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Cloud Nine
Perfect high-tension sci-fi romance for fans of The 100
Most kids dream of being accepted into the Clean Air Development program. The chance to live on the government’s teen-only Cloud Nine colony means ditching the protective gear and experiencing real sunlight, and that’s just for starters.
Only Ally Ramsey isn’t like other kids. She loves Ground Level. She intends to stay there below the blackened clouds, making a difference where it matters. Too bad the government doesn’t care about her plans. Before she can say, “I didn’t even apply,” she’s shipped off to Cloud Nine to research ways to fix the environment below.
Ally thinks something is wrong up there in the sky. She has no idea how wrong it actually is, or that she’s wedged herself into the center of danger even her self-defense training and scientific mind may not be able to get her out of. If she fails to expose what’s really happening and stop it, those closest to her could die.
First in a series with a gasp-worthy ending. Expect:
Kissing in the Middle of a Fight
Strong Female Lead
Women in STEM
Found Family
Enemies to Lovers
Friendship Goals
Snarky AF
Note: Cloud Nine was originally available as a Kindle Vella serialization.
Most kids dream of being accepted into the Clean Air Development program. The chance to live on the government’s teen-only Cloud Nine colony means ditching the protective gear and experiencing real sunlight, and that’s just for starters.
Only Ally Ramsey isn’t like other kids. She loves Ground Level. She intends to stay there below the blackened clouds, making a difference where it matters. Too bad the government doesn’t care about her plans. Before she can say, “I didn’t even apply,” she’s shipped off to Cloud Nine to research ways to fix the environment below.
Ally thinks something is wrong up there in the sky. She has no idea how wrong it actually is, or that she’s wedged herself into the center of danger even her self-defense training and scientific mind may not be able to get her out of. If she fails to expose what’s really happening and stop it, those closest to her could die.
First in a series with a gasp-worthy ending. Expect:
Kissing in the Middle of a Fight
Strong Female Lead
Women in STEM
Found Family
Enemies to Lovers
Friendship Goals
Snarky AF
Note: Cloud Nine was originally available as a Kindle Vella serialization.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 7, 2023
3 people are currently reading
3162 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea Mueller
8 books322 followersChelsea Mueller writes gritty contemporary fantasy and thrillers for adults and teens. She founded the speculative fiction website Vampire Book Club and blogs about TV and romance novels for numerous websites.
She loves bad cover songs, good fight scenes*, and every soapy YA drama Netflix can put in her queue. Chelsea lives in Texas, and has been known to say y’all.
For the latest updates, join her email list at ChelseaMueller.com or follow @ChelseaVBC on Twitter and Instagram.
* Need tips for writing dynamic and realistic fight scenes? Check out Chelsea's Write Like a Fighter blog series where she puts her martial arts background to use for fellow authors.
She loves bad cover songs, good fight scenes*, and every soapy YA drama Netflix can put in her queue. Chelsea lives in Texas, and has been known to say y’all.
For the latest updates, join her email list at ChelseaMueller.com or follow @ChelseaVBC on Twitter and Instagram.
* Need tips for writing dynamic and realistic fight scenes? Check out Chelsea's Write Like a Fighter blog series where she puts her martial arts background to use for fellow authors.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 10, 2023
Cloud Nine by Chelsea Mueller
1st in the Cloud Nine series. YA science fiction. / dystopian. STEM. Cliffhanger.
The sun and sky has been hidden behind clouds for more than 40 years. The rain is acidic and googles must be worn outside to protect the eyes from metals in the air. Earth is showing the years of human disregard. There is hope in science and recruiting the brightest young minds to dedicate their lives to a better future. Ally is recruited to work on the Clean Air Development program, though it’s not her choice. She thinks the project is a scam of some kind and now it’s up to her to prove it.
The author bio says it all:
Chelsea Mueller writes gritty, twisty fantasy and thriller novels for adults and teens.
This story is captivating and a bit terrifying in a predictable future. Are we doing enough to only endure or to actually thrive on our one and only life supporting planet? Will humanity still exist in a thousand years given our current trajectory?
Ok, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic but it’s a good question. Could this story be a possible version of our future?
Ally is smart and determined to save her fellow workers as well as the planet.
I’m can’t wait to read more of this thrilling adventure.
1st in the Cloud Nine series. YA science fiction. / dystopian. STEM. Cliffhanger.
The sun and sky has been hidden behind clouds for more than 40 years. The rain is acidic and googles must be worn outside to protect the eyes from metals in the air. Earth is showing the years of human disregard. There is hope in science and recruiting the brightest young minds to dedicate their lives to a better future. Ally is recruited to work on the Clean Air Development program, though it’s not her choice. She thinks the project is a scam of some kind and now it’s up to her to prove it.
The author bio says it all:
Chelsea Mueller writes gritty, twisty fantasy and thriller novels for adults and teens.
This story is captivating and a bit terrifying in a predictable future. Are we doing enough to only endure or to actually thrive on our one and only life supporting planet? Will humanity still exist in a thousand years given our current trajectory?
Ok, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic but it’s a good question. Could this story be a possible version of our future?
Ally is smart and determined to save her fellow workers as well as the planet.
I’m can’t wait to read more of this thrilling adventure.
February 27, 2023
Most kids dream of being accepted into the clean air development program. The chance to live on the government's teen only. Cloud nine colony means ditching the protective gear and experiencing real sunlight, and that's just for starters. I enjoyed the story it was fast pace though out the book keeping you guessing. I recommend this book for young adults who likes romance sci-fi. I received this book from Goodreads giveaway and of course the Author Chelsea Mueller. Sorry it took so long
Caught the Covid again .
Caught the Covid again .
July 17, 2023
Cloud Nine is the first book in The Cloud Nine Series by Chelsea Mueller and the first book by this author that I have read. But I sure hope it is not the last as I enjoyed reading Cloud Nine very much. I was drawn in by the summary and once I picked it up I couldn’t lay it down until I had reached the last page. I was glued from that first page.
The world-building was wonderfully done. I love reading stories with worlds just like this one. I would surely love to see Cloud Nine made into a movie or better yet a TV show. I could see it all playing out before my eyes as I was reading it. I could see the world that the author created for Cloud Nine with no difficulty at all and it was amazing.
I loved the whole concept of the plot. A world below where everyone lives under dark clouds not knowing what it is to see the sun. A world of desolation. And yes it did remind me of The 100 in many ways.
But then there was a world higher up in the atmosphere where only teenagers can live because of the air quality. Up above the government has a program called the Clean Air Development program where teens are sent to live and work on making the world a better place to live.
Most kids dream of getting selected for the Clean Air Development program but not Ally Ramsey. No, Ally likes her life just fine in the world below. She has no intentions of living in the clean-air colony. She didn’t even sign up for the program. But against her wishes, Ally is selected for the program and has no choice but to go.
Once on the colony Ally soon discovers that something is not quite right. Something very wrong is going on. Ally sets out to find out what is going on and find a way to put a stop to it. Can Ally save the people on the ground and the people up above? Can she find out what is wrong before it is too late?
Cloud Nine is a very interesting story that had me hooked from beginning to end. The suspense kept me wanting more and more. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I can’t wait to read more about this world in the next book to see what lies ahead for Ally.
I would recommend Cloud Nine to anyone who likes reading books set in the future and dystopian type books. Grab a copy of Cloud Nine today!
The world-building was wonderfully done. I love reading stories with worlds just like this one. I would surely love to see Cloud Nine made into a movie or better yet a TV show. I could see it all playing out before my eyes as I was reading it. I could see the world that the author created for Cloud Nine with no difficulty at all and it was amazing.
I loved the whole concept of the plot. A world below where everyone lives under dark clouds not knowing what it is to see the sun. A world of desolation. And yes it did remind me of The 100 in many ways.
