Name: From a Distant Star
ISBN: 9781477830178

Karen McQuestion

When Lucas miraculously returns from the brink of death, Emma thinks her prayers have been answered. But when she finds an unidentifiable object on his family's farm--and government agents come to claim it--she begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems.

From a Distant Star

Seventeen-year-old Emma was the only one who hadn t given up on her boyfriend, Lucas. Everyone else his family, his friends, his doctors was convinced that any moment could be his last. So when Lucas miraculously returns from the brink of death, Emma thinks her prayers have been answered. As the surprised town rejoices, Emma begins to question whether Lucas is the same boy she s always known. When she finds an unidentifiable object on his family s farm and government agents come to claim it she begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems. Emma s out-of-this-world discovery may be the key to setting things right, but only if she and Lucas can evade the agents who are after what they have. With all her hopes and dreams on the line, Emma sets out to save the boy she loves. And with a little help from a distant star, she might just have a chance at making those dreams come true."

Nessa Luna

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. This has not changed my opinion in any way. I found this book on Netgalley a couple of months back, and decided I wanted to try it out. I loved the cover, the summary sounded interesting and it was a Read Now, which is my favourite kind of book on Netgalley, hahaha! But then, I got it on my tablet and let it gather dust for a while. For my Netgalley month, I decided to pick this book as one of the books I'd be reading, and it was actually one of the books that I picked up. So was it worth it? Yes, yes I think it was!

From a Distand Star is about Emma, whose boyfriend (Lucas) is dying from cancer. Everyone has given up on him already, but not Emma. She has been praying for a recovery, for Lucas to come back to her. And miraculously, he does! Lucas' family is overjoyed by his fast recovery, and so is the rest of the town, but Emma has doubts. Is it really her boyfriend that's come back from the brink of death, or is there something more going on? The fact that a strange object has crashed close to where Lucas lives, and that there are government people looking for it makes it even stranger. What has happened to Lucas? It it really still Lucas? Or has an alien taken over the body of Emma's boyfriend?

I'm going to say it right from the start, I really enjoyed this book! I was a bit reluctant during the first two or three chapters, because there was a change in POV's almost immediately, but luckily the rest of the book was (mostly) from Emma's POV. There were two or three chapters every now and then that were from the Point of View of Scout, but other than that there were no POV changes. I was also afraid that it might be focused more on the romance part of the story, but it was more friendship between two people - who happened to be dating, yes it's weird I know. But I really liked the friendship between Emma and Scout, and I loved their little car-dance part!

The characters in this book were very likable, though there were some characters I didn't like at all (Lucas' mum for example, she kept on wanting to exclude Emma from basically everything. She hated Emma). Emma I liked right from the start, mostly because of her determination to get Lucas back, no matter what it would cost. She loved him so much that she couldn't imagine a future without him (that could also be a bad part, but hey it was cute). I wasn't too sure about Scout in the beginning, but he grew on me. Especially after the thing he did in the pancake house, honestly I loved him after that! The other character I really liked was Eric, Lucas' little brother. He just wanted his brother back too, and he wanted to help Scout. Risking getting punished and everything, oh I wish I had a brother like that, haha!

The writing was simple, and very enjoyable. There was only one tiiiiiny thing that annoyed me. At the beginning of the story, there was a sentence where someone said 'must of', which is the incorrect way of saying it. It should've been 'must have', but hey let's not get mad at that, lots of people make that mistake - and my English isn't perfect either. Still I don't get how the editor missed that.

In the end, I liked From a Distant Star a lot, and I am really happy that I decided to read it. It's a standalone book, which is also a plus - because as much as I love series, sometimes it gets a bit boring. I love authors who manage to write a good standalone book! The only thing I would have loved to learn a bit more about (in a novella?), is Scout; his home-planet, his life before he came to Earth (and perhaps afterwards?) and of course 'his Emma'. Yeah, that would be nice! If you're a science fiction fan, you should definitely try out this book!

My opinion on this book in one gif: 


(Yeah I know I had to use a Doctor Who gif of course)

Lauren Attaway

First off-I'm glad to be given the opportunity to read this book, as I tend to stay away from Sci-Fi romance hybrids in general.

However, my biggest problem with this book was the human romance. I felt like Lucas was the perfect boyfriend that was so perfect he didn't have any other characteristics. It was refreshing that this romance was so solid, but the lack of Lucas in the book made it hard to understand why Emma was so convinced they were going to be together forever. I"m not trying to say I wanted her to fall deeply in love with Scout, but I thought this was an alien-human love story, not an alien-human friendship story. We kind of blew past the love story element between Emma and Lucas, to the point where she was just devoted and we never really saw any other element to their relationship other than that.

I appreciated that the novel didn't spend an abundance of time trying to slowly build to the Scout alien reveal, but I had a hard time reading about how irritated Lucas' mother was with Emma over and over. I also didn't really buy that Emma's mother would be so okay with her spending so much time away from home. 


I liked that Emma was a take-charge heroine, and that she really moved the story forward. I did feel like the ending was setting it up for a possible sequel, but I'll hold off on spoilers about what I'd want to see next.

Karleigh McCarville

This review is also up at Karleigh Reads

This book was provided to me by free from the author for an honest review. It is also available through netgalley

This book follows a girl who would do anything for her very sick boyfriend. Lucas was diagnosed with terminal cancer and everyone in his life has basically come to terms with his sickness and soon death, that it seems like everyone just gave up on him. But, not Emma. Emma feels like she would not be able to go on without Lucas in her life, she loves him so much that she would do anything for him. Even give away her entire savings so that the 'witch' down the road can create a potion for him. Emma thinks that her potion is what cures Lucas and restores him back to health, but soon she realizes that Lucas may not be the same person she fell in love with. 

I found this book started out on such a cute and unique note, where the point of view was from the dog when he discovers the tiny alien ship in the backyard. I loved hearing the thoughts the dog had when he found it and how he think bringing it to his human may help him be better. He doesn't understand why Lucas is so sick. The point of view changes after that chapter to Emma which I had a much harder time connecting with. 

Puppy-love is something all teenagers go through, but I felt like Emma was too dependent on the relationship she has with Lucas. Although her stubbornness and the fact that she never gave up on him was quite admirable. 

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I have an irrational fear of aliens. Some people it's clowns or spiders, but for me it's aliens. I don't know why, maybe some childhood trauma with a scary movie, but even the thought sends me into ridiculous amounts of fear. But Scout the alien in this book was cute, sweet, and could have been mistaken for a child character.

Sadly, this book just wasn't anything amazing for me. I found myself reaching for other books, and just sighing the whole time I read it. I didn't connect with the characters, or story.

Jessica 

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As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

From a Distant Star, from the looks of things, is gearing up to be one of the next great young adult books in the sci-fy genre and is sure to hit all the right marks with fans of The Host by Stephenie Meyer, Adaptation by Malinda Lo and the hit 90s television series The X-Files. As for readers who have yet to find something in the genre they like, or are looking for a stepping stone to this genre, From a Distant Star could very well be the book they were waiting for.

In all truthfulness, I wasn't expecting to like this novel as much as I did. Although it had its flaws and at times the dialogue felt off to me, it was absolutely impossible to walk away from -- I found myself lost in the pages and concerned for these characters and their fates. Karen writes her story in a fast paced way, keeping it simple and entertaining for its audience without watering down the plots or the action.

The story is unique in many ways and still maintains a certain air of naivety and youth to it. McQuestion navigates the teenage mind wonderfully and reminds us what it's like to be young, certain and in love -- so in love, that one girl is willing to risk a lot just to make sure her true love doesn't leave her. From a Distant Star starts in a very raw and heartbreaking place: Emma's boyfriend, Lucas, is fading away fast due to the horrifying disease that is cancer.