Strange Days

by Constantine J. Singer

Alex Mata doesn’t want to worry about rumors of alien incursions – he’d rather just skate and tag and play guitar. But when he comes home to find an alien has murdered his parents, he’s forced to confront a new reality: Aliens are real, his parents are dead, and nobody will believe him if he says what he saw. On the run, Alex finds himself led to the compound of tech guru Jeffrey Sabazios, the only public figure who stands firm in his belief that aliens are coming.

At Sabazios’ invitation, Alex becomes a “Witness”—one of a special group of teens gifted with an ability that could save the Earth: they can glide through time and witness futures. When a Witness sees a future it guarantees that it will happen the way it’s been seen, making their work humanity’s best hope for controlling what happens next and stopping the alien threat. Guided by Sabazios, befriended by his fellow time travelers, and maybe even falling in love, Alex begins to find a new home at the compound -- until a rogue glide shows him the dangerous truth about his new situation.

Now in a race against time, Alex must make a terrible choice: save the people he loves or save the world instead.

Debut author Constantine Singer's fresh-voiced protagonist leaps off the page in this captivating novel that weaves sci-fi and contemporary fiction.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Aliens, Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Time Travel

Hardcover

First published December 4, 2018

About the author

Constantine Singer grew up in Seattle and earned his BA from Earlham College and his Masters from Seattle University.

He currently lives in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles with his family and teaches high school English and history in South LA.

Reviews

[Constantine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi everybody,

I want to share a little about how and why this book came to be.

I wrote Strange Days in large part for my students.  For the last decade I’ve been teaching in a program in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles dedicated to helping kids who, whether due to their own choices or due to circumstances beyond their control, were unable to complete high school in the traditional manner.  My students aren’t traditional readers, but many are avid readers when they find stories which they feel are meant for them -- ones with characters they relate to, with places they know, with lots of action and plot twists, and with a great love story. I wanted to write a book they might enjoy.   

I originally wrote the manuscript that would become Strange Days in 2014 after I began reading some examples of reality-plus fiction.   I knew I wanted to write a science fiction novel which presented a vision of the world as I and my students in central and south Los Angeles saw it – vibrant, multicultural, multi-ethnic, a little bit gritty, and a lot like home – but I also wanted to write science fiction. Reality-plus allowed me to use the real world as a launching pad to explore some of the wilder elements of the far frontiers of theoretical science.

My hope is that, after reading Strange Days, you will add it to your back-pocket list of recommended books for those you speak with directly, and that you will also be willing to write a sentence or two to share with the broader world.
If you like the book, post about it on social media -- #strangedaysbook #strangedaysnovel #strangedays -- and toss it some stars here and on Amazon.

Of course, if my book isn’t something you can recommend, that’s just fine and you should feel no pressure to do so.
  
In either case, thank you.

With Gratitude and Warmest Regards,


Constantine Singer
cjsingerwrites@gmail.com
twitter: @ajaxsinger
Instagram: @constantinej.singer
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/cjsingerwrites
Website: www.constantinesinger.com

[rin]

thought it said strange gays for a second

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange Days by Constantine Singer is a science-fiction adventure featuring aliens, kids with special powers, and a generous dose of deception.

I really enjoyed reading Strange Days! This was a book I easily read in two days. Once I started it, I was hooked and didn't want to put the book down. Strange Days was well-written and fast paced, keeping me at the edge of my seat for much of the story.

The overall story concept was intriguing--alien invasions are always a fun idea to explore. In Strange Days, the aliens thrive on fear and want to control humans through their fear. What would you do to stop an alien threat? Kill someone? Mess with someone else's mind? Lie? Steal? These are all questions the protagonist, Alex Mata, has to ask himself. Charged with saving the world, Alex teams up with others to stop the threat. But who can he trust? Who wants to help, and who has their own agenda?

The idea of Witnessing was well-executed in the book. I liked the idea of being a Witness, and reading about what the Witnesses go through when they "go under" was neat. Can you imagine seeing future eventualities, knowing that you're affecting the future? Seen time is real time. 

The ending was a little abrupt, but it wrapped up the book nicely. The ending had all the feels: sadness, excitement, anger, and happiness. I appreciate endings that make you feel a wide range of emotions, and this ending was great for that!

The characters were nicely written. They were unique, interesting, and engaging. I found myself growing attached to Alex. A lot happened to him in a short amount of time, and I just wanted to protect him from the big, bad world. All of the secondary characters were equally gripping. I enjoyed following their lives throughout the book.

So . . . should you read Strange Days? If you enjoy books with a little science fiction, check out this book!

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers for providing the physical copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read the Authors post here on GR you know this YA thriller was written for all the right reasons.
Plus it's certainly an intriguing idea...an Invasion story centred around some young adults who read and witness the future...in the hope to change it.
However.
The whole book just didn't sit well...for me.
It's a lot of anguish...and the real tension doesn't kick in till very late..
The central romance seems very 'We have to have a romance..insert here'...and a sex scene very slam.bam.its over.
The treatment of a gay character ? Not very subtle.
Appearance references/jokes not needed.
The book can't settle on its vibe...targeted at YA..it gets brutal in some scenes...and maybe the Author was playing to his intended audience a little too much.idk

[Vicky Again · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

I have been so excited for Strange Days ever since I heard about it earlier this year, and it definitely did not disappoint!

Aliens and conspiracies and teens not knowing what they signed up for but oops what's that? Oh, just gotta save the world. It was great and definitely did NOT disappoint with its adventure and interesting concept.

What I ultimately really loved about Strange Days was the sort of voice the main character Alex Mata had. Voice isn't really the right word--but character. Personality. He wasn't that cookie cutter YA male personality you see so often, but he was interesting and unique and represents a very different teen perspective than the usual privileged female main character. Alex isn't super into school and he just wants to skateboard, and for a lot of teens, this is a reality and I hope they find a kindred spirit in Alex.

Plus, his slang was so on point. All of the "T'sup" moments were scarily accurate. Go Singer for knowing what teens talk like!

Not only was Alex unique in his struggles, but I ended up adoring the whole cast of diverse teens who worked for Sabazio and Witnessed the future. They were really dynamic and I would be sad if any died during the novel. *cough cough*

The concept was also just so cool and I love reading alien invasions and about aliens on Earth, and it just ended up as even cooler because of the conspiracy lueking behind the story (which I can't reveal!).

I do think a bit of the time travel/send message to past you bits of the storyline were confusing, but I found by not focusing too hard on the nitty gritty that it made sense. But trying to understand the really detailed inside mechanics wasn't going to happen, and also wouldn't fit the standalone nature of this book.

Witnessing is a really unique concept, and I enjoyed how Singer framed it for the readers and made it part of the plot without making you have to understand the intricacies of it.

Plus, it made the adventuring of this story a total blast, and the emotions and feelings Alex has throughout this journey felt very on point.

So it was paced very well and I was completely sucked in during my time at Disney World. Yeah, you heard that right. I was at the "happiest place on Earth" and all I wanted to do was read my book. (At least the lines are long.)

I did like the romance and I thought they were paired really well, but wow I wish they had more time together. Their relationship felt very rushed in a way that isn't bad rushed, just "oh my gosh we have no time and oh look never mind time has ended."

It never really got far, and Singer, with the little page time he has for romance, manages to make it something I wished we had more of.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Strange Days and will definitely be looking out for more work from this author in the future! I would totally recommend if you like science fiction mixed with contemporary, alien invasions, cool main characters (who get the slang right), and teens who landed in tricky positions.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for sending me an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review on the blog tour!

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[Lyndi Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I finished this book because I have a need to finish books whether I like them or not. This book did not do it for me, at all, really. It just seemed like it was a slower read with a naïve and ignorant main character that sped up towards the end of the novel, all within the last few chapters. It felt all over the place for me. It's about a boy named Alex who discovers he is deemed savior of the world. The Earth is expected to be taken over by "Locusts" and the "Gentry" are the higher intellectual extraterrestrial life that is helping prevent the Locusts from taking over. Then comes in the telling of the future and what is seen is the truth and all that stuff. It would take a lot for me to explain this book. Overall, I was not thrilled and I spent 2 weeks trying to get through it.

