Earth

AMAZING!

Earth is a book that I received for R4R from the author Jessica Frances.

If you are unfamiliar with this term, it's when you recieve a novel from an author or publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is a great way for authors to make their books known to the readers community.

I was so surprised (in a good way) by Earth. At 401 pages long, it didn't seem like a quick read but I powered through it in just under two days. I sat down with the book, 50 pages in, planning to read for about half-an-hour. Three hours later, I was finished and totally sucked into the entire, amazing concept.

There were so many things about this book that I enjoyed and I can't wait to share them with you!

Earth follows the story of four people: Marduke, Mattie, Hank and Lisa. Marduke is your everday alien who is a member of the alien equivalent of a royal family. He comes down to Earth with his older alien brother, Ival, to collect intel on Earth before their planet begins invasion. Everything seems to be going to plan, until Marduke starts staring at a girl in the park... as we all do on a daily basis! He starts to feel things for her even though they've never had a conversation. It's then he realises that prehaps Earth can be saved and it doesn't have to be conquered. But his brother Ival has other plans when he finds out their father wants to put Marduke before him to become the next leader. After being attacked by his brother, Marduke flees as attacks on Earth begin six months before originally planned.

Without giving too much away, the novel then follows the journey of the four characters and a few more along the way. It focuses on survival and getting away from alien robots known as Hinemas and Ival, and a whole pile of evil people! What a wonderful fate Earth has set up for itself... not!

As you can see, the plot is attractive and after just a few pages I felt a sense of excitement and wanted to read it all.

This book is in the Science Fiction genre but depending on your criteria it could also be placed in Dystopian. The plot was thought provoking and made me value what I have today. The story is also original. I've never read something like this before. It was good that the novel wasn't primarily focused on romance, like many books in this category. Earth had substance and its romantic subplot suited the rest of the book wonderfully. I loved the relationship between the two main characters and that it has realistic qualities.

Another highlight of the book is that it was by an Australian author which isn't very common with Young Adult books as the genre is primarily focused on American authors and novels. Mattie, one of the main characters, is originally from Australia and regularly reminisces about her culture and home. If you're aware of shows such as the Wiggles, you'll be refreshed by what the Australian themes add to the book.

As you may have noticed, especially in the Young Adult genre, many books are told from two or more perspectives. As this technique has become increasingly popular, I've started to find it annoying, but Jessica did it perfectly. She actually created a different writing style for each character which gave Mattie and Marduke thier own personalities. This is something I've that has never been done so well before until Earth. Jessica's writing style was intriguing and unique. I haven't seen this approach in other books before.

It deserves a 5 star rating and I plan on picking up the following books in the series.