But then there was a world higher up in the atmosphere where only teenagers can live because of the air quality. Up above the government has a program called the Clean Air Development program where teens are sent to live and work on making the world a better place to live.
Most kids dream of getting selected for the Clean Air Development program but not Ally Ramsey. No, Ally likes her life just fine in the world below. She has no intentions of living in the clean-air colony. She didn’t even sign up for the program. But against her wishes, Ally is selected for the program and has no choice but to go.
Once on the colony Ally soon discovers that something is not quite right. Something very wrong is going on. Ally sets out to find out what is going on and find a way to put a stop to it. Can Ally save the people on the ground and the people up above? Can she find out what is wrong before it is too late?
Cloud Nine is a very interesting story that had me hooked from beginning to end. The suspense kept me wanting more and more. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I can’t wait to read more about this world in the next book to see what lies ahead for Ally.
I would recommend Cloud Nine to anyone who likes reading books set in the future and dystopian type books. Grab a copy of Cloud Nine today!
February 19, 2023
I received this from a Goodreads giveaway, but all opinions are my honest feelings.
Definitely fast paced, lots of action right at the end. An enjoyable read for dystopian fans, but ends in a cliffhanger. The tough girl FMC was realistic, flawed, not lovable but easy to understand and feel her motivation. I am definitely looking forward to more in the series
Definitely fast paced, lots of action right at the end. An enjoyable read for dystopian fans, but ends in a cliffhanger. The tough girl FMC was realistic, flawed, not lovable but easy to understand and feel her motivation. I am definitely looking forward to more in the series
May 25, 2023
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
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Man, going into this book I really, REALLY wanted to end up loving it, and instead, I found myself needing SO much more from it.
The idea/concept was unique and intriguing: Takes place in the future, basically uninhabitable world that desperately needs a solution to save all of mankind. Good Start. Like it so far.
The solution: sending a bunch of supposedly the most intelligent people up to another part of the earths atmosphere to try to come up with a solution to save the world. BUT only children/young adults can physically survive there?! Okay…….. I guess………..but can't there be some experimentation at Ground Level by experienced/advanced researchers who then send those solutions to the testing location? Why would they trust children/young adults to run this place and save the world? And why is everyone on earth okay with this?
Main character: what is her deal? Backstory? Why is she so different in her thinking than LITERALLY every other human being there or in existence. Did her father train/educate her for this and we just don't know it yet? Did he give her confidential information about the goings on to warn and prepare her? Is she somehow combat trained to physically fight these men? Is she just of superior intelligence that she is able to notice all the things wrong IMMEDIATELY in the testing location? You are telling me NOBODY else noticed this place is messed up and all the sick/dying/missing people?! I need some background to understand what makes our MC so special. I need to know why she has been the only one EVER to notice things are off. I need to know why when she is supposedly SO intelligent and unique, she makes such stupid choices. What makes her stand out so that they all trust her/follow her at the end?!
I honestly think this book could have been absolutely amazing, there are just a lot of things that didn't quite make sense to me. And, I need a lot more background information about our MC and what has led up to this point.
If there is another book, I might try it out to see if I get any answers/clarification. I think this could be a decent beginning to a series for YAs, but just left me wanting more.
This was a recent win from a Goodreads Giveaway and the author. Thank you for the opportunity to check this book out!
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Man, going into this book I really, REALLY wanted to end up loving it, and instead, I found myself needing SO much more from it.
The idea/concept was unique and intriguing: Takes place in the future, basically uninhabitable world that desperately needs a solution to save all of mankind. Good Start. Like it so far.
The solution: sending a bunch of supposedly the most intelligent people up to another part of the earths atmosphere to try to come up with a solution to save the world. BUT only children/young adults can physically survive there?! Okay…….. I guess………..but can't there be some experimentation at Ground Level by experienced/advanced researchers who then send those solutions to the testing location? Why would they trust children/young adults to run this place and save the world? And why is everyone on earth okay with this?
Main character: what is her deal? Backstory? Why is she so different in her thinking than LITERALLY every other human being there or in existence. Did her father train/educate her for this and we just don't know it yet? Did he give her confidential information about the goings on to warn and prepare her? Is she somehow combat trained to physically fight these men? Is she just of superior intelligence that she is able to notice all the things wrong IMMEDIATELY in the testing location? You are telling me NOBODY else noticed this place is messed up and all the sick/dying/missing people?! I need some background to understand what makes our MC so special. I need to know why she has been the only one EVER to notice things are off. I need to know why when she is supposedly SO intelligent and unique, she makes such stupid choices. What makes her stand out so that they all trust her/follow her at the end?!
I honestly think this book could have been absolutely amazing, there are just a lot of things that didn't quite make sense to me. And, I need a lot more background information about our MC and what has led up to this point.
If there is another book, I might try it out to see if I get any answers/clarification. I think this could be a decent beginning to a series for YAs, but just left me wanting more.
This was a recent win from a Goodreads Giveaway and the author. Thank you for the opportunity to check this book out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2024
If Kass Morgan’s The 100, Beth Revis’ Across the Universe, and Veronica Roth’s Divergent had a love child, it would be Cloud Nine. There were even a few points where I felt like Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff’s Illuminae could be a distant cousin to this story. I found myself back in my heyday of dystopian YA, reminiscing in all of my favorite books while reading this. While it does have aspects that remind me of other stories, this book is wholly its own.
“I’m on cloud 9” is something people say when they’re extremely happy or in a good place, so the use of that name as the title of the story already made my red flag sensors go on alert. If you’re naming an entire colony something that means to be happy, for all intents and purposes, there has to be something less than “stellar” going on. (pun intended😝)
The world isn’t as we know it. Earth, while currently liveable, has metals floating in the air, acidic rain, and has no visible sunlight. Most people dream of getting to leave… Ally (and her sister Leah) are being sent to the all teen space colony owned by CAD, or the Clean Air Development program, called Cloud Nine. The only problem is that she doesn’t WANT to go.
She’s tried to find any reason to get out of going, but the people from CAD have seen her research and hand picked her for the project. To make the Earth habitable again, Cloud Nine could be their only hope.
I looooooooooove Ally! She is the punchy badass heroine I wish I was. By that, I mean she punches first and asks questions later. That’s probably why she has not one, but two guys who are fawning over her from the very beginning. And for those of you who don’t love a love triangle (which isn’t me… bring on all the men fighting over the one MC!!!), she does pick one before the ending of the book.
This was an intense edge of your seat story that left me wishing I had book 2 immediately after finishing it! I love the use of a cliffhanger ending to really rope a reader into needing to know what happens next. And the fact that the entire book takes place on a space station really adds that unknown, could I die, factor into it.
Needless to say, I loved it and need another book like now!!! 😭
“I’m on cloud 9” is something people say when they’re extremely happy or in a good place, so the use of that name as the title of the story already made my red flag sensors go on alert. If you’re naming an entire colony something that means to be happy, for all intents and purposes, there has to be something less than “stellar” going on. (pun intended😝)
The world isn’t as we know it. Earth, while currently liveable, has metals floating in the air, acidic rain, and has no visible sunlight. Most people dream of getting to leave… Ally (and her sister Leah) are being sent to the all teen space colony owned by CAD, or the Clean Air Development program, called Cloud Nine. The only problem is that she doesn’t WANT to go.
She’s tried to find any reason to get out of going, but the people from CAD have seen her research and hand picked her for the project. To make the Earth habitable again, Cloud Nine could be their only hope.
I looooooooooove Ally! She is the punchy badass heroine I wish I was. By that, I mean she punches first and asks questions later. That’s probably why she has not one, but two guys who are fawning over her from the very beginning. And for those of you who don’t love a love triangle (which isn’t me… bring on all the men fighting over the one MC!!!), she does pick one before the ending of the book.
