"The world changed on a Tuesday.
When a spaceship landed in an open field in the quiet mill town of Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, everyone realized humankind was not alone in the universe. With that realization, everyone freaked out for a little while.
Or, almost everyone. The residents of Sorrow Falls took the news pretty well. This could have been due to a certain local quality of unflappability, or it could have been that in three years, the ship did exactly nothing other than sit quietly in that field, and nobody understood the full extent of this nothing the ship was doing better than the people who lived right next door.
Sixteen-year old Annie Collins is one of the ship’s closest neighbors. Once upon a time she took every last theory about the ship seriously, whether it was advanced by an adult ,or by a peer. Surely one of the theories would be proven true eventually—if not several of them—the very minute the ship decided to do something. Annie is starting to think this will never happen.
One late August morning, a little over three years since the ship landed, Edgar Somerville arrived in town. Ed’s a government operative posing as a journalist, which is obvious to Annie—and pretty much everyone else he meets—almost immediately. He has a lot of questions that need answers, because he thinks everyone is wrong: the ship is doing something, and he needs Annie’s help to figure out what that is.
Annie is a good choice for tour guide. She already knows everyone in town and when Ed’s theory is proven correct—something is apocalyptically wrong in Sorrow Falls—she’s a pretty good person to have around.
As a matter of fact, Annie Collins might be the most important person on the planet. She just doesn’t know it."
NetGalley. Thanks for the copy.
Aliens. No romance. Contemporary (with a dash of Sci-Fi). This story is about a spaceship that has landed in a small town of good old US of America. Three years have passed since the spaceship that has landed, and it isn't doing anything. Nothing good. Nothing bad. Nothing at all.
Or is it actually doing something? (Cue mind screw.)
The story has a great start, though the writing style is a bit odd and unusual (and alien). It's unusual, because it's different than what readers usually read (and it most definitely stands out from the hundreds of other alien books). However, the writing style and the language itself is stronger in the beginning and begins to weaken towards the ending. Told from a third person perspective, it offers viewpoints of several people including Annie, Ed, and even the US President.
The plot starts off strongly, and I slip into the story so easily. Though the pacing is slow, the bang goes off around the midpoint of the book. And it is really worth it, and I can't help but continue reading and following along with the story. (So much that when my mother came by, she asked me to get up and do some laborious work in the kitchen. I'd been sitting in my seat for hours without stopping.)
However, the ending ends anti-climatically. There are no (major) epic battles, nothing worthy of Ender's Game. Still, it's nice to see a sort-of HEA. It's a good conclusion that ties up most loose ends and can be read alone. My only beef with the ending is that it isn't explained well enough, and certain parts of it should be explored. Aliens! Aliens. Come on. It's aliens. (Up the excitement levels!)
The book is more of a mystery than an action-packed thriller. Of course, there are some moments of action and creepy, scary questions. Annie Collins isn't given too great of a character arc, but she does have her little character tics that make me smile.
In conclusion, The Spaceship Next Door is definitely for those who love aliens, a lack of a romance plot, and a tantalizing mystery. Recommended for fans of The X Files.
Rating: Three out of Five
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