Mothership

You guys. There are soooo many things I want to say about this book. I had never heard of this one before I was contacted to review it. I am so grateful for this chance. I just wonder how many other fabulous, amazing, awesomesauce books are out there that I haven't even heard of! MOTHERSHIP was hilarious and moving with a heroine who kicks some major ass, a stellar setting, and a crazy cast of characters. This was one of the few 5-star reads for me this year.

Elvie is seriously one of my favorite YA heroines. She has made mistakes in her past, but she isn't afraid to face them and to admit she was wrong. Yes, she is a pregnant teenager, but that doesn't mean she isn't smart. Her biggest dream is to make it to Mars, studying intense show more physics for the past few years, ever since she found out going to space was even an option. She has dedicated her whole life to her dream. Elvie's father taught her all about mechanics, and she can basically fix anything: old classic cars, broken toasters, and she can even rig a vending machine to give up the goods.I love her take-charge attitude. When everyone was scrambling around, Elvie was quietly forming a plan. And when she had to, she grabbed the reigns on her own destiny. Sure, she may have had some choices taken away from her, but she wasn't going down without a fight, determined to take her life back. The best part about her: her huge heart. She loved her friends dearly, and even had room in her heart for the girl who picked on her relentlessly.


But beyond the kick-ass-ness of Elvie, she was also unrelentingly hilarious. She made the best of every situation, always finding the humor in any given moment. Sure, she had a foul mouth, but it fit her character perfectly. I can not tell you how many times I woke my husband up last night cracking up because of this book. Think Juno in space, hilarious.


The action never stopped in this book. From the opening pages Elvie was fighting for hers and her classmates' lives. Crazy commando attackers, teachers turned bad guys, and of course, the resident mean girl. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how these pregnant teenage girls are going to get out of this mess.


I highly recommend MOTHERSHIP by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal. There is a strong message of female empowerment, and Elvie, our heroine, is a wonderful role model for girls -- yes, even if she is a pregnant teenager. She takes charge of her life, learns how to make the right decisions, grows as a character, and wields a ray gun. What more could you ask for? MOTHERSHIP is hilarious, action-packed, and one of the my favorite reads this year, possibly ever.


For this review, and more like it, please visit Pretty Deadly Reviews. show less

Teen fic; pregnant teens battle aliens in space (humor/romance). This is what Beauty Queens should've been like--I respect Libba Bray, but why did she hafta go about trying to redeem her ridiculous characters one by one, in the most boring ways possible? The authors here instead just go for the laughs, and it delivers. Note to parents/teachers: there is some swearing in here, but it stops just short of printing the f-word. Potentially more sticky than the language is the issue of abortion/choice, although the fetuses in this case turn out to be alien parasites that only look like humans--not actually humans at all. Predictably, Elvie decides to keep hers, knowing full well that the baby will grow up to be extremely good-looking and show more talented as well (joining the ranks of other alien geniuses as Mozart and James Dean), even if (most likely) she'll be rendered infertile in the process of giving birth. My other issue with the story was that her love interest, Cole, is awfully skeezy (intentionally impregnating 2 teens girls with his alien spawn, knowing full well they're not wanting to be moms yet--Elvie, at least, is on the pill--and that they won't be able to have kids of their own afterward) and definitely not deserving to be forgiven so easily. But we'll have to see what happens to Elvie and Cole (and Britta) in the next book(s). show less

Elvie wanted to go to space, but going to space in a ship turned into a the Hanover School for Expecting Teen Mothers wasn’t in her original plans for how she’d spend her junior year. She’s still okay with going, though, until the ship is invaded by a team of attractive commandos, including the baby’s dad, Cole. These commandos tell her that their teachers were aliens, but so are they, and the ship was created to help repopulate their alien species. During the attack, however, the ship is damaged, and Elvie has to decide who to trust to help her and the other pregnant girls find a way off the ship if they want to survive. Elvie learns to figure out how to survive the multiple alien species she is introduced to, determines how to show more handle Cole, and decides if she’s keeping the baby or putting it up for adoption after all.

