. The other characters all feel human enough, I wouldn’t say any of them feel shallow or flat, but they just weren’t characters I connected to. Your mileage may vary.
The writing is great. Descriptive enough to give you the idea and convey the tone without lingering too long on it or slowing down the pace. The length also feels just right. At 400 pages, we’re given just what is needed to tell the story, it’s not bloated but it doesn’t feel like any details were left out either.
The format of the book is that we are reading an in-world book that has been written about these events after they have happened. It’s interspersed with little side snippets of what I thought of as confessions or transcripts from the characters themselves talking to (who I presume) is NASA. I personally enjoyed the format, and it definitely added a layer of impending doom to many of the scenes, but I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
The ending is perfect, and I won’t lie, it made me tear up a little. Overall a good read that’s well worth checking out if you like a good alien, sci-fi horror mash up. Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with an eARC for review.
The Last Astronaut releases on July 23, 2019 and can be found on GoodReads or preordered on Amazon.
Only skimmed the review, sorry as I still have this to read. Sounds like a pretty decent book though and one I might enjoy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No worries buddy! I do the same thing with books I haven’t read but plan to. I’m looking forward to seeing what you think!
And you may like it better. It’s definitely a roller coaster of a ride that I mostly enjoyed. I just think I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I wanted to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review! it’s a shame this didn’t draw you in more so that you devoured it, but hey, if you weren’t dreading picking it up again, that’s a win in my book, lol, I’ve had some review reads that I’ve dragged my heels on.
I haven’t heard of this book, but it sounds pretty intriguing, I might give it a go!
LikeLiked by 1 person
definitely! I really don’t have many negative things to say about it- I think it was just a personal disconnect from the characters and that will not be the same for everyone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope to read this soon, although it doesn’t look like it’s going to be this month. It sounds like it was missing something for you, so now I’m curious to see how I feel about it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think this is one that will be a solid four star read for most people. When I read this kind of book I really want it to make it hard for me to put the book down and that just didn’t happen for me this time around. It could also be the mood I was in but it’s definitely worth reading!
LikeLike
Sounds like a neat book! (Certainly a good review.) I’m hoping the horror part of the sci-fi horror mashup isn’t too creepy, because I could see it either being the perfect blend or just too much for me. Still, I think I want to try it out!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it was a good blend!! I didn’t have too much trouble sleeping. It definitely is more creepy vibes until you get to the end. I hope you love it!
LikeLike
Okay, cool! Creepy vibes can be a lot of fun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review!
I hate it when books are easy to put down. It makes reviewing and rating them hard for me because it’s not like I disliked it, but I didn’t love it either.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s exactly how I felt about this one. I finished it and I was like: this book is fine. The end. Lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an insightful review! I am sorry to hear that you had no trouble putting this down, it really is a turn-off for a book.
-Emma 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Emma!! It’s okay- it’s worse when you can’t find the motivation to pick it up again though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooh, interesting! I’ve been curious about this one but didn’t actually take the plunge with the ARC. “I thought it was good not but great” books are sometimes the WORST to review. It does sound like it has its moments, though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It does have some great moments!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This one nearly made it onto my wish list but I had too many to get through. Still hoping to get to it in the future.
Good to know it has a perfect ending! Also good to know that it feels like a complete story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes definitely! I think you will like it. I’m attributing most of the issues I had with it to the mood I was in. If I was giving an “objective” rating it would probably be a 4 Star minimum.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s how I am with some of mine. I just know certain books are getting less love from me due to not feeling a genre or style at that point in time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Month in Review: July 2019 | Hamlets & Hyperspace
Pingback: Three Mini DNF Book Reviews | Hamlets & Hyperspace
Pingback: Top Ten Tuesday: The Backlog | Hamlets & Hyperspace