Life in Outer Space

by Melissa Keil

Sixteen-year-old Sam Kinnison is perfectly happy as a game-playing, movie-obsessed geek until beautiful, friendly, and impossible to ignore Camilla Carter starts him wondering if he has been watching all the wrong movies.

• ISBN10: 1561457426
• ISBN13: 9781561457427
• Publish Date: 1 August 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Peachtree Publishing Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[bumblingbookworm]

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

Another wonderful #LoveOzYA read I've been putting off for far too long!  I read The Secret Science of Magic last year and loved it, so I rushed out to but Melissa Keil's other two books, which I promptly put on my shelf and didn't read - I'm the worst when it come to this.  But this perfectly fit a prompt for one of my reading challenges, so I dug it out and read it quite quickly.

This story focuses on Sam and Camilla, two of the side characters in The Secret Science of Magic, so while I knew where they ended up I was excited to read about how they got there.  This was such a lovely read, and was quite impactful in some places.  The bullying scenes made me feel so uncomfortable, as did some of the conflict between the characters towards the latter part of the book.  Sam's obliviousness was a bit annoying at times, and the ending was a bit abrupt, but all in all this was a great read - 3.5 stars.
Check out the rest of my review here!

[Kelly]

3.5 Stars
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2013/11/life-in-outer-space-by-melissa-keil.html
Life In Outer Space was cute. It's a light and fluffy read set in Melbourne and tells the story of Sam, nerd, gamer and awkward teen. Sam is really likable, his character is mostly polite, a quiet achiever and just wants to fit in. He and his group of friends find themselves spending high school, ducking and weaving their way to escape the popular group, which always ends up with someone being hurt. Camilla is instantly popular, especially when the popular kids realise her links to the celebrity world. She's effortlessly cool and takes a shine to Sam, who really has no idea what to do with this new information. But as the months pass by, Camilla seems to bridge the gap between the popular kids and Sam's group without even trying, and being ignored by a bully is certainly better than being noticed by one.

Camilla is a darling. She's quirky, free spirited and genuine. And although the storyline is kept lighthearted, it had the potential for something more substantial with Mike's storyline, Camilla's neglectful father and the torment the group experiences at the hands of Justin. It barely skims the surface though, which is great for the young teen reader and intended audience. I needed a little more substance though, which would have pushed it up to a four star read. If you're looking for a feel good, light read, this one is perfect.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of Life in Outer Space from Peachtree Publishers via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

It's been a really long time since I enjoyed a YA story this much. The humor, the nerds, the boy and the girl. Close to perfection.

Full review to come soon

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews