Review: A Stranger Thing by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal

A Stranger Thing

Martin Leicht and Isla Neal

(The Ever-Expanding Universe #2)

Publication Date: November 12, 2013

Hardcover, 279 pages, Simon & Schuster

Genres: YA, Sci-Fi

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In this witty, adventurous sequel to Mothership, which Publishers Weekly called “a whole lot of fun” Elvie Nara is back on earth—but her life (including her new baby) is still pretty out there!

Pregnancy was pretty rough for sixteen-year-old Elvie Nara, what with the morning sickness, constant food cravings, and the alien race war she found herself in the middle of. But if she thought giving birth to an extraterrestrial’s baby would be the hard part, she was sorely mistaken.

After Elvie somehow has a baby girl, the always-male Almiri completely wig out. Suddenly Elvie’s supposed allies have shipped her—along with her father, her best friend, Ducky, and her maybe-boyfriend, boneheaded Almiri commando Cole Archer—off to a remote “retention facility” (aka alien jail) in Antarctica. Talk about cold. But things really get complicated when a new group of hybrid aliens arrive with information that sends Elvie’s world spinning. Before long, Elvie is trekking across the bottom of the Earth with a band of friends and frenemies to uncover the secrets of her own origin. Will Elvie ever be able to convince the Almiri that a conspiracy to conquer the planet is a greater threat than a sixteen-year-old girl and a newborn who won’t stop crying?

My Review

Elvie and co. are back! And the cuteness and awkwardness of teenagers and aliens with babies continues!

I read Mothership a couple years back and I thought it was funny, light, and entertaining. That pretty much sums up what I felt about this one, too. Elvie is still a sarcastic, hot mess who sometimes has me laughing out loud and sometimes makes me want to roll my eyes. Cole, the baby daddy, is still incredibly stupid. This still angers me. Nobody is that dumb. And Elvie’s eccentric dad and her friend Ducky (who may be more than a friend? Maybe not? Idk. I can’t tell yet.) round up the group, or at least the group of people I can discuss without spoiling you. But, the last two I mentioned did make me smile on occasion.

The action in this book is just as out-of-this-world as the first book (See what I did there?), even though this plot takes place on Earth. In Antarctica of all places! How many books have you read that take place in Antarctica?! This is my first. Also like with the first book, things always seem to go terribly wrong, only to immediately somehow be solved. And while it’s great that all of the characters—minus Cole—are super-smart, it does make the OMG-what-are-they-going-to-do?!? factor a little less dire. But I was still quite shocked at some of the events that took place in the story. I will definitely be reading book three to get some answers.

All in all, if you’re looking for a light, different, sarcastic sci-fi read, pick up Mothership, and then pick up its sequel. You deserve a few laughs in your life.