Earth Girl (Earth Girl, #1)

by Janet Edwards

A sensational YA science fiction debut. Jarra is stuck on Earth while the rest of humanity portals around the universe. But can she prove to the norms that she’s more than just an Earth Girl?

2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds, 18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an ‘ape’, a ‘throwback’, but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.

Jarra invents a fake background for herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra’s role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow, she has to keep the deception going.

A freak solar storm strikes the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety – no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra. The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And one is on collision course with their shelter.

• ISBN13: 9780007443499
• Publish Date: 16 August 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperVoyager
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Rinn]

This isn't a proper review, I just want to explain my rating because this book would've been much more highly rated, but for a few things. First of all, what I DID like:
- SPACE ARCHAEOLOGY. Well technically it's all on Earth but yeah. ARCHAEOLOGY.
- The whole premise of the story.
- The universe that it is set in.

BUT:

- The world building was just... uh. Non-existent. Basically everything was portrayed to the reader through HUUUUGE info dumps, and it was all from Jarra answering questions and lecturing her fellow students. No-one except Jarra seemed to know ANYTHING about their own civilisation and the way it was exposed to the reader really bugged me.
- And Jarra. Oh my god. What an insufferable know-it-all. If I was in that class I probably would've punched her in the face in a matter of days. EVERYONE ELSE ON THE COURSE, FORGET ABOUT YOUR DEGREE. JARRA GETS TO DO EVERYTHING BECAUSE SHE'S SPECIAL.



So yeah. I quite liked the story. In fact I liked it a lot. But I just really HATED Jarra and how she constantly lectured everyone - it really dragged the rating down for me.

[Angie]

Earth Girl has easily made its way onto my all-time favorite books list! It is absolutely everything that I love about reading! I laughed, I cried, I stopped breathing, I smiled so hard that my cheeks hurt! The plot and the world are both incredibly unique, well developed, and compelling. It has a fantastic cast of characters, and a great message. It really has it all! I will admit that I was a little unsure at the very beginning because it took me a few chapters to settle into the writing, but soon I was in love with it!

Earth Girl takes place in the distant future after technology has been invented allowing humans to travel to, and live on, different planets. That is, all humans except one in ten thousand whose immune systems cannot handle being off-world. Jarra is one of these unlucky few. However, she doesn’t let the jokes and discrimination against her get her down. She’s determined to prove to the “norms” that she’s as good as, or even better than, them. With the help of her ProMom (a kind of surrogate parent), she is able to enroll in a history program on Earth through an off-world school. There she is no longer Jarra the ape, she is Jarra the Military Kid. She creates a new identity for herself while she explores her passion for history as well as proves that her “throwback” status doesn’t hold her back.

I adored Jarra! Her love for history is incredibly contagious. I personally hated history in school, but the “pre-history” and “modern history” in Earth Girl was fascinating and Jarra told it with such enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but be interested! There is a lot of world-building and history lessons in this book, but it never felt like info-dumps. Jarra likes to talk about history so it felt natural as we got to know her better. We also get to see some of the lectures in her history program and witness some of the videos that they watch. The world-building is complete and phenomenal! At no point was I confused about how the world worked or anything. We learn everything that we need to know and more. It was also a lot of fun to read about our current world being considered as ancient ruins for archeologists to study!

There is also the most adorable romance in existence in Earth Girl. Jarra and Fian made my cheeks hurt from smiling so much! Their interactions are so cute and authentic that at times I couldn’t contain my giggles. There is absolutely no insta-love or even insta-lust. They get to know each other gradually through working together at their dig site, as well as hanging out in their rooms watching their favorite shows. They have actual conversations! And laugh together! Through their budding romance, we also get even more world-building, since relationships work quite differently in this future. Of course, there has to be some tension, but it wasn’t some made-up melodrama. Jarra has been telling a lot of lies to cover up who she really is, and this had me so nervous once Fian and Jarra start getting more serious. It results in one of my crying moments.

Prejudice plays a huge role throughout Earth Girl. Humans who live on other planets have several derogatory terms for those who are Earthbound. Parents who birth “handicapped” children almost always abandon them, often abandoning each other and misplacing blame as to why their child isn’t normal. It’s an ugly way to live, but that’s how things are. Jarra has her own prejudices against “exos” though, too. It was interesting to watch her deal with these and slowly change her mind as she spends time with her classmates.

Clearly, I am in love with Earth Girl. I am so glad that I stumbled upon it. It is absorbing, insightful, creative, and just amazing! I loved the plot, characters, world, and even the slang! All of the inside jokes and traditions of the historians were a lot of fun too, and added to the enjoyable atmosphere. I was completely engrossed the entire time and was on the edge of my seat during the big climax. You should not miss out on this one!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.