About the Book
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Authors:
- Martin Leicht
- Isla Neal
Cover Story:Â Love It!
BFF Charm: Yay!
Swoonworthy Scale:Â 6
Talky Talk: Snarky McSnarkerson
Bonus Factors: Boarding School IN SPACE, Duckie
Relationship Status: Blink Me
Cover Story: Love It!
I like purple just about as much as I like pink, which is to say: used sparingly. BUT, this book cover is just so cute, what with its Judy Jetson hair and ray guns! Plus, I can attest that it is an eye catcher. I was stopped countless times and asked about this book while I was reading it.
The Deal:
Elvie Nara has her whole life planned out: She’s going to graduate with top honors and enroll in a program that will ensure she fulfills her mother’s dream of seeing the universe. What she doesn’t plan on is finding herself pregnant and shipped off to the Hanover School for Expecting Teen Mothers — an old luxury cruise ship refitted as a school, packed with pregnant teenagers and circling the earth in low orbit. Of course, that’s after Cole Archer — super hottie and baby daddy extraordinaire — disappears right after she tells him she’s got a bun in the oven.
Elvie also doesn’t expect the ship that’s a school that she’s on to be attacked by commandos with ray guns three weeks before her due date. And when she finds out that Cole Archer is one of said commandos? Forget about it.
BFF Charm: Yay!
Elvie is probably the snarkiest, quick-thinkingest heroine I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Her witty asides sometimes left me wondering what she was really thinking, or how she was really feeling, but then I realized she’s like a pregnant girl version of Snake Plisskin, so I decided to stop trying to get deeper with her, and let her tell me her story. Of course, just like in real life, once you stop pushing to get to know a person, and just let it happen, they open up to you, so I was glad I sat back and listened!
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
So apart from the whole disappearing-after-he-found-out-about-Elvie’s-pregnancy, (I won’t spoil it, but there are extenuating circumstances.) Cole is a pretty sweet guy. Not too bright, but sweet. Which is the one type of guy I can TOTALLY resist. Give me the boy next door, the musicians, the MLDs, the underdogs, the nerds, the Brits, and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks ANY DAY, but keep the dumb jocks and the dumb pretty boys for yourself. That aside, there obviously had to have been sexy times for Elvie to end up in the condition she’s in, so while we start the book well into her third trimester, Elvie takes us on the occasional stroll down memory lane, just so we understand why, indeed, she did fall for Cole Archer. In those flashbacks — as well as the present — the authors did a pretty good job of convincing even me that Cole and Elvie together equal swoon.
Talky Talk: Snarky McSnarkerson
Everything about this book is over the top. From the sarcastic asides to the Juno-worthy banter. But then again, it’s a comedy/adventure story about pregnant girls IN SPACE. It’s fast-paced and fun, and also suspenseful. So whilst the story-telling is super-stylized — the kind of writing that you either have to naturally love or just be able to go with — it’s also heartfelt, and serious at its core, which I found to be a pleasant surprise. Overall, this was a ridiculous — and ridiculously fun — read that also hit on important things to think about, like the basic human right to choose, for each person to have a choice instead of a larger group deciding what is better for the people as a whole. And it’s tucked into the story line in a clever way that kept the book from being divided into serious and sill sections, and made the whole thing feel more complete.
Bonus Factor: Boarding School IN SPACE
OH MY GOD IF I COULD ONLY HAVE GONE TO BOARDING SCHOOL IN SPACE!!!!!! I mean, it doesn’t even exist, and certainly didn’t when I was a young, but IF IT HAD!!!!! Of course, I’d prefer not to have to be pregnant to attend. And really, little Jenny is probably lucky she didn’t get to attend boarding school in space, because where do you go from there? The whole rest of your life would never be able to compare.
Bonus Factor: Duckie
There is an ACTUAL Duckie in this book! It’s like the authors wrote him JUST for us!!!! Except he spells it with a “y”. So Duckie with a “y” is Elvie’s BFF (of course!) and he’s pretty much my favorite. Just like it SHOULD have happened in Pretty In Pink, I choose you, Ducky!!!
Anti-Bonus Factor: Danger Befalling Pregnant Persons
Bad things happen to some pregnant girls in this story. And even when said bad things aren’t happening, the girls at the Hanover School are pretty much in danger throughout. I read it in the tongue-in-cheek manner in which I believe it was intended, but if you’re sensitive to those sorts of things, you should beware.
Relationship Status: Blink Me
This book was a total whirlwind. When we met, it drew me in instantaneously, what with its biting sarcasm and giant personality, and pretty soon, I was following it around just nodding along to whatever it said. I had a great time, and hanging out with Mothership gave me more climactic pseudo-endings than 20th Century Fox’s hallowed action paradigm, Speed. However, once it dropped me back home after our time together, I realized that I actually enjoy the quiet life. So for now, I’ll return to my homebody life, but if the book messages me to join it for drinks, (after it delivers, of course) I won’t say no .
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from Simon & Schuster. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Mothership is available now.
