Life in Outer Space

by Melissa Keil

Sam is a geek movie-buff with a ragtag group of loser friends who have been taking abuse from the popular kids for years. But when the super-cool Camilla moves to town, she surprises everyone by choosing to spend time with Sam's group. Suddenly they go from geek to chic, and find that not everything boils down to us and them. With their social lives in flux, Sam and Camilla spend more and more time together. They become the best of friends, and Sam finds that he's happier and more comfortable in his own skin than ever before. But eventually Sam must admit to himself that he's fallen in love. If he confesses his true feelings to Camilla, will everything change again?

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Humor

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2013

About the author

Melissa Keil was born in Melbourne, Australia, and has been a giant book nerd for as long as she can remember. She studied Cinema and Anthropology at university, and then spent a few years dabbling in graduate study, including Professional Writing and Editing. In between she has been a high school teacher, Middle Eastern tour guide, waitress, community theatre dogsbody, and IT help desk person. Now, by day, she is a children’s book editor, and spends the rest of her time watching Star Wars content and wrangling a cheeky spoodle named Hugo. Her debut YA novel, Life in Outer Space, was the winner of the 2013 Ampersand Project and the 2014 Ena Noël award. Her subsequent YA novels, The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl and The Secret Science of Magic, are out now. She is also the author of the Barkly Mansion junior fiction series with illustrator Adele K Thomas. Her books have been shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year award, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and the Gold Inky, and have been published around the world.

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so freaking much!

I start Monday by falling flat on my arse. A normal guy might think his day could only improve from here. I seriously doubt this is going to be the case. I hear laughter and clapping. Someone cheers.

Above me, a giant sign hangs precariously from the corridor ceiling: a pink and purple, glitter-encrusted symbol of doom, handmade by the Spring Dance Committee.

Justin Zigoni takes a flying leap over me and slaps the sign with his hand. A shower of glitter descends from the ceiling and a piece lodges itself in my eyeball.

I loved it from the first few paragraphs.



Sam, Mike, Adrian and Allison are all best friends. They are the nerds of the school with Sam actually being the smartest book wise.

They have this great life together. Sam writes screenplays or at least he's trying to because that's what he wants to do with his life. He's also a horror movie buff. YES! And one of his favorites is the original Halloween, like me ♥ Plus, he's just a movie buff in general. I love all of the old school movies that are incorporated into the book.

Adrian is a dork. Allison is the quiet female friend and Mike is a black belt in karate.

Then

Camilla transfers to their school. She becomes super popular because her dad is someone and knows people. But she finds her way into the little group and I just love her. She gets them to do things they never would have done and I love it. She doesn't try to bully them like the other kids and everyone likes her.

She even gets them to go to the beach over in Brighton with the mean kids. And some of them turn out to be nice. Although, Sam almost freaks out just going. I love him =)

Adrian skips ahead, Camilla threads an arm through Allison's, and Allison smiles at her gratefully. The two of them follow Adrian.

Mike drapes his towel around his neck. "Dude, are you gonna pass out? Cos I'm not sure unconsciousness will be your best defense.

"Mike-assuming we're not killed on sight-are we actually expected to talk to these people?"

I love how everyone sort of falls all over themselves when Mike decides to take his shirt off and of course, Sam's commentary. Lol

My best friend might live in a uniform of thick hoodies, but he has also spent the majority of the last four years doing push-ups and sit-ups and whatever other stuff they get yelled at to do in karate classes. Maybe I look like a prepubescent girl with my shirt off. But Mike-well, Mike looks exactly like he has spent the last four years at the gym.

Sam and Mike are the closest in the group and there is something up with Mike during the whole book. He quits karate and won't tell anyone what is going on even though they keep bugging him about it. They think it might be over a guy but that's not it at all. I love how Sam rallies everyone together to find out what's wrong and how he helps Mike.

Sam and Camilla get close and they play Warcraft together, they learn about each others family, they learn a lot of things. I think they are so cute!

There is so much laughter in the book and I loved it so much. I need more laughter and I found myself laughing out loud many times. I want to have friends like this damn it!

They all seem to help each other out when the other has a problem. I love that so much. I mean there are things with parents not really being there for some of them. Parents splitting up and depression trying to set in but the friends don't let that happen. It's just wonderful.

Then some stupid stuff happens as it always does and they are not talking. Then there is an apology and Sam finds Camilla sick at her home all alone so he brings her to his house where his mom can take care of her while he's at school. It helps him come out of his depressed mood over some things that happened.

I change out of my feral depression clothes. I shower and brush my teeth, put on clean track pants and an old T-shirt, and then I stare at my face in the bathroom mirror until Mum taps on the door and asks if I've drowned.

Oh, this book was amazeballs. I love when I can find a book that makes ME happy. That's what it'a all about peeps.

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

[Navessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes. HELL YES.

This book is made of awesome. This book is a unicorn puking rainbows onto the rest of the YA Contemporary genre.



I needed this book. YOU NEED THIS BOOK. I had so much fun reading it that my face hurts from grinning.

The MC, Sam, is a self-confessed nerd. Not only that but he’s a believable nerd, one who’s constantly referencing the video games, movies, books and magazines that any self respecting geek knows and loves...in detail. His internal monologue is hilarious. I’d say this book is almost casually hysterical because Sam’s witty humor pervaded every scene and every interaction. I’m going to put a few quotes in this review and hopefully it’ll give you some idea of what I’m talking about.

Surrounding Sam are his best mates, Adrian, Allison and Mike. Like him, they’re misfits, bullied by the popular kids and relegated to hiding out in the IT lab during lunch. I love these little weirdos.

Adrian reminds me of Chunk from The Goonies (BEST MOVIE EVER). Aside from sharing a physical resemblance to him, he constantly word-vomits, loves candy bars and thinks he’s tougher than he is.

“Adrian appears beside me, glaring down the corridor. He has his about-to-open-a-can-of-whoop-arse face on. Objectively, Adrian Radley has zero cans of whoop-arse to open.”

Allison is the lone female in the group. She has wispy blonde hair, the body of a twelve year old boy and is obsessed with Hello Kitty. Also:

“She grimaces a lot. I don’t always understand why. But in spite of the Hello Kitty, I know that a habitual grimacer is one of my people.”

Then we have Mike.

“Mike has been obsessed with karate since year seven, when he discovered that kicking people in the face was a legitimate sport.”

Mike also happens to be gay. Or so he thinks. When he tells his friends this, they embark on an ‘Extremely Gay Weekend’ in order to try and confirm it. I was crying laughing while reading these scenes. The best part?

“I don’t care that Mike is gay. I figure that since there’s little chance of either of us ever touching anyone else’s parts, our relative sexualities are somewhat pointless topics of conversation.”

Everyone say it with me: "HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH"

Everything changes for this group of friends when a new girl shows up in Sam's English class. Her name is Camilla, her father is a famous rock journalist and if she wanted to, she could easily set herself up to be the most popular girl at school. Instead, she hangs out with the geeks and speaks their language. Sam, being used to his routine and slightly Sheldonian (I better not have to explain this to you) in his dislike of change, has no idea how to handle this at first.

He and Camilla’s shared love of World of Warcraft (be still my nerdy heart) helps him get over it. From there he tries to learn how to speak to her IRL and once that's accomplished (sort of), he ends up trying to figure out this strange girl that can bounce from clique to clique and back again without repercussions.

Because of Camilla's friendship, this group of misfits goes from being bullied, to being ignored, to being accepted (ish) and this book is mostly about their journey along the way and how it changes them as individuals as well as their friendships. I don't want to get into the plot too much because pretty much everything I want to rave about lives in Spoilerville, so I'll leave you with this:

If you're looking for a humorous foray into the not-so-simple lives of high school geeks, this is the book for you. I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

[εllε · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I guess some people enter your orbit and get stuck, and there's nothing either of you can do about it."

This book was a proof that some authors can still write Ya books without the usual angst and never-ending dramas. In some ways, this was a perfect Ya book. Ya at its finest form.

There's Sam/Samuel/Sammy. Sam is a 16-17 yo boy. Sam has seen every horror/sci-fi/(combination of the two) movie that exists. Sam is a geek/nerd who aspires to be a screenwriter. He can quote endlessly parts from his favorite movies. Sam has 3 close friends (Mike, Allison and Adrian) and they share everything between them. They are good students. Their grades are good.

