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From a Distant Star Karen McQuestion Books

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From a Distant Star Karen McQuestion Books

From a Distant Star was super cute! We got off to a really rough start, so I was concerned in the beginning, but once Emma and Scout start their adventure, I was hooked! Emma’s boyfriend, Lucas, has stage four cancer and is now in a coma. His family is preparing for the end, but Emma isn’t willing to give up on him. She goes to the town “witch” who gives her a potion to bring him back. That same night, an alien scout crash lands in Lucas’ backyard and needs a host body to survive. Lucas miraculously wakes up, starts healing, but Emma know it’s no longer her Lucas.

I’ll start with the two things that initial bothered me, but got cleared up as From a Distant Star moved forward. First, it alternates between third and first POV, which I always hate. Luckily, it’s not an every other chapter deal. It’s mostly told from Emma’s first person account, but occasionally we get Scout’s which is in third. The opening chapter is also in third, but from Lucas’ dog’s perspective. But honestly, having Scout tell his parts in first person wouldn’t make any sense at all, because of reasons.

Second, Scout’s control of Lucas’ body seems like a major inconsistency at first. When Scout first crashes, he enters Lucas’ dog who is sniffing around his pod. He doesn’t take control though. He just kind of hitchhikes, and lets Mack do what he does. Then he transfers to Lucas, and has to learn how to be Lucas. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just hitchhike again, and observe for a little while before taking control when he needed to? He says Lucas is there, but “sleeping.” Which from an outside perspective would seem like he did something to Lucas in order to take over the body, leaving him trapped in there. However, at the end, it’s explained better as to what was going on. I feel like that would have been easy for Scout to explain in the first place and would have dismissed any lingering questions.

Now, my main problem with From a Distant Star in the beginning was Emma. She is so annoying! One of the first things she tells us is that her mother is okay with her spending all of her time at Lucas’ house, so his mother should be okay with it. Girl, that makes no sense! You’re in HER house! Taking up time with HER dying son. Emma admits that it never crossed her mind that she might in the way or intruding on private family time. I can totally understand that she wants to be there for him, but use your noodle! She’s also just irritatingly optimistic (or idiotic, I’m still not sure). Like, Lucas is dying; the medical evidence is there. His family is trying to prepare for that, but she’s living in this land of sunshine and rainbows where no one ever dies from cancer. It’s a bit much. Then, when she finds the alien pod, she thinks it’s either something illegal or a weapon being tested, so she picks it up and puts it her bedroom closet. BOOM!

From a Distant Star wasn’t bad though! Not at all! Despite those initial complaints, I had so much fun reading it! Mostly because Scout (as Lucas’ brother names him, since he’s an alien scout) is adorable and unintentionally hilarious. He just does not understand humans, and it’s easy to see why. We make no sense! Like when he says that instead of drinking alcohol to feel better, why not just make the world better? Exactly, Scout! Exactly! And there’s just a bunch of little things he says and does as he’s learning to be human. Less than three!

Of course, the main plot is about getting Scout home, so Lucas can have his body back. It’s a bit ridiculous at times, but I felt like it worked for the story. There’s government agents trying to take them in. There’s a research facility who wants to experiment on him. There’s independent humans who want to kill all aliens. There’s even a funny old couple who are also trying to evade the government who become allies. I adored them! It’s all fast-paced fun.

I really enjoyed From a Distant Star. It totally didn’t go the way I expected it to. Mainly that this is not a romance! Emma really does just help Scout as a friend. I’m not saying there’s no feelings or anything, but this is definitely a tale about getting an alien back to his home planet!

*Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for review. No compensation was offered or accepted.


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From a Distant Star Karen McQuestion Books Reviews

I was up in the air about reading this one, so I went to the audiobook and my feelings were confirmed... it was OK.

17 year old Emma is the main character and is the girlfriend of Lucas, who is dying of cancer. There are rumors around town about an old lady who has magic potions that may actually work. Emma convinces the woman to give her a potion to heal Lucas. Unbeknownst to Emma that a spaceship is struck by a missile and crashes near Lucas' house. Lucas recovers but is acting strange. Is it the potion or does it have something to do with the spaceship?

The story is ultimately about love, devotion and all that is good and bad about human nature. It was funny at times and thankfully it was not overly romantic. The audiobook narrator, Kate Rudd, was fantastic. It was OK.
A good read with good character building. Fast pace action at times which was well handled The plot kept one guessing about the final outcome right to the end. i liked that the author avoided messy implausible physics, which would have detracted from a good plot. My only problem was being a New Zealander, some of the Americanisms escaped me. Perhaps the author could be a little less parochial and appeal to a wider audience.
This was a fun ride! I wish I would have noted where I heard about this book. Since it cost $1.99 I would guess someone recommended it to me. Thank you, whoever you are!

This was sci-fi. Not my favorite type which is on other planets or roaming outer space. But it is the next best thing, an alien on this world.

Those who have lost others or have had cancer may find the first part of the book a little triggery as the love interest is dying of cancer. But this holds hope, so stay with it. It gets better.