[Lemme See · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really lucky to receive an advance review copy of this book. On the surface, this book is a fun fictional read about teens, aliens & saving the world. But as you cruise your way through the pages, this story explores issues of trust, honesty, connection, fear, integrity and what it takes to be real with yourself. In the process of saving humanity, Alex Mata struggles with his own insecurities and learns to trust his inner voice. He learns to forgive himself for his mistakes, realizing you will make them, even when you're trying to do the right thing. This book was an exciting page turner. It was unpredictable and thought-provoking. Highly recommended!

[Gustavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a good time reading Strange Days. I was hooked since the beginning. The plot was really good, and the characters are adorable. I totally recommend it

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strange Days by Constantine Singer, 422 pages, G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin), 2018, $17.99.

Language: R 100+ swears, 100+ “f”; Mature Content: R (descriptive sex scenes, teens smoking);
Violence: R (descriptive account of teen killing a person, blood, gore);

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - NO

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Alex Mata doesn’t believe in aliens. A true teenager, all he wants is hang with friends, play his guitar, and skateboard. One morning as he gets ready for school, his head is filled with phantom music that makes it hard for him to think. He sneaks home from school in time to see an alien kill his parents. Suddenly he is a believer. He follows directions from a voice he hears inside his head and a letter from himself that he doesn’t remember writing and is lead to the one group that knows about the aliens and is trying to save the world. He becomes a glide in the witness program and helps this company who is trying to overcome the aliens. Or are they? Alex meets the resistance and quickly becomes aware that the aliens are in charge of the witnessing program, and he is helping them take over the world. He is torn between staying in the program and saving his fellow witnesses, and saving the world. What will he do?

As I read about Alex and his fellow characters in this book, I felt the potential for teens to make an amazing difference in the world. This is a good story. The explicit sex scenes, graphic portrayal of teens killing people, and excessive swearing did not add to the story line and end up with me not wanting to encourage teens to read this book.

Reviewer: Clara Pickett
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...

[Lucien Welsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the full review at lucieninthestars.ca.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Putnam for providing me with a finished copy of the book.

When I first heard of this book it made me think Ready Player Go with a little bit of District 9 and a touch of Enders Game. I was expecting action packed scenes of a group of teens time traveling and saving people. Sadly, what I got was...nothing.

While the narrative voice is strong, I had a hard time relating to Alex or even any of the other characters. While the cast is wonderfully diverse, I had a problem with the way the one gay character was portrayed. To get into specifics, Paul is tubby, speaks in a feminine stereotype, and the subplot of his life comes across as more homophobic as Alex is 100% uncomfortable with it and then doesn't understand why Paul gets upset.

The biggest issue for me, though, is that it doesn't really go anywhere. Alex witnesses the same person's future (rather than actual time travel) and we don't really learn any new information from it. By the time I finished the book I was just waiting for it to get to the point which is unfortunate.

[Jan Raspen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the weirdness of this book, how the main characters could see into other people's lives through some sort of witnessing. The aliens were super-scary, and the man fighting them (or is he?!?!) seemed like a mashup of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. I felt like it was well-constructed and the plot moved along quickly.

I wouldn't recommend this book for middle school because of the multiple uses of the F-word, and the main characters have sex near the end of the book.

Also, it ended on a cliffhanger that made me gasp when I read it! Oh, and I found a couple of typos that should have been found in editing.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the idea throughout the story but it took so long to get into and finish

[Jenna Kamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! Love that the protagonist is so easily identifiable-- a scared teenage boy full of bravado sometimes, doubt most times. He's clearly on a hero's journey here, to grow up and become fully integrated and self-aware. It's a sci-fi YA hero's journey--how COOL is that? I think it's masterfully written, and the characters are so real, so complex, so vibrant.

[Cynthia Ayala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling and Unique Invasion Lit | Review of ‘Strange Days’
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop

A fascinating science fiction tale about an alien invasion. Invasion literature tends to follow the same formula, but then there are those that break away from the formula. Strange Days is one such novel. Strange Days by Constantine J. Singer almost resembles Kevin J. Anderson’s V series, just the main two, not the others that branched off the 80s television series. However, even while there are similarities, Singer’s work continues to be unique. The first hint of this uniqueness does not lie in the storytelling but rather in the characterization.

