~ Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Knopf Books for providing me with an early copy for review! ~

This was a super quick read with some very interesting ideas. Ultimately, I do think the story is slightly forgettable, but the messages it carries are very memorable.

I went into this hoping for a fast-paced survival story, and that is definitely what I got out of it. Of course, Aidan (the young boy in this novel) also represents a much larger message, one that is quite poignant and fitting.

I think Nick Lake wrote this book as a way to get some of his random ideas out into the world, and I think it was effective. I could resonate with a lot of Emily's thoughts and especially loved seeing a 16-year-old girl function so brilliantly in the wild. I envy her resilience out there and always hope I would be able to respond the same way.

The main themes of this book are love and personal liberty, and I think the growth between Emily and her family was illustrated in a very unique way (surviving in the wilderness trying to protect an alien child lol). So for that, I give this book high praise.

This definitely makes me eager to read Lake's other work, Satellite, which I've had on my shelves for a little while but haven't gotten around to quite yet.

Book Review: Nowhere on Earth by Nick Lake
Pub Date: 26 May 2020
Read courtesy of http://netgalley.com

One word: derivative.

First, though, this book didn't know what it wanted to be. It felt easy to read, but right off the bat (chapter 1, paragraph 1) the author threw in "big words," which could easily turn off the reluctant reader who might have otherwise found this a highly accessible book.

Second, I honestly do not know if my high schoolers like reading stories where the teenage protagonist (Emily) is smarter than the adults, but I personally dislike that as a plot method. Yes, teenagers mostly do think they are smarter than their parents, but to make that the premise of a book, as if the teen is a superhero and the parents are clueless, gets old.

OK, back to "derivative." Quite early in the story I felt like I was reading E.T., the Extra-terrestrial. This feeling resurfaced often. Then the Men in Black reference was repeated (and repeated) throughout the book. Then the plane crash was like Hatchet. I even got a hint of Star Wars with a line that sounded like, "These are not the droids you are looking for." Then a little bit of Star Trek was thrown in with their "prime directive"; Aidan couldn't interfere with the Earth's history. I hit my limit when Aidan's departure mimicked E.T.'s "I'll be right here" and I pictured the author thinking, "Queue E.T.s glowing finger." That wasn't the last unoriginal reference, though; the goodbye scene with Emily and Aidan turned into the intro from The Big Bang Theory.

I found the author's descriptions of Emily's father to be inconsistent in that his personality didn't match his character in the end. Throughout she describe him as "all military precision and attention," "Emily's dad had many useful things in his backpack - that was his style...," "...her dad, sticking to the logic of the story," "She was still averting her eyes. Her dad would see her lies in an instant, if he looked into them," "...her dad said needlessly, and Emily realized something else: this was how he dealt with stress. By trying to understand, to analyze," and "That was Emily's dad: no need to discuss what kind of message, or how, or anything irrelevant like that. Pure focus on the plan." Then at the end,

"There was an awkward silence, and then they laughed. They tried not to talk too much about the time after the plane crash - he parents told themselves a story abut it, that they'd been in a rush to get to civilization, but Emily could tell they only partially believed it, and that the best way for them to reconcile the events with the kind of people they understood themselves to be was to not think about it."

To be fair, there were some positives. The author obviously took a great deal of thought into making Aidan's character's abilities consistent and plausible. That's a real plus, since the story wouldn't have worked at all without this being tight and dependable. I was also pleasantly surprised at how clever the author had Emily be at the end with the man in the gray suit, playing like she knew as much as her parents did about the events that occurred.

However, I think the author did more thinking about how he could mix ET with Agent J or Spock than he did about making an original and absorbing story.

This is a honest review. I received this book at netgalley from the publisher an writer.

Summary:
Emily is 16 years and on the run, she has gotten herself in trouble at school. ,When she finds a little boy named Aidan wandering in the woods, she knows she needs to help him find his way home. But getting him home is not as easy. because Aidan is not from earth. To help him she and Aidan are on board off a little plane. But when this plan goes down into the side of a snowy mountain, it’s up to Emily to ensure Aidan and their pilot, Bob, make it off the mountain alive. But the "men in black" are hunting them down. The 3 of them needs to survive in the frozen landscape and try to help Aidan to get home. And the learning more about each other, and about life, than they ever thought possible.

I give this book 4 stars.
This book is not something I would have picked up on my own. But the story is well written. Sometimes I had some trouble to know who said what, and I had to reread the part. But the story of love. To be depend on each other in difficult circumstances really had me drawn into the story. This book is a fast but enjoyable story and I can recommend this book if you like a little bit of syfi .