You would imagine something like this:



But I believe that our characters are more good-looking. (Not that there's something wrong with the above group. Everyone's beautiful.)

Despite being successful at school stuff, Sam and his friends are non-social people. They struggle to be part of the school community. There are many other students that bully and mock them. Instead of dealing with this, Sam and his friend have chosen the easy way out. BE invisible to others.

Everything seems to be okay. Sam isn't actually happy (with all his family issues), but he isn't unhappy either. He has his routine and his comfort zone is satisfying to him. Everything changes when Camilla comes into his life. Everyone seems to be captivated by her. Boys and girls. Sam doesn't do anything to have her attention, but that doesn't stop Camilla to seek his and his friends' friendship. Soon, Camilla becomes part of the nerd group.

Initially I didn't like Camilla. I thought she was too cliche. Beautiful girl with famous father who knows other VIP people and acts like it's not a big deal. Sometimes, this is annoying. But there were some little things she said and did that made me change my mind about her. The way she helped Sam when he needed it most, made her gain very important points, in my opinion. Despite her popularity and self-confidence, she is just a teenage girl and her life hasn't been exactly ordinary.

I like the fact that we get to see everything from Sam's POV. I thing books with male MC are much more interesting. Watching Sam "grow up" and gain his self-confidence is so cute. He makes mistakes, he hurts his friends and gets hurt. In the end, he's still there and his friends are always nearby to help him, no matter what.

"I have very little hope that my own life will ever produce anything close to a single, great line."

I loved how Sam interacted with his friends. Sometimes they seem much more mature than ordinary 16-17 yo. All the movie quotes and movie discussions make this book so amazing. The humor is so well written. I laughed so much in some parts.

Perhaps my father is secretly Batman. Bruce Wayne is a bit of an arse as well. It would explain a lot of things.

Although I liked the book very much (and I recommend it to everyone), there was a tiny little thing that was missing. I don't know exactly what and I cannot explain it. Maybe a touch of "magic" (without making the book a fantasy one), if you know what I mean. Even so, reading this book was a great and enjoyable experience.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my Top 5 Foreign Language Films (subgenre: drama) is Mostly Martha from Germany. Martha is a sought after, highly regarded chef with exacting standards. (I would call her the female Soup Nazi but Germans + Nazi reference... Let's not go there.) In the beginning of the movie, she talks about how the simplest dishes, like salmon in a light basil sauce, are the hardest because there's nothing to disguise or distract from the flavor. It's all about proper seasoning and precise cooking. These basic dishes are how to judge the quality of a chef. Likewise with books, I think the simple, slice of life stories are the hardest. Without big issues or fantastical situations or death, the story comes down to the characters.

Life in Outer Space is about Sam Kinnison and his group of friends as they navigate a year of high school. Sam is a movie obsessed, World of Warcraft playing geek with dreams of being a screenwriter. He's like Dawson Leery minus the giant head and ugly crying. His best friend, Mike, is a black belt in karate. Mike is also a disco dancing, Oscar Wilde reading, Streisand ticket holding friend of Dorothy, know what I'm saying? When Mike first came out to the group, which also includes Adrian and Allison, they did what any self-respecting nerd would do -- they googled. Based on search results, they ended up watching Xanadu, Lesbian Vampire Killers, and Dirty Dancing. Sam narrates,

"We watched Dirty Dancing. Mike fell asleep, but I had to admit I kind of liked it, which made me question my own sexuality, raising a whole heap of other questions I chose not to examine."

Their routine of avoiding jock/terrorist Justin Zigoni and his crew by hiding out in the IT office is compromised when Camilla Carter comes to town. Camilla is Australian by birth but has spent most of her life bouncing around the world with her famous music critic father. Camilla ends up in the IT office her first day because her laptop won't connect to the school's WiFi. Sam, the IT assistant, can't avoid her, especially when she notices his WoW screensaver and writes down her WoW name.

I want to hug this book. If you've read any of my reviews, you know I talk in movie. Sam, with his Top 5 lists, is a kindred spirit. He's also smart, funny, and totally clueless. He reminds me of two of my favorite YA boys: Ed from Graffiti Moon and Sam from Hold Me Closer Necromancer. Camilla is who Zooey Deschanel and Olivia Munn pretend to be. Hell, she's who I want to be! I mean, anyone who can use Sweeney Todd and Dirty Dancing to taunt is my hero. Adrian steals every scene he's in.

This book is about the little victories in life. Nothing earth shattering, just the times when you say yes instead of no. Do you reply back? Do you risk the dining hall? Do you give in to John Cusack??

Melissa Keil writes with a deftness that shows why she won the Ampersand Project. She gets the right mix of heart and humor and uses little details, like the fact that Sam downloads a movie using torrents, to add to the authenticity of the story. Like I said before, I think these types of stories are the hardest to write. However, when done well, they just make you happy that you read them. Life in Outer Space is done well. I can't guarantee that you'll be blown away, but I can say that you'll be glad you said yes instead of no to this.

Favorite quote: "I will shelve this insanity and store away the memory of her in the hope that one day it'll be distant enough to be useful for a screenplay."

Rating: 4.5 stars.

This review appears on Young Adult Anonymous. It's also my first review for the Australian Women Writers Challenge for 2013.

[Dylan Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why is nobody talking about this book?! It is really, really, really good!

It is a typical coming of age story about nerdy people, which is nothing unique or special. But the realness of the characters and really impressive level of development makes this book one of the best coming of age stories I have read in long time. It is up there with John Corey Whaley's Where Things Come Back! Like seriously good!

[Daiane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me time to get into the book because of its writing style. I loved it, don't get me wrong. I like the cute I'm-trying-to-explain-something-simple-in-an-intelligent-way writing style. It's like I'm reading a funny scientific article about the mundane life. The consequence is that the sentences are long and full of information to catch. I just needed a lot of focus to exercise my bain to that point. I got that focus and, without knowing I took the wrong bus, I got late to work by one hour. So yeap, I got into the book and my brain went to the gym.

So, this book is a really simple slice-of-life, which are hard to please me because there are no twists, no fantasy, no other world for you to sink in, and it's all about how insignificant problems with the characters can make you stuck with reading. It's all about the characters to be alive and make you feel their little problems as gigantic. And ow boy, this book made me feel so happy that I couldn't contain the grin on my lips.
The story is told from Sam's hilarious perspective. And guess what?



He is the kind of nerdy geek that sees life not to live in it, but to study humans and be away from the specimens.

"I have no interest in anything that happens at this school. I am, however, a fairly decent observer, like one of those scientists who spend their days staring at microscopic fungus"

He is a high school students who is really into comics, computers and games. He is obsessed for movies, especially horror, and he likes to write screenplays. Being into his mind means reading witty and sarcastic monologues full of references. He made me feel like life is really like a movie. Analyzing situations that usually leads to see criticisms as rationally simple. While reading I was all like "Let's just grab a popcorn and watch life happening."



His nerd crew always hangs out in the IT room. It consists of Allison (the otaku girl) Adrian (the word-vomit) and Mike (the cute/hot karate gay guy).

"I don’t care that Mike is gay. I figure that since there’s little chance of either of us ever touching anyone else’s parts, our relative sexualities are somewhat pointless topics of conversation"

That is adorable and so right! Then, we get Camilla, the new girl on the picture.

The entire male population of the room – minus Mike because he’s gay, and me because I’m dead inside – should have shot cartoon hearts out of their chests, à la Pepé Le Pew whenever he saw that chick cat.

We get to read about all the daily hilarious situations when she gets into his comfort zone.

"The only thoughts I am capable of thinking are that the sanctity of my safe house has been compromised, and the order of my Monday has been disturbed"



All in all, it was a wonderful reading. It talks about bullying, gender, friendship and life. It made me laugh hard about common things from a different perspective. It addresses great topics with light and interesting atmosphere and great messages mixed with humor.
I'm definitely going to check more of Keil's titles. So, I will end this review with one sentence.

"Wherever you go, there you are"

Curious to know what does it means? Read the book :D

[Ash Wednesday · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 STARS

Objectively, this should've been a great book.

I think I was expecting a cross between Superbad, The Big Bang Theory and a Pacey-less Dawson's Creek (does that even make sense?).

