Terraformer
Astra Meador woke up from her hypersleep before the destined time. The dream which woke her up was strange, you don’t dream in hypersleep. It was the beginning of the strange happenings. The pod containing her father was empty, data says he was dead and disposed into space. Her mother was prisoned right after she and her family went to hyper sleep. The greatest botanist of all world never made it to the ship. When they landed finally on Crillian IV, the planet was nothing like they expected it to be. It was supposed to be partially barren but this planet is full of tall thick forest and strange fruits. Her brother Nash was acting different, she felt different around Jax Prexton. Thane, the future leader of the colony has come up with a marriage proposal. Everything was moving faster when department heads were found dead one after the other, murdered by someone within. The planet was not what they thought it was. Astra felt different among the trees, her birth deformity, a secret kept hidden from the rest of the universe was nothing when she was among the trees and they are whispering to her. For her help!? What is this strange planet has in store for them!??

The story was really good. It did have the element of surprise in it which made it interesting to read. The book can be definitely catalogued under eco conscious theme. The way the writer gives life to the trees and a voice was great! The element of mythology in it was also good even though it was a simple part. I liked Jax and Astra but it was the only relationship that i was able to feel. The other bonds were not so much impressive. The book talks so much about family and relationships but i just couldn’t connect with anything. The final part was a bit on the downside. When the transformation happened, I was a bit lost in the description and the finale fight. If you are looking forward to a book based in the future and the result of all the damage we are making to the eco system, this definitely is the book for you!

This book stays true to Colleen Houck strength of luscious world building, beautiful detail descriptions, thrilling adventure, and some romance. I hated thane and his dad right from the start i knew they were dirty, underhanded, and i really did not want Astra with him at all. I love Jax him and his uncle. Jax takes everything he learns about Astra and embraces it. The main reason Astra is on this mission so she thinks is to find a way to cure her “asthma” which makes her inferior cause she not a perfect human.

The whole concept of plants being alive is really portrayed well in the gorgeous cover on this book. Ya can pull out clues of what is to be unfolded within the cover of this story. Their is a subplot going on beyond Astra and her colleges establishing a colony. Once that is under covered the whole Terraformer concept comes into play. Colleen has done a great job in the sci-fi genre by keeping us intrigued and not going over the top with the concept. As far as I know this is a stand alone novel but we all know that sometimes that not always the case. Pick this up this month on May 12, 2020 wherever you get your books.

**I received an ARC of this book on Netgalley, courtesy of Trident Media Group, in exchange for an honest review**

I really loved this book. Not only did I finish Terraformer in only a couple nights, this book also managed to kick me out of a long reading slump. It reminded me of how much I love Colleen Houck’s writing. Now I just want to devour all the books she’s written all over again.

Can I just say that Colleen Houck has evolved so much as a writer! The prose in the first few pages are stunning. Colleen Houck’s writing is always in the Goldilocks Zone of being engaging, easy, and absolutely poetic. Terraformer just hooks you in and then keeps you reading until you reach the last page and realize that it’s over.

Colleen Houck also has a gift for writing SciFi and she definitely needs to write more in this genre. The worldbuilding in Terraformer is amazing. Now, there’s a fine line between a book that has Quantum-Mechanics-Level research and a book that just magically solves everything. I won’t say that this book is the most scientifically accurate, but I also don’t think it’s trying to be the next The Martian. The parts of it that aren’t scientifically sound didn’t really take me out of the story. Terraformer has a fine balance between proven fact and creative license. That’s what Sci Fi is—a little bit of science and a lot of fantasy that force people to see the world with new eyes. Colleen Houck really grasps the heart of what science fiction is. You can practically feel her excitement vibrating between the lines of this book. There is so much love of Sci Fi in it. Colleen Houck even calls out some cult classics and other films that had me feeling giddy when I could pick them out in Terraformer. I love that you can just feel how right this genre is for the book, especially because the author is so passionate about science fiction.

I especially loved the parts of this book that talked about futuristic Earth and the ways technological advancements have evolved and changed society. It was so interesting to learn about the culture and social structures of this alternate, futuristic Earth. So much of this book also deals with social stigma and exclusion. I think Colleen Houck has also grown so much as an author and become aware of how the world she’s created affects the characters living in it, the hierarchies they’re in, and how these social separations change how they view and think about and talk to each other. A sign of good worldbuilding is being able to recognize our own society to the dust of a fictional one. Colleen Houck is so much more aware of how certain factors in the society she’s created perpetuates problems like the city dwellers’ criticism of anti-stabbers. These problems are periodically touched upon in the book. I love how real this makes the worlds in Terraformer.

