Life in Outer Space

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Aussies supposedly write some of the best books out there. Unfortunately, they choose not to share many of them. Okay, maybe it’s that American publishers choose not to purchase them for years on end, but, either way, I end up missing on quite a lot. This little Aussie gem became available in the US, and when I had a chance at a review copy, I snagged it. Be forewarned that this book is not science fiction. That’s lesson number one. Life in Outer Space is an adorable, nerdy contemporary novel about first love, finding your passion, and pop culture references.

For much of the novel, I was enjoying it but concerned that Life in Outer Space was headed for manic pixie show more territory. Camilla arrives in Sam’s school and completely changes his life. She’s beautiful, quirky and somewhat mysterious, the daughter of a famous music critic. She’s lived all over the world and dresses in weird clothes that only she could ever pull off. The amazing Camilla transcends social group, immediately accepted by the popular kids, but able to choose to spend time with the nerds without facing any repercussions. Girl is magical, basically.

Thankfully, there’s more to Camilla than that. Sam really gets to know Camilla, and the two have oodles in common, and, perhaps more importantly, they’re open to learning about the interests they don’t share. He educates her on horror films and she teaches him a bit about music. They’re supportive of one another and admittedly adorable. She doesn’t exist just to make him better; they help each other improve. Other than a point I’ll note later, I definitely shipped this so much.

I adored the nerdy bits about cinema, from the horror movie marathons to Sam’s absurdly terrible sounding attempted screenplays. Throughout the novel, various jokes about horror movie cliches are woven. For example, at a party Sam thinks a particular girl would be the first to die, which is admittedly kind of terrible but also hilarious. Though I don’t know much about horror movies, since I can’t watch them, I know I missed out on some awesome stuff there, but it was still great. There are also numerous science fiction and 80s movie references, which are more my speed.

The characters are pretty fantastic. Sam’s group of friends, Mike, Adrian and Allison, banded together because none of them fit in and formed this awesomely nerdy haven. They eat lunch in a teacher’s office because they feel unsafe in the cafeteria due to bullying, but they get to watch movies while they eat, which is win. I’m an especially large fan of Mike and the LGBT subplot, and the fact that, unlike so many gay best friends in YA, he actually gets a resolution to his plot line.

My only reservation about Life in Outer Space is Sam. He freaking rivals Hamlet for his inability to make the decision on whether to act on something. Basically, you will spend the whole book trying to make him help his friend Mike or tell Camilla how he feels. Of course, to tell Camilla how he feels, he’d have to know how he felt and he’s one of the least self-aware people that ever existed. I get that people are like that sometimes, but Sam still felt absurdly hesitant to me. Given how close that group of friends is, SOMEONE should have said something without it taking so freaking long. Plus, if things happened quicker, the ending wouldn’t be quite so incredibly sappy. Oh, and also the fact that all of the nerds clean up and are rather attractive at the end felt a bit too She’s All That: Mike has the abs, though that makes sense, but then Sam looks like Luke Skywalker in A New Hope, Allison’s apparently a pretty close ringer for Audrey Hepburn, and even Adrian is less ridiculous looking. No. Too much.

Life in Outer Space is a nerd’s dream of a book. Though it got a bit too idealistically fluffy for me at times, it was still a delight to read and gave me many happy feels and made me laugh, so it’s one I’ll definitely be recommending. show less

**To Dianne of Oops! I Read A Book Again!: Thanks for this ARC copy. Sorry it took so long before I got to read and review LiOS!**

This. Book. Is. Amazing. It's fun and light and quirky. I like the dialogue, the story itself, the use of geeky references. I like the humor and wit of the characters. I like Sam's geekiness. It's believable and not at all exaggerated. And he's not ashamed of being a geek. Sure, he and his friends try to fly under the A-group radar, but he wears his geekiness proudly. Speaking of his friends, I think Mike, Adrian and Allison are also awesome. They're different kinds of geeks but they all get along well and Sam couldn't have wished for better friends than these three.

And then there's Camilla. Pretty and show more friendly and kind Camilla. The new girl with the British accent. And who lived in New York. And bumped elbows with famous musicians. She's way out of Sam's league and seems to exist in a different plane altogether but surprises of surprises, she becomes his friend! And that's the end of it.

Or not.

Of course it isn't.

