The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

Have you ever picked up a book, started reading, and found yourself unable to put the book down?  That was me this weekend with The Loneliest Girl in the Universe.  I solely picked this book out to read as it had the word “universe” in the title and I needed a book that met that criterion for the Kewaunee Library Adult Summer Reading Challenge.  I was pleasantly surprised on how much I loved this novel.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is a young adult sci-fi novel with a female protagonist.  As a female sci-fi fan – I loved this!  Romy Silvers was the first baby born in space.  Her parents were the caretakers of The Infinity, ship that NASA has sent out to find a new world and repopulate it as Earth II.  Things did not go as planned and now Romy is by herself on the spaceship trying to navigate life as a lonely teenager.  Life looks like it will be getting better when Romy discovers that a new ship, The Eternity, is speeding towards her much faster than her ship with newer technology.  When the two ships meet, Romy will finally have someone to talk to, and it will be a young man at that.  As Romy and J get to know each other through messaging between their ships, Romy finds herself falling in love.  At the same time communications from Earth and trouble with her ship has left Romy wondering if their two ships will meet in time.  Will Romy finally not be the loneliest girl in the universe? Why does Romy have nightmares about dead astronauts floating outside the ship?  What happened to Romy’s parents?

I don’t want to give too much more of the plot away – but it was a fast moving novel.  I was entranced wanting to know what had happened to Romy’s parents and the rest of the astronauts on the ship as well as what was happening with current events.  I loved how the novel was written to keep giving away tidbits to get us closer to the conclusion.  I also love that Romy had trauma in her life, but she was working on getting through it with the help of a therapist from earth.

Overall, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is a fast paced sci-fi novel that finally puts a teenage girl as the hero of her own adventure.  I loved it!

Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library – Thanks!