Nowhere on Earth had me hooked from the beginning! This book is different but in a great way. It's a story of survival in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash. The plot was very engaging, and the characters (one who isn't a human) were very well developed. I also loved how well the past story of the main character Emily fit with her current story and didn't disrupt the flow of the book. Nowhere on Earth was an engaging book that I enjoyed reading.

So--whoa. Nowhere on Earth was an incredibly unique and interesting book unlike any other I have read before. When I first started reading, I thought it would just be a regular plane crash, survivalist, girl-and-her-kid-brother novel. Then there is an added layer of "Hm, why is there this secrecy here with the main character?" and "can we trust this pilot?" and THEN ka-boom. All of a sudden this seemingly normal book is not normal at all. We are in full-blown sci-fi land. Kid brother is not from Earth and we need to send messages to aliens and, of course, all of this is in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. So I am rating this book four stars for being fast-paced, unique, and a healthy dose of what I think YA needs more of in the vein of sci-fi! Thank you, for granting me this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Nick Lake, and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read Nowhere on Earth in exchange for an honest review. 

What initially drew me to this book was the point in the back-of-book blurb which reads: "But getting home is no easy matter, especially [when] Emily finds out that Aidan isn't even from Earth." Cool, aliens! I'm into reading about aliens right now...

Despite this book featuring an alien, it was quite mundane in the science-fiction elements. Rather, this book sends a powerful message about what it means to be a family.

After accidentally setting her new school on fire, Emily isn't sure how to confront her parents. When she runs outside after hearing a crash, she finds a little boy and a not-so-inconspicuous spacecraft. Aidan, as the boy calls himself, uses an alien ability in which he looks like something that needs to be cared for and protected by any who see him (as long as they don't see his true form underneath, which Emily has). This means, when Emily's parents see Aidan for the first time, their memories are flooded with him as if he was always the little boy in the family.

Knowing Emily must escape the small Alaskan town, from her misstep at school and to help Aidan get home, the two stow away on a man's delivery aircraft. When it crashes in the mountains in the middle of nowhere Alaska, men dressed in white with more than a few guns are on the prowl, probably to catch and dissect Aidan. In the pursuit of what Emily calls the "men in black" (even though they are wearing white, ha ha...), the trio (Emily, Aidan, and shot and injured pilot Bob) make their way down the mountain.

Emily's goal is to get Aidan to the old HAARP facility where he can send a long-range communication to his people and thus be saved. During their journey, Aidan and Emily's relationship proves that family is more than blood. Bob's past comes to life, and Emily's relationship with her own parents is explored.

A major message is that the past is the past and the present is the present, but the future is in the hands of the individual. Occurrences of the past will not be forgotten. Those who we have lost are never forgotten. 

While the story felt somewhat simple to me, in terms of my alien expectations, I absolutely loved this writing style. The chapters were usually quick and focused. The structure was interesting as well. The book starts with the plane crash and the reader is filled in periodically throughout the book about Emily's past. This keeps the action going while giving well-paced breaks to the reader.

This book was riveting and intriguing. Nick Lake's writing style is phenomenal, and I am definitely interested in reading some of his other works, as I devoured Nowhere on Earth rather quickly. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a solid story that feels close to home.

* Even with a sci-fi touch, Nick Lake is able to connect the reader back to reality with current cultural links and jokes such as Nickelback being a horrible band.
* Suspense - always a cat and mouse chase, as soon as you think they’re all safe and free from harm, they’re not.
* E.T vibes with the extra-terrestrial trying to find their way home.
* The mind-blowing gift at the end was a bit underwhelming for how it was portrayed through the novel.
* Not everything made sense, was a little confusing.

I really enjoyed Nowhere on Earth. It is so nice to find a YA novel that isn't about falling in love, but focuses on family! I really enjoyed the action of Nick Lake's writing and I'll be looking for more books by him!

This book was full of adventure and super sweet. Rarely do you come across a young adult novel that doesn't have a focus on romance, but this novel did not. Instead, it focused on family ties and friendship in the face of danger. Particularly danger from the government after an alien crash-lands on Earth. Our main character, Emily, has bonded to Aidan—a young alien who has taken on the form of a little boy. Emily is determined to protect him, and return him to his home, all the while battling her inner emotions of the loss of him, the crumbling high school life, and the common theme of not being understood by our parents.

