DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Woah.

That's all I can say at the moment, this book has left me a little bit speechless. The drama, the mystery, the intrigue, the secrets, suspicions and lies, there's so much of all of these things hidden away in the sci-fi romance.

I was expecting a clichê love story set in the stars, but this book is so much more than that.

This novel is split between three POVs, our main POV belongs to Léonor who is one of the twelve participants on board the Cupido. Alongside her ship mates she volunteered to take on this mission but all is not what it seems and Léonor has her own rules which she is determined to play by.

Another POV on this story is by Serena McBee, who is possibly the entire brains behind this speed dating phenomenon. Although we learn a lot about Serena's personality, there are also loose ends and untouched mysteries. I'm intrigued to find out more about this ruthless character in the sequel.

And our last POV belongs to a very mysterious character who has his own agenda throughout the novel, he's determined to discover the secrets behind the Genesis program and won't let anybody stop him. His journey is incomplete at the end of the book which makes me suspect he will be contributing his POV in the sequel also.

Ascension had a slightly slow start with but steadily picked up the pace until I was racing to the end to discover the answers. The book ends on a cliffhanger which has left me reeling, I'm thankful that the sequel Distortion is published next month as I'm desperate to read more about the twelve astronauts and how they will react to the startling truths they're about to discover.

I took this novel with me while I went on holiday because I knew I would have at least one full day alone to fill with reading, and I wanted to choose something that would keep me engrossed. I'm so glad I chose this book because it filled those criteria perfectly.
This book is just amazing, it is a perfect space YA novel, with great characters, action, intrigue and a sprinkling of romance. It's a clever premise for a YA novel, especially given the increasing popularity of tv shows such as Love Island.
The characters in this novel are great. Our main character is Leonor, a fiery French girl with amazing ginger hair (which I obviously love!) She's wonderfully written, she's flawed, and at times really frustrating, but still so likeable, and I rooted for her the whole way through the novel. I really enjoyed following her story and having the story focus on her.
Ascension is the first novel in a trilogy that was first published in Dutch, and is being published in the UK by Hot Key Books. The next novel is published in October, and I am eagerly anticipating its release!
Dixen has done a great job of describing and expanding the setting of the novel. I love space novels, and one of my favourite parts of these novels is the world-building and all the information about space we are given. Dixen doesn't disappoint in this regard, and he does a nice job of balancing this informative style with the reality tv aspect of the plot.
The plot is cleverly written, there is a big twist which the reader is aware of from very early in the novel, but which our main characters are not privy to until the very end. This style of narrative increases the jeopardy, we know, and we are desperate for the character to figure out what we know!
Overall I absolutely adored this novel. It's a wonderful YA sci-fi with break-neck pacing and great characters. If you loved Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, I think you'll like this novel too!

I was intrigued by the idea of this book, but nothing prepared me for how good it really was. It's a cute idea, but nothing is cute about the book itself. Everyone on board the ship (and many of the people left behind on earth) has a secret and as the secrets are slowly revealed and kept hidden, things get dramatic, ending in a cliff-hanger that will make you count down the days until the next book is released.

We see most of the ship-board action through Leonor's eyes and I loved her as a character. She was so determined to find a new life on Mars, despite the reasons she felt would hold her back. I loved seeing her meet the different boys and discover the secrets about the Genesis programme. Her no-nonsense approach to trying to decide which boy to marry was a good way to view the book through unromantic eyes and even better when she started to feel things along the way.

Whatever you expect from this book, I can guarantee it will surprise you in some way. It's so compelling with so many secrets that it's just impossible to put down. This is definitely going to book I'll remember for a long time.

Now normally I'm not really into any reality TV like "Love Island" or "Big Brother" and such like, so I think I was mainly interested in the space element but I was blown away by this, I honestly don't know what I was expecting but this certainly was far above anything I could assume.

Even when the description mentions "if dream turns into a nightmare" it is so easy to assume that it's just because they get homesick or they find out that they don't actually get on with anyone, I mean imagine being in a space craft and then left on a planet with 11 people you don't like, it sounds like it could be a total nightmare, after all you can't just decide to go home when you are fed up can you?