This was an intense edge of your seat story that left me wishing I had book 2 immediately after finishing it! I love the use of a cliffhanger ending to really rope a reader into needing to know what happens next. And the fact that the entire book takes place on a space station really adds that unknown, could I die, factor into it.
Needless to say, I loved it and need another book like now!!! 😭
August 25, 2023
Oh my! Our dear Mz. Chelsea can write! This is action on fast forward, "tossing disbelief and reality over the side and catapulting into space" action. Hang on and listen closely.
Our MC is a cis female neurodivergent with anger management and trust/control issues. She bleeds off excess energy through exercise and self-defense training -- which she needs because she pretty much runs her mouth ALL.THE.TIME. My favorite lines of the books occur in chapter 34, titled, of all things - "I don't want to take orders" where she says with an absolute lack of irony, "On Ground Level, I ran and studied and said the asinine things that popped in my head without worrying about judgment...Being a jerk gets one nowhere." (Sweetheart, for the previous 70% of the book you have been nothing but a towering "it's my way or the highway" drama queen.) AND WE LOVE YOU ANYWAY.
The whole Mary Sue act got a little over the top with the triangle between Adam, Ally, and Declan. (Of course both men are beyond buff, super smart, and head of their departments), but it is YA and well my disbelief went careening out of the space capsule the moment a 17-year-old STEM student was shipped out to save the world.
This is a rollicking good time with all the substance and fun of a day at the waterpark/state fair or bingewatching your favorites. Brain candy - and we all need a treat now and then.
Our MC is a cis female neurodivergent with anger management and trust/control issues. She bleeds off excess energy through exercise and self-defense training -- which she needs because she pretty much runs her mouth ALL.THE.TIME. My favorite lines of the books occur in chapter 34, titled, of all things - "I don't want to take orders" where she says with an absolute lack of irony, "On Ground Level, I ran and studied and said the asinine things that popped in my head without worrying about judgment...Being a jerk gets one nowhere." (Sweetheart, for the previous 70% of the book you have been nothing but a towering "it's my way or the highway" drama queen.) AND WE LOVE YOU ANYWAY.
The whole Mary Sue act got a little over the top with the triangle between Adam, Ally, and Declan. (Of course both men are beyond buff, super smart, and head of their departments), but it is YA and well my disbelief went careening out of the space capsule the moment a 17-year-old STEM student was shipped out to save the world.
This is a rollicking good time with all the substance and fun of a day at the waterpark/state fair or bingewatching your favorites. Brain candy - and we all need a treat now and then.
October 11, 2023
I did really enjoy this! A really well written, well thought out storyline with interesting characters in a brilliant dystopian series! A good length book, so it gives you time to be submerged into this world & to experience this exciting adventure! Good tension & pace, I liked it all I do recommend & hope to read more by this author!
January 13, 2024
Long read for nothing
I tried hard to like this book as the original.premise is interesting. The main character is supposed to be intellectually and physically talented, but impulsive and foolish. That got tiresome pretty quickly. But I hung in for the long read only to.discover there is no end, just a "please read my next book".
I tried hard to like this book as the original.premise is interesting. The main character is supposed to be intellectually and physically talented, but impulsive and foolish. That got tiresome pretty quickly. But I hung in for the long read only to.discover there is no end, just a "please read my next book".
May 12, 2025
Prompt: Moon on the cover. I have decided that is actually probably the Earth, but she talks about the moon all the time, so we're going with it.
I am not sure how I felt about this. I love Declan. Ally is a bit much for me. For me, I think the disconnect was there was too much internal dithering and not enough actual action. It does pick up towards the end though.
I am not sure how I felt about this. I love Declan. Ally is a bit much for me. For me, I think the disconnect was there was too much internal dithering and not enough actual action. It does pick up towards the end though.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews