Review: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James (Spoiler-Free)

If a life of fear isn’t worth living, then why should I carry on? I'll admit it. I was very wrong about my predictions of the plot twists... So kudos to Lauren James for managing to fool me, and kudos to myself for coming up with a better one lol (specifics about my theory come later in this review). I absolutely loved the way Romy's character was portrayed in this novel, especially her battles with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. While it is never explicitly stated that she deals with this specific mental illnesses, it is evident through her thoughts and actions whenever anything goes wrong on the ship. I also really appreciated the author's ability to capture feelings and write them into words. It was extraordinarily easy for me to connect with Romy as she felt isolated and frustrated with herself when she thought she was losing her academic identity. So much of her character mirrored my own, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the true ending to this book, but I was so sure that my version of the ending was going to be what happened, and when it wasn't I was just a tiny bit disappointed. I thought J would end up being a girl and that Romy would have a whole realization that she didn't need a boy like Jayden and would fall in love with J anyway and... let's just say that's not what happened...

Overall, this book was super short, fast-paced, and definitely packed its own unique punch. I don't like to use comparisons too much in my reviews because I feel like they can sometimes generate false expectations, but this book truly reminded me of a mix of Turtles All the Way Down and Illuminae. Maybe just because it dealt with anxiety in space... P.S. the audiobook was really good! The narrator did an excellent job, and really went above and beyond. 10/10 would recommend giving it a listen. :) P.P.S. fair warning for anyone who is considering reading this: this book gets quite literally...terrifying at some points and I really was not expecting it to. brace yourself- it's almost as terrifying and caused me to sweat almost as much as I did reading Gemina

Song I was reminded of while reading: You're Somebody Else