From a Distant Star

by Karen McQuestion

“A quick and exciting read.” —School Library Journal

When Lucas Walker inexplicably recovers from a terminal illness, everyone is astonished—except for his girlfriend Emma, who never gave up hope. However, as friends and family celebrate the miracle, Emma becomes alarmed: Lucas has changed. He speaks haltingly, can’t recall past events, and even his own dog doesn’t recognize him. Emma begins to suspect something is terribly wrong. What happened to the Lucas she loved? Does his strange behavior have something to do with the shooting light that fell into Lucas’s backyard the night he recovered?

As the two set off on a road trip in search of the truth, the journey takes an unexpected turn. First they’re shot at by unknown enemies and then helped by unlikely allies. Before long, Emma and Lucas are plunged into a desperate life or death race against time.

Packed with intrigue and emotion, From a Distant Star is a riveting novel about loyalty and the power of love.

• ISBN10: 1477830162
• ISBN13: 9781477830161
• Publish Date: 19 May 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Skyscape
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 280
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nessa Luna]

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. This has not changed my opinion in any way. I found this book on Netgalley a couple of months back, and decided I wanted to try it out. I loved the cover, the summary sounded interesting and it was a Read Now, which is my favourite kind of book on Netgalley, hahaha! But then, I got it on my tablet and let it gather dust for a while. For my Netgalley month, I decided to pick this book as one of the books I'd be reading, and it was actually one of the books that I picked up. So was it worth it? Yes, yes I think it was!

From a Distand Star is about Emma, whose boyfriend (Lucas) is dying from cancer. Everyone has given up on him already, but not Emma. She has been praying for a recovery, for Lucas to come back to her. And miraculously, he does! Lucas' family is overjoyed by his fast recovery, and so is the rest of the town, but Emma has doubts. Is it really her boyfriend that's come back from the brink of death, or is there something more going on? The fact that a strange object has crashed close to where Lucas lives, and that there are government people looking for it makes it even stranger. What has happened to Lucas? It it really still Lucas? Or has an alien taken over the body of Emma's boyfriend?

I'm going to say it right from the start, I really enjoyed this book! I was a bit reluctant during the first two or three chapters, because there was a change in POV's almost immediately, but luckily the rest of the book was (mostly) from Emma's POV. There were two or three chapters every now and then that were from the Point of View of Scout, but other than that there were no POV changes. I was also afraid that it might be focused more on the romance part of the story, but it was more friendship between two people - who happened to be dating, yes it's weird I know. But I really liked the friendship between Emma and Scout, and I loved their little car-dance part!

The characters in this book were very likable, though there were some characters I didn't like at all (Lucas' mum for example, she kept on wanting to exclude Emma from basically everything. She hated Emma). Emma I liked right from the start, mostly because of her determination to get Lucas back, no matter what it would cost. She loved him so much that she couldn't imagine a future without him (that could also be a bad part, but hey it was cute). I wasn't too sure about Scout in the beginning, but he grew on me. Especially after the thing he did in the pancake house, honestly I loved him after that! The other character I really liked was Eric, Lucas' little brother. He just wanted his brother back too, and he wanted to help Scout. Risking getting punished and everything, oh I wish I had a brother like that, haha!

The writing was simple, and very enjoyable. There was only one tiiiiiny thing that annoyed me. At the beginning of the story, there was a sentence where someone said 'must of', which is the incorrect way of saying it. It should've been 'must have', but hey let's not get mad at that, lots of people make that mistake - and my English isn't perfect either. Still I don't get how the editor missed that.

In the end, I liked From a Distant Star a lot, and I am really happy that I decided to read it. It's a standalone book, which is also a plus - because as much as I love series, sometimes it gets a bit boring. I love authors who manage to write a good standalone book! The only thing I would have loved to learn a bit more about (in a novella?), is Scout; his home-planet, his life before he came to Earth (and perhaps afterwards?) and of course 'his Emma'. Yeah, that would be nice! If you're a science fiction fan, you should definitely try out this book!

My opinion on this book in one gif: 


(Yeah I know I had to use a Doctor Who gif of course)

[boghunden]

I got this book from Netgalley.

I didn't know much about this book when I started it; I was expecting a sad-ish story about a dying boy and his girlfriend trying to grant his dying wish. It was nothing like that. What it really was about, I won't tell. One of the things I liked most about this book myself was that I didn't know about the story, and I want others to be just as surprised as I was.

I really liked the characters, especially Emma and Eric. Of course Scout was great too. Lucas' parents weren't really my cup of tea, but I sense that it was written that way on purpose. And it definitely worked.

The writing was so easy and had a lot of humor as well.

This book was just what I needed and I'm so glad I read it. Now, if only there'd be a second book...