There are some aspects of the book that may trouble readers. The majority of the characters are pregnant teenagers, some of them die in disturbing ways, and the aliens impregnating teenagers girls and then making them sterile could be upsetting and brings up a lot of issues about consent. However, overall this book is a lot of fun. Elvie is funny, smart, and a problem solver, but she still makes mistakes and sometimes has a difficult time knowing what to do in tough situations. Her commentary is laugh-out-loud funny and her determination is admirable. The technology in the book feels right for that far into the future. The story is completely ridiculous, but in a way that is fun, entertaining, and special even in the more intense moments. The book is definitely fluff, but the teenage science fiction element makes it unique and fresh. show less

You guys. There are soooo many things I want to say about this book. I had never heard of this one before I was contacted to review it. I am so grateful for this chance. I just wonder how many other fabulous, amazing, awesomesauce books are out there that I haven't even heard of! MOTHERSHIP was hilarious and moving with a heroine who kicks some major ass, a stellar setting, and a crazy cast of characters. This was one of the few 5-star reads for me this year.

Elvie is seriously one of my favorite YA heroines. She has made mistakes in her past, but she isn't afraid to face them and to admit she was wrong. Yes, she is a pregnant teenager, but that doesn't mean she isn't smart. Her biggest dream is to make it to Mars, studying intense show more physics for the past few years, ever since she found out going to space was even an option. She has dedicated her whole life to her dream. Elvie's father taught her all about mechanics, and she can basically fix anything: old classic cars, broken toasters, and she can even rig a vending machine to give up the goods.I love her take-charge attitude. When everyone was scrambling around, Elvie was quietly forming a plan. And when she had to, she grabbed the reigns on her own destiny. Sure, she may have had some choices taken away from her, but she wasn't going down without a fight, determined to take her life back. The best part about her: her huge heart. She loved her friends dearly, and even had room in her heart for the girl who picked on her relentlessly.


But beyond the kick-ass-ness of Elvie, she was also unrelentingly hilarious. She made the best of every situation, always finding the humor in any given moment. Sure, she had a foul mouth, but it fit her character perfectly. I can not tell you how many times I woke my husband up last night cracking up because of this book. Think Juno in space, hilarious.


The action never stopped in this book. From the opening pages Elvie was fighting for hers and her classmates' lives. Crazy commando attackers, teachers turned bad guys, and of course, the resident mean girl. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how these pregnant teenage girls are going to get out of this mess.


I highly recommend MOTHERSHIP by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal. There is a strong message of female empowerment, and Elvie, our heroine, is a wonderful role model for girls -- yes, even if she is a pregnant teenager. She takes charge of her life, learns how to make the right decisions, grows as a character, and wields a ray gun. What more could you ask for? MOTHERSHIP is hilarious, action-packed, and one of the my favorite reads this year, possibly ever.


For this review, and more like it, please visit Pretty Deadly Reviews. show less

This book is just downright campy fun!

"Mothership" is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously while simultaneously taking on some more serious subject matters. Mix together a teenage pregnancy and all the choices that's going to entail, a baby-daddy that skips town the moment he hears your preggers, and then add a big dollop of space-ships and aliens. It's sounds ridiculous, and it is, but the authors manage it well and still leave you laughing.

The novel's protagonist Elvie Nara is spunky and smart and just because she currently finds herself with a bun-in-the-oven doesn't want to give up her dreams of an Engineering degree and being on the first team to terraform Mars.

I'd encourage people to give this book a shot because it's show more fresh and funny and something different what's on the YA market right now. show less

Alright, read that summary again. Laugh your heart out. It's okay, I agree with you.

Basically, this whole book is about a bunch of pregnant teenage girls trying to get off the spaceship after most of them were almost killed by the same people who were supposed to be protecting them. Besides flashbacks, it all takes place in the same day.

Yet I kind of loved this book.