Alex does not believe any of the alien abductions, not really. He might believe that people go missing but not about aliens, focusing too much on his problems, on the music in this head that blinds him and distracts him. That is until the aliens come for him, killing his family and sending him on the run. Alex’s world has been turned upside down, everything he thought he knew, everyone Alex thought he could trust, has been flipped over, thrusting him into this new world of danger and science fiction. However, Alex, he does not just go along with it. Instead, Alex questions it all as he struggles with it for a large part of the novel, trying to make sense of everything. Alex is a unique character because while he is the hero, he’s not the “reluctant hero” or the “knight in shining armor”, he’s just a kid who is trying to do the right thing based on his history, based on what people tell him, allowing him to seek out the right versus the wrong. Alex is relatable because of this, and his narrative makes him more human. He does not fit into any clichés found in literature; he stands out all on his own. He has fears and hopes and dreams, he is conflicted and questions the world around him. Alex is a scared kid who wants to keep the people he cares about safe, shelving his fear and finding his strength when he needs it the most. Singer made sure to make sure this narrative was clear and relatable to the reader while also allowing incredible character growth. All of this combined makes the reader invested not just in Alex but in his journey as well.

The other element that makes this novel unique is the take on the alien invasion and the non-linear elements that mark essential sequences of the novel. It is hard to explain this without giving away, but Alex is a Witness, allowing him to be someone else and see a potential future. This opens many doors for him, to see the truth and the lies all around him. This creates terrific tension for the story and incredible twists and turns for the plot, each one unsuspecting. Each plot twist hits the reader like a train, catching them off guard and increasing the pace of the novel, further sucking the reader into the story.

Strange Days is an excellent story, especially for fans of invasion literature that has such a strong sense of realism to it and a fast pace that keeps the reader glued to the pages. (★★★★★ | A+)

See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Google+ | LinkedIn

[Jayda · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars for the effort but, good god much more could have been done.

This was just a drag of a time. It was boring, not even a little entertaining. It's not my intention to sound mean or rude but it felt like this book was written without passion and i struggled through it. The main character was just rude and annoying, he was bland, one dimensional, shrugged and shook his head a lot, very forgettable and punchable. None of the other characters are memorable or good, they're all flat, dull and there was an obvious lack of chemistry between all of them. The romance sucked, the relationship was Flat Stanley flat and dry. It was one of those they love each other but i'm not gonna show you how or why they love each other relationships. I don't see how Alex loves her so much when he gets right in bed with this annoying, wanna-be rebel chick in the near near future but alright.

The plot lacked anything exciting or intriguing. I love time travel, whenever i hear about time travel i am hooked. How can you make time travel boring, bro? They were basically sliding, to those who read Slide by Jill Hathaway, it's kind of similar, where i thought they were actually going to be going in the past and future physically. The time travel events also didn't happen naturally, it was all forced and that wasn't fun. They had to do certain things because they knew it was supposed to happen instead of letting things happening naturally and then realizing "oh the thing we seen just happened or oh that's how i get that scar from the future" or whatever. The plot involved aliens and stuff but that was boring too because it felt like nothing was done with it. Just like with the gliding, if you're gonna glide instead of do physical time travel make it interesting.

I was so frustrated with the amount of nothing going on and the main character getting pissed off and being rude all the time. Then, he has this power we don't dive that much into where he can manipulate people and apparently he manipulates a lady out of $17,000 like, be real dude? He later manipulates a man who doesn't speak english and who already doesn't have much money into giving them a ride and then buying them lunch and doesn't care. Along with that, it ends so unsatisfying, it feels just thrown there instead of layed out nicely or structurally but then at that point, it was exactly what i expected.

Annoying is the best word to describe this. Also passionless.

[David Grosskopf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the advanced copy of Strange Days and I'm supposed to produce a blurb for it, as a result of which, I don't think I'm thinking very clearly about the book: this is much like the jangling sounds of the guitars that represent all the different life songs of the people surrounding the main character, Alex Mata, so loud and tangled, he calls it The Jungle -- or, it's like the competing voices of the world around him and the familiar, slightly flirty voice he carries within, which turns out to be the voice of his girlfriend from an untethered reality in the future, where it exists until about an hour after the girlfriend dies in real life.

This is a young adult novel taking place in the near future with an alien named Jeffrey Sabazios living in a giant house on Lake Washington (but when I wrote to Costa and said, "Ha ha. Jeff Bezos' sensitive alien nuts," Costa wrote back, No, not Bezos -- he was thinking Elon Musk).

But it's an imaginative apocalyptic young adult novel with good voicing and characterization and just a little bit of sex, and it layers the passing of time and the experiencing of it as "witnessing" in an interesting way: our futures get fixed when they're witnessed. This makes sense as we witness the present and then that's that; but if you happen to witness the future in advance, then that too gets fixed: those lucky dudes who witness it then become time zombies because they can't change any of their actions until the point when they've come to the end of what they've seen.

It's got good action and humor, and it comes with a compelling warning about technology and the internet-ing of minds. I'd like to keep mine analogue, thank you. Good scares, page-turning plot, worthy diverse characters whose sensitivities are always an asset, and above all, useful paranoia about an increasingly personalized technology of entertainment and communication, I only wish the days we're living in now under President Trump were so much less strange than the Strange Days of an alien invader returned from long ago seeding us to come back and harvest us for food.

[Ymar Solamo · Rating 3 out of 5]

i picked this up because of an author interview i skimmed on theeastersiderla.com. it was set in echo park and it was about an alien invasion. that's enough to put a hold on it at the library.

the first third of the book was fine. set in a near future echo park it follows the day to day life of alex mata under the threat of rumored alien incursions. now i don't live in echo park but i do live near enough that alex mata's complex existence rings true enough for me. he ably navigates the many different social classes and cliques but never lets any one of them overwhelm his personal identity. that alone is interesting enough to read.

i just don't understand why the next third of the book has to move away from los angeles. after the shift in setting the story becomes rather formulaic. rebels in exile. a shadowy leader. missions to run. comrades to make. then the twist that leads into the last third feels rote and not at all surprising. wow the good guys aren't the good guys? i'm not at all shocked and after all that alex has been through his surprise and shock is rather inauthentic.

the last third is much improved, but only for it's urgent pace. there's a lot of story left to tell and the rush to tell it leaves the reader no time to ask any hard questions of it. by the time we reach a brave and bloody ending enough of the loose ends are tied that the story reaches a natural conclusion.

two odd thoughts:
-running from cal state la to lincoln heights/park is a long run that the author awkwardly compresses. it's not super far, but it's not like it's across the street either.
-mind control is hardly a casual ability and the author doesn't treat it with much respect. there's never a discussion about how corrupting such a tool could be. it just kind of shows up at the end to give alex just enough juice to fight but not enough to win outright.

[nelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐
Going into this book completely blind, I didn’t know what to expect. The concept is really cool. There are people who can see into the future; witnesses. The future they see can’t be changed though, and they’re using their abilities to try and save the world from an alien invasion.
I was excited for the build up and the story line but the book ended so abruptly and it just felt super rushed. This was a concept that I feel would’ve been executed better if it was at least made into a duology. We get so much information dumped at the end just for it to be skimmed over basically.

Nearing the end of the book, I was actually thinking it would end up being a duology with how the pacing was going, so it really does suck that it wasn’t. Unfortunately, I didn’t end up loving this book, but if you’re interested in sci-if with aliens and time manipulation, definitely check it out.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I feel like killing off every single character in the last 80 pages doesn’t make a good book. All we’re left with is Paul (who I love but really didn’t end up being that attached to) and Cassandra (who I was even less attached to and honestly kinda hated). We meet her near the end of the book, so she doesn’t even have time to become that great of a character, and she’s the one who survives? I sound kind of whiny, but that ending just seemed lazy to me. Also, Corina becomes as powerful as Alex for basically four pages?? And we don’t go deeper into that?? Personally, I was really interested in learning a bit more about her new abilities, but instead she was killed the second she got them. I was hoping we’d see more of Alex and Corina after they escaped the compound and even a bit more of them planning how they would trick Sabazios.

[Kirsten Reeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept behind this book--really interesting.
The representation and diversity in this book--pretty extensive--Characters are Hispanic, African-America, gay, gay cowboy, white, and alien.
The dialogue as it relates to teenagers and how they think and speak--pretty accurate for kids with these backgrounds.
The execution of the great idea and really interesting concepts--could've definitely gone into more depth and had the characters and their motivations be more fully formed and explored more in depth. Another book perhaps as a sequel.

(I don't think any of this is a spoiler, but just in case, read on carefully)
The basic premise--aliens are snatching people from the streets. Maybe. Some teenagers who have a special genetic ability to "see the future" are recruited by a tech guy who says his device will stop the invasion. They must see the 'correct' future that makes this happen, or the world will be invaded and destroyed.

Our narrator is extra special and can be the key to it all. But....all the cool ideas and concepts don't really get fleshed out and we get a lot of relationship dynamics between the teenagers.
It was interesting, and kept my attention till the end, because I really wanted to know what was going to happen, but was then a little bit let down that that was it.
Like I said...a sequel to at least get us to the future that we know was coming (it was "seen" so we know it happens) and exploration of the aliens more would be great!

Overall, an enjoyable book. Especially for diversity in characters.

[Pjclausenart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Have to be honest I never really got into Y.A. novels even when I was in that age group. But I had a great time reading and enjoyed this book. Its a classic heroes journey but set in the not so distant future Los Angeles. So I will be reviewing this book as a work of Science Fiction. Like most good sci fi it looks into the future while commenting on the world that we currently live in. Alex has to navigate the already complicated world of being a teenager. Having to deal with the politics of family life,school,friends and figuring out who you are and where you fit in the world. Being made even more perilous every day by advancing technology and troubling uncertain times. It shows a world where we have constant access to information. But never being able to prove its validity(sound familiar?). His whole life changes instantly and hes tossed into a world not of his own making. And finding himself having to not only live in it but master it. I think young readers will be able to identify with Allex and his quest. I enjoyed the writers debut book and hoping to see more from him. Keep up the great work!

[Katie Thomason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this book because the author is my friend and I wanted to make sure he didn't name any evil characters after me. Just kidding.

I started reading this book because I had a good idea that it would be special.

I remember many frustrating days teaching when Mr. Singer would tell me he would go home and write. That was his outlet. That's why I started reading.

I kept reading because I recognized the authenticity of the characters. These were real kids, much like the kids we taught together in South Central Los Angeles. I kept reading and really didn't put the book down because it's a solid, thought-provoking, entertaining story. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened next. And, when I came to the end, I felt satisfied but also wanted to live in the world of Strange Days a little longer.

That's what I want for all books I read and that's certainly what I want for books I recommend to high school students. Nice work, Mr. Singer.

[Harry · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting enough read. However, great themes, weak characters.
My first impression of the book was that the author, a) worked with inner city teens from rougher neighborhoods, and/or b) had at some point been an inner city teen from a rough neighborhood themselves.
I wish the teen angst had been written better, or at least with more insight. It left the main character of Alex being unlikable and sullen for 90% of the novel. I'll concede that teen angst is a tricky thing to write well. As a character he consistently felt perhaps more like the adult's idea of an angsty teen, rather than a fleshed out individual. All other characters felt even more two dimensional.
The story had powerful themes and concepts but, for me, the characters were the true let down. Out of everyone I found the character of Jordan to be the most engaging and complex. She would've worked better as a central antagonist.

[D Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a first effort by author Constantine Singer, this is a remarkably good novel with a well conceived plot and well developed characters. The book's protagonist Alex Mata is a teen who comes home one day to find that his parents have been murdered by aliens. From that point the plot jumps off into a saga taking Alex on a journey to clear his name and to fight the alien threat. The plot takes a couple of unexpected twists while taking us into a world of the near future in which the minds of others are not only read but actively engaged. The novel comes to a satisfying end, but there is sufficient material for a follow-on novel. Who knows? Mr. Singer knows, and whether as a sequel or a new novel, I believe we will be hearing more from him. The acclaim his novel has received must certainly compel him to continue his writing career.