I love Sam's and Camilla's friendship. Camilla shares Sam's love for movies (although they have different tastes in film genres) and World of Warcraft (He's an elf; she's a dwarf). And although Sam was a bit hesitant at first, they were really great together when they finally hit it. It's not awkward even though you can already tell they like each other. They learned a lot from each other. Camilla opened a lot of doors for Sam, and Sam was there for Camilla when she needed someone. I'd say they're perfect for each other in a totally non-cheesy way.

And that's what I love about this book. The romance angle is sweet and cute but it is not the focus of the story. I liked that the author explored the beautiful friendship between the main characters. It established the connection between Sam and Camilla and provided a strong foundation for them.

Life in Outer Space made me wish I was in love for the first time again. I enjoyed reading Sam's internal debacle whether or not he likes Camilla in a more-than-friends way. (Ah, young love. *sigh*) I love his innocence, which is not surprising since his love life pretty much consists of Princess Leia and horror movies. It took him a while (and a couple of mistakes) to get his guts together but it was worth it. Camilla is worth it. :) Though Camilla had me worried for a while because she wasn't giving off the vibes that she also liked Sam. Or maybe Sam was just too dense to notice. Haha. Good thing it all worked out in the end.

I abso-freaking-lutely love this book. Definitely recommended! One of the best YA contemporaries I've read so far. ^__^ show less

“She doesn't follow me.

She doesn't call out my name and chase after me in the rain. It isn't even raining. The sky doesn't even have the decency to provide me with a good movie cliché.”

Este es uno de esos extrañisimos libros que logró encantarme de principio a fin. Y mi cara mientras lo leía puede resumirse mas o menos así:




Sam es un nerd adicto a las películas de terror, que desea ser guionista. Él y sus amigos -Adrian, Allison y Mike- se encuentran en el fondo de la cadena alimenticia de popularidad, y pasan sus almuerzos escondidos en la oficina del coordinador de tecnología del colegio.

Camilla es la chica nueva del colegio, fanática de la ropa vintage, las películas de los 80 y es hija de un famoso crítico musical, show more lo que la hace inmediatamente popular.

Así que cuando Camilla decide romper el status quo y pasar sus días con ellos hablando de Star Trek y Warcraft, Sam teme que sea algún tipo de broma, pero realmente es el comienzo de una gran amistad.

Todo esto puede sonar un poco cliché y predecible, y sí, lo es. Pero también es dulce, divertida y realista.

La relación entre Sam y Camilla se va formando despacio, y me recordó un poco a [b:Anna and the French Kiss|6936382|Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1)|Stephanie Perkins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358271931s/6936382.jpg|7168450]. No es que tengan nada que ver las tramas, sino por el desarrollo de la amistad y por como puedes sentir la química entre los personajes.

Además tiene puntos extras por no tener nada de exceso de drama. Aquí no vas a encontrar personajes "rotos" o suicidas; bad boys; novios infieles; padres abusadores; ni terribles accidentes, muertes o enfermedades.

Los personajes son un sueño, los amé a todos y cada uno de ellos.Y me parece genial como aunque el foco principal está en Sam y Camilla, la historia no es sólo de ellos, sino también de Adrian con su look de troll y su emoción permanente; de Allison con su adicción a Hello Kitty y a las películas japonesas; y de Mike con su afición al karate y unos padres que tapizaron su casa con banderas multicolores para demostrarle que no tienen problema con que sea gay.

Esta es una historia de amor, pero antes que nada es una historia de amistad.

Y por si eso no es suficiente, ¡tenemos montones de conversaciones geek!



Me encantan los libros con referencias a la cultura pop, pero en ocasiones son muy cargadas y en vez de ser interesantes se vuelven aburridas porque sino sabes de que hablan no entiendes el chiste.

Este no es el caso de Life in Outer Space. Aquí, las referencias son en su mayoría de películas (aunque también hay algunas de comics, música y videojuegos). Nada demasiado profundo como parecer forzado o que si no has visto la peli no vayas a entender, pero suficiente como para darle credibilidad a Sam como nerd y para entrar en modo fangirl si sí las has visto.

Realmente me gustó mucho mucho este libro y estoy un poco sorprendida que sea el debut de la autora. Estoy llegando a la conclusión de que el mundo necesita más autores australianos.