We follow Aidan and Emily on an adventure through the Alaskan mountains in an attempt to reach a facility with the ability to contact Aidan's family. But of course, they are being pursued because the authorities recorded Aidan's crash-landing. Emily is well prepared for the mountain trek, her parents having trained her in advance due to their love of nature, so it was impressive to see her survival skills, but also not unexpected like some novels. This heroine was not your ordinary girl, she is very dynamic and it was nice to see such a well-rounded character leading the narrative.

The novel also made you think a bit. It was ultimately reminding us to be reflective in life and understand that tomorrow is a blank page in our story. We can write whatever we want on that page. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a quick, sci-fi/fantasy-stand-alone novel, with a strong female lead, and a focus on family.

Thank you, NetGalley, for a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I absolutely loved this book-it was an absolute treat. The author's writing style was wonderful-the way he described the wilderness of Alaska reminded me of my big, beautiful, mountains here in Colorado. I admired the strength and tenacity of the main character, Emily. It was refreshing to have such a strong female lead. I enjoyed the characters in the book-they were relatable and worked as a unit. This is a great book for anybody hoping to read about the bonds between siblings, the power of love, a coming of age tale, or just a really thrilling science fiction book! I would gladly recommend Nowhere on Earth to any book lover, and I look forward to reading more of Nick Lake's works.

The plot of this book was interesting and the author's writting style is pretty good. The characters, plot, and overall details were well written.

Between ET and a guardian angel, little alien Aidan appears in Emily's life when the girl feels like she's lost everything. In the guise of a very fragile child, he accompanies Emily on a journey that, behind the apparent purpose of helping him reunite with his family, will allow the girl to find her own and get out of herself, demonstrating her strength.
Not a masterpiece, however, a pleasant book, in some places moving, with the right amount of motion and secret service that would like to get their hands on the little alien.

Nowhere on Earth snagged me with the cover and drew me in with the synopsis. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

There was nothing wrong with the book necessarily. I enjoyed the author's writing; it flowed well and was easy to read. The story itself just didn't captivate me like I had hoped.

***I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley.***

The most ridiculous, yet interesting book you will ever read. The synopsis gives little to no idea on what this is about, and it kind of feels like reading it didn't give much clues to that either. But it keeps you reading. Not sure why, to be honest. It is still a fun read.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just okay with me. It wasn't the worst but it was definitely lacking in certain areas. I really enjoy the idea of this book, but the execution was just sub par. I personally love books that I connect with the characters in and this book didn't allow me the back story nor the time to really connect with them.

Was it a bad book? No. It just needs some fine tuning.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a really fun read about family love. It reminded me a LOT of ET in the best way possible!

Thank you, NetGalley, for a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

The cover is gorgeous! The story is really cute!
If you don't mind that some of the events and actions the MCs take seem a bit far-fetched, this is a great read for you! I loved reading about the different relationships ... Emily's relationship with her parents and her friend Jeremy, Emily's relationship with Aidan, their slowly blossoming relationship with Bob. I definitely love the message of the book!

This book loosely reminded me of E.T. in the best of ways. The relationship between the sister and her "brother" was so special and loving - even if there was a bit of manipulation involved. I liked the way the author used the setting and a family's love for each other to overcome obstacles - both physical and man-made. It made for an exciting adventure. I appreciated how the author didn't try to make everything fit in a nice box that we could understand. Some things we might not be made to understand - yet.
It was a fun read, well worth your time. (And then go watch E.T.)

I actually loved this story. Very easy read made for a very fast read. Written well. I'm a fan! I love the new cover. So very pretty.

Emily is on the run with her 'brother,' Aidan, accompanied by an Alaskan bush pilot named Bob. Early in the book, after the plane crashes and they escape from the men in black, it is revealed that Aidan is an alien. His gift is to make himself look small and in need of protection; in this case, he appears as a seven year old boy. 


Nowhere on Earth has great potential, and I have a feeling that it is a book that I would have loved in middle school. It has an Escape to Witch Mountain vibe that I was very excited for. Unfortunately, it just didn't click for me. 


The book is well-written, and the language is beautiful most of the time, though slightly stilted at others. The repetition was a bit tiring, with Emily's internal monologue repeating a variation of "I wish we hadn't moved to Alaska, but if we hadn't moved to Alaska, I wouldn't have met Aidan." There are some cliche tropes, as well, such as the teenager lamenting that her parents don't understand her.


There is certainly nothing fundamentally wrong with Nowhere on Earth; there is not a glaring flaw that kept me from enjoying it. What it boils down to is that it just wasn't for me, despite being well-written with an interesting concept.