First off, a big thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for an ARC. I was very excited about this book to begin with, and it made my day to receive an ARC.

Goldilocks is cli-fi novel about a crew of female astronauts flying to Cavendish, a planet identified as habitable outside our solar system. There is definitely a sense of urgency because Earth has 20-30 more years before it becomes ravaged by global warming. While the crew members are all highly trained, there's one snag - they aren't the crew meant to be flying the ship. In fact, they aren't supposed to be on the ship at all.

While I took some time to be acclimated to the characters (in part because the first third of the novel goes back and forth in time), once I did, I was hooked. Naomi, her adoptive mother, Valerie, and the other women on the ship were interesting and believable characters, reacting to the news that their original mission had been sabotaged.

I didn't quite get The Handmaid's Tale reference, and was actually happy that I forgot about this hyped comparison until after finishing the book. If you're looking for The Handmaid's Tale in space, I think you'll be disappointed. If you want a gripping science fiction about environmental disasters, deadly secrets, and female astronauts, however, this is definitely the book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for granting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

24.02.20 3 stars
Goldilocks has been described as The Martian meets The Handmaid's Tale. It follows a five woman crew on a spaceship to a new planet - Cavendish. Earth is dying, and will soon be uninhabitable. The human race needs to start civilization again and build a new world from scratch. Women have been slowly pushed out of the workforce, being passed over for new jobs or promotions, and encouraged to stay home after having children. Five women who used to work for Nasa and other similar organisations decide it is time to take matters into their own hands. They steal The Atalanta which was scheduled to take a male crew to Cavendish and make the journey themselves.

Naomia Lovelace is the main character and the botanist on the ship. Her job is to grow viable food for the crew members and subsequently people on Cavendish. She was raised by her mentor and wealthy business woman Valerie Black who is also the captain of the Atalanta crew and the mastermind behind the grand theft auto. We begin to find out that things are not as they seem on the ship, motives are brought into question, and things back on Earth become even more dire. The women on the ship have to make some difficult decisions along the way, and it comes down to whether enough of them have an attack of conscience.

The narrative is totally from Naomi's perspective but it jumps back and forth in time with each chapter. We get to see past Naomi and events that led up to her agreeing to be on The Atalanta crew under Valerie. Sometimes there was a flash back within a flash back during the chapters from the past and I found that to be a little hard to follow. Also the past chapters didn't seem to follow in chronological order, I feel it would have flowed a lot better if they had. Naomi's development however is clear to see and I'm glad we got to explore it in so much detail. It really helps to understand her motivations and reasons behind her every action. Although I did feel it was too in her head sometimes and it would have been nice to get a break away from her thoughts.

Honestly I was hovering between 2 and 3 stars for this read. I liked the originality of the story line, and the tension in some parts was spot on. But mostly, I found it kind of slow going. I felt there could have been a lot more dialogue throughout to keep it interesting. It took a while for things to get going and for there to be any connection between the crew members. We always say as a reader 'show don't tell' but I think this writing style was definitely more telling rather than showing. It was hard to really picture everything happening in my head and stay focused. There wasn't much conversation between the characters until much further on. If this had been introduced sooner I believe it would have helped me to feel more connected to the women as a whole and not just Naomi.

Valerie I didn't like at all. Though I think that was the point. I don't think I fully understood her character, but she seemed to be mad at the world, the patriarchy in general, and a little power hungry. She clearly liked being in control. I did like the climax between Naomi and Valerie when everything came to a head, to me it was the most exciting part. I actually found myself not sure how it was going to end, which was a nice surprise as the rest of the plot working up to that had been somewhat predictable. Even some of those 'hard decisions' previously mentioned weren't that suspenseful, it was just a little too obvious what they were going to choose to do. Although it was very dramatic (view spoiler) which I appreciated, it kept my interested piqued.

