I only grabbed this book because I thought cover looked interesting. I didn’t put two and two together until I finished the book. Creepy and at the same time a good horror sci fi in the YA section.

 

To be fair, the pace of the book starts off a little slow at first. Think of it as a very slow introduction to the characters and establishing the setting, and where they’re going to be headed to on their space journey.

 

Then hell breaks loose when they’re on the moon

 

And wow, the pace picks up considerably and it instantly becomes a page turner. Now I understand there needs to be a mystery aspect to the novel - whether that’s necessary to establish the plot or not, that I’m not too sure. I welcomed it regardless because everything starting coming together and you find yourself racing through the novel to find out what’s going to happen next.

 

Considering this is a YA sci fi novel, you’re not going to come across anything astronomically complicated when it comes to the science aspect of it all. No physics lessons or rocket science (literally.) It’s not meant to be a complex read so it’s ideal when one doesn’t want to bother with NASA lingo.

 

Be prepared for a twist at the end. I was completely floored and it made the read incredibly enjoyable.

 

Greatly recommended and well worth the read. We need more like this in the YA section! (and if you do find one, please let me know! I’m open to reading more of this!)

**SPOILER FREE**

 

OH MY GOD, THIS BOOK!

 

Just finished this book and I feel like my head just exploded! This one is a sci-fi/horror targeted for young adult readers. 

 

NASA has been suffering from lack of interest, and lack of funding. They haven't sent anyone to the moon since 1972. NASA decided to hold a lottery for teenagers to be sent up on the next trip to the moon. Mia, Midori, and Antoine are the lucky winners. (Or not so lucky!) I cant say too much about what happens on the moon without spoiling the whole book. However, THEY ARE BEING LIED TO! 

 

We follow different perspectives and while that added to the creepy and mysterious feel to the book, it was often hard to tell who was speaking and when. There wasn't clear indicators who was talking. I also found myself not really becoming attached to any of the characters, but somehow that didn't really lessen the experience of reading it. Another aspect I didn't care for about the characters was the INSTA-LOVE. Antoine and Mia are throwing around the words I love you a week into meeting each other. We also get perspectives from the side characters, the astronauts. I did enjoy that.

 

You can really see how much research was done to write this book. Everything from NASA history, to Japanese folk stories, was looked at to make this book accurate. I loved this book because it truly freaked me out, and kept me guessing about what is happening to them on the moon. A pleasant surprise I didn't know going into this book was its graphic designs. We have eerie photos, letters, and text. They really added to the overall dark and creepy feel to the book.

 

I would definitely recommend this one to all readers! 

 

Loving this one so far!

 

I love the weird, mysterious feeling it gives off. I definitely feel like they are being lied to about whats in space!! Shit is going to get crazy soon! 

Top 5 Wednesday was created by gingerreadslainey, check out her channel!

 

This week's topic is of course: Halloween recommendations! 

I do not really read a lot of horror/creepy books, but here are some of the ones that kind of scared me or that I think had a creepy atmosphere.

 

5. Coraline by Neil Gaiman: I read this as a child and it was really creepy. I re-read it this summer and I liked the atmosphere of this book, it is not really scary but it has a Halloween-feeling.

 

4. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: creepy pictures, tragic story and dark atmosphere. Really amazing!

 

3. Dracula by Bram Stoker: nothing better for Halloween than this classic vampire story. I am currently reading it and it is really scary.

 

2. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton: beautiful, gloomy and dark. And also really funny, Tim Burton is a genius.

 

1. 172 hours on the moon by Johan Harstad: I read this last year and it still haunts me sometimes. It was really one of the scariest books I've ever read. 

 

 Halloween recs are more than welcome !

SPACE.

I feel like this book probably deserves only three stars because of some faults with the writing, pacing, and buildup, but I enjoyed it so much (and the setting), that I'm going to give it four anyway.

NASA decides to return to the moon, and for funding and publicity, holds a contest that will send three teenagers on a "vacation" up along with the astronauts.

I say "vacation" in quotation marks because apparently NASA found something beyond terrifying up on the moon back in the 70s that they covered up--but of course, isn't gone.

This book is chilling and engrossing. I could not put it down, even if it was somewhat predictable. I'm a little ashamed at how fast I went through this novel, but it was just one of those books. I didn't want to stop.

There were some problems with pacing, though. There was a ton of focus on the characters before they went to the moon, and it would have been great if it was to be used a slow descent into terror, but when everyone got to the moon (about halfway through the book), things just happened so fast, I felt I didn't get to really feel the terror as I should've. I might be a minority in that opinion, though.

All in all, though, this book is an eerie, fast, and easy read.