Review: The World Forgot by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal

The World Forgot

Martin Leicht and Isla Neal

(The Ever-Expanding Universe #3)

Publication Date: April 14, 2015

Hardcover, 304 pages, St. Martin’s Griffin

Genres: YA, Sci-Fi

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In this hilarious, action-packed conclusion to The Ever-Expanding Universe trilogy, teen mom Elvie Nara is on a quest across the universe to save her daughter (and maybe stop an alien race war in the process).

After dealing with killer whales, evil scientists, the return of her long-lost mother and, certainly not least of all, the challenges of breastfeeding, Elvie Nara has just about had it. And then the Jin'Kai (along with the aforementioned estranged mom) kidnap her baby.

And before she knows it, another Jin'Kai attack puts her on the run again, but not before discovering that Olivia was implanted with a genetic tracking device. So along with Cole, Ducky, and her dad, Elvie goes back out into space to follow the signal. There she finds evil Dr. Marsden up to some evil tricks and realizes that Mars may hold the secret to defeating her enemies once and for all. So, off to Mars she goes. Because alien race war aside, Elvie really wants to be back with her daughter. For a kid she wasn’t even sure she wanted, Olivia has come to mean the world to Elvie—and she’ll search the universe to be with her again.

My Review

Aliens, human-alien hybrids, clones, and… babies?

Maybe Elvie Nara isn’t living the traditional sci-fi adventure, what, with being a teen mom and all, but she’s still travelling Earth in hi-tech ships and battling aliens bent on taking over her home planet, she just has to deal with her infant daughter along the way. It helps that Elvie and her team—which includes one full-blooded alien, one part alien, one best friend, and one eccentric father—has a wide repertoire of sarcasm under their belts. Thus, the seriousness of being a mother to a little girl is made into a fun, adventurous comedy.

The world itself is light and fluffy, despite the heavy action scenes that make sure no scene is dull. Everything just rolls from one punch to the next. However, this heavy action in such a short-length package does have its drawbacks. One being that the answers to all the science-y questions are a little convoluted or vague at times. Elvie and her gang of misfit toys may understand the jumps in logic, but the average reader may have a hard time understanding the reasoning.

The light-hearted writing also detracts a little bit from the seriousness of the situation and could impact a reader’s connection to the main characters and their decisions. It’s just hard to get to know a character when he or she is being sarcastic all the time.

This doesn’t impede the fun behind the story though, because this trilogy is a lot of fun. Good jokes abound and goofy characters await. So, for those interested in a book that brings the smiles, you don’t have to look very far. Just start with the first book, Mothership, and work your way down to this one. The giggles this series provides are out of this world.

*Note: I borrowed a copy of this book to review via the Book Review Board of Missouri.