I read The Loneliest Girl in the Universe in March. I had added it to my TBR as a meh book; thinking I wouldn’t like it. Turns out, I was super wrong!
In space, no one can hear you fangirl.
Romy is a 16 year old who has an incredibly unique life; she always has. As the first baby born in space, Romy was raised on the spaceship The Infinity. A couple years ago, her parents died, so she had to take over the spot as the ship’s commander. To say that is a lot of pressure for a young woman is an understatement for the ages.
Romy wasn’t meant to be born; her parents were to command the ship for a couple years, wake up a different set of astronauts, and go into hypersleep until The Infinity landed on Earth II. But when Romy’s mother got pregnant and decided not to terminate the baby, plans changed.
The new plan was for Romy and her parents to stay awake until Romy was 18, and could safely go into hypersleep. But then the astronauts died, and it was just Romy, her mother, and father.
Then, her parents died.
Romy has been alone on The Infinity for ages. She has a therapist on earth who sends her messages daily (even though they’re really from a year ago), and that contact helps Romy. One day, she gets a message saying that another ship, The Eternity, has launched, and is on it’s way to meet her in space. Together, The Infinity and The Eternity will travel to Earth II together. Romy won’t be alone anymore.
She starts talking with J, the commander of The Eternity. Only through email, of course, but there is something there. The first thing he sends her is the latest season of her favorite TV show; Loch & Ness (kind of an even-more-paranormal X Files, with shippable main characters). Romy ships them, of course, and soon she starts seeing herself and J as the titular Loch & Ness.
But are things ever as good as they seem?
The short answer is no. There’s war on Earth, Romy hasn’t heard from her therapist, and something abut J is…off. Things take a hard turn, and I can’t spill the beans because it’s just too good.
Like I said before, I wasn’t expecting much of this book. I really couldn’t stop reading it, though! I was absolutely in awe of everything that this book was. The writing was perfect; I knew Romy and her struggles. Anxiety was a big part of the book, and I found the writing of that to be incredibly accurate – Lauren James perfectly encapsulated a panic attack.
I truly adored the time I spent reading The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. One of my favorite things about the book is that it came to Lauren James after a physics question was posed to her! Isn’t that just incredible?! I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy, and experience Romy’s adventure on your own!
