A REVIEW COPY WAS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR A FAIR AND HONEST REVIEW.

Title: Waste of Space
Author: Gina Damico
Release Date: July 11, 2017
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Young Readers
Review Spoilers: Mild

There are few books that I’ve wanted to like as much as I wanted to like Waste of Space. The premise is phenomenal and whether it was taken seriously or presented as a parody, it could have and should have been amazing. I mean, teenagers on a reality television show where they think they’re blasting off into space? It’s an amazing idea and particularly timely considering how much people still watch all those reality shows.

Unfortunately, the book fails to make good on it’s premise.

I was so disappointed about that I almost titled this review “Waste of Space is a waste of shelf space” but I decided to take a more diplomatic approach. While I didn’t really enjoy Waste of Space, I did read all the way to the end because the book has it’s fair share of interesting twists. They aren’t enough to to make me give this book more than the two stars I’m giving it but they were enough to keep me reading until the end. So, in that regard, I suppose the book did keep me interested to a degree.

The problem is that this book could have been so much better.

Waste of Space is not just the title of this book but the fictional television series that it’s about. The show convinces a group of teenagers that they are going to be on the first reality show shot in outer space. Neither the kids nor the viewing public are supposed to know that the whole thing is a sham. The reader gets introduced to this whole debacle through a series of documents meant to expose the whole thing. We get transcripts of phone calls, videos, broadcasts, and more.

So basically we have an epistolary novel that’s meant to show the reader just how everything dramatically falls apart. The problem is the documents we’re given themselves. Nothing is even remotely believable. The character behind the studio that puts together the show is so outrageously over the top it brings the whole book down. And from there it just gets worse. The teenagers themselves are often nothing more than stereotypes – and when they try and reverse those stereotypes they do less to challenge them than to replace them with a new stereotypical archetype.

I mean, seriously, the dude from the Midwest is called Snout and he has a pet pig named Colonel Bacon.

On top of all that, half of the kids are basically kidnapped without any parental consent. The facilities are woefully insufficient for the number of people on the show – and there is literally no way anyone was ever going to allow kids ranging from thirteen years old to eighteen years old to all live in one bedroom. Especially when that bedroom had so few beds that some people were going to need to double up. Honestly, these kids are almost all underage – in what world would a show ever be allowed to booze them up on national television or encourage them to hook up for the viewing public?

The whole thing is uncomfortable. If the book were about an older group within the age range of your usual Big Brother contestant then fine. I’d be okay with a lot of what’s going on in the book. But, seriously, one of the kids is like thirteen.

Now, I get it. Maybe the book is meant to be a parody. The guy who runs Waste of Space calls the kids spacetronauts for crying out loud. And for the most part I would buy that. Except there are moments where the book really tries to take itself and it’s twists seriously. The whole tone changes depending on what transcripts were being shown and who is doing the talking. The whole expose part – and some of the more scientific aspects – are supposed to be serious while the rest

Now, if the whole book was presented as a parody then I’d be a little less upset about everything. But at times it seems like it really wants to be taken seriously. The main characters, Nico and Tatiana, are portrayed as genuine characters with tragic backstories who help each other through the hardship. While the rest of the cast is a bunch of walking stereotypes they get the kind of development that makes you almost care about where they’re coming from and what made them want to be on a show like Waste of Space. Of course, it’s really hard to see them as well fleshed out or developed characters when they’re playing against a drunk party girl whose name is literally Bacardi.

Even the big mysterious twist at the end does little to salvage the train wreck that is the rest of the book.

I genuinely wish the book had been better. I love the concept and I would have liked to see it taken more seriously. They could have even made the whole thing real – the show and the journey into space – and that would have made things better. But the whole silly tone of things really turned me off. The fact the book implies that anyone would be so willing to send off a group of teenagers with absolutely no training and no adult supervision is ridiculous. Obviously I am not the target audience for this book as an adult reader but I think even teenagers are going realize how off the rails this book gets.

Now, if you like silly stories that don’t really take themselves too seriously then you might like this one. It genuinely lampoons the idea of over the top reality television with a nice, timely science fiction angle. And if you can get past the cringey stereotypes and ridiculous antics (or at the very least accept them for what they are) then Wate of Space could be a pretty decent read. After all, I did finish it. But I can’t say that I’d recommend this book for the average reader and if any of the reasons I didn’t like it might make you feel uncomfortable then you probably don’t want to give it a try.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I don't typically read YA, but I am a fan of reality TV and reality TV meta, so I figured I would give this one a shot. However, I found it too corny and I didn't like the problematic aspects of it, although I know they were incorporated to show the problematic aspects of reality TV. It was well-written and had a good format for the story, but it just wasn't for me.

Love Giana Damico! Waste of Space continued her streak of cleverly witty storytelling that left me in stitches.

Waste of Space was a likeable enough novel. I think everyone who reads this can appreciated the author's attempt to ridicule the entertainment/reality TV industry. The story is quite far-fetched and ridiculous, but it's supposed to be satirical so you can't take it too seriously for the most part. However, there were some parts that were a bit too cheesy/silly for my liking, which did affect my enjoyment of the book. It was also told in epistolary format (transcripts, interviews, etc.) which is not a style I enjoy reading. I have read a few other reviews saying that it would have been better as a comedy movie rather than a book, and I agree. Waste of Space was a quick, light, easy read that makes fun of the reality TV, and while I didn't hate it, I didn't completely enjoy it either.

This is a FUN book! It's a spoof of reality tv shows as well as a fun sci-fi romp. An unscrupulous tv production company producer and cheesy on-air host (think Ryan Seacrest but slimy) recruits several teens to be the cast of his new reality show, "Waste of Space," which is like "Big Brother" but set on a spaceship orbiting the Earth. The tv crew has partnered with a group of space scientists to try for an air of authenticity. The cast is blatantly chosen to fulfill reality show archetypes ("The Party Girl!" "The Rich Kid!" "The Nerd!" etc.) and create tension and "Drama"--this is a low-rent outfit, and part of the fun is seeing how low this tv guy will go in order to get good tv ratings! But by the end they prove to be much more than their stereotypes would have indicated; I liked how the characters were gradually revealed to be a little more well-rounded. Not all of them, though--the "Foreigner" character, who only speaks Japanese, seems to be there only for comic relief and we never get to know much about her. Here's the twist: the tv folks are faking the whole "spaceship" aspect, but they DON'T tell the kids that they're really on a secret soundstage in the desert! (You'd think they'd wonder why there is a hot tub and a "confessional closet" on a spaceship, but only the Japanese girl realizes this right away, and no one can understand her when she tells them!) The story is presented through transcripts of the show episodes and unaired raw footage, as well as transcripts of various phone conversations, all compiled by an intern on the show who wants 'the true story to be told.' The manufactured "Instigating Plot Points" that the producers cook up to create dramatic tensions--"A solar flare!" "An asteroid attack!"-- soon give way to ACTUAL conflicts, as the story accelerates into hilarious farce territory. I won't spoil the plot twists but I couldn't put the book down until I got to the end!

I read an advance copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley (and the YALSA Teens Top Ten galley project).

Initially I was excited for this one. The premise was intriguing and I figured the formatting would be like Illuminae.

But I struggled to even get through the first few chapters. I don't even now exactly why. I loved the author's past series, but this was just... mediocre. I did DNF, unfortunately.

This book wasn't for me. The humour was too zany, the characters drifted too far into caricature. Well, most of them. It seemed like the book couldn't decide if it wanted to be completely absurd satire, or to actually be serious and heartfelt. The result is a painfully stereotypically hillbilly character with a pet pig searching for his abducted tractor sharing page space with an introverted young man who's recently lost his parents and is struggling to connect with his older brother slash guardian. It jars, badly. I think there are those out there who will enjoy the way this book joyously rips into reality TV, but as I said it just wasn't for me

I feel like I’m living in the future. I’ve been reading a lot of books that don’t come out until the summer and while it has been pretty amazing, I think it might be time to live in the now…at least for the present.

Which means that this is might be the last advanced readers copy that I read for the next little bit. My to-read pile is so out of control and I have so very many books that I need to read before I get to live in the future again.

Waste of Space is not set in the future, it is very much in the now. A now where the reality shows need to be bigger and more outrageous than ever before. And what could be bigger than sending 10 teens into space and filming them as they travel the vast and empty void? But, as we all know, reality shows often contain very little reality and this one is much less real than usual. The teens, however, do not know that instead of travelling to space they are instead sequestered on a sound-stage space ship located in the desert. As they navigate carefully scripted disasters, things begin to go off the rails. And then all communication with the “ship” is lost…and the cast members are left to try to figure out how to survive, what is really going on, and how to escape.

This book is an interesting mix of the shallowness of the entertainment industry, mixed with some slightly heavier emotions, which brings on this sort of surrealistic ending that feels somehow wrong and perfect at the same time.

Waste of Space will be published in July of 2017. Until then…Catchphrase Forever!!

Fast-paced and fun read. Interesting premise, the storyline is light but not completely unrealistic. Some characters are a little deeper than others, but keenly so. The story is full of humor and spot-on pop culture references. Would be a great recommendation for reluctant readers as well.

Gosh, I'm honestly a little bit at a loss on how exactly to review this book.
It tries to be many things at once; a satire on society and reality television, a survival story involving adolescents, a study in excess and greed and disparity between social classes, and then some science-fiction thrown in.

Boilded down, Waste of Space is a teen Big Brother that supposedly takes places in space (spoiler alert: it doesn't actually).

Waste of Space follows Chazz Young, a hotshot producer at a cable network called DV8 that shows trashy but enjoyable reality TV (so something like Bravo essentially), who gets the idea to create a show about sending kids into space and filming it. But he's not actually going to send them into space obviously, just make them and anyone watching the show think that he is. Oh, and he's pretty much doing everything on the fly and just going with the flow. It's all very blasé in the writers room for this show.

He holds auditions in malls across America and manipulates kids into signing contracts. There's very minimal time between developing the show and it being on air. And once it's on air it's a huge, astronomical hit, but of course something is bound to go wrong, and it does, completely.
It's all fast paced, and it's actually fun to read. I enjoyed the introduction to the characters and the absolute mania of development more than the actual show and plot, which took up most of the book naturally.

The book is written as a report, with an intern at DV8 compiling evidence in order to determine what actually happened during the duration of Waste Of Space's development, from the initial idea to the last aired episode. Waste Of Space is styled as a collection of audio and video transcripts, so if that's not your thing then you probably won't enjoy 500+ pages of it.
The story is split into four parts; Part One - Preproduction, Part Two - Production, Part Three - The Last Day, and Part Four - Post-Production. Again in all of these we have interviews, transcripts of live and recorded segments for the aired episodes, and transcripts of the live feeds.

At it's core, this is a story about exploration and exploitation. Everyone is exploited, and everyone learns something new about themselves and those around them. Characters who we think are one thing turn out to be another. It's a game, just like reality shows are. Chazz is toying with the audience, all of the teens are toying with each other, and the scientists are doing a little bit of playing themselves.

There were some surprises, some twists and turns, and this book definitely went places that I wasn't expecting. You go into this expecting the antagonist to be one person but it turns out to be someone completely different. There isn't one singular completely good guy, and no one singular completely good guy. Everyone in this book is flawed, even the slightly two-dimensional and underdeveloped characters.

This is a long book, with too many characters trying to do and be too many different things, but it's definitely a fun ride (pun intended).

The way the book ends is kind of hopeful in a completely terrifying way. The whole concept of this book is utterly terrifying, but the fact that one of the contestants is god knows where and we don't really see the aftermath of it is worrying.
No way would a show like this be on the air now, no way, but even with the slight fantasy/sci-fi setting, it does raise a lot of relatable issues.

If you want to read a book about a ton of teens being trapped together, then this is for you.
If you are looking for a book about space exploration then this probably isn't it (although some of the teens do genuinely believe they're in space right until the very end).
If you're just looking for a fun read, then this might be it.

This title falls under the growing amount of novels that have a great idea, but terrible execution. I have found in my library that books written in this form (texts, video blog descriptions, scripts, etc.) have not been popular among teens or adults. Even with all of our technology and the constant social media barrage, people are turned off by a book in this format. It creates distance from the characters, confusion with plot lines, and an unnatural feel to the story. This book in particular had many faults that made it almost unreadable. Starting a science fiction book in the current year, which will be the past when the book is released, creates an unrealistic feel immediately as this obviously has not happened and the world is not how it is in the novel. Our main character/host, Chazz, is unlikable and a constant annoyance to intelligent readers because of his arrogance and (lack of) intelligence. The show itself is ridiculous, hitting higher and higher on the unbelievable scale and causing eye roles at every turn. The show’s characters are way too stereotyped (even though it is explained that that is what the producers were going for). I’m sad to say that this quickly became a mash up of over the top, overly done, and unrealistic instances that did not amount to much.

I loved Gina Damico's Croak series, and I liked Waste of Space as well. The satirically stupid characters will appeal to many teen readers, but what kept me going was: A) there's no way all these characters are really this stupid, and B) HOW is this disaster of a show going to go down in flames? I was not disappointed; although the first half of the show was a little tedious, the second half delivered!

While the writing was funny, the story didn't really pull me in like I wanted it to. It wasn't quite as big as it promised, and the stakes weren't as high as they should have been. It was too contrived for me to really get into the characters.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Overall this book was pretty good. I will say this would be more amusing as a movie than a book. But that being said I would still probably tell someone to read this. The characteristics of each character were very pronounced. There are only a few surprises that even I admit were nice twists. The ending was unexpected but expected at the same time. I think this book would have been good with a different ending buy this ending foods well. I will end it with saying I am a sticker for a happy ending for the good guys.

This contained all the elements of a brilliant can't-take-your-eyes-away reality show combined with the really fantastically woven drama of a well crafted rich leader.

I'm not usually too much of a sucker for reality television, but I felt that this utilized the best aspects of shows quite effectively in that it was absolutely terrible and I couldn't stop watching. The premise of the show was iffy at best, and the way that certain groups kept publishing articles about how it wasn't possible felt scarily reminiscent of the real world.

I loved the style in which this was told, and how the intern narrator gathered evidence from all over and compiled it into this. It added realism to the plot while making it more mysterious. I enjoyed reading the dialogue and felt like it was quite simple to follow though the style allowed us to see the events of the book from the perspective of practically everyone involved.

The casting of the characters, although it was completely random, was completely perfect and the author did a lovely job of picking a strong mix of personalities to compete. Just like a viewer, I loved some, hated some, and shipped others. Bacardi is a complete gem. And I love the dynamic between NASAW and the television production company.

Yet this book also isn't predictable as I thought it might be. There were quite a lot of things that surprised me, though everything indeed felt believable. The plot had me turning pages all the way through the very clever ending.

I think this book is best for high school aged readers, but most people who enjoy a good laugh should enjoy it.

Reality television, 10 teenagers, and an opportunity to go to space. In Waste of Space by Gina Damico, it seems as if this very premise is a chance of a lifetime and that nothing could go wrong...but it can.

Ten teenagers are presented with the opportunity to travel to space for a reality television show, Waste of Space, vying for a grand prize of one million space dollars (...whatever that amounts to in currency on Earth). The kids (or at least most of them) believe that they are actually in space while they are actually in the Arizona desert on a soundstage in a "space plane" built by both a special effects company and scientists of a lesser known governmental space agency. When communication to the kids suddenly is severed, the producers realize that the scientists have taken over and strange things begin to happen on the ship, making those who think they're on Earth question if they might somehow actually be in space.
An incredibly quick-paced read, the story unfolds before us as a series of evidence compiled from phone calls, video recordings, emails, and aired and behind-the-scenes transcripts of footage. The writing is infused with plenty of humorous quips and references to both build upon and counter some of the ridiculous events of the story. Each of the characters did serve a specific purpose in the narrative but it seemed as if their primary role was fulfilling the quota of stereotyped reality show characters, which was ultimately understandable though groan-worthy in its own right. This was a light, entertaining read that poked fun at the reality television racket.

Overall, I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Wow. This novel is hilarious and hits so many notes: mystery, Sci-Fi, outrageous comedy and teenage angst.

I thought, early on, that I'd made a sound prediction of what the major twist was. I'm delighted to say that I had it wrong and the twist was twistier than I'd expected. I do love it when a book turns in an unforeseen direction.

The style was a lot of fun, merging transcripts and emails and narrative.

Due to drug and sex references, I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone younger than Year 10 (that's 15 years old in the UK).