But no, that's not what happens, it turns out that there is a team within the Genesis programme that are more than just a little corrupt, who will go to extreme lengths to keep the Noah Report hidden.

There are so many different subplots within this, I do wish there had been more from the boys side but as this is mainly told from Leonors side we only find out about the boys when she meets them during their speed dating sessions and when the group of girls are discussing them.
Having said that, we do see some of the other speed dating sessions from the perspective of viewers at home watching the genesis channel.
The secret team within the Genesis Programme and the Noah Report actually do take up quite a large portion of the plot, although you wouldn't think so when you first start reading.

Character wise Leonor probably was my favourite, she was definitely the most "Real" out of the group, at the end of the day they were all there to play a game of some form, but by being herself she was the only one who started to notice that things weren't right.
Elizabeth and FangFang are both towards the bottom of my list, Elizabeth is just such a snake, who knows maybe she will change, and FangFang, she hasn't actually done anything, I just can't see a connection with her and the group as friends yet, she's just "there" studying a lot.

I wasn't overly keen on a lot of the dialogue between the team at Genesis, sometimes it felt a little odd, but I imagine this is due to translation, sometimes changes have to be made, I don't feel like it took away from the plot in any way though.

The ending was SUCH a cliffhanger, I can't wait for "Distortion" to be released because my god I feel like I need it now.
Will they make it to Mars? What will happen once they are there? what will happen with the Noah Report? Who is going to marry Who?

As soon as I saw the description of Ascension I just knew I had to read it, I also had a sneaking suspicion that I would love it seeing as I’m a huge YA fan, and I was 100% right.
This book was such a thrilling ride, highly entertaining and totally addictive a complete knockout of a book on my opinion.

I absolutely loved the idea behind ascension, there’s not many books (if any) with a speed dating in space storyline so I was eager to dive right in and by page 32 I knew I was onto a winner. Leonor was such a wonderful character full of fighting spirit but also full of doubts about herself and watching her journey aboard the cupido (<- literally just got the name of the spacecraft ) was fantastic. I also loved how the author explored self esteem issues, acceptance, hardships, second chances, family, love and friendships.

The alternating chapters really worked well for me too, they kept me gripped I loved getting to see how everything was going on earth and how cold and ruthless all the adults involved in the cupido launch were, and I can’t wait to see how they all fair in Distortion book 2.

My one and only tiny thing missing from this book was a little more insight into the boys journey. I would have loved a few chapters getting to see how they were fairing with the speed dating sessions but fingers crossed there’s a little more from them in book 2 which I’m so excited for, October can’t come quick enough if I could read French I would 100% be picking up the French editions which are all out.

Thank you kindly to the publishers at hotkeybooks who sent me a copy for review.

So this book has a great plot. Six girls and Six boys sent to Mars to start a new, get married and have kids and basically start the Human population on Mars... Without knowing the terrifying facts known by the adults in charge.

So as good as the plot is and itsounds amazing I hate all the characters and I find them all very annoying. I made it 26% and I've found nothing relatable about any of them. And I cannot read anymore. I'm very sorry but I won't be continuing the book.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been watching a little too much Love Island at the moment, but there was almost something of a guilty pleasure-esque feeling when I picked up Ascension. Six boys and six girls have to try and ‘pair up’ on a six-month trip to Mars, where they’ll start a new colony with the children that they have. It sounds like reality-TV on steroids. Also, the cover is amazing.

And that’s basically what I got. I’m not sure if something was lost when the original text was translated from the French, but for me, I felt like the book had potential to be more than it was. It has all the separate elements: a strong heroine, a conspiracy, an intriguing setting and lots of plotting adults pulling strings in the background. A little like The Hunger Games.

However, something didn’t quite click for me. The prose was quite clunky, the plot quite slow, and the adults a little too obviously bad for there to be a lot of subtlety, or a lot of scope to satirise and critique our obsession with reality television- as I felt it was trying to do at points, with Serena, the host, given gratingly long speeches that sometimes made me skip ahead.

Furthermore, the history of the world that Dixen has created, which sounds fascinating, wasn’t explored in enough detail for me to feel too invested in the subplots involving Serena, the gameshow host- and her frail daughter- or Andrew, the son of one of the project’s masterminds who died in suspicious circumstances. Likewise, the twist happens a little too soon for there to be a real impact heading towards the end of the story, which takes the wind out of the climax a little bit.