It's super fast paced because, like I said, it happens in a day. And a lot happens. There's always some new dilemma, some new personal crisis for Elvie or one of the other girls, and a lot of it you can't predict. But it's not overwhelming, either. Every few chapters or so, there's a flashback to Elvie's life on earth and that really slows things down for a bit. It gives you show more time to absorb and relax a bit. Despite it's quirkiness and fun, it was also a pretty dark book, which was very unexpected.

Looking past her name, I really liked Elvie. She was funny and sassy and intelligent. Her dream in life is to go to Mars...and this is a legit thing that could happen. She made a mistake about a guy, which people do.

Now Cole...oh Cole. He's not a very smart boy, no. But the book made his complete lack of intelligence kind of endearing. It didn't bother me as much as it normally would've. I don't have a problem with people who aren't really smart but...this boy actually came off as a moron. Kind of like a puppy. No idea what's going on, but all kinds of energy and love. I didn't like that he wasn't really willing to commit or speak up about how he felt though. He was kinda all over the place with his romantic feelings, so then Elvie was all over the place, and that was irritating.

I really liked the side characters. Most of the pregnant teens weren't really developed, but I liked what we saw of them. The only other commando we got to know was the leader and he was a fun one. I LOVED Elvie's dad and best friend on Earth. They were awesome and nerdy and funny and just good people.

Overall, this book was funny and quirky and so totally different from any other YA book you've read. It was lovely and awesome and well written and just...awesome. Read it so you can die for book two with me! show less

Mothership came highly recommended from a number of highly trustworthy sources, but, I have to admit, I had a healthy dose of skepticism about me ever being able to appreciate it. I mean, it's a book about pregnant teens. I'm not a big fan of anything about pregnancy, let alone with a focus on teenagers. However, Leicht and Neal manage to craft a hilarious, albeit occasionally really gross, story out of the premise of pregnant teens in space.

Though I try not to go too crazy comparing books to other books, since it doesn't tend to reflect well on either of them, I ust have to here. Mothership reminds me heavily of Libba Bray's Beauty Queens in the style of the humor, only, instead of beauty queens stuck on an island, we have pregnant show more teens on a spaceship. I didn't like this one quite so well, but I think that if you liked Beauty Queens, you will definitely appreciate this and vice versa.

The best part of the book is definitely the humor, which Leicht and Neal keep up throughout. Elvie, the MC, has plenty of sarcasm and makes lots of hilarious observations. On top of that, the whole situation, and Elvie herself, are patently ridiculous, adding additional layers of laughs. There will definitely be a few moments that will make all but the most determinedly grim chuckle out loud. There's a wide variety of comedic styles, varying from potty humor to nerd jokes to irony, so Mothership is pretty much bound to tickle your funny bone one way or another.

The whole pregnancy angle is handled quite well, I think. Though it's obviously a main theme and they do not gloss over it, there isn't so much focus on pregnancy that I couldn't handle it. I mean, there's discussion of birthing and the consideration of the baby bump, but the humor and Elvie's wandering mind keeps things from getting to bogged down in baby drama. Also, just because the girls are pregnant doesn't mean they're completely useless, which was nice.

The reason I didn't like this book more than I did is the characters. They're funny and highly entertaining, sure, but I really don't like any of them. Elvie's probably the best of the lot, in that she's the only one to really have any depth of character, in that, despite the fact that she talks and acts like an airhead most of the time, she's really quite bright. Ducky and Ramona were my favorites, but they, like everyone else, really don't ever emerge from stereotype status. Britta was the worst by far, always remaining the classic mean girl airhead, and never showing the slightest glimmer of uniqueness. Cole, too, is completely unlikable to me, but he's not treated as such by the author, which is frustrating. This doesn't detract from the entertainment of the novel, but kept me from loving it.

The ending sets up the next book nicely, but I do think it was a bit ridiculous, even within the context of this universe. While I cannot explain in detail because of spoilers, I think one of the twists at the end, regarding Elvie's baby, does not make any sense plotwise. There is absolutely no reason for things to have gone down the way they did, except to make things happier.

If you're looking for a book to make you laugh, a nice break from dark contemporaries and dystopian drama, then Mothership is a perfect choice. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series, because you can always use more laughter in your life.

3.5/5 show less