Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld - OPTIONAL

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld, 400 pages. Entangled Teen (Entangled Publishing), 2021. $10.

Language: R (109 swears, 12 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Cassidy is a senior in high school, intern for her father’s firm, and self-appointed successor of her mother’s work -- she does not have time to be abducted by aliens. As she struggles to remember the abduction and how to stop it from happening again, Cassidy discovers that she isn’t the only one who’s been taken. And she’s not the only one ready to do something about it.

Buying into the ideas of alien abductions and aliens living among us was difficult for me, so I allowed the pages to drag and took long breaks from reading Cassidy’s story. As the story got more complicated, I struggled with the alien conspiracies. Barneveld’s conclusion was unsatisfactory in how the antagonist was dealt with, but I found that I am content with her interpretation of aliens now that I have the whole picture. I’m still not a huge fan of alien stories, but this one isn’t bad. The mature content rating is for underage drinking and mention of drugs; the violence rating is for murder and mention of suicide.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

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