Don’t get me wrong, though, the story itself was very intriguing, and did keep me hooked throughout. The best bits of the story take place on the Cupido- the spaceship the twelve teens are on- and watching their relationships develop, the backstabbing and just the descriptions of life at space are all really entertaining. I also really liked the fact that all the candidates have their own ‘weakness’, which gradually comes to light over the course of the book.

Léonor is also a great central character, with her vulnerabilities that she masks as anger, and her refusal to compromise her values despite pressures from the adults- that will definitely make for an interesting sequel. I would’ve liked to see more from the boys, too- and more POVs from the people on the spacecraft- but perhaps that will be explored later on, too.

So: first thoughts? It’s an incredibly ambitious novel that takes you all the way to outer space and invests you in so many different storylines that your head spins. Though some of it falls short, it’s a promising start, and I’ll be interested to see what the sequel looks like as the characters start their lives on Mars.

Three word review: Fascinating. Epic. Confusing.

As soon as I read the intriguing description of this book I knew I’d have to read it, I was keen to know how the Genesis Programme would work and what the final results would be.

The storyline pulled me in right from the very start, I had so many questions about the programme and the characters that I just couldn’t stop reading. The mysterious ‘Noah Report’ had me coming up with all sorts of theories, I always enjoy trying to figure out what’s going to happen even if I don’t always get it right.

The on-screen diagrams were a fabulous touch, it gave me a clear sense of where everything was in the Cupido. I couldn’t wait to get into the Visiting Room to see how the characters interacted and thanks to the way it was written I actually felt like I was watching a tv show.

All of the characters had an interesting story to tell and secrets they would rather stay hidden but, for me, Serena held the most intrigue. She brought a sense of darkness to the storyline and I found myself utterly bewildered by her actions, I just couldn’t figure her out. Why did she do the things she did? What was the story with her daughter?

As I read the final pages my heart was pounding and when I realised that I’d have to wait for another book to find out what happens next, I was distraught. I need to know now :D .

A fascinating read filled with so many questions and possibilities, I think this will be one of 2018’s big hits!

An addictive read that kept me hooked throughout, definitely a refreshing take on space-travel. Can't wait for the next one already even though this one has just come out. If you love space, and you love dating shows, I'd definitely recommend this.

As soon as I read the blurb for this book I knew I had to read it. I have a weakness for books set in space and I loved the idea of a speed dating reality programme aimed at creating the first human colony on Mars, it's definitely an original idea!


This book gave me the same kind of feeling as The Hunger Games did when I first read it, both because of the aspect of young people trying to outwit themselves in a ruthless competition and for the fact I couldn't tear myself away from it once I started reading.


The story unravelled really well, revealing massive plot points seemingly in every chapter which really kept me glued to the book desperate to see what happened next.


At times I found that the dialogue between the characters felt a bit stilted but I think this was down to the translation of the book. There was also plenty of cheesiness in each speed dating session but I think this perfectly depicted how awkward it is to try and sell yourself to someone in a six minute window.


I was gutted when I reached the end of this book because I wasn't ready for it to be over. I need answers! I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series!

This was an interesting read. The plot and characters were realistic and relatable. However, the ending was a let-down.