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

From a Distant Star was super cute! We got off to a really rough start, so I was concerned in the beginning, but once Emma and Scout start their adventure, I was hooked! Emma's boyfriend, Lucas, has stage four cancer and is now in a coma. His family is preparing for the end, but Emma isn't willing to give up on him. She goes to the town "witch" who gives her a potion to bring him back. That same night, an alien scout crash lands in Lucas' backyard and needs a host body to survive. Lucas miraculously wakes up, starts healing, but Emma know it's no longer her Lucas.

I'll start with the two things that initial bothered me, but got cleared up as From a Distant Star moved forward. First, it alternates between third and first POV, which I always hate. Luckily, it's not an every other chapter deal. It's mostly told from Emma's first person account, but occasionally we get Scout's which is in third. The opening chapter is also in third, but from Lucas' dog's perspective. But honestly, having Scout tell his parts in first person wouldn't make any sense at all, because of reasons.

Second, Scout's control of Lucas' body seems like a major inconsistency at first. When Scout first crashes, he enters Lucas' dog who is sniffing around his pod. He doesn't take control though. He just kind of hitchhikes, and lets Mack do what he does. Then he transfers to Lucas, and has to learn how to be Lucas. Wouldn't it have been easier to just hitchhike again, and observe for a little while before taking control when he needed to? He says Lucas is there, but "sleeping." Which from an outside perspective would seem like he did something to Lucas in order to take over the body, leaving him trapped in there. However, at the end, it's explained better as to what was going on. I feel like that would have been easy for Scout to explain in the first place and would have dismissed any lingering questions.

Now, my main problem with From a Distant Star in the beginning was Emma. She is so annoying! One of the first things she tells us is that her mother is okay with her spending all of her time at Lucas' house, so his mother should be okay with it. Girl, that makes no sense! You're in HER house! Taking up time with HER dying son. Emma admits that it never crossed her mind that she might in the way or intruding on private family time. I can totally understand that she wants to be there for him, but use your noodle! She's also just irritatingly optimistic (or idiotic, I'm still not sure). Like, Lucas is dying; the medical evidence is there. His family is trying to prepare for that, but she's living in this land of sunshine and rainbows where no one ever dies from cancer. It's a bit much. Then, when she finds the alien pod, she thinks it's either something illegal or a weapon being tested, so she picks it up and puts it her bedroom closet. BOOM!

From a Distant Star wasn't bad though! Not at all! Despite those initial complaints, I had so much fun reading it! Mostly because Scout (as Lucas' brother names him, since he's an alien scout) is adorable and unintentionally hilarious. He just does not understand humans, and it's easy to see why. We make no sense! Like when he says that instead of drinking alcohol to feel better, why not just make the world better? Exactly, Scout! Exactly! And there's just a bunch of little things he says and does as he's learning to be human. Less than three!

Of course, the main plot is about getting Scout home, so Lucas can have his body back. It's a bit ridiculous at times, but I felt like it worked for the story. There's government agents trying to take them in. There's a research facility who wants to experiment on him. There's independent humans who want to kill all aliens. There's even a funny old couple who are also trying to evade the government who become allies. I adored them! It's all fast-paced fun.

I really enjoyed From a Distant Star. It totally didn't go the way I expected it to. Mainly that this is not a romance! Emma really does just help Scout as a friend. I'm not saying there's no feelings or anything, but this is definitely a tale about getting an alien back to his home planet!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[lindsey]

(Source: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.)

Emma's boyfriend, Lucas, is dying from cancer, and everyone believes it's only a matter of time before he passes away. That is, everyone except Emma. Emma is willing to do anything to help Lucas, no matter how crazy or far-fetched, so she enlists the help of an elderly woman, whom most of the town believes to be a witch. She provides Emma a potion to give to Lucas, claiming it will save him, but he may be changed. Emma doesn't care if he's different, as long as she gets him back.

On the night she gives the potion to Lucas, a strange object lands in the backyard. Within a week, Lucas is well again, but he has definitely changed. Unfortunately, Emma seems to be the only one to notice. When she finds out the reason for his change, she can hardly believe it, but she is determined to get her old Lucas back.

When the author asked if I would be willing to read and review From a Distant Star, I didn't hesitate to say yes after I saw the beautiful cover and read the fascinating synopsis. I definitely wasn't disappointed. I loved the characters - especially Emma, Scout, Eric, and Mrs. Kokesh. They were well-written and had distinct voices. The book was fast-paced, exciting, and original, and I would love to read a sequel focused on Scout!

There were a couple of plot twists, a few laugh-out-loud moments, and I may have shed a tear or two at the end. From a Distant Star is a sweet YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, and I would highly recommend to fans of that genre.