Nerdy Sam Raimi fanboy, Samuel who loves slasher horror films, writes screenplays about Killer Cats from the Third Moon of Mars and has a ragtag band of quirky high school outcasts meets and adopts in their group the gorgeous, popular newbie Camilla who has the right blend of crazy sexy cool. The kind that plays World of Warcraft, crushes over Luke Skywalker and just happens to be the daughter of a former model and a celebrated music critic. She's also very kind, well-liked by EVERYBODY and sends Sam out of his depressive funk into these tasks that are so quirky and amusifying they could very well be in a Zooey Deschanel-JGL movie. She also writes songs, and plays the piano barefoot and sings in that odd, breathy, sweet voice that isn't note-perfect but is still perfect.

"Well that was just simple stuff. Since I wasn't sure if my hands or voice were going to crap out on me. But… I have other music too," she says shyly. "More instruments. More complex arrangements. Lyrics that aren't about animals."

This after admitting to her terrifying stage fright, performing a well applauded 4-song set and being complimented for it.



And she says that shyly . Because she walks around Australia, shedding perfection, and leaving a trail pixie dust, moon beams and angel feathers without her knowing, saving the world one nerd at a time from imminent ignominy and depression.

Yeah objectively, this really wasn't that a great book for me, thanks to this fucking heroine.

Look, she didn't really do anything offensive (save probably for that exchange) and she actually started off quite fine. I was quite intrigued what's the story behind all that perfection, especially in that scene where Sam was telling her why he wanted to be a screenwriter.

Except there was no story behind the perfection. She really just is perfect.

And THAT'S supposed to tickle my fancy?!



If its relative to Sam then no, I don't think anything can tickle my fancy. Because truth be told Sam's also a bit of a tool who thinks rudely of his friends and a nerd snob who thinks lowly of those who aren't. Of course thoughts are different from actions and I'm sure his musings towards Adrian and the rest is meant with affection.

✼ Noah has shaggy dark hair and checkered shirt scattered with holes. He looks exactly like he belongs on stage in a dingy bar, not in a year-twelve classroom.

✼ Midway through last year, I was employed by the school as Alessandro's assistant. Our IT coordinator does not really need an assistant. He needs a shower, and possibly a dentist.

✼ Adrian dances like a hobbit who's just peed on an electrified fence.

✼ Allison is as good as I'm likely to get. I dunno. I've tried, experimentally, picturing her shirtless; I suspect she looks like me when I was twelve.

I'm usually one to appreciate this kind of… humor, but something about Camilla's perfection (which sends me to swing between yawning and raging and eye-rolling) and how Sam sees his friends just didn't sit well with me. They're the outliers in their high school caste system, they're the ones that get bullied and harassed in hallways and never get to eat in the lunchroom with others. I guess I didn't like the way he accepted all of these while seeing his friends this way.

Somehow it drove the wrong kind of message home through main characters that ended up being offensive in a manner that was so cliched I felt like I've seen this before. Which by the way the message of this book? This side of sucky and lazy. Yeah, nobody knows anything. Thanks book, I needed that.

And no, no matter how many Top Five Lists (High Fidelity hat tip, yeah cute), Star Wars, Alien and Dirty Dancing references you bust out, you're still not giving me anything but puff pastry. And for the love of God, why would Sam pass up the original Ju-On for the Sarah Michelle Gellar adaptation if he's not even a Buffy fan? I mean, for a horror movie buff? In what universe does that make sense?



The protagonists were so bad that I was rooting for an Allison upset where she steals the guy from under the perfect bitch's nose which of course didn't happen… thankfully, on second thought, as the guy in question (Sam) was a dickbag so… yeah, I think I'll take that as an HEA.

It really sucks because this had a couple of great lines and moments I really liked picturing Jabba the Hut and a Stormtrooper slow dancing together and I thought the secondary characters were fun, especially Adrian who makes me picture a cross between Zach Galifianakis and McLovin'. But over time, as I try to think of what I like about this, I just seem to think about three other things that sets my blood into boil.

Oh gaaad! This got too long again O.O I'm going to end this with a good one because I'd like to imagine that this is the actual moral of the story than the actual crap this tried to feed me wrapped in the shiny pretty of pop culture references and Star Wars (no, Star Wars is not the answer to everything).

Remember, pain passes," he says solemnly. "But it will continue to be a giant pile of steaming gorilla shite until then. Ride it out. Use the pain. Just don't do anything rash like showing up on her lawn at three in the morning with a guitar, cos birds get freaked out by that stuff."

Also on BookLIkes.

[Keertana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Life in Outer Space has got to be the cutest book I've read this year. As a fan of films, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, and most nerdy things, I thoroughly enjoyed Keil's debut, devouring it over a weekend - one where I was frantically cramming for exams. Although Life in Outer Space seems like a rather standard romantic comedy novel, told from a guy's PoV, Keil manages to introduce many original aspects to it and, frankly speaking, it's worth the few hours of time it takes up. You'll come away from this novel feeling lighter, happier, and grinning like a fool. I don't know about you, but amidst all the depressing novels on my list, not many books that successfully accomplish that.

From first glance, Life in Outer Space is a book we all know well. We have our standard group of misfits who is content with their avoiding-the-bully-at-all-costs lifestyle until the new girl walks in, dazzles the entire school, but somehow joins the group of misfits. Who are not-so-misfit anymore. And, what do you know, we have our classic tale of a best friend romance. I know it's been done before, but it works every time. What makes Life in Outer Space so remarkable, though, is that it is a story of friendship far before it is a story of love. Camilla is the type of girl who fits in like a glove, but underneath her cheerful exterior is a girl who wants to find a place to belong. Stuck with her dad, who constantly moves, Camilla has never had a close group of friends who have lasted for very long - until now. In Sam, movie nerd 101; Adrian, socially awkward but without inhibitions; Allison, obsessed with anime; and Mike, silent, gay, and dedicated to karate, Camilla finds a group of friends who have each others backs and are ready to have hers too.

As the narrator of the tale, Sam is delightful. One of my favorite aspects of his tale is the fact that he must come to realize that just as he doesn't have everything figured out in life, his parents often don't have everything figured out either. When his parents finally get divorced and are faced with a fresh plate, he is surprised at their indecision. And yet, this is what I love about this genre and age group - this is when we all realize that our parents are not God and nor are they perfect human beings. In fact, they are still finding themselves and sometimes, that is a very scary realization. And when this crisis hits Sam, he has his friends to fall back upon. Seriously, the dynamics between this group is so realistic and palpable that I feel as if I could hug them all. Although they are all concerned for one another, especially Mike who mysteriously quits karate, they are often too engrossed with their own lives to prod too deeply into each others. And I feel as if this is another classic friendship crisis - which, by the way, Keil deals with beautifully. As this book came to and end, I wanted to pump my fist and cry with happiness because the friendships in this are so, so lovely.

Not to be outdone, though, the romance is slow and sizzling, perfect and awkward. Sam doesn't even realize the depth of his feelings for Camilla until he is barreled over with them all at once along with the admission that someone like Camilla could never go for movie-obsessed him. Sam's passion for movies, though, is what makes this book such a delight to read. Life in Outer Space is riddled with movie references and allusions and while we can see that Camilla is besotted by Sam's passions, he - obviously - can't. And watching these two grow from friends to something more and witnessing the trust and understanding they share is wonderful. It's so rare to find love stories that are based heavily upon strong friendships, so in all counts, this book is a definite winner. Strong, lively, and endearing characters make Life in Outer Space the sheer delight it in and as far as rom coms go, this is one of the good ones.

THANK YOU Mandee for allowing me to be part of this blog tour and THANK YOU Flann for sending this to me along with The Bitter Kingdom! You ladies rock! :D

You can read this review" and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.

[Paula M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is also posted on Cristina's Book Reviews!

Cute nerd guy alert.



Guys can be so… clueless that I almost feel sorry for them. Reading Life in Outer Space is actually a breath of fresh air. I enjoyed the male POV for a change and I admit that I was a bit relieved that this book is more into romance than sci-fi. This book is geeky in a very charming way and I just adore every moment.  

I really thought that everything in this novel is slow though. The pacing, the romance… I thought nothing would happen until the very last page. Usually, I have a tendency to DNF books that are a snail's pace. But Sam is so hard to let go. And I really enjoyed Melissa Keil’s writing. In fact, she reminds me of Rainbow Rowell with the way she writes. It was quirky, and witty and totally honest. That’s why I enjoyed Sam’s monologue, it was so entertaining to read. At first I thought the male POV is gonna put me off but surprise, surprise! It was amusing and very much enjoyable to read.

I love how there’s no Insta-love or Insta-attraction that happened. Sam’s thoughts was consumed by his favorite movies  and video games and all things nerdy. It was adorable. Sam is adorable and so is his friends, who I think, wasn’t given that much exposure. Mike…. I love Mike. He’s gay but that doesn’t stop me but from having a crush on him. I love his story and I wish he has his own book because his character is just simply incredible.

I don’t even have the slightest comment on Camilla because I didn’t like her.. that much. She was not annoying or anything but I didn’t connect to her at all. I guess that’s partly because Sam didn’t do a good job of introducing Camilla to me through his POV.

Overall, Life in Outer Space was a very entertaining read. I pretty much enjoyed everything if it wasn’t so slow. The writing is enjoyable, the dialogues are entertaining and the characters are hilarious. This book is full of humor and even though you’re not a nerd or a geek…you will still end up liking it.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart, nerdy, WoW playing, horror movie-loving Sam and his friends, Adrian, Mike and Allison are navigating the minefield that is senior high school. Ridiculed by the A group and the school's top alpha male, Justin Zigoni they spend their lunch breaks hiding out in the school's IT room. And then one day into their classroom walks new student, Camilla, beautiful, smart and glamorous, she has travelled all over the world with her music critic Dad and is now back in Melbourne.Immediately taken up and fawned over by by the A group, she also reveals to Sam that she loves WoW.

This is a wryly funny YA book about friendship, love and finding yourself. If you are no longer a YA, it will remind you of those tortuous teenage years when friends were so important, emotions ran high and feelings must be hidden so as not to cause embarrassment. Camilla and Sam both have their insecurities that they must face and Mike, Adrian and Allison also grow in confidence to start becoming who they want to be. The novel was full of pop culture references to music and horror and scifi movies and I loved Sam's constant lists of the five best movie scenes for events in his life.

[Lara Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super cute and extremely underrated contemporary!

Likes
~ Right from the very beginning I was drawn into the story. No slow intro!
~ I love these dorky characters
~ So much relatable
~ The nerd references bring joy to my soul!
~ Romance was super cute and not rushed
~ Adrian was bae
~ Just really the characters. I love them all so much!
~ Just a fun fact: Set is Australia!!!

Dislikes
~ The characters were idiots
~ They are just so awkward
~ I actually don't think I went a single page without cringing
~ I loved them, but sometimes they just needed to get a brain. Really.
~ Plot was meh
~ Also, the ending was unresolved
~ Like what happens next? I NEED TO KNOW!

[hannah! · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book sm gotta get me a sam asap <3

i used this book for a podcast episode as an assignment for school, got an a so i was happy about that.
heres my playlist for this -(its pretty short but)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50j4HpWCS8i6BCweJtG48t?si=5ab03db0e9a94c35

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading multiple glowing reviews of Melissa Keil's debut LIFE IN OUTER SPACE, and falling in love with the book's cover art (please, pause for a moment and look at it—really look—because it's fantastic), I gave up on a recently imposed "No new books!" rule and downloaded a copy to my Kindle. I wouldn't say I was blown away, but I did inhale LIFE IN OUTER SPACE in a matter of days and came away from it feeling all the happiness that a solid rom com can bestow.

Aspiring screenwriter Sam Kinnison, who could give Abed Nadir a run for his money when it comes to rate and frequency of pop culture references, is by far the best thing about LIFE IN OUTER SPACE. His narration is warm, lively, occasionally frazzled, frequently confused, and most of all, consistently genuine. Sam reads as the sweet, nerdy teenage boy that he is, and I can't think of any point when I pulled away from the narrative thinking, That's ridiculous, Sam would never say that! Of course Sam uses torrents to, ahem, procure movies. And of course he describes new girl Camilla Carter's accent as similar to that of Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. Of course.

Sam is also funny, in that wry, intelligent way that isn't always appreciated in high school. I believe "guffaw" is the appropriate term for my laugh after reading the following:

I know I should be able to find a story in anything. Good screenwriters can pull interesting films out of the asinine and mundane. But everything I've read about writing always begins with ‘write what you know.’ What I know is: quiet streets, topiary, moronic high school arsehats, and homework. Has anyone ever made a movie about homework? Probably. I bet it was in French.

I bet you're right, Sam.

And while first person narration can sometimes leave supporting characters feeling less than fully developed, Sam's best friends—Mike, Allison, and Adrian—are almost as vivid as Sam himself. The group is believably tight knit, bonded by shared interests and shared misery, and each member is clearly devoted to the others. When Mike comes out to the group, they embark on the Google-fueled "Extremely Gay Weekend," checking out Olivia Newton-John fan pages and watching Dirty Dancing. Even the rifts that inevitably crop up are dealt with in a way that is both realistic and low on squirm-inducing cheese.

Which brings me to Camilla Carter, she of the dancing World of Warcraft dwarf, occasional Princess Leia hair, and persistent interest in being part of Sam's life. I like Camilla. I think she's fun, smart, interesting, and has excellent taste in 80s movies and SyFy shows. I also never got comfortable with her as the geek girl of Sam's dreams. I'd say my discomfort kicked in around the time Sam "feels like [he's] experiencing a processing malfunction" after finding out that Camilla likes Star Wars (sorry, but who doesn't like Star Wars?), and it never really went away.

Despite my off-the-cuff Goodreads updates that tagged Camilla as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, I'm hesitant to slap that label on her here. On the one hand, it seems unfair given that she's rendered through Sam's awestruck eyes, which focus on everything that's great about her, especially because Keil still manages to give Camilla some real depth. What's more, I think the label can be lazy and reductive, and it's too frequently used to pass on exploring female characterization.

On the other hand, I can't shake the feeling that Camilla's main function is to check off box after box on Sam's dream girl wish list while pushing him to realize that he's not such a loser after all. There's a somewhat half-hearted attempt to give Camilla an interest in songwriting, but for my part, that's undermined by her panicked dependence on Sam's acknowledgement and support.

Mostly, I think that for a book so steeped in movie references, there should be some self-awareness of Camilla's possible Manic Pixie Dream Girl-ness. But then, you don't usually find the MPDG in horror movies.

Ultimately, LIFE IN OUTER SPACE isn't the best of the best among contemporary YA—I much prefer Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon (2012)—and with minor exceptions, nothing about the plot is unpredictable; however, it's a quick read, and fun, and in the end, I had a good case of the warm and fuzzies. This is the kind of book that will break you out of a reading slump (and make you want to re-watch Dirty Dancing.)

Second Opinions:

VeganYANerds says: LIFE IN OUTER SPACE is a fun, sweet, endearing story about a boy, his friends, his family and his second-to-last year at school. It’s about living life, not sticking to your routine, having fun and branching out. I recommend this to all readers, whether you read YA or not.

Young Adult Anonymous says: I think these [simple, slice of life] types of stories are the hardest to write. However, when done well, they just make you happy that you read them. LIFE IN OUTER SPACE is done well. I can't guarantee that you'll be blown away, but I can say that you'll be glad you said yes instead of no to this.

[Sharon L · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, apparently, this is a YA contemporary romance.

And as my surprise might indicate, though I read some of those (I suppose) I am not very familiar with the genre.

Still, however I look at it I can only come to a few conclusions-

Objectively this is a good book, a great book even, unbojectively this is a book that leaves awesomeness behind

So yeah, I'm in love with this book. From here now it is my comfort read, a book I can read over and over again, just like listening to favorite song that you'll never get tired off. Have I got your attention yet? If not you shall know that for the first time in my life I feel like screaming off the rooftops and recommend this book to each and every person I know (even those who pass by me on the street and I never saw before nor will I ever see again).

This book is a mythical creature never heard of before…I should probably stop now, before I find myself raving so much that your expectations would be too high (though I think the book can handle that…*facepalm* I just can't stop myself)
If what you read so far didn't clue you, I will warn you now. I love this book so much I want to give it more than five stars, I love this book so much that I am well aware that this is not going to be a review- I will try to control myself the best I can- this is me attempting to review a beloved favorite book, and we all know how hard that is. How almost impossible that is. But I'll try to fangirl in a modest rational way *snicker* because this book deserve the best review I could ever write to it (poor book, really).

So here we go…

Once upon a time I logged into GoodReads and saw my friends raving about this book, and I decided to read it.
And then, I finally read it, and the book and I started out okay-

he looked at me in suspicion and I looked at it skeptically

"you can't be that good," I said. "Cory said you are a unicorn puking a rainbow on the rest of the YA contemporary books, That's not possible!"

The book just snickered at me and introduced me to Sam, who pulled The List of Five Most Awesome Prom Scenes in Movies Ever.

"Okay," I said. "That is a good start, but you didn't win me just yet."

Unfazed the book introduced me to Camilla- a british, cool girl with tattoo of a butterfly and vintage clothing whose dad is a music reviewer. The new girl in school that does what she want, and what she want is to be friends both with the misfits and the most popular kids in school. She just didn't care about social roles!

"That's not going to work," I said.

So the book smiled and patted my head like you do to a stubborn kid.

Then Camilla managed to befriend Sam and his friends ( a bunch of good kids!)

"Still," I said. "This is supposed to be a nerdy book, and even if I was in the nerds' protection program, I'm doubtful I can relate."

The book just handed me a highlighter and said "read! Stop talking just read!"

So I read.

I saw the situation is Sam's house, and plenty of good movies were mentioned, I saw how the friendship between Camilla and Sam developed realistically, I heard Camilla sing and Sam plays guitar, I was with them in the funny moments and the bitter ones and I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and I had tears in my eyes. I saw how the situation with Mike got out of control and Sam being heroic, I saw how everyone got along. I swooned in each and every sweet moment between Camilla and Sam, and even when things hurt a little it was never that bad, it was never melodramatic.

Then the story ended in a satisfying tone that left me smiling from ear to ear and I the book came to sit beside me.

"Seems like you loved it," he said.

"No," I answered. "Loving does not begin to describe it. I loved so many parts of the book I highlighted lots of them, more than I ever had before in any book. Thank you, dear book, for allowing me to meet those great people- Sam, Camilla, Andre, Allison, Mike and Noah. Thank you for letting me read their story and be there with them. And thank you for being such a wonderful debut novel that now I can't wait to see what Melissa Keil writes next!"

Thus we parted as best friends for life, but not for long, just till next time, which I suppose will happen in a few weeks ;)

A copy was kindly provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Getting to read this book I really think I got the better part of the deal.

*Original Pre-Review*
I'm so in love with this book.

review to come shortly, once I stop fangirling for a long enough time to write it.

*going to read the book again*

This review can also be found on The Accidental Reader

[Glory · Rating 4 out of 5]

История ботаника в стиле "ТБВ" и его друзей.

Сэм четко знает, где его место на социальной лестнице. Впрочем, к иному он и не стремится. Ведь школа - это просто школа, краткий миг перед настоящей жизнью, который надо просто перетерпеть.
К тому же, он не одинок - у Сэма есть чудесные друзья: Майк, уверенный, что он гей; Эллисон, которая выглядит как младшеклассница, и Эдриан - вечный задира без фильтра между мозгом и языком, так что слова вырываются прежде, чем он успевает подумать.

Сэм четко знает, кем хочет стать. Он уже на пороге написания гениального сценария, по которому снимут культовый фильм, и жизнь станет прекрасна.
А пока... все сводится к урокам, обедам в компьютерном классе (потому что в столовой компашку ботаников не очень жалуют), разговорам о кино (естественно, "Звездные войны", "Стартрек", всяческие супергерои) и попыткой не обращать внимания на местных крутых ребят и проблемы родителей.

Все меняется с появлением в классе новенькой. Камилле плевать на иерархию, социальные статусы и ярлыки. Она выросла в Лондоне, какое-то время жила в Америке и вот теперь вернулась на родину отца в Австралию и махом поставила на уши всю школу. Ей подражают, с ней хотят дружить, но по какой-то неведомой причине она не чурается фриков и хочет с ними общаться.

Сэм поставил перед собой цель - не поддаваться. Вот только у Камиллы совсем другие планы.

*****************************

Такая светлая, забавная и душевная история...
Местами грустная, местами уморительная. Написано от лица Сэма, очень серьезным, суховатым языком, а оттого все чудаковатые моменты кажутся еще чудаковатей. К примеру, момент, когда ребята выясняли действительно ли Майк гей, еще долго буду вспоминать с улыбкой))) Просто способ они выбрали единственно доступный - просмотр девчачьих фильмов, мол, понравится или нет. На "Грязных танцах" Майк уснул, но ведь это ничего не значит?

Очень много забавных выражений, фраз и сравнений. Хотелось растащить на цитаты.
Да, порой было грустно и весьма жизненно, но грусть эта светлая, как и весь роман.
И штампы здесь не кажутся штампами, потому что их разрушают прямо на наших глазах.

В общем, долго говорить не хочется. Если любите YA, почитайте, прям советую :)

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on the WondrousBooks blog.

Technically, I'm being a bit generous with the 4 stars. Actual rating: 3.5 stars

If Rainbow Rowell wrote happier novels from the boy POV... you'd have Life in Outer Space. And to be honest, this is the better version. I have a strange infatuation with Rowell's novels. It's a sort of a love/hate relationship. I appreciate the story and the atmosphere, but the characters are mostly crap, especially the strange girls who for the life of them cannot adapt to living in the real world. I get it, I'm a book and movie geek too, but I don't find the world so so so scary as to hide in my room forever.

Life in Outer Space is a cute little novel about a total geek named Sam, who has a fun group of friends and is living the glam geek life, until Camilla Carter comes into his life and turns it upside down.

As far as the story goes, it was enjoyable and fun. I liked the Camilla/Sam moments a lot. But overall the entire novel seemed like something's missing. That's my biggest problem with it, really. Right now, a few hours after I've finished Life in Outer Space, I don't feel like I've been completely immersed in a full-blown world which could suck me in so deep as to not want to leave. I don't even know how to explain this feeling. It's sort of like being unresolved.
Not to mention that a big segment of the book was focused on dealing with the Mike problem which was then handled in a couple of pages and was totally laughable.


The thing I liked the most about this book was Camilla Carter. Usually I'm not a fan of these perfect girls that are been thrown at us in every book a la John Green, but there was just something about Camilla and how she was not really a hipster bitch. I absolutely loved the fact that she played World of Warcraft... Wait... maybe that's it, I like her so much because I can find her easy to relate to. He-he.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads

3.5 stars

Thank you Hardie Grant Egmont Australia for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review.

“I think I would give up movies for this feeling.”

Life in Outer Space was a very average read for me. I can see why people love this- but in the end, I was looking for something a little... more. Life in Outer Space is a quirky read filled with perfect geeky nerdiness, humour and relationships. I felt a little bored at times- something that is a major fault in contemporaries- nonetheless relished the friendships that knitted this novel together the tightest possible.

Sam Kinnison, self-confessed geek in his group of nerdy friends, hangs around on the lower branch of the school hierarchy. Melissa Keil doesn't throw these teens, Adrian, Allison, Mike and Sam, around to be pitied. She puts them there to be heard and give us readers an insight to how they perceive this world. And trust me- it's pretty fascinating. Adrian, Allison, Mike and Sam aren't the popular kids- but they will always have each other's backs and hold this friendship that's so palpable and cogent that it practically bleeds through the entire journey.

Life in Outer Space was rather new for me. Not only was it in the perspective of proud nerds (mind you, I will eternally worship Sam and his self-esteem. *wipes happy tear*) but also it was in a boy's POV. I have read many stories in a guy's perspective but not any in the contemporary genre so it was rather hard for me to fully get used to it. Nonetheless, I wholly enjoyed the fact that this was a book about finding yourself. Life isn't perfect. Neither is life in outer space. Neither is life between parents. Sam has to deal with problems from his parent's situation as he delves through his. Which is filled with awkwardness, jocularity and a little slab of being a victim of bullying.

I feel that what made me hesitate with rating this book was how 'invested' I was with the romance and Camilla. I adored Sam and his nerdy crew- but Camilla wasn't a character I had acquainted somewhat before. Camilla has a sassy, loud and indifferent mouth of opinion in the post passive ways. I loved her but I was sceptical as well. In the end I grew to appreciate her. Even so, the romance would simply not click for me. Sam and Camilla completed each other in a different form to me. Something that absolutely was not a romance. However something leaning more towards a friendship. A really close one full of the same stuff, just not that intimate.

On whole, this novel was not perfect- but had many shining points that are worth of mention. Life in Outer Space is sweet, awkward and raw. There are messages thrown around and topics being addressed throughout that I believe got a fair amount of attention. Melissa Keil's debut is surely one to be read- especially people who adore contemporaries.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up after absolutely adoring Melissa Keil's other book, The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl, earlier this year. I was hoping this would be just as cute, just as sweet, and just as Australian. And...it was, but it wasn't?

Part of the problem, honestly, is that I borrowed this from work and it turns out that we have the US edition. So there are various terms and phrases that have been...de-Australianed, shall we say? Things like math. Dining hall. Semester. Spring dance. College. I also wasn't sure why the characters were wearing casual clothes to school all the time, and I'm still not sure if that's something that was changed for the US edition or if they're meant to be at one of the handful of schools in Melbourne that doesn't have uniforms.

But I digress.

As far as the cute/sweet side of things went, it WAS cute and sweet. But it also came with a hell of a lot of frustration because Sam LITERALLY CAN'T SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE and so spent half the book being a whiny teenage boy when he could have changed that situation at least 25,000 times if he'd actually been paying attention to all the hints and clues and super unsubtle suggestions that were dropped.

The part that I enjoyed the most was right in the middle of the book, when Sam's parents split up and so Camilla - on holiday in Singapore - comes up with a bunch of strategies to keep him from basically curling up in a ball and refusing to move. That was super adorable and I loved it.

So maybe if I'd read an Australian edition of this, I would have liked it more than I did. Because I loved the friendships and the relationships that develop in the course of this story (although the parenting is SPECTACULARLY shitty). And it was still a 4 star book. But if I hadn't found all the Americanisms grating on every second page, maybe it would have been a higher rating. WHO KNOWS...

[k · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's a bit cute, I must say.

I don't read contemporaries but when u stumbled upon this on Good reads, the synopsis intrigued me so I said, why not?

Personally, I am not a fan of highschool romance because ugh, those things don't really last. In short, I ended up not really enjoying the novel. Sorry.

Although, the two main leads are cute or whatever you want to call it. Call me a butch but their relationship would probably won't last.

And if so, they'll just have a divorce.

[Jessy MelodyofBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hier geht's zur Rezension: https://youtu.be/bw7Jnj-auCI

[Briar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life in Outer Space is one of the cutest and nerdiest books I’ve ever read. This contemporary quickly burrowed its way into my heart within the first few chapters, and, by the end of the novel, became a favourite. Do yourselves a favour and read this wonderful #LoveOzYA book immediately.

The protagonist of Life in Outer Space is sixteen-year-old Sam, who goes to a typical Australian high school – along with his bullies – with his three best friends, and spends his nights watching old Hollywood horror films and writing his own screenplay. His most current screenplay is Killer Cats from the Third Moon of Jupiter (which I low-key want to watch).

Sam quickly became one of my favourite YA protagonists: he is apathetic about a lot in his life – he just wants to fast-forward through the next 20 years of his life till he’s successful – but he clearly cares from his mother and friends. He’s a realistic Australian boy, who plays video games, watches bad movies, and drinks way too many energy drinks.

The supporting characters were just as amazing as Sam, especially his best friends Mike, Adrian and Allison. Mike is gay – just recently out – and doesn’t deal with emotions much; in fact, Sam is the only one who’s able to read him. Sam’s relationship with Mike was one of the sweetest I’ve come across in YA fiction – we really need more supportive friendships between boys. Adrian was hilarious and I kind of wanted to give him a hug? He’s not taken seriously by many people, including his friends at times, but he made me laugh the entire time he was on the page. Allison was a lovely character, but not given as much page time as Mike, although I quite liked her – she was quiet, but strong, too.

One of my favourite characters, however, was Camilla, the new girl at school whom Sam falls for – although it takes him a while to figure that out. Camilla was wild and intelligent, and genuinely amazing. She is friendly with everyone but doesn’t make strong bonds, because of how often her and her father move around. I adored her friendship with Sam, how different they were but similar as well. They really complement one another, and I shipped them from their very first interaction. Sam and Camilla’s friendship and potential romance was incredibly sweet, but awkward – in the cutest of ways.

The plot was out of this world … see what I did there? Anyway, the storyline followed naturally, and was equally entertaining. There wasn’t one moment where the story dragged – in fact, I found myself flipping through the pages quickly, desperate to find out what would happen next.

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil is a book that needs to be on your TBR as soon as possible. If you’re a nerd like me, you will relate to everything in the book!

Check out more reviews on my blog!

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Freaking Awesome Stars

I’m a geek at heart. My favorite show is the Big Bang Theory, I get excited about math and if there is any possible way for me to throw a movie quote into a conversation I totally will. This book was written for me, the MC Sam is totally my peeps.

Sam’s inner dialog is funny, his outer one with his friends is funnier still.

No one calls me Sammy. My mother occasionally throws a “Samuel”, but I am, and have always been, just Sam. Sammy is a name for five-year-olds and game show hosts and Shinny Happy People.
I am, definitely, not a Sammy.

He is a self professed geek. He helps fix computer related stuff at the school, is obsessed with horror flixs, StarWars, Star Trek, plays World of Warcraft and can’t pass gym to save his life.

He runs around with the same group of kids he has from grade School. They are a tight knit foursome Mike, Adrian and Allison. They are so tight knit that when Mike announces that he thinks he might be gay, but isn’t quite sure, his friends help him by googling it, looking as Sam’s Dads vintage porn to make sure, and watching movies that are probably extremely gay i.e. Dirty Dancing. Adrian even offers to kiss him just to verify, which is rejected for hilarious reason I will not ruin. Once decided Mike is definitely gay that is it. It is not a big deal and everyone just moves on as normal, as you should.

When the new girl Camilla comes to school Sam is baffled when she seems to try to be a part of their group because their group is definitely on the D-list of High School hierarchy. She is beautiful, smart, funny, plays World of Warcraft and since her dad is quasi famous as a writer the A-group totally wants her to be with them. Camilla has moved around so much that she is really comfortable in her own skin and seems to be able to hang out in any group without any repercussions.

I realize that Camilla is out very own statistical anomaly, an outlier that no one seems to know where to place.

There it is a math quote, I think this is where I had a geekasm, if there is such a thing and I’m pretty sure there is. Camilla inserts herself into Sam’s life via a study group with the rest of Sam’s friends and when she meets Sam’s mom Julie:

Mum looks like someone has told her that Santa will shortly be arriving with that guy from Pride and Prejudice in tow

I liked that there is no insta-love in this. Sam is not the nerdy kid that sees the beautiful girl and is in love and must find a way to make her see him. He is totally happy hanging out with the cool girl that likes WoW (World of Warcraft), Star Wars and will argue the validity of ewoks with him. They become best friends and he is oblivious that there might be something more to his feelings until….well until he is not.

The story is just situational, there is no real plot driver but I loved watching all the interactions of Sam and his friends over the course of their school year. It is how friends who are tight should be. Whenever anyone in the group has a ‘crisis’ the others are there to help out. I absolutely loved Mike, who seemed to see where things could go and even though Sam was oblivious Mike was there trying to help him be alone with Camilla. When Sam’s parents split up each member of the group does what they can to help Sam

“So. Are we concocting some elaborate scheme where we pretend to be twins to get your parents back together?”

There are so many moments in this book that I giggled, quite a few a guffawed and it left me feeling shiny and happy. I was reading and realized my cheeks sorta hurt from having a stupid smile on my face for an hour. Any book with chapter titles like The healing power of John Cusack movies and Proof that math and meat cleavers will only ever be metaphorically useful has to be brilliant.

I loved Camilla and Sam and their journey in this book. This is a great, I want to feel good, lazy day read. I recommend it for anyone that wants a cute and happy book. I will say that this even rivals Anna and the French Kiss as one of my all time favorite YA contemporary romances.



Oct 4, 2013

I freaking love this book!!!

I'm going to fangirl over it soon. I just need to think of something worthy to say about it other than you must read this! Full review to come.

[iska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leído para el 2015 Reading Challenge: #27. Un libro que puedas terminar en un día.

Ok, Sam es igual a mi mente. (piensa demasiado las cosas)



Sam , es el tipico chico geek, tiene pocos amigos, le gusta estar en su laptop, le gustan las películas de suspenso/terror, es una persona que piensa mucho sobre lo negativo y es que en la escuela siempre lo hacen sentir mal, nunca a tenido novia, y quiere verse involucrado en ser cinematográfico.



Camilla , es segura de si, sonríe, es una persona buena onda, se acopla con todo el mundo, y siente una atracción desde el principio por Sam, aunque si le da pena decirle, si me gusto su personaje.



Me agrado mucho el libro ya que tiene comedia, y no es empalajoso, algo en lo que estoy molesta es que Sam nunca le declaro el amor a Camilla, y es que creo que cuando a alguien le gusta una persona, pues que se lo diga, nada pierde, es que estaba apunto de decirlo y no le salia de la boca, estoy molesta por eso, pero el final estuvo muy bonito, es bueno para pasar el tiempo, es entretenido.



PD:También me gustaría que este libro se convirtiera en película.

[Nomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guys, this book was just so much fun and incredibly heartfelt. Addictive and smiley and one of those books where you want to be absorbed into the pages and hang out with the characters. It felt like watching the perfect teenage movie, a rom-com with plenty of humour, with an offbeat romance and the best pop culture references ever.

I was grinning from the first page (always a good sign!) and pretty much grinned and sighed my whole way through. I loved Sam as a narrator, a serious contender for a new fave male protag.

This book is perfect company for rainy days and sunny afternoons and cold winter nights (okay, pretty much for any occasion...).

One tiny little observation -- for an Aussie YA novel, it felt American in parts (the schooling system, and the characters sometimes seemed more out of an imported book. Although this does not detract from the awesomeness, it's just an observation on the Aussie vibe -- or lack thereof). Plus, the cover is winning -- gorgeous. I'm planning on gifting this to a few friends -- I definitely recommend it :)

[ALPHAreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Sam Kinnison, most of life’s predicaments can be nutted out with a full-proof ‘Top Five Greatest Movies’ list, tailored to specific occasions. For instance, when he needs reminding why he’d rather be stabbed “in the nuts with a blunt pencil” than attend the Spring Dance, he calls on his Top Five All-Time Greatest Movie School Dance Scenes. This includes ‘Carrie’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Prom Night’, ‘Footloose’ (for “sheer lameness”) and ‘Grease’ (because he believes “the flying car is symbolic of a journey to the afterlife, which means that Sandy and Danny were probably shoved off the Ferris Wheel”).

Sam finds comfort in movies – especially those from the horror genre. And continuously watching slasher-flicks and cult classics is helping his screenwriting career, his current project being Killer Cats from the Third Moon of Jupiter (KCftTMoJ).

If it sounds like Sam is a geek, you’d be right. He plays World of Warcraft, hangs out with the school IT guy to avoid a beating at lunch and sunlight rarely touches his hoodie-clad skin. But Sam is secure in his geekdom, especially because his group of friends are fellow nerds.

There’s Mike, who Sam has known forever. Mike is proudly gay, and a black belt in karate – although something has recently happened to turn Sam’s usually laid-back friend grumpy, and that something has also made him quit the dojo.

Then there’s Adrian, who was just suddenly in Sam’s life one day and hasn’t left since. Adrian tends to have more bravery than sense, but he’s loyal to a fault and over-packs food provisions for just about every outing.

Allison is a big manga fan but she sort of fails at being a girl – she’s quiet and shy, but wicked smart.

Sam has his core group of friends, his WoW universe and his movies. And all of these things serve to distract him from the looming-catastrophe that is his parent’s crumbling marriage.

But then a new girl arrives at Bowen Lakes Secondary – a girl called Camilla Carter who wears Princess Leia buns, op-shop dresses and mega-sized headphones. Her dad is a famous music journalist, and her mother owns a modelling agency. She has lived in New York and London – and her presence changes everything, the moment she slips Sam a note with her World of Warcraft character name – AltheaZorg.

Sam devleopes a theory that Camilla is a reverse demon-spawn, who instead of reaping carnage and destruction is performing social miracles by hanging out with both Sam’s group of nerds and the popular clique at Bowen Lakes Secondary. She somehow brings the two factions together into complete harmony.

Camilla Carter forces Sam and his friends to live outside their stereotypes and see their world differently. She challenges Sam, most of all – and she terrifies him just a little.

This is Sam’s second-to-last year of high school, and Camilla Carter is going to change everything for him.

‘Life in Outer Space’ is the inaugural winner of Hardie Grant Egmont’s young adult ‘Ampersand Project’. It is the debut novel for Melissa Keil, and heralds a new and exciting wave of Aussie YA discoveries.

It’s hard to pinpoint when Keil had me in her grasp and truly suckered in. Was it when she specified the *original* ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ movie in one of Sam’s numerous top-five lists? Was it when Camilla quoted my favourite line from ‘Say Anything’: “I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen”? Was it when Hardie Grant Egmont revealed the lovely cover, and I drooled just a little? Honestly – it was probably all these little things amounting to a great big book of gooey-awesomeness that had me declaring Melissa Keil a hot new Aussie YA talent.

The book is narrated by Sam Kinnison – in such a pitch-perfect and endearingly nerdboy voice that Keil had me fooled right from the get-go. He’s a sweet guy, if a little awkward and frustratingly content to rest on his laurels. When the book begins he has slotted himself firmly into the role of ‘geek’ and given the likes of popular-douche, Justin Zigoni, a lot of power over him and his friends. We spend just enough time inside Sam’s screenplay-writing-slasher-flick-watching mind to know that when Camilla Carter walks into his classroom, the tremors are felt deep down.

What I really, truly loved about this book was that Keil plays with a lot of young adult contemporary tropes – she sets them up to knock them down and in doing so, she happily wrecks Sam’s entire outlook on life, and forces him out of his comfort zone bit-by-bit.

Take, for instance, Camilla Carter. Initially readers may figure her for the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype. She has the prerequisite kooky dress sense, a firm belief that ‘Star Wars’ is for everyone and not just boys – and she’s trying to level-up her Dwarf in World of Warcraft. She is every nerdboy’s dream girl. But the book becomes about Sam digging deeper into Camilla’s surface-perfection – he discovers that her home life is not ideal, she’s become adept at convincing herself that she’s content and she has talent beyond just making other people happy. I loved Camilla – because while she starts out as this vehicle for Sam to change and better himself, she turns into a far more interesting and flawed character with as many messy life lessons to learn as impart.

Keil also starts Sam out as this nerdy archetype – and in the beginning readers may think the entire book will just be about him finding his ‘cool’ and getting the girl. But, actually, Sam is dealing with a pretty crappy home life while also worrying over what’s making his best friend so sad. There are more important things in life than popularity, as Keil brilliantly outlines with Sam’s journey that is far more interesting for not being a pursuit of vapid coolness.

I also liked that Keil played with more minor tropes – like Mike as the gay character, and Justin Zigoni as the bully. Neither of these secondary characters ends up following their stereotypes, and they’re more memorable and complex because Keil wrote the unexpected.

I also just loved ‘Life in Outer Space’ because it’s a pop-culture extravaganza. I had to jot down a few of Sam’s movie recommendations, because the way he talked about them with such love and obsession got me interested in watching them. And, of course there were the moments when Camilla expressed her love of 80s rom-coms and my John Hughes/John Cusack fangirl just had to squeal at certain scenes;

‘Say anything!’ she barks.
‘What?’
‘Say Anything. Late 80s movie, John Cusack – it’s one of my go-to happy movies. Find it. Promise you’ll watch it.’
‘It … doesn’t sound like a guy-movie, Camilla?’
‘That doesn’t matter. The point is, it’s a feel-good movie. You don’t need to be watching people having their brains splattered right now. And I don’t need to be on a plane for eighteen hours worrying about you watching people having their brains splattered. What you need is an old-school 80s rom-com.’

‘Life in Outer Space’ is a triumph on three counts; for Melissa Keil as a brilliant debut, the Ampersand Project for setting the benchmark and the Aussie YA scene who can now claim an interesting new contemporary voice. This book is heartfelt, unexpected and features characters you kinda wish were real so you could have movie nights with them.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this. I picked it up solely because it’s premise sounded similar to my current writing project, and while they are similar in themes, I felt like this was everything I want to avoid my book turning out like.

Sam is an uber nerd. Sam and his friends are constantly bullied by the popular kids. Suddenly, a beautiful daughter of a celebrity shows up, and for whatever reason decides to take an interest in Sam and his group.

Sadly, it’s as cliche as it sounds and does nothing to turn contemporary tropes on it’s head like I had hoped.

Likes:
This book is ridiculous, but it knows it. It doesn’t try to take itself too seriously.
The chapter titles were great. I love funny chapter titles.
The writing style was good, very easy to read.
I flew through it, read it in one sitting.
It was lighthearted and fluffy for the most part.

Dislikes:
The obsession with the word arse.
It felt childish and immature. The humor was nowhere near laugh out loud funny.

“No one calls me Sammy. My mother occasionally throws a “Samuel”, but I am, and have always been, just Sam. Sammy is a name for five-year-olds and game show hosts and Shiny Happy People.
I am, definitely, not a Sammy.”

The evil popular kids trope is here, ugh. It’s incredibly cliche, and the book even acknowledges this:

“If there was an award for the world best high school cliche, Justin Zigoni would not only win, but they’d name the award after him as well.”

Sam is one of those male narrators where it is glaringly obvious that he was written by a woman trying to sound like a teenage boy. I also didn’t particularly like Sam.
Ugh, the love interest is such a manic pixie dream girl in every sense of the word. Camilla is incredibly perfect but she’s in love with nerdy and clueless Sam for no reason whatsoever.

“But why me?

Because, idiot, you... are funny and smart and you have a giant heart that you can't even pretend to hide. And you love your friends and your mum, and you held my hand and made me sing when I was so scared I thought I was going to die. I knew you understood, right from the beginning, this thing inside, the stuff in your head that you need to make real. You get that.... And you wear stupid Superman pyjamas without any irony, and your face lights up when you talk about the movies you love.... And... you protect my dwarf. You always have her back. And you have a dimple when you smile that's so cute I almost died the first time I saw it.”

Oh, gimme a break. No girl like this exists.
There were dialogue tags used when people were typing to each other. Random, I know, but it bugged me.
This book loves the heck out of pop culture. It loves to name drop stuff I’ve never heard of.
This book is just over the top with everything it tries to do.
I hated what Sam said at the end.

“I'm thinking about the top five all-time greatest movie kisses. I can't believe I haven't made that list.
And I'm thinking about a screenplay I want to write. I have a hunch it'll be the first good movie I've ever written.
This one will be about a girl.
I don't know how I ever tried to write my story without her.”

When Camilla admits her undying love for Sam (eye roll), Sam starts talking about how he can finally write a good screenplay now that he’s in love. What? How does being in love correlate with being a good writer? That message is basically saying you have to fall in love in order to achieve your dreams.

So yeah, it’s a lighthearted contemporary if you need one, but I wouldn’t particularly recommend this. Obviously I’m the odd one out based on reviews, so maybe you’ll love this. I’d recommend reading some of the positive reviews if you’re still interested in this.

[Cécile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Petit coup de cœur pour ce livre.
Si vous aimez le style de John Green alors vous devriez aimer ce livre.

Ici on trouve :
– Un héros, Sam, qui est un nerd, geek, qui accepte sans complexe le fait qu’il est différent et qui est très drôle et sarcastique,
– une héroïne, Camilla, sûre d’elle, qui se démarque, qui est plus à l’aise en société que notre héros,
– et des amis, présents, originaux, drôles, indispensables, sans qui le héros ne serait pas ce qu’il est.
- et beaucoup d’humour.

Sam.... ce nerd qui fait sans cesse des références à des films et des jeux vidéo.
Sam qui veut écrire un scénario,
Sam dont les monologues intérieurs m’ont faite rire, sourire et même éclater de rire.
Sam qui ne veut pas être appelé Sammy.
Sam dont l’humour, l’auto-dérision et le sarcasme sont présents dans chaque scène et monologues intérieurs.
Sam dont les amis sont parfaits jusque dans leurs défauts.


Et les autres :
- Adrian qui passe son temps à manger et qui ne filtre jamais ses pensées.
- Allison la timide, au corps de fillette, aux cheveux fins, qui aime Hello Kitty et le cinéma japonais.
- Mike, le meilleur ami qui pense être gay et qui a décidé d’abandonner le judo pour une raison indéterminée.

"I check the content of my backpack; Mike has shoved a spare T-shirt and bottle of SPF30+ from our bathroom into it.
« Thanks, mum » I mutter.
He whips the towel from around his neck and shakes it out on the other side of mine. « i’m not the one who cried last time he got sunburnt ».
« I was nine »
« Dude, you still cried »."



Et enfin, il y a Camilla. La nouvelle du lycée dont le père est un journaliste de rock très connu.

Camilla donc:
Qui est populaire mais qui traine avec nos geeks,
Qui joue à World of Warcraft,
Qui s’habille en jaune,
Qui joue de la musique…
Qui est drôle, intelligente et différente.
Et surtout, Camilla dont l’arrivée casse la routine et l’univers de Sam.


En lisant ce livre, on suit Sam et ses réflexions, on surligne 45 passages du livre, on sourit, on s’attache à des adolescents exceptionnels, on se demande pourquoi Mike a arrêté le judo, on lit des phrases sans points d’exclamations, on voit Sam compter des secondes, on voit son monde être bouleversé, on découvre beaucoup de top 5, on ne comprend quasi aucune référence cinématographique, on imagine un chapeau bleu en velours avec une plume de paon, on rit beaucoup, on couine un peu, et on vit cette histoire, passionnément.
Ah… et… est-ce que j’ai mentionné qu’on souriait tout le temps?

Alors, certains trouveront peut-être qu’il ne se passe pas grand chose. D’autres, que ce genre de personnages n’existant pas vraiment. Et ils auront raison. Mais personnellement, rien ne m’a dérangé : j’ai adoré suivre sa vie sans drames qui se voit chamboulée par l’arrivée d’une fille, et j’ai adoré que tous les personnages soient différents des adolescents que l’on croise dans le bus et qui n’ont jamais ouvert un livre de leur vie.

[~Tina~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was probably the cutest, funniest and sweetest book I've read this year. Excellent writing, warm and witty characters and the perfect ending that will make you smile a stupid grin from ear to ear!
Loved!

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sweet! RTC

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books

So when I asked my friend Mel from YA Midnight Reads for more awesome Aussie YA books, she recommended this author, Melissa Keil. And I checked her out on Goodreads, got this book because it sounded cute and Mel liked it too. And I really, really enjoyed this one a lot.



Life in Outer Space is about Sam. Sam is a geek and he's totally fine with that. He loves horror movies, wants to be a screenwriter, has his nerdy friends and doesn't have to worry about girls until Princess Leia suddenly shows up in his bedroom. But then Camilla comes into the picture. Sam knows where Camilla belongs in the hierarchy of high school and it is not anywhere near him. But Camilla doesn't care about any of that and soon everything changes. Now it seems like Sam has been watching the wrong movies to learn from.

Yes, this book is nerdy and I loved it. It has a ton of references to games and movies and I love that. The writing style was light and breezy, but also touching when it needed to be. I did tear up a few times. Mostly because I could relate to Sam, our main character. I really know how he felt at times in the book because I've been where he was. But he's also an amazing character overall and he grows a lot in this book.

Shoutout for diversity! Yay! I loved Mike, Sam's gay best friend. I loved how they didn't make a big deal out of it. I did care for him to. I cared about all of them. They were just so geeky and if they were real, they would be my friends. The romance in this book is very sweet and slow, which it needed to be because, well, Sam is kind of dense when it comes to romance.

Though this book didn't wow me, I do really recommend it to fans of contemporary. It's a very sweet, funny, touching story that's actually kind of a perfect summer read now that I think about it. Read it when you get the chance!



This review is also (or -soon- will be) posted on Istyria book blog.