Postdata: show less

Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.com
ARC provided by publisher for review

Life in Outer Space is an entirely refreshing and exceptionally entertaining novel about a group of high schoolers who are geektastic. And I do mean geektastic.

The ring leader of this little tribe of nomadic geeks (okay, so not really nomadic, but it felt like a fun thing to say) is Sam. If anyone has ever fully embraced his geek-level status, it is Sam. He is a walking guru on all things horror movie and related ("real") movie trivia. Girls? Nah, Sam's not worried about the lack of feminine interest in his geektasmic self -- he's never met a girl who can hold a candle to Princess Leia. Until ... The day a new girl breezes into class, show more with a funky sense of style and the ability to make friends with everyone. Camilla appears to be everything polar opposite of Sam and his buddies -- but she also really enjoys hanging out with them. Especially Sam. And this means that life as Sam knows it, is officially over.

Even though it's an Australian novel, set in Australia, Life in Outer Space is such a teenager story. I think there are huge chunks of growing up that are universal, and some experiences that we can all relate to whether it happens in San Francisco, Middle-o-Nowhere, or Australia. It's just part of life, and that helps bring the human family closer together, ya know? Okay, philosophical wandering aside, we all know what it's like to be a high school student, a teenager, and deal with other teenagers. It's crazy. And wonderful. And terrible. Sam and Camilla, and the whole teen cast of this novel? They're real. They're walking down halls in schools around the globe. And this feeling of realism and authenticity takes this fun and quirky story and gives it added depth. Don't get me wrong, it's still a hilarious read -- I snickered out loud a few times -- but it's not just another high school musical (don't hate: I love those movies). show less

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil is a contemporary YA novel and the author's début. It was an excellent read. The blurb:

Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.

Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies ... but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.

Life in Outer Space is not speculative show more fiction, but it's about geeks and nerds and contains a lot of pop culture references (particularly horror movies) so I expect it will appeal to spec fic readers who enjoy YA. I read the US edition (cover pictured top) and I was gratified to see that Australian spelling and slang was mostly preserved. I was particularly glad to see the words "arse" and "Mum", the former of which shows up many times in the first few pages.

At its heart, Life in Outer Space is a story about Sam, a year 11 boy, his friends and, to a lesser extent, his enemies. The book tackles a few common teen issues such as parents getting divorced and difficult parents. There's also Sam's best friend, Matt, who mysteriously quits karate after years of loving it and Sam doesn't know how to confront or deal with the issue. Although there were some moments of teenagers being silly, I thought it was all quite realistic, despite Sam navigating his life with constant reference to movies.

I quite liked that it was set in Melbourne and that Keil wrote various Melbournian landmarks into the story. Sam and friends see movies at the Astor and go to Brighton Beach for a party. Although in terms of realism, I felt that maybe slightly more complaining about how long it takes to get anywhere in Melbourne via public transport (there were a few trips that must have required two trains to reach) would have been more believable. But really, that was my biggest complaint.



Keil deserves an award for how she dealt with the period of the book in which Sam is moping. Often those sections of books are disheartening to read but Keil peppers hers with witty lines that had me laughing out loud, possibly even more than in the more upbeat parts of the book. We understand Sam's pain but, in reading about it, the we needn't feel it ourselves.

My favourite storyline involved Sam assuming his life was following a particular movie trope (one I personally am not a fan of) but then subverting that trope. I know that sounds very vague, but spoilers. Suffice to say it was a very satisfying resolution.

Life in Outer Space was a very fun and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to fans of YA, particularly fans of nerdy contemporary YA. I am impressed with this début novel and I will be interested to see what Keil writes in the future.

5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. show less

It was an enjoyable enough book, but I could never quite get passed the fact that the main character, Sam, rubbed me the wrong way. He spends so much time complaining about how everyone else is so terrible to him and his friends but then he goes and punches his friend Adrian over a misunderstanding? Also, it felt like Camilla was a manic pixie dream girl, here to fix all of Sam's problems. By the end of the book, I was still rooting for them, but I had expected more after reading Keil's Cinnamon Girl, which I enjoyed much more.

This was not only a love story about Sam and Camilla, and how opposites attract. It was also a book about a group of friends and how they all work together to take care of each other. I loved that! The kids were likeable and the book itself was very well written. I highly recommend it and am looking forward to reading more of this author's work.

5/5 stars.