Goodreads: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Space, Psychological Thriller
Rating:

The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on the Infinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth. Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity. Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of the Eternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….

Holy wow, this was not at all what I expected… Hah! This story was full of thrilling twists that kept me on the edge of my seat and had me quickly flipping through the pages to find out just what the hell was going on! It was a much darker read than I thought it’d be. I admit to being initially confused by the details of space travel (I blame this on the fact that I started reading it way past midnight), but Lauren James did a good job of keeping the details as simple as possible throughout the story; which I greatly appreciated!

The focus of this story is Romy Silvers. She was the first baby to be born in space on The Infinity, the first manned aircraft bound for Earth II. She’s 16 going on 17 and after a tragic incident resulted in her parents’ death five years ago, she’s been living alone on the spaceship. She writes fanfiction of her favorite TV show, exercises, does homework, and loves pop music. Having to man a spaceship alone since the age of 11, she’s plagued by frequent and crippling panic/anxiety attacks, that she has been learning to manage with the help of her therapist, Molly, on Earth.

Her loneliness and yearning for contact with other people was a palpable thing. I can’t even begin to fathom what it’d be like in Romy’s shoes. Like, I honestly don’t know what I’d have done in her position. That kind of isolation can really do wild things to a person, especially when they’re haunted by the confined space that they live in. She is constantly overwhelmed by self-doubt, but she’s incredibly smart and when she springs into action, quick-thinking and so badass! Even though she’s in her late teens, her character’s voice comes off quite young and it’s hard to remember she’s not actually 12 or 13. While this normally would annoy me, I thought it did a good job in illustrating her isolated upbringing.

“I always told you that you were stronger than you realized, didn’t I, Romy Silvers?”

The build up of the story was terrifyingly awesome. Reading parts of this book *seriously* creeped me the f out and I thought it was brilliant psychological horror! At the same time, it was also an intense thriller kept me on my toes until the very end. I was soo impressed. This is definitely a book that you want to go into knowing less about and there’s honestly not much else I can say without giving anything away. Just know that whatever you think you’ll find in this book after reading the blurb, chances are you won’t anticipate what comes your way!

Have you read The Loneliest Girl in the Universe? Loved it? Hated it? Meh about it? Let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat!