Astronaut!

by Oana Aristide

A tense, darkly funny, and politically resonant novel of life under authoritarian rule.


Romania, 1989, the twilight of Ceausescu’s dictatorship: A time when every neighbor, every friend, every family member may be an informant for the regime. When news emerges of a man-eating bear terrorizing the country, two bright lives collide. Constantin, an idealistic police detective—prone to daydreaming and scribbling fairytales in his notebook for his four-year-old son—is tasked with solving the string of mysterious deaths. Lia, a rebellious, inquisitive schoolgirl pining for more color in her life, is unwittingly drawn into an elderly neighbor’s secret plot against the regime. The decisions they make amid the constant gray skies and fear of speaking out will have sweeping consequences—for themselves, for their families, and for their country. Astronaut! is a chilling, suspenseful, and resonant tale by a dynamic new novelist.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical, Politics, Mystery, Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 14, 2026

Reviews

[Ruben · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5

Fantastic new novel set in Romania 1989, about the absurdities of totalitarianism and a society in which any neighbour or colleague can be an informer.

The main character is Lia, a little blabbermouth who can't help getting herself into trouble. She notices the world is gradually losing its colour and is determined to bring it back. When she accidentally wins a drawing contest she shouldn't have won (because her classmate Dora whose parents are high up in the Party was supposed to win) the prize is a meet and greet with Ceausescu himself.

A second storyline is that of detective Constantin, who is put in charge of the investigation into a gruesome murder, which soon turns out to be the first of many. Is there a serial killer on the loose, or is it perhaps more convenient to blame a bear?

I love this very much, a smart plot is combined with humour. Astronaut! (i.e. not kosmonaut) has some of the absurdity and humour of Catch-22 and the warm atmosphere of Mariana Leky.

I have some Romanian friends and lately nothing excites them more than bear stories - it's a real thing.

I am pencilling this down for the Booker longlist - it could be the "Endling" of 2026.

[Lauren W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This powerful novel vividly captures the suffocating reality of life under a dictatorship in 1980s Romania. Following Lia, a brave little girl longing for the lost "colors" of her country, was an incredibly emotional experience. I felt a deep urge to reach through the pages and protect her. This is a thought-provoking reminder of the true value of freedom.

[jagodasbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Communist Romania seen from a perspective of 8 year old Lia, who wants to add colour, while simultaneously there's a wild man eater bear on the loose, but is it really a bear?

Interesting take on propaganda and totalitarianism. I especially liked the scene where Lia has to stand in line for hours, because someone heard there'll be a chicken in shop, because my parents told me many times how they had to do that too.

The audiobook narrators were good!

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

[Chloë ☾ ⋆* · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving and darkly humorous coming-of-age story that had me highly entertained throughout! Have never read a book set in communist Romania and I’m not sure what I expected, but I loved this. Perfect balance of weird and touching. Lia was such a well written protagonist!! If you’re looking for a satirical detective novel with hidden depth and important themes, definitely pick this one up. 🐻 🎒 The narrator was also fabulous. Thank you to Headline Audio and NetGalley for the ARC 🎧

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astronaut by Oana Aristide

Thank you to NetGalley and Oana Aristide for providing both the audiobook (narrated by Rosalind Lailey) and the e-book advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.

Set in 1989 Romania, just months before the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu and the eruption of the Romanian Revolution, Astronaut follows two seemingly separate lives: Lia, a young girl whose imagination stretches far beyond the grey confines of her world, and Constantin, a disciplined detective tasked with trying to catch what appears to be a serial killer... As unrest quietly builds across the country, Lia retreats into stories of space and possibility, while Constantin methodically pieces together a case that carries emotional consequences. The novel gradually reveals how their worlds are connected but it does so with restraint and care.

What makes this book different is its tonal balance. This isn’t simply historical fiction, nor is it purely a detective story. It’s a meditation on imagination and how it protects us, shapes us, and sometimes exposes us. Lia’s innocence never feels sentimental; it feels necessary. Constantin’s investigative precision is grounded, yet softened by the imaginative bedtime stories he tells his son, Sandu. (These were my favourite!) The contrast between a child trying to make sense of her environment and a man trying to impose order on it gives the novel emotional tension that feels both intimate and political.

Readers should care because the stakes are human rather than sensational. The backdrop of late-communist Romania... rationing, fear of the Securitate, whispered dissent isn’t just historical colour; it presses in on every character decision. Aristide doesn’t overwhelm with exposition, but the sense of a country on the brink adds quiet urgency throughout. The story hooks you not through twists, but through emotional convergence and the slow realisation that innocence and investigation are moving toward one another.

Experiencing this through both audio and print deepened the impact. Rosalind Lailey’s narration is measured and emotionally intelligent, with pacing that allows tension to build naturally. Her Romanian accent felt authentic to me and never distracting... instead, it enriched the atmosphere and grounded the setting. The audiobook particularly elevates Lia’s chapters, capturing vulnerability without overplaying it. By the end, Aristide ties the dual perspectives together in a way that feels earned, thoughtful, and quietly powerful.

#Astronaut #NetGalley

[Susan J. Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eight-year-old Lia totally charmed me in Oana Aristide’s excellent piece of historical fiction about life in Ceausescu’s Romania. Seeing events unfold through her eyes and her attempts to rationalise them was innocent, uplifting and heartbreaking. I remember the fall of this regime, their total indifference to mass genocide and the dreadful reports about the treatment of children in orphanages (I don’t think I’ll ever forget that news footage), contrasted with the ridiculous collection of fur coats Elena Ceausescu owned, when her people were starving and in poverty.
I also enjoyed the relationship between detective Constantin and his young son, especially the nightly fairy stories, which had a fable-like quality and were his way of helping his son see the truth in what was going on around them.
Another favourite character was Lia’s elderly neighbour, whom she befriends in secret, and who gradually becomes more deranged as the plot advances.
It’s a sobering story which reimagines the end of a dreadful regime, beautifully brought to life by Rosalind Lailey’s empathetic narration.
Five stars from me, with thanks to NetGalley and Headline Audio for a chance to listen to an ALC. Astronaut publishes on 26 March.

[Jamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronaut! is a compelling and vivid historical novel that combines suspense, satire, and poignant character study against the last days of Communist Romania. Set in a grey, tightly controlled world of rationing, informers, and state propaganda, the story follows two unlikely protagonists whose lives intersect in meaningful ways.

Constantin is an idealistic police detective tasked with investigating a series of grisly murders. He is thoughtful and introspective, juggling the weight of his job with scribbled fairytales for his young child. Lia, a spirited and perceptive schoolgirl, yearns for colour and freedom in a society that demands conformity. By chance, she becomes involved in her elderly neighbour’s secret plot against the regime.

Aristide breathes life into late-Communist Romania, capturing both the absurdities of everyday life under authoritarian rule and the small acts of resistance that define her characters. The narrative deftly balances the tension of a detective plot with the coming-of-age experiences of Lia and the moral complexities faced by Constantin, creating a layered and engaging read.

The novel explores how individuals navigate fear, truth, and loyalty in a world where even simple conversations can carry risk. It’s deeply moving and occasionally wryly funny, showing how hope and resilience persist even in the bleakest contexts.

Overall, Astronaut! is a richly imagined story that stays with you, offering insight into a turbulent period of history through memorable characters and a propulsive, thoughtful plot.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Margaret C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this wry and satirical tale set during the final months of Ceaușescu’s reign in communist Romania.

The characters are convincingly drawn and the story moves along between two perspectives. There is that of talkative little Lia who just wants to brighten the lives of those around her, but sometimes inadvertently makes things worse for her stressed out parents. Then there is Constantine, the police detective, who is trying to solve a series of gruesome murders, while navigating the often ludicrous constraints applied by the corrupt powers that be and who seizes the opportunity to compose bedtime fairytales for his precious four year old son if a spare moment arises.

The oppressiveness and paranoia of life in communist Romania under Ceaușescu is clearly portrayed but is balanced by the hope and optimism in our two main characters who are determined to do their best to make things as good as they can be despite the circumstances.
Overall this is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it!

My thanks to NetGalley and Headline Books for this much appreciated early copy of Astronaut.

[Sam Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronaut! is set in Romania during the final days of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist regime in 1989, and it gave me a fascinating insight into what everyday life was like during that time. The atmosphere of uncertainty and restriction is really well captured, making the setting feel vivid and immersive.

At first I wasn’t entirely sure about the writing style - it felt a little unusual - but after a few chapters I settled into it and became genuinely invested in the lives of the two main characters. Their stories unfold in a way that feels very human and relatable despite the very different political and cultural context.

I found the book quite moving overall, with moments that really stayed with me. There’s also a thread of dark humour running through the story, which helps balance the heavier themes and adds a surprising warmth to the narrative.

Overall, this was an engaging and thoughtful read that offered both emotional depth and an interesting historical perspective. Definitely worth picking up if you enjoy character-driven stories set against real historical backdrops. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Meme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romania, 1989. Under a dictatorship, two stories unfold at the same time—will they collide?


A little girl with rebellious, freedom-loving ideas is obsessed with bringing back colors.

A cop with a conscience is trying to solve grisly crimes.


It was interesting to read about what life was like during that complicated part of history. The story is a good idea, and I found the ending consistent. The author did a good job depicting how it feels to be a little girl who doesn’t always understand her world.


But unfortunately, I had a hard time finishing it. I might have DNFed it if it hadn’t been an ARC. I didn’t always feel to pick it up, and while the murder mystery seemed appealing at first, it lost some of its initial appeal for me as the story progressed. Some characters—though I understand them—were difficult for me to connect with.


I am still glad that I finished it, as I still wanted to know how it would end.


It was my first approved ARC on NetGalley, so it will always feel special to me. And I must say that the cover design is amazing—not only is it beautiful, but it also makes total sense once you’ve read the book.

[Kathleen C · Rating 5 out of 5]

(ARC in audio format provided by NetGalley.)

Romania, 1989.
In a world where colors were gradually vanishing, where an alleged serial-killing bear roamed the land. Fear ran in whispering undercurrents thorughout the land.
Lia was constantly baffled when confronted with the fury of grown-ups when she was genuinely trying to do something good: the vase intended as a present for her mother, the drawing competition, the fish map and the astronaut..."Why is everybody always mad at her for nothing?" We follow Lia through the process of her special classes in preparation of meeting Ceauşescu, her confusion in a world losing its colors, and her friendship with Comrade Mantea and their ultimate quest to reclaim colors for everyone.
In the meantime, brutal killings across the country were reported, but to appease the public, these attacks were attributed to a certain "bear". We then met the detective policeman Constantin, who writes whimsical stories for his son in between tasks or during tedious monologues of his superior with a green inkpen. "Green, now, to him, is the color of freedom."
Lia and Constantin were somewhat similar in their innocent beliefs and pure hopes for a better world; the former due to juvenility, and the latter owing to idealistic views (quoting Titus: "Sometimes you're like a child, you think there's good and evil in this world, where they're like elegant tennis players sticking to the rules in their respective halves..")

There were two passages that stood out to me which echoed with the book title:
"Can it really be different elsewhere? Constantin thinks. In other countries, and other times, could things be so different? Maybe this is it. That's all there is on offer here. And really he should be dreaming of traveling in outer space. He imagined a lone rocket, floating happily among the stars. No lies, no past mistakes to disentangle, pure hope of kind new worlds."

And where Lia drew her astronaut:
"He's at the top of the page, the bravest explorer of all. She gives him a light blue helmet and matching spacesuit, and he's smiling through the visor. Why the smile? Because he has just realized that the view from the outer space is like being deep inside a Christmas tree, and he is never afraid. Lia smiles back at him. She names the drawing, flattening the black letters across the surface of the sun, 'Astronaut!'"

This very quality contrasted the quiet oppression and the hushed terrors under a totalitarian regime. It was precisely as Constantin described, "death by little cuts": if you react immediately at the small discomforts, you'd be accused of overreaction; and if you wait until it has culminated into a grave situation, they'd question why you had never said anything in the midst of this absurdity. But what is the demarcation of the "reasonable" level of suffering we must endure, and what thoughts or actions were permitted so as not to be deemed provocative? Depicted achingly real in this dialogue:

"Seditious?" Lia says. What does that even mean?
"Everything! All of it! Every single thought in your head!"

For there will be endless ways to make such accusations, and nothing is ever truly safe. Even an act as benign as holding up a single blank sheet of paper could be framed as turbulence and rioting.

As Constantin told Sandu after his last bedtime story, "It will not be easy, but the boy knows he has his entire life before him, so he must keep looking for a better place."

"To new beginnings."
To every single person, in the year of 1989 and beyond, who fought for freedom, for more radiant colors, and for light and voices.

Major kudos to the narrator Rosalind Lailey for the very animated delivery!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can it really be different elsewhere, Constantin thinks? In other countries and other times. Could things be so different? Maybe this is it, that's all there is on offer here, and really he should be dreaming of travelling in outer space. He imagines a lone rocket, floating happily among the stars. No lies, no past mistakes to disentangle. Pure hope of kind new worlds.

 
The Romanian born (and raised – until the fall of Communism), macro-economists second novel, it is an explicit mix of coming-of-age story and detective novel which serves as something of a folk-tale-infused (but also at times chilling) satire of the last days of the Ceaușescu regime and as an urgently present-day fable for the need for action in the face of creeping erosions of freedom.
 
The novel has two alternating and at points interacting storylines.
 
In the first a young and almost unconsciously rebellious young girl Lia takes some money from her parent’s secret draw to buy her mother a present – the story begins with her being uncomfortably walked back to her house by the creepy shopkeeper who we (not she) realises sexually blackmails her mother over what is illegal German currency.  Later the shopkeeper is found murdered – and suspicions swirl around the family although this is only one of a series of escapades Lia naively draws her despairing (and frightened) family into – culminating in her inadvertendly winning a competition to make a presentation to the President (she determined to tell him that the colour has been stolen from the country’s grey towns and streets).  Meanwhile she befriends a local eccentric and dissident (only protected from arrest and worse by his son’s high up Party role) and he tries to persuade her to give him details of the President’s itinerary and to take him a special package.
 
In the second a detective Constantin is put in charge of investigating a murder which quickly becomes the first in what seems to be the actions of a serial killer – taking place across the country and with the victims murdered without witnesses by someone who seems to know their private regimes (the first for example murdered at a remote lake where he fishes).  The wounds seem consistent with a hook or claw – and in attempt to warn the public without admitting there is a killer, the police invent a fictitious bear (although then find themselves drawn in to investigating actual bears – including both a travelling circus and bears imported for Presidential hunting).  At one stage its realised that the murder of the shopkeeper was actually the first murder – and Constantin meets Lia and his family.
 
Constantin as a main point of view character was an addition to the novel (which was initially meant to have an autobiographically inspired Lia at its heart) – but his chapters worked better for me due to their depth.  He and his wife have a marriage marked by unspoken recrimination which we quickly realise is due to the death of their daughter some years back (only as the book progresses do we realise that this was due to a principled decision by him to refuse to take advantage of state power – and there is a particularly memorable scene when the President’s wife callously dismisses his moral stance as weakness).  And with his son – he tells a series of folk tales he invented, each in effect a clever fable on how to deal with a totalitarian regime and in effect functioning as a microcosm of the novel.
 
And all the threads are drawn together at the novel’s end – which solves the serial killer mystery (perhaps a little too neatly) but counterpoints this with a deliberate sense of ambiguity about the outcome of Lia’s Presidential meeting.
 
Overall, this is an intelligent and memorably different novel.

[Felix Böhme · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Can it really be different elsewhere, Constantin thinks? In other countries and other times. Could things be so different? Maybe this is it, that's all there is on offer here, and really he should be dreaming of travelling in outer space. He imagines a lone rocket, floating happily among the stars. No lies, no past mistakes to disentangle. Pure hope of kind new worlds."

A solid murder mystery meets an occasionally harrowing tale of oppression and fear, but also small acts of resistance, taking place in communist Romania 1989. It's smartly divided up, providing different perspectives, from the eyes of an innocent child defying the system without really knowing what all of it actually means, up to a disillusioned, but eventually somewhat nevertheless hopeful detective entangled in the mechanism of an oppressive security state. 

Oana Aristide paints a complex picture of Romania on the cusp of change, balancing the levity, absurdity and horror of her story really well. But to me, she could have gone even farther, in a fantastical sense. Still, a good read.

----

At first, she thinks that Comrade Mantea is laughing; he is heaving and has covered his face with his hands. But no. She sinks in her chair.

'Go home,' he says through his sobs.

It's only hours later, when she's in bed, that she comes up with the right thing to say to Comrade Mantea to make him feel better. It's something all grown-ups need telling, especially Mother and Dad: they worry too much for people who are good. 

She will have to explain that she doesn't mean 'good' as in 'do-your-homework good', but the good of fairy tales, of parents who take care of their children, of nice, friendly neighbours. Of people who want more colour. It's as if they don't know that everything always ends well for the good ones.

----

In the evening the three of them sit down for the news, Constantin with one eye on Sandu. About a year ago, the boy went through a phase when he would angrily shout "The rat! The bad rat!' as soon as Ceauşescu's face appeared on the screen, and Constantin is still anxious for the first few minutes of patriotic chants and poems.

There was nothing political about Sandu's disgust, nothing the boy had heard from him or Tina: out of all the faces in the world, he just couldn't stand this one. It was almost like an allergic reaction. They had tried everything, down to showing him pictures of actual rodents, pointing out differences, but he only stopped once they threatened him: no playtime, no fairy tales, no cocoa in the morning.

It had been almost funny, in an awful way. Constantin remembers feeling pride that his four-year-old son could see through the televised chants and the fake smiles and recognise this thug of thugs, this erstwhile cold-blooded enforcer, for the filthy rat that he is.

----

Comrade Mantea is staring into thin air. He looks like he is thinking very hard.

'We've grown numb. It's like this, kid: in wars, you have to face guns and cannons and soldiers, and the situation is somehow so obviously serious that we mobilise our courage, and our will, and so on. But here, we are supposed to be heroic at our kitchen table, at the factory, on the bus. We are supposed to risk terrible consequences just for saying some perfectly commonsense thing. It never seems worth it.'

She's pretending to listen, but really she's thinking how lucky she is Comrade Mantea is her friend. He talks complete gibberish but it never feels like he's lying to her. He's nice to her, and he has ideas, not only about grown-up problems but about everyone's problems.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lia can't do right for doing wrong – when all she wants is a lovely sunny vase for her mother's birthday present, she nabs a bit of the special currency from its hiding place – and you can't flash Deutschmarks around in Ceausescu's Romania, now. The shopkeeper, it's implied, sexually blackmails the mother, until he's found dead. Confusingly, at least at first, for us, someone else is mauled to death, too – and they're not alone. In alternating chapters we then see Lia's tenuous grip on what she ought to do living in the minefield of secret police, informers, etc, and a disgruntled police detective and fairytale author slowly getting to some sanctioned truth about the multiple murders.

This book proves a mish-mash of two failed stories. The police work is a failure – for one thing, the verdict from above is that it must have been a bear doing all the random killings, indoors or out. If you read Yulia Yakovleva you'll know what happens when the bigwigs demand the police find their solution to the crime, even if it certainly isn't the factual one. It's a procedural where only one or two players are following procedure, the rest are closing doors, putting out lies, and so on.

But the other side of this – the childhood as it might have been in Romania in the late 1980s – is also a failure. Lia definitely finds an etc to latch on to, and while it is only implied the first victim was going to letch over her mother, from this point on there is a build to something that again is never stated but so bleedingly obvious it gets boring. Lia's demand for more colour, while admittedly showing the naivety of the character, isn't exactly a great way to tell us what we need to know about the country under this leadership.

Oh and the whole thing is seriously mis-sold as being a comedic piece.

So I can't recommend this – I wanted to find something fine, something that perhaps merged the Kurkov flippancy about Soviet life with the Kurkov thrillers he's turned to more recently. I wanted a lot more flavour of Romania – I felt as much character of Sighisoara as if sent a postcard from there, disappointingly. And while the framework of the story and its structure is a lot better than first feared, it remains as I say a blend of two failures. And that ain't never going to make a success. A highly generous two stars.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it’s a good book because I didn’t even consider docking points for the most annoying child protagonist I’ve ever seen. Self-consciously annoying, but still! Grinch mode activated.

We’re a few months before the fall of the Ceausescu regime in Romania in 1989 and a police detective is trying to investigate a serial killer in a country where criminals aren’t allowed to exist (criminals are a capitalist thing after all). Unable to warn the public of the actual danger, the police comes up with a great idea - they’ll blame the killings on a murderous bear!
Meanwhile, the world’s most annoying child is constantly butting against the repressive society she’s trapped in, calling kosmonauts astronauts (seditious), hanging out with known political agitators (dangerous), and trying to buy stuff at a security service informant’s store using foreign currency (plain stupid). Honestly, she never stops. If she’d lived in Stalin’s Russia, she would’ve gotten her entire apartment block sent to the gulag with what she gets up to.

It’s not really a police procedural - we don’t get any clues on what the murders are about until very late in the book when the pace really picks up, which I would’ve normally complained about, but this just isn’t the narrative’s focus. It’s about the absurdity and soul crushing nature of living in a totalitarian system and the ways people are forced to repress themselves and others to survive.
The characters are great (I loved the annoying girl’s exasperated parents who keep trying and failing to convince her not to get them sent to prison) and it’s a pretty quick read that really places you in the middle of a dictatorship that kind of flies under the radar compared to the USSR and other contemporary regimes.

The only thing I wasn’t too sure about was the ending - I don’t really feel like it ends on the hopeful note it’s meant to, pretending a single man might’ve been able to take out Ceausescu, when it really was the popular uprising the characters didn’t believe could happen that brought him down in real life, but that’s barely a complaint really, I understood why it served the book’s narrative arc. Pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this overall.

[Helen Haythornthwaite · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a little bit different to anything I’ve read recently, but I found it such a captivating read.

It’s set in communist Romania, in 1989, when the totalitarian ruler was Nicolai Ceausescu. It’s a time when most people feared saying the wrong thing, or being seen with the wrong person. Society seemed to be built on a tower of lies and informers; deemed necessary as everyone struggled to survive.

The story is told from two POVs - Lia, an eight-year-old girl; and Constantin, a police officer. While their paths do cross a couple of times, it reads more like two separate narratives. You have a hunt for a serial killer on the one hand, and the comings and goings of a very naive schoolgirl on the other.

Lia is such a fascinating character! She’s an inquisitive child, and is trying to make sense of the rules she’s being asked to follow by her parents. She’s infatuated with drawing and different colours, and longs to see more colour in her world. She strikes up a rather unusual friendship with an elderly gentleman who lives nearby, which could lead to the downfall of her family.

Constantin is another brilliant character. He’s tasked with finding a murderer, while being restricted by the rules of the regime. He’s also a dreamer of other times and worlds, and writes folk tales which he tells to his young son and us, the reader.

This book gives a fascinating insight into life in a communist country and although it deals with some serious issues, it is also light-hearted and sardonically comical. I loved the dual POV, and this book is another example where a child’s perspective works really well.

I thought this was a wonderful example of satire and literary fiction, and I was completely engrossed in it. It was such an intriguing story, and I felt I learnt a lot from it too.

I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Milly Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally charmed by this novel which is set in Romania in 1989 prior to the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu which shows the way of life under a totalitarian regime when neighbours would inform on each other and when people would queue for hours because chicken was expected in the shops. Our main character is Lia, an eight year old who always gets herself into trouble. She notices that colour is disappearing, shops don’t sell colourful things anymore and wants it to come back. When a drawing contest is announced, the prize for which is a red bike, she is determined to win it even though she is told by her father that her classmate Dora will win because her parents are high up in the party. Our second character is Constantin who is put in charge when a gruesome murder is discovered and here the paths of Lia and Constantin meet. Lia had been walked home from school by the murder victim. But this isn’t the only murder and more follow and rather than inform the public that there is a serial killer on the loose, it is decided just to say that the killings are bear attacks. The propaganda works and soon everyone - even the Ceausecus are frightened of bears. A third character is a neighbour of Lia’s who becomes more deranged as the story progresses. Lia is an adorable character, constantly trying to be good but failing. But I loved Constantin - this police officer who is trying to find the truth when everyone is obsessed by bears. His relationship with his son is gorgeous and the fairy tales that he tells him add another level - these tales which he hopes will in some way guide his young son. The finale of the book does get quite dramatic and I enjoyed the tension that built up. So with two very different main characters, this is a sort of coming of age and a sort of detective and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rounded up to 5*

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quirky, fun read, set in 1980s Romania and about the absurdities of Communism. Lia is a very believable character; a young, curious child who is openly questioning the world around her, as 8-year-olds are known to do. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to understand that her natural inquisitiveness could get her parents into a lot of trouble. Constantin is a police officer who has been tasked with chasing a serial killer bear, but soon realizes that the authorities are hiding something.

The author caught the child's voice immaculately, and Constantin's character adds depth.

I am a big fan of Tragicomic Absurdism, and fans of Captain Corelli's Mandolin will love the real feelings of the families involved. The political undertones are reminiscent of Catch-22.

This was a drawn-out read for me as I wanted to do a tandem read of both print and audio—I did this with a book last year and absolutely loved it. I read a few chapters and then switched to audio, but kept "forgetting" to listen; eventually, I gave up and went back to the book. Then I stopped again as I felt I should give the audio a decent listen, so I listened to the final 15% of the book in one big gulp on publication day so I could get my review in! This is no reflection on the book or audio; I only mention it as it might have affected both my enjoyment of the book and I might have missed some of the satire. So my advice would be: this is a quick book—choose your medium and start reading (or listening) when you know you will have time to commit to it!

The narration was good; I felt the narrator's voice was a little too "English" when dealing with the narrative prose, but she captured the Eastern European voices of the characters perfectly.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author spent her childhood in Romania, and I wonder if she sees herself in Lia, the eight-year-old girl who is one of the two leads in this zany and powerfully imaginative dual-narrative satire of life in grim, gray, authoritarian Romania in 1989, very near the end of Ceauşescu’s dictatorship. Lia’s parents try to walk the fine line between letting Lia be a kid and warning her about the dangers of stepping even a little bit out of line in a society full of informers and punitive ideologues. But Lia is wildly imaginative and irrepressible. She doesn’t understand her parents’ warnings, and she is extremely slow to believe that the fix is in everywhere in Romania, right down to a children’s chalk-drawing competition.

In the other narrative, Constantin, a police detective, has a morose family life after his daughter died and his wife and everyone else believe he should have pulled strings to get special treatment for her. Though he knows his wife still loves him, she is remote from him, and even from their young son, Sandu. Constantin makes up fairy tales to tell Sandu every night; tales intended to entertain, but also to prepare him for growing up in Romania. On the job, Constantin is bedeviled by a terrible case of a serial killer. He is hampered by the secrecy of Romanian society, but more so by the intense denial that such a thing as a serial killer could exist in the communist paradise. It must be a marauding bear, is the more acceptable story.

This is a funny and poignant story, a sort of fairy tale in itself. A fairy tale that has some warnings for today, as too many countries have become authoritarian or are sliding in that direction.

[Books Before Bs · Rating 3 out of 5]

In ‘Astronaut!’ by Oana Aristide we are given a glimpse into life in a totalitarian state through two sets of eyes: those of a grieving police detective, Constantin, as he searches for the man (or beast) behind a string of grisly murders, and those of an eight-year-old girl, Lia, who is unwittingly drawn into her neighbour’s plot against President Ceaușescu as she struggles to make sense of the absurdity of the world around her.

The writing in ‘Astronaut!’ is excellent; the characters compelling. I particularly like the fairy tales Constantin tells his son and how they function thematically, and I admire how well Aristide portrays the world from Lia’s perspective, capturing her frustration with a nonsensical system where adults are terrified of things she cannot comprehend and she is punished for "wrongs" she cannot see.

I was sure this was going to be a five-star read for me, until it was let down massively by the ending. It isn’t often that I want a book to be longer, but this conclusion felt rushed and anti-climactic, needing more time for the threads to come together and for the actions to play out. The murderer and his motives are revealed and dismissed in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, and the plot against Ceaușescu remains incomplete. We are kept wondering who lived, who died, and what the lasting consequences are for the survivors. It left me feeling deflated; a disappointing finish to a previously brilliant story. 

Rating: A regrettable 3 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Oana Aristide and Wildfire for the ARC.

⚠️ Grief

[Katy Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scene-setting storylines collide in 1980s Romania.

3.5 stars

A dark and dreary time, with a grey world, informers, rationing and a real Big Brother world that really existed within the lifetimes of many people reading this.

Romania in 1989, where a little girl accidentally gets her parents in trouble by using their hidden money to buy a present. Where her artwork will hopefully win a competition for a long-desired bike. Where multiple murders blamed on a bear may actually be a serial killer.

The two main characters - Lia, future artist and upset with the lack of colour in her world, Constantin, detective and teller of stories to his son. Many dead people. A collision of worlds and stories in growing tension where the reader suspects things Lia doesn't, where we look on in horror at miles-long queues for meat. Where we watch people watching each other, informing on each other, disappearing.

It's hard reading about this sort of regime through the eyes of a child, seeing her world coloured (or not) by politics and repression and fear.

It was an interesting read, I enjoyed the conclusion and final chapters that had been built up to for many chapters, and actually did go and look up the recent history of Romania after finishing this, it inspired me to learn about it. Pretty horrific stuff.

I would have got on better with this on paper I think, sometimes lost concentration during the audiobook.

Fascinating insights though, and the images of Lia's world do stay in your head.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample audio copy.

[The_Bookworm_Chronicles · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fellow Romanian, this book was such a bitter-sweet read for me.
Through the eyes of two vividly drawn characters, the author managed to capture what life was like during Ceausescu's "reign".

In a time when trusting people came at a huge risk, when even your best friend could be an informant for the regime, we follow Lia, a curious and highly imaginative girl, and Constantin, an idealistic and whimsical police officer, as they try to navigate every day under dictatorship.

The two presumably unrelated characters' lives get interwoven when one is inspecting a series of gruesome murders and the other gets involved in a scheme to bring about the fall of the regime.
This entire situation builds and builds, until we are left anxiously turning the pages to see what happens and hoping our characters get out of it unharmed.

While Lia's POV is dominated by her curiosity and longing for more color, often intertwined with the fear and anger of her parents, Constantin's is subjugated by grief, questioned loyalties, while still clinging on to hope.

The satirical tone the author uses somewhat dampens the grim events of the book, while still managing to relay the harsh reality: being careful of what you say and to whom, standing in line for rations, always being aware of your surroundings and the people around you.

"Astronaut!" will certainly stay with you, shedding some light on this dark part of Romania's history that to this day manages to still cast a shadow on people's lives, always reminding them of the cost of dreaming of change.

[eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1989 Romania, Astronaut! follows as two lives unexpectedly collide when an idealistic police detective, Constantin, is tasked with solving a string of grisly murders, and a rebellious school child, Lia, is unwittingly drawn into her elderly neighbour's seditious plot.

I went into this not knowing what to expect, and I ended up being so pleasantly surprised, and so incredibly obsessed. It is such an interesting concept, brought to life by such exceptional writing; it truly makes for a gripping, compelling story. There is so much humour in this, which I genuinely appreciated, and I think it balanced out the heaviness of the plot pretty well. Lia's point of view particularly stood out to me; it felt so incredibly real, and it was pretty chilling at times to see what was happening in the world around her through the eyes of a child. The characters are so interesting and so distinct, they were such a pleasure to follow. Overall, I really loved this book, and my only complaint about it is that the ending feels a little rushed, and there are so many knots that deserved to be properly untangled. I got to listen to this on audiobook, and it was such a great experience; the narrator does an incredible job hooking you in while bringing this story to life, and makes it so easy to get lost in this world.

Many thanks to Headline Audio & NetGalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astronaut! is the most charming book I've read this year!. A real mash-up of cautionary tale, fairytale, docudrama mixed with a healthy sprinkling of humour and the naive innocence of childhood. You, too, will be delighted by the enchanting Lia and her incredible story set in 1989 Romania.

Lia is the most precocious child. Eight years old and living in communist Romania, she doesn't see the dangers of day-to-day life the same way her parents who do. They constantly despair over the trouble she seems to attract with magnetic force and spend a great deal of time in a defensive posture. Oana Aristide may in actuality be eight years old, herself, as she captures with perfect clarity the sweet, often bazzar, way a child's mind works.

In parallel we trail Constantin, a kind police detective who thinks up fairytales for his son whilst investigating a worrying array of grisly murders. Their paths cross and the story heads off full steam in unexpected directions. I cannot overstate how much I cherished this story and the world our talented author created. Not that I would want to live in a communist country, but the inhabitants of Astronaut! illustrated the ill-logic of it all with great dollops of black humour making this a place I was happy to share with them. Giggles will surely ensue if you also dive into the world of Astronaut!.

Sweet, charming and wholly ludicrous in turns, it is a great balm for the dark times we live in.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

*This was received as an ARC from NetGalley.


First, I wanted to read this book because I'm interested in books set in countries that are written by natives of those countries. This book is set in Romania and written by a Romanian. It also "counts" for my "read around the world" challenge. Although I think this is classified as adult fiction, it reads as more YA. There are two main stories here - one of a young girl, Lia, and how she doesn't behave appropriately in the context of the Ceausescu regime. She is a child who wants to question things. The second story is that of a potential serial killer and the officers trying to solve this mystery. While the stories do have a small overlap, it almost reads as two separate stories and they aren't intertwined very well with each other. I would've preferred to learn more about the young girl and her family and their story. There is mention of her classmates whose fabulous are more important to the regime and Lia's parents try to explain this to Lia. When Lia swaps numbers with this classmate, she wins an award, but the clear example of favoritism isn't really expanded on. I think the book could've explored more in the area. I would've rated it higher if the two stories were more clearly connected, but it was a really loose connection.

[Eric Lustbader · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's never easy living under a totalitarian regime, but it's particularly terrifying for children, who mustlearn the terrible truths embedded in adulthood. This astonishing, unique novel, set in Romania, features a child, Lia, and Constantine, a state detective, trying to navigate a corrupt system, run down a seemingly invisible serial killer (everyone but Constantine is conviced it's a grizzly bear imported from America), and trying to teach his young son the hard lessons of being an adult, of learning truth from lies, of learning that lies told to often become the "truth." He does this by writing beautiful and frightening fables in his spare time, reading them to his son each night before bedtime, hoping the lessons embedded within will teach his son to think for himself
Lia, on the other hand, is totally isolated from her indifferent parents, loyal cogs in the totalitarian machine. She befriends an endearing and amusing old man in the next apartment block. But is he what he seems to be? Lies or the truth or lies told so often they become the "truth"? Who can tell when repression and fear are major components of this life.
Written in clean, clear prose Astronaut! is, at its softly beating heart, a coming of age story not only for Lia but for Constantine himself.
Highest recommendation

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darkly humorous work of fiction that felt like a blending of whimsical satire and a very real accounting of life in 1980s communist Romania. Under a totalitarian regime trying to flatten people into interchangeable generic citizen soldiers, these characters remain spirited and weird, and most importantly, rebellious. We follow an imaginative 8-year-old girl who worries that dark forces are trying to steal all the color in the world, a detective who spends his spare time at work writing fairytales for his young son, an alcoholic recluse who dreams of revolution, and a bear who is not a bear.

I know nothing of Romania in the 80s and, despite some googling, kept feeling like I wasn’t always able to hold onto the full context of what was happening. Despite this, the author crafts us a rich, dark and sober setting that tells us just enough: whole towns bathed in soot, coffee so precious a commodity that it’s used as currency, and so many neighbors snitching on neighbors that there seemed to be as many snitches as there were people being snitched on, and who knows who’s who so better just shut up and stay at home! This book asks tough questions about the nuances of morality in situations of survival but the story is also, throughout, pretty cute. I enjoyed reading this.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company, NetGalley, and the author for the ARC!

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronaut was a really atmospheric and unusual read set in 1980s Communist Romania, and I liked how it immediately built this heavy, controlled sense of life under surveillance. The story follows Lia, a young girl growing up in a strict system where every move feels watched, and Constantin, a police investigator who gets pulled into a strange case that slowly exposes cracks in the regime.

What stood out most to me was the mood — it’s very tense, quiet, and unsettling in a slow-burn way. I thought the way it showed daily life under dictatorship, especially the fear, censorship, and lack of freedom, felt really vivid and effective without needing constant action. Lia’s perspective in particular made the emotional weight of growing up in that environment feel very real.

That said, the pacing is definitely slow and a bit fragmented at times. Some parts felt more atmospheric than plot-driven, and I occasionally wished the mystery side of the story had a stronger payoff or clearer direction. It can also feel distant emotionally in certain sections, depending on the character focus.

Overall though, it’s a thoughtful, moody novel that blends political tension with coming-of-age elements in an interesting way, even if it doesn’t fully commit to being a straightforward thrille

[J. Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the uncorrected proofs in exchange for my honest thoughts.

First and foremost, this book captures the state of paranoia and neighborly suspicion in 1989 Romania rather well. Added to that is the completely “unfathomable” outlook of young Lia who just wants the world to have more colours. Given its setting, we’re in the twilight of Ceauceşcu’s reign. I really liked this juxtapositioning, especially because it gives us lines like “I can’t believe they chose Anarcho-Thumbelina here to meet Ceauceşcu”. All she wants is to be allowed to be curious, but it’s positioned against all the adults being hyper-aware that curiosity gets one killed.

Similarly, I really liked the stories Constantin told his son in between his days investigating the “bear” attacks. Each of these faerie tales ended up capturing an important element of Lia’s life, Constantin’s life, or Romanian life in general, all without the character really catching on to this fact.

As a main criticism, and for those who know history, knowing this is set in Ceauceşcu’s final year will help the understanding of the plot and will make certain elements more urgent and relevant (eg: all the bear talk). But, and here’s why this is a criticism, the book assumes a reader knows about 1989 Romania a little more than something releasing to the North American market probably should, meaning I think it will miss its mark due to reader ignorance.

Original comments from May 9
4.5, but I want to round it up -- review to come.

[M. Elisa]

Truly fantastic; short but packs a punch so I read through it twice. So smart to place readers in both the naiveté of not understanding why things in a given country aren't great and the jadedness of knowing yet still thinking it could and might be better.
Aristide's writing is immensely fluid and well paced as everything ratchets up, based partly on characters' "almost completely useless acts of tiny heroic resistance", like a child just wanting there to be more color and less sameness in her world.
I especially loved the recurring motif of fairytales that aren't simply clear cut (character Constantine writes several whoppers, like one about a man that refuses to wear silly hats that everyone else is suddenly donning who ends up depriving the hats of meaning until everyone is back to separately wearing what they prefer, or one about holding a torch of truth even if just to illuminate a small patch of grass around us).
And the novel prompted me to go down a rabbit hole on 1988 Romanian history, having known more about 1989 instead - it's a reminder that change and revolutions are built bit by bit even before any overarching movement emerges.

[Thanks to the publisher, author and netgalley for access to an ARC to form an honest opinion]