[Jayden Crimmins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst Book I've ever read. Tool me 4 years to finish. This book has the following:
Aliens
an evil tech company man named Jeffery sabazios "aka Jeff bezos"
annoying main character who tells a girl he's in love with her after only knowing her a few weeks
the use of string theory of the whole universe being connected by strings...to play them like a guitar bc the main character likes music and writes songs...
the odd description of an older woman showing her nude body and pubes to a high schooler
the terms "scared little boy" and "silly juice" being used seriously throughout the entire novel.
the main character having "time zombie powers" and "mind control powers" 1 page apart...LITERALLY.

AND MUCH MORE DUMB STUFF.

I looked and saw this author has only written this 1 book and I can see why no other books have been written since.

[Shane Carender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having received an early copy of Mr. Singer's debut effort for review, I was excited at the opportunity, yet without great expectation.
From the opening pages, the story, and especially the atmosphere Mr. Singer created effortlessly, drew me in and kept my attention in the way all good books do.
What separates 'great' books from 'good' ones, in my experience, is often based on three things. Do they make me absolutely have to continue reading? Are the characters not only relatable, but written in a way that portrays the organic struggle of personal growth? And, do I find myself both putting off the final pages(because I don't want the story to end), yet staying up half the night to finish them? Mr. Singer's debut effort, "Strange Days" is a great read.
Be it the universal struggles we all face during adolescence, trusting our instincts in a world that can be at once terrifying and filled with promise, or the timeless ideal of rising to the occasion, this is a story that explores the human condition through the eyes of our youth in a not-so-distant future where things aren't always exactly as they appear to be. Covering the day to day basics of figuring out who were are in a chaotic world, to growing into that identity in ways we never expect, "Strange Days" winds its way through coming of age in a way that will give young readers hope, and remind older readers that life truly is more about the journey than the destination, and that even when situations are less-than-desirable, there is always growth on the horizon. Readers will be enjoying this book for a very long time.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, this was written by a former co-worker/mentor of mine and so I'm not entirely unbiased. With that said, this book gripped me from the first pages and never let go. Imagine 1984 filtered through Ready Player One, but with a down-on-his-luck Latino teenager from East LA leading the revolution. This book will surely find its intended young adult audience, hopefully as one of many future offerings with more-diverse-than-usual casts of characters, but thoughtful grown-ups will find much to consider as well (not least a character who's the best possible cheap shot at Jeff Bezos). I was fortunate to read this advance copy and I encourage everyone looking for a well-told imaginative story set in a fully-realized world to seek it out when it hits wide release.

[Dana Linde · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am always interested to see how an author will deal with time travel and aliens. Singer does a pretty good job with both; although, some of the ways he explains the interface are a bit off- like the fact that Alex reads minds like sheet music and the noise in his head is guitars. I guess it has to do with his love of music. I did find the parallels to Bezos very interesting in the character of Zabasios. Even the political divide between those who are for the live-tech and those who are not is reminiscent of our own country's political divide. The gentry was, for me, a letdown. The book lacked depth of information about this invading race and their incursions that I would have liked to see.

[Kate Garduño · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love love finding a book that makes me think about returning to it longingly when I have to put it down.

This book’s gritty reality-plus world and the tight plot was the perfect home for Mata and the other nuanced characters’ struggle to do the right thing and to be understood. The fast-paced, imaginative story made this an easy one to recommend to sci-fi readers as well as less bookish patrons. Really well written, thought-provoking and fun.

I really enjoyed it and hope to hear more from these characters!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"time created life to transform itself from possibility to actuality"

Very interesting way to view past, present, and future. loss and turmoil fuel this book but it becomes so much more when Alex realizes there's more than his own happiness and life at stake.

definitely worth the read and the author left it open for a sequel, i hope there will be one!

[Lizzy Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time any concept that vaguely revolves around string theory or time travel in a non Doctor Who way happens I have a brain aneurism.
This book was surprisingly refreshing considering other time travel books I’ve devoured. Which is about three but that’s besides the point.