I found the last few chapters really saved it for me. I flew through them as I just had to see what happened. It felt as though it had all been building up to those moments. I liked the romance between Naomi and (view spoiler) but I wish we could have seen more of it. There's only a few snippets in her flashbacks, but again it's more of her telling us what transpired between them rather than showing us and letting us see for ourselves. It made it hard to really feel the attraction between them.

All in all I would say it was an enjoyable and (at the end) an exciting read. I loved the concept and it really got me thinking about the state of our world and where it could be taking us in the future. I wish that could have been touched upon more in the story too. The pacing for me was a little too slow, and as I've said I would have liked some more dialogue between the characters to solidify the connection. I found I wasn't as invested in the plot as I could have been due to this. I did like the patriarchal politics that were at play, as well as the global warming issues that glared through the writing. And I was clapping the women on during their adventure no matter who it pissed off back on Earth.

I would recommend this as a fun sci-fi read with a bit of a twist!

In this novel, five women astronauts steal a rocket and travel far into outer space, hoping to be the first to land on a Goldilocks planet--one that has just the right conditions for human survival. But the manipulations and lies of the team's leader wreak havoc on the ship and endanger everyone's lives. I found the writing melodramatic and the story soap-operaish: life and death decisions daily! couples torn apart! allegiances shifted! misplaced trust! engineered diseases! The whole thing is overdone and there are few reasons given for the decisions some of the crew members make other than that they create more chaos and trust issues.

Lam delivers a fantastic cinematic worthy set-up for this apocalyptic space drama set in the not-too-distant future. The science in the book is highly believable, as is the terrifying look at our potential political, economic, and ecological future, which is where Lam's story shines. I can easily see this being adapted for a limited run TV series, because the tension and action practically jump off the page. My primary criticism is that the ending of the book feels rushed, with an epilogue that doesn't feel wholly earned. Despite the ending, I recommend this book for those who like space dramas, science-based thrillers, or apocalyptic fiction.

Goldilocks is set in the future where women are being forced out of their jobs to stay home and take care of the one child they can have before paying a steep "child tax" on any additional children they may have. The climate is ravaging the earth and scientists best guess is that Earth may have another 30 years before it has been completely exhausted of resources and mankind most likely will not survive.
Naomi is a botanical researcher who specializes in growing plants that can survive on other planets. She is working in Scotland when her estranged mother,Valerie Black, the owner of a prestigious science company that is making a ship to travel to Cavendish. A planet in what is knows as the "Goldilocks" zone. An area that isn't too hot or cold and has potential to be a new home for the human race. Valerie wants to steal the ship Atalanta with 4 other women scientists and travel to Cavendish.
When things start going wrong once they are in space Naomi starts to question Valerie's motives on what she hoped to accomplish on this journey.
Overall I really enjoyed this story. The characters were well developed and the world building was believable and quite scary. The way the world was being run by governments is eerily similar to what is going on in the world today. If you liked The Martian or dystopian books like The Handmaid's Tale will enjoy this cautionary tale about the delicate balance of our planet and the choices we have to make.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am writing this review in exchange for an advanced copy from NetGalley.
The premise of this book is a 5 woman crew who 'borrows' a spaceship to try and be the first humans to reach a new planet and start the colony to save humanity from a quickly devolving planet Earth. This book is set in the not too distant future and brings home one possible future with the Earth struggling from a overheated climate. The book is excellently written and has some nice twists and turns. I enjoyed the writing as well as the premise and expect this book to do very well. It releases May 5 and I recommend it!

In short: I loved this book.

The author billed this book as "The Martian meets The Handmaid's Tale." It was that, and then some. In this imagined near-ish future, the effects of climate change are in full swing. Seas are rising. Wildfires are ripping through the country. The air is not breathable without a filter mask. Population growth is strictly limited. Basically, the Earth is dying. On top of all that, women are slowly being edged out of the workplace and losing their rights.

So let's start with the world building. It is fantastic. Fan-freaking-tastic. You are slowly, organically introduced to the many differences between our world and this. I never once felt confused or lost, but instead, felt like I had a full vision of this world. It was bleak, but fascinating. I especially loved the way she handled the marginalization of women - the slowness of it, rather than all at once, as in The Handmaid's Tale (nice reference, btw!). Personally, I found this to be a more realistic vision of how this could happen.

I also really loved the character development. The major characters felt like real people to me, each with their own distinct personalities. And not even just our main characters, Naomi, Valerie, and Evan. The crew members didn't really start to be individual people until the latter half of the book, but then they really shined.

There was also this sort of quiet tension that I loved. It didn't make my heart race in the standard thriller way, yet I found myself unable to put this book down. Seriously, I read about 80% of it in one day. I also thought the science element was well done. I wouldn't quite classify it as hard sci-fi, but I think it comes close. Science is definitely at the forefront of this story, but without bogging me down in minutiae I don't understand. That which needed to be explained was explained sufficiently for me to understand and for the plot to keep moving.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an advanced copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. All views and opinions are my own.

I am writing this review in exchange for an advanced copy from NetGalley. I finished this book today and thought it was phenomenal. Goldilocks is about five women who commit grand theft spaceship as a last resort to escape an Earth suffering from severe climate change and social issues pushing women out of the workplace. Their goal is Cavendish, a 'Goldilocks' planet in which they can begin anew and establish a better society. The main character is Naomi, a biologist who has lived in the shadow of her Elon Musk-esque adoptive mother (who is the mastermind behind the theft), and has a life's dream of setting foot on Cavendish. All is not as it seems within their stolen ship or even their crew.

This book stood out to me in a big way for the way it handled themes of feminism and climate change without coming off as 'preachy'. The female leads are not just the quirky, brazen foils to emotionally blank or angry men, which is overly common in some popular books/shows, especially in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. This is an appropriate book for 2020, and enjoyable to read as well with several surprising twists and turns. The author took care to make sure the science and technology they write about is realistic and believable. Overall a great read!

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am not a big Sci Fi fan, but decided to give this one a chance. I do not want to give anything away so I am going to use the blurb here. Goldilocks is "The Handmaid's Tale" meets "The Martian" where five women with increasing freedoms on Earth task themselves with ensuring the survival of the human race. Definitely turned me into a Sci Fi fan.

What a fantastic scifi story! I am always a little bit skeptical, going into a book like this. The first all female space mission, in a future where Roe vs Wade has been overturned, there is a child tax starting with your second child, and women are expected to stay home with the kids. Of course they had to fight to even be considered for employment at NASA, much less be chosen for a mission.

But Laura Lam completely nailed it. Naomi was a great main character and the others were well fleshed out and believable. The science, though I am no expert, seemed credible, and never bogged down the story. I couldn't put it down, and I was sorry when it was over. The pacing was spot on, the writing was so well done, and Valerie was entirely too believable.

Very happy to have received this advance copy from Netgalley!

Following the first all-women crew of a heisted space station (I know, sounds amazing, right?), Goldilocks is told in snapshots of time both during the mission and before. Can I just say what an amazing feeling it was to read such a breath of fresh air in the Sci-Fi world? What original and imaginative pacing, with sympathetic and flawed characters that fleshed out the "sciencey" bits so well!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Incredible scifi. Original, compelling, and smartly written. Read it in two days because I could not stop reading. Make this one into a movie!!

This is my first time reading something by this author, but once I saw the cover and read the blurb I was hooked.

This book was impressive, albeit somewhat scary of how plausible it could be years in the future. It took current events, such as the attempts to overturn Roe vs Wade and ran with it, creating a very believable scenario, which left me contemplating the issues it raises long after I turned the last page. I enjoy a book that really makes you think, and on that this delivered.

I flew through the book, the characters, backstory and world combining to pull me in and keep me flipping the pages. It was really well paced and just the right length.

There were a few small spelling errors, but hopefully those will be found and cleaned up before the final release.

Wow, what a great read! Is be really interested in a follow up or parallel book. Definitely going to look into other book by their writer.