I received a e-book review copy of Ascension via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Hot Key Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Okay so I feel like I should’ve been fairly content with this book but for me, the storyline was a little bit weak. I don’t think it helped that Love Island is currently on in the UK and I just despise everything about that show, and this book just kind of gave me those vibes... “Coupling up” with people to spend the rest of your lives with them after a few short meetings?
I was hoping there would be more sci-fi related talk, maybe a bit of an Artemis/ The Martian vibe, with some techy terms, a few nerdy jokes, but since this was essentially a story about a game show, none of the actual volunteers were actual professionals – they were volunteers with nothing. People who had no family who would miss them, or people who were running away from Earth. So this book centred more around feelings, and rankings on heart-charts etc. It was a bit romance oriented.
That being said, our protagonist Leonor, definitely saved the day. Unlike the other contestants she isn’t really that bothered about the rankings, she is fair and methodical, and seemingly the only one with any regret. Whilst the others in her group come across incredibly naïve, Leonor sees through so many veils and to be honest I really like her as a character. I think her description of “A Red Giant” is so accurate; though lacking in self-confidence in some areas, she is by far the most head strong of the group, and the most fiery.
This pace of this book definitely picks up, initially I kept reading because I was intrigued, during the middle it began to drop off a bit for me – focussing on relationships and the like, but when the twist started to come about I was drawn back in and I am pleased I finished the book. I think I’ll continue with the series because I really want to know how the characters solve their crisis, though I do hope it becomes more action and adventure-packed and moves away from the reality-TV focal point.
There is a definite gap between how well we know our protagonist, and how well we know the other contestants – granted since this book is told from Leonor’s POV, getting to know the boys would’ve been challenging, though I would’ve liked more of an insight into the other girls’ personalities. We kind of caught glimpses but I feel like they’re still a little 2-dimensional and we know so little about the people whom Leonor has spent all this time with. Hopefully this is something which will come in later books.
Overall I’m awarding this book 3.5*/5, I disliked the reality-TV focal point, I feel like the book could’ve taken more of an action front rather than focussing so much on the romantic game-show. I would’ve additionally liked more of a Martian feel about it, they’re in space, they’re astronauts, yet their knowledge seems to be… minimal. The saving graces for this book (and a good job they did) were the plot twist, and the bad-ass protagonist. Leonor was so human and 3-dimensional compared to her peers, and who doesn’t love a strong female lead? If you enjoy YA Sci-Fi with a romance twist this is something you’d likely enjoy. For me the romance was a little too prominent.

Originally I was sceptical about this novel. Anything with Space usually is off putting to me (i enjoy keeping my feet on the ground) but i did enjoy this novel to an extent.

I loved the idea of them only meeting in six minute time slots - it give a sense of the romance about the whole situation. I also enjoyed seeing the difference between each of the other girls, seeing the different personalities gave the novel a new aspect and dimension which helped move it along.

However the more I read the novel the faster it seemed to move and I must admit that part of it I didn't like. I felt like more could have been added including the other dates between Leonor and the other boys.

I didn't enjoy how much focus was put on some of the background characters jumping between the two made it difficult to follow on some occasions.

However this is a novel I would recommend to any sci-fi fans who love romance at the same time. This is definitely the novel for them!

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I also happened to win a signed final copy on insta, which is the version I read, but this did not affect my review.

This book is both epic genius and completely bonkers! I love the whole concept of blind date meets big brother meets spaceship. While I’m not a romance story person, this isn’t really one (as much as it is all about the relationships). I like how it’s darker than it seems at first glance, and how we get a POV on earth to balance out what Leonor knows. The bonkers part is mostly just because it is so focussed on the relationships, when they’re almost not the point of the story. And also blind date is always a bonkers concept ;). I do love it though.

I mostly like all the girls, and Leonor is a decent main character. I was sort of hoping for a little more between her and Kris though - that would have sent the show on a tumble! 😂 that aside, I also wanted slightly more from their friendship.

The story is quite more-ish, and I was definitely keen to find out what happens as it went along! And I really love the concept of the US selling of NASA for profit and someone taking it on and turning it into a giant reality tv machine. It really is genius.

My main niggle is how the contestants view themselves, and allow others to guide how they think of themselves (like anything Serena thinks about them off air) - and this seems so especially true for Leonor, and to a degree Tao, though we see less of him so it’s harder to know what he’s thinking. It feels incredibly ableist for them to be so ashamed. That said, Leonor has her reasons, and while I don’t agree I can see how a young girl may come to view things that way. I just felt that this particular thing didn’t feel very realistic. Even if she hated it (and OMG trying to discuss this without spoilers is hard, so I’m marking for mild spoilers), I don’t feel all the adults would treat her like they did.

And that I think tumbles into my next point - all the characters could be very abrupt and changeable. This sometimes made it hard to connect with them or what was going on.

That all said, I completely love how it ended! And I’m definitely keen to read what happens next! And to find out more about the characters - what do they decide and do previous decisions hold, so we find out more about Liz and her strategy, do we find out who Serena used? So many good questions!

Ascension is the first book in the Phobos series by Victor Dixen. I had no idea that it had been originally written in Dutch and translated into English. I absolutely loved the sound of this book from the synopsis alone as it sounded like such a fun and relatively light-hearted read. I absolutely love the idea; speed-dating in space on a one-way ride to Mars, fighting for each other's affections, while the whole world watches (Yes, I love programs like Unreal). I love that the characters are in a confined spaceship in space I think it adds an extra element that only being trapped with no real escape that helps the drama develops.

The novel is split into different plotlines each designated by a different cinematographic term. I thought that this was a brilliant added detail that has been added I am a lover of the small intricate details that tie things together.

• 'Shot' follows Leo's story aboard the Cupido

• 'Genesis Channel' is a transcript of the speed-dating sessions.

• 'Reverse Shot' follows the by the executives of the Genesis Program

• 'Out Of Frame' follows Andrew Fisher's investigation



I love how this gives the story an interesting contrast between the characters on the surface and the people they are underneath, and it is certainly an interesting and effective method of storytelling.



It is quite clear that Dixen has done his research in terms of the science which adds another beautiful layer to this book. The Cupido (the Martian colony ship) is powered by a Nuclear Thermal Rocket and uses centripetal force to generate Mars-level artificial gravity, even the signal delay is taken into account, with some chapters even noting exactly how long the delay is. The book is also full of technical diagrams of the spacecraft, the habitat modules and the journey to and from Mars, which is a very nice touch.

Hmm. Never have I gone from feeling like a book would be one of my higher rated ones to a general feeling of mediocrity. The premise? Fantastic. It really did deliver on the creepy Big Brother reality tv show feel too, which left me feeling that however creepy I found the premise, it would be easy to see how that kind of show would capture people's imaginations. The plot? Not so much. There was no sense of mystery, we were told key pieces of information very early on and I was left with the general feeling that this book defied the standard rule of "show, don't tell". Why were characters so happy to blurt out secrets, which we had been told by the organiser of the contest that they would do anything to keep secret? Also, only seeing the boys in the brief glimpses of the interviews meant that I failed to get particularly invested in any of them as characters. I'd have loved to see the journey from one of their pov, or get snippets about what was going on in the boys' chamber. It meant I couldn't root for any of the romances particularly, as I didn't know the boys well enough to care.

And yet, I couldn't stop reading. "Ascension" did have me hooked in places, because the concept was so brilliant and there were some moments where I couldn't help wishing that the writing was as good as the premise and some of the plot points promised. Despite myself, I'll probably end up reading the rest in the trilogy.

"There's still time to refuse. It's my choice, my final freedom, and nothing and no one can take it away from me--not the year of training, not the dozens of contracts I've signed, not the legions of viewers lurking in wait like so many moray eels behind their screens for the twenty-three weeks ahead."

A long time ago, I read a book called Darlah--or, as it was renamed for US publication, 172 Hours on the Moon. Darlah involved three teenagers selected from around the world to go to the Moon, who discover that their mission is a lot more sinister than advertised. Darlah was a chilling horror novel that I still return to every now and then because of how it stuck in my mind. It was even, just like the book I'm about to review, translated from another European language. When I saw Ascension, with its "teenagers in space, everything goes wrong" premise, I immediately thought of Darlah. But Ascension isn't Darlah. It's not even budget Darlah, as I thought critically for a while. It's a confounding novel of contradictions, and I'm honestly not sure what to make of it.

The English version of Ascension can't be reviewed without addressing the elephant in the room: Either due to lousy translation or an insurmountable sociolinguistic barrier, the prose is a shaky mess that reads like it was written by a 12-year-old whose only idea of sci-fi novels comes from Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks. None of the characters, even those who purportedly have English as a first language, talk like native English speakers; clichéd dialogue and forced metaphors dog the entirety of the novel. On the other hand, the English version of Darlah contains barely any traces of Ascension's awkwardness. If not told, most readers probably would never have an inkling that it was translated. Unless the linguistic difference between French and English is somehow massively wider than that between Norwegian and English, the mere fact that Ascension is a translated work can't excuse it.

Without reading Phobos in the original French, it's hard to say whether its English equivalent's stilted syntax is due to translating errors or flat out poor writing. My best guess is that it's a bit of both. From what I was able to find on the translator, it seems that Daniel Hahn is much more used to translating literary fiction than sci-fi fare, which could be one reason why Ascension's tone ends up so jarringly at odds with its casual near-futuristic narrative.

At the same time, there are some features of the prose that likely wouldn't exist unless they were that way in the original French as well. For example, characters deliver a staggeringly amateurish amount of exposition in speech, to the point where you wonder if the author has never heard of "show not tell." It gets hilarious how often a character will say something alone the lines of, "Oh yes, my evil colleagues, our villainous plan is bound to work because of master machinations A, B and C, which as you all know use pseudoscientific technologies D, E and F. The heroes will never see it coming and will die all alone in space. Mwahahahaha!"

Every other scene, basically.

However, and this feels like the biggest however I've ever written, it's possible to read between the lines and try to discern Victor Dixen's original voice underneath all the cartoonish prose. Doing so, Ascension can be quite a self-aware, tongue in cheek thriller blessed with sleek plotting that knows and enjoys exactly how ridiculous it is. In this way, the novel is an acquired taste--go in trying to read it straight, and you'll just end up with a headache. But go in knowing it's intentionally and gleefully a crazy space drama, and it becomes the literary equivalent of a top-rated reality show: silly, wildly unrealistic, and really entertaining.

12 teenagers are sent on the first mission to Mars, with the aim of colonising it. Six girls and six boys from all over the world. The girls and boys are kept separate, except for once a day, where one girl chooses one boy (or one boy chooses one girl) to talk to for six minutes. These 'speed dating' sessions are in place with the idea that they would have all paired up by the time they reach Mars. The sessions, along with the rest of their lives aboard the spaceship, are televised on Earth in a Big Brother style program.

The writing of this book let the concept down immeasurably.

I can forgive dialogue sounding clunky at times because this novel has been translated into English. That means that slightly unrealistically sounding dialogue isn't the fault of the author, so I can let it go. However, characters were barely able to talk to one another without monologuing, which got annoying very quickly. Teenagers don't talk like that. Especially not if they've only got six minutes to have a conversation.

Even worse that this was the villain, Serena. The first couple of chapters revealed information to the reader in a slow, measured way, that makes you want to keep reading and put together the rest of the puzzle. However, I can only imagine that Dixen got bored, because this approach is quickly abandoned in favour of Serena explaining everything about her plan in great detail to a group of people who already knew about it. Exposition should be far less conspicuous than that. At one point I thought to myself, at least this isn't being littered with the phrase 'As you know...' because that really is the calling card of lazy writing. Guess what started being used every few pages not long after I'd had that thought?

Even the US presidential elections got this treatment. The electoral college system doesn't need explaining, it doesn't make a difference to the story, and yet over half a page was dedicated to it, complete with an 'As you know...' I'm firmly convinced that anyone who cares about the distinction isn't looking to learn about it from a YA novel. It was completely unnecessary and frankly, it was irritating.

In addition, my suspension of disbelief was shattered early on when it was mentioned that NASA was sold off to private investors by the 'Ultra-liberal' party. Dixen, please, it takes about three seconds to Google the views of different areas on the political spectrum. Rampant privitisation is a right wing policy, not a liberal one. NASA being privately owned didn't even need explaining. This novel is set in the future. I could have just accepted that this had happened at some point and moved on.

Finding yourself mentally rewriting the majority of the book you're reading is not a good sign.

Another thing that bothered me was the love triangle that sprung up. It was entirely unnecessary and I'd have much preferred it not being there. Also, the protagonist's attraction to one of the boys made no sense to me. He annoyed her, and had no respect for the way she wanted to conduct herself through the speed dating game, and yet suddenly she was in love with him???? I'm fully aware that my standards for romance are high, but even so, that entire situation was just baffling.

I really liked the concept of this book, and the first few chapters were well done. But the writing went so downhill that I spent the last third just wanting it to be over already, so I can't in good faith recommend it to anyone.

I received an e-arc through Netgalley in return for an honest review. Quotes may differ in the published version.