I was lucky to have a free credit at Audible and could listen to Kate Rudd narrate the story. She is very good at the different character voices. I kind of wish Lucas's voice was a little more distinct from Scout's but there wasn't enough of that voice to worry about. Kate kept the story interesting, I think more interesting than had I read it without Whispersynch.

Get ready because around the middle of the book you won't want to put it down, it gets more and more exciting. And all threads are neatly tied up at the end. Even so, I miss the characters and wish there were more. Maybe more from the alien planet and what happens next there? And maybe a connection happens between the new friends. Maybe Lucas could develop some sort of ability?

But even as a solo book, it was a lot of fun! I gave up binging on another series (TV) because the book was far more interesting. If you get the chance to read this, you should. I think you'll like it.
SENSUALITY RATING NO profanity; NO Euphemistic "code words; NO sexual encounters

GENRE Science Fiction; YA; Action fiction; Written in 1st tense.

SETTING Wisconsin

CENTRAL MALE CHARACTER SCOUT – Innocent; Cool and Confident under pressure;

SUPPORTING FEMALE CHARACTER EMMA – 17 year old Risk- taker; a bit of a Worry wart.

SYNOPSIS She sat by his bed watching him in a coma, dying and in the final stages of his cancer. A loud sound was heard outside but only his dog went to investigate. Everything changed when he opened his eyes and asked for a drink of water.

WHAT I LIKED Scout had such a great personality and a child-like manner; so innocent and kind. Roy and Beverly cracked me up.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE Eric was extremely intelligent. I wish that his character had been much more a part of the plot.

OVERALL RATING (5) stars because this is a fantastic YA book that even older adults, such as myself, will greatly enjoy (you really will). It started out just a tad slow (you might disagree) but the author totally went crescendo on me. Highly worth the read.
From a Distant Star was super cute! We got off to a really rough start, so I was concerned in the beginning, but once Emma and Scout start their adventure, I was hooked! Emma’s boyfriend, Lucas, has stage four cancer and is now in a coma. His family is preparing for the end, but Emma isn’t willing to give up on him. She goes to the town “witch” who gives her a potion to bring him back. That same night, an alien scout crash lands in Lucas’ backyard and needs a host body to survive. Lucas miraculously wakes up, starts healing, but Emma know it’s no longer her Lucas.

I’ll start with the two things that initial bothered me, but got cleared up as From a Distant Star moved forward. First, it alternates between third and first POV, which I always hate. Luckily, it’s not an every other chapter deal. It’s mostly told from Emma’s first person account, but occasionally we get Scout’s which is in third. The opening chapter is also in third, but from Lucas’ dog’s perspective. But honestly, having Scout tell his parts in first person wouldn’t make any sense at all, because of reasons.

Second, Scout’s control of Lucas’ body seems like a major inconsistency at first. When Scout first crashes, he enters Lucas’ dog who is sniffing around his pod. He doesn’t take control though. He just kind of hitchhikes, and lets Mack do what he does. Then he transfers to Lucas, and has to learn how to be Lucas. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just hitchhike again, and observe for a little while before taking control when he needed to? He says Lucas is there, but “sleeping.” Which from an outside perspective would seem like he did something to Lucas in order to take over the body, leaving him trapped in there. However, at the end, it’s explained better as to what was going on. I feel like that would have been easy for Scout to explain in the first place and would have dismissed any lingering questions.

Now, my main problem with From a Distant Star in the beginning was Emma. She is so annoying! One of the first things she tells us is that her mother is okay with her spending all of her time at Lucas’ house, so his mother should be okay with it. Girl, that makes no sense! You’re in HER house! Taking up time with HER dying son. Emma admits that it never crossed her mind that she might in the way or intruding on private family time. I can totally understand that she wants to be there for him, but use your noodle! She’s also just irritatingly optimistic (or idiotic, I’m still not sure). Like, Lucas is dying; the medical evidence is there. His family is trying to prepare for that, but she’s living in this land of sunshine and rainbows where no one ever dies from cancer. It’s a bit much. Then, when she finds the alien pod, she thinks it’s either something illegal or a weapon being tested, so she picks it up and puts it her bedroom closet. BOOM!

From a Distant Star wasn’t bad though! Not at all! Despite those initial complaints, I had so much fun reading it! Mostly because Scout (as Lucas’ brother names him, since he’s an alien scout) is adorable and unintentionally hilarious. He just does not understand humans, and it’s easy to see why. We make no sense! Like when he says that instead of drinking alcohol to feel better, why not just make the world better? Exactly, Scout! Exactly! And there’s just a bunch of little things he says and does as he’s learning to be human. Less than three!

Of course, the main plot is about getting Scout home, so Lucas can have his body back. It’s a bit ridiculous at times, but I felt like it worked for the story. There’s government agents trying to take them in. There’s a research facility who wants to experiment on him. There’s independent humans who want to kill all aliens. There’s even a funny old couple who are also trying to evade the government who become allies. I adored them! It’s all fast-paced fun.

I really enjoyed From a Distant Star. It totally didn’t go the way I expected it to. Mainly that this is not a romance! Emma really does just help Scout as a friend. I’m not saying there’s no feelings or anything, but this is definitely a tale about getting an alien back to his home planet!

*Disclaimer I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for review. No compensation was offered or accepted.