Colleen Houck is also still the best at melding mythology and reality together to create epic endings to all her books. Terraformer was no different. I was on the edge of my seat nearing the end of the book, because the stakes were rising and all the pieces were falling into place. There’s something so cathartic about how Colleen Houck ends her books with such savage, legendary scenes that are just so cinematic and badass. Terraformer had that powerful, myth-like conclusion that is so characteristic of her other books. I love it every time.

One of the problems I had with this book, though, were the characters. Astra Meador was so frustratingly blind in this book. She had so many moments of fierce intellect and strength, but there were also so many times where I wanted to strangle her, because the conclusions she was jumping to made no sense. She’s so suspicious in Terraformer and constantly contradicts herself, so the reader is left frustrated knowing that she keeps steering herself wrong. Nash also really annoyed me in this book, but he wasn’t in it so much that it took away from my enjoyment. I didn’t really connect with Astra or her brother much in Terraformer, but I think the plot and worldbuilding in this book make up for a lot of that, at least for me.

The romance in this starts insta-lovey, and hints at a love triangle, but turns that latter trope on its head in a way I appreciate. This book has a more pragmatic approach to romance and definitely exposes the warning signals of a subtly unhealthy relationship. I appreciate the way these signs of a toxic relationship are easy to identify and yet are still paired with the main character trying to justify an appreciation of the toxic character. I think this helps warn readers what signs—gaslighting, being overbearing and overcontrolling, etc.—to look out for and how the weak justifications are used to try and keep people stuck in those unhealthy relationships. I think pairing these things together in an obvious way can help younger readers recognize those signs and their own justifications if they’re ever caught in a relationship like that, so they can catch these warnings early on.

This book is also a bit more heavy and mature than Colleen Houck’s other books. There were moments when even I was shocked by some of the death and heavier moments in Terraformer. It has a kind of Annihilation-esq tone in some places, and is quite dark in some places. I’m not squeamish, but I’ve left warning tags at the bottom for other people to watch out for.

All in all, this was a solid science fiction novel that is fast-paced and incredibly fun to read! Definitely pick this up if you’re into SciFi/fantasy and mythology. It really is a wonderful read. Preorder the Hardcover at Barnes & Noble! Check out colleenhouck.com for more information about Terraformer, including the Book Trailer, launch party details, inspired Pinterest board, music playlist, quotes, and other exciting extras.

Terraformer is released on May 12, 2020.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51767540-terraformer

***CW/TW: imperialism, sexual harassment, mentions of slavery/enslavement, classism, ableism, eugenics, murder, mentions of corpses and tampering with dead bodies

Astra is part of a mission to terraform far distant planet, but when she is woken early from cryosleep, it seems something has gone very wrong...

This book has a love triangle romance, which made me a bit reluctant to pick it up. However, it was surprisingly well done in Terraforma and I actually didn't mind it at all!

There were plenty of twists and mystery, which I really loved. Unfortunately though, there is quite a lot of info dumping which pulled me out of the story and made it hard to stay engaged.

Overall, I enjoyed this book (and LOVE the cover), but at points it did lose me a little.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and will be submitted to Amazon after release.

Unfortunately, I have to say that I did not enjoy this book whatsoever. It was incredibly disappointing, as I love Colleen Houck's Tiger's Curse series.
The concept of the plot was actually very intriguing, but for some reason it read like a first rough draft that has gone through no rounds of revisions. Certain scenes and characters that seemed to be important we're not fleshed out properly. In addition to that, the writing style was extremely flawed, with the telling far outweighing the showing. I found it very odd, because I have never known Colleen Houck to write like that.
The characters left much to be desired as well. Our lead, Astra, was extremely bland and didn't really seem to have much desire to solve the mystery of the plot. She only seemed to have a care in the world for her love interest, Jax, who also only translated as the jealous boyfriend type.
In the end, this book was a pretty bad disappointment. I still have love for Colleen Houck as an author and do think Terraformer had a lot of potential. With a few rounds of revisions and edits, I think it could actually be a compelling story.

This book was given to me through Netgalley for review purposes, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was really excited to receive this book, because I love Colleen Houck's tigers curse series. It takes a little bit to get into the story but for a young adult novel it isn't all that bad. It felt really rushed towards the end. I would reccomend this book to the teen readers.

Colleen Houck wrote another great story!! Terraformer took me on such a great adventure full of twists and turns! I felt this story was really unique and it was told in the best way possible!

Astra, our main character, is different. She is strong and smart and honestly such a great character. However, she has a biological "flaw" that makes her different than the others and she has to hide it from everyone. Her family has made a lot of sacrifices for her and the mission they are on is in hopes to help Astra live a better life. She, and the rest of the crew, are on their way to a new planet to colonize.

Of course right from the start things start to go downhill. Astra wakes up early, crew members start mysteriously dying, and deep dark secrets are being kept. There are SO many twists so early on, I was on my toes non stop!!

One thing I really enjoyed about this book and the characters was how many moral dilemmas there were. I felt so deeply connected to Astra because of this. She had to make so many tough decisions and it was nice because the author wrote it in a way that anyone could relate to. It felt so real and I felt like I was right there with Astra trying to solve the problems!

The story focuses a lot on Astra and how she is a biologist in training. She is so knowledgable and caring. She loves the plants and takes her job so seriously. This becomes important towards the end of the book when something SHOCKING happens regarding Astra and plants! I don't want to say I didn't see it coming because there was quite a bit of lead up to it. But WOW, the ending had me kind of shook. I felt happy for Astra and the other characters and also felt it was the perfect ending, however, a part of me was like whaaattt is this really happening 😂

Overall, I loved this story! The characters were relatable and I enjoyed them! There was suspense and mystery. Lots of twists and turns. A few moments of real true heartbreak, but also a lot of love and happiness. This was such a well rounded book.

I would recommend this if you enjoy sci-fi fantasy style books with some YA romance and lots of plant talk 💟

**I was provided an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

This new sic-fi novel by Colleen Houck is so unique and filled with twists and turns. Our main character, Astra, has woken up early from Hypersleep as she and her family were traveling to a new planet on a terraforming mission. Murders start occurring, secret plots are revealed, and chaos ensues.

This book had such a unique plot! I absolutely loved the connection to nature. I've never read anything like it. While the theme and plot of the book were extremely well developed, I had some problems connecting with the characters and the relationships they made. This book spans over many months. Weeks would go by in between chapters. While I realize this was necessary for the plot, it left me feeling disconnected from the characters. So much of the relationship building happened in between the pages that the relationships felt rushed and forced. I would have like to see a little bit more development.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun sci-fi/mystery read!

Rating: 6/10

Terraformer by Colleen Houck comes out May 12, and follows the adventures of Astra, a young woman on a colony ship that lands in an alien forest. She looks forward to spending more time with a nice young engineer, and studying the plant life, but the commander of the ship has other ideas, thinking she's the perfect match for his son. But Astra has a secret, and when people start dying she realises someone else does too...

I loved this book so so much. I had seen some bad reviews going into it so was worried but I literally couldn't put it down. The world building was spectacular, it felt like I was walking along with the characters. The characters were well rounded, with plenty of flaws as well as strengths, and were likeable and realistic.
This book surprised and delighted me. It kept me guessing right to the end. It brought tears and laughter.
You need to give this one a go! You wint regret it. 5 stars.
The ebook is available for preorder on Amazon, and the physical copy via Barnes and Noble

I'm a big fan of Colleen Houck's books, so I was really disappointed when I read this one. The premise is really interesting as I love the nature-based sci-fi plotline along with space exploration into new worlds. The first few chapters were the best in my opinion, as we really got to know Astra without the influence of the two love interests. Granted, none of the characters were really well defined or had much personality, but at least Astra was able to problem solve a few issues before the boys woke up. (Spoilers ahead) While I am a sucker for goddess plotlines and magical influences, I didn't think that it was well integrated within the story. There were so many scenes of just info-dumping when it could have been focused on the whole time instead of thrown in the background for the romance to occur.

This is a sci-fi, and I normally don't read this genre,, but I'm happy that I read this book.

I like the start of the book, it is interesting, there are some things that I just read through quickly because I don't care that much for technical things, but otherwise I like the start and pacing.
But overall I actually liked this book, and read it in almost one sitting! 3,5 stars from me!

I feel that this book is a cross between The Passengers, Avatar (the blue ones) and the tv show The 100.

In the future a terraforming ship lands on a green planet. Astra Meador wakes up from hypersleep too early, only to find out that something is terribly wrong.
Two men for vie her heart, but they don't know that she carries a big secret. Though she isn't the only person with a dark secret on the ship.

Astra wakes up one month before everybody else, her pod malfunctioned. Kind of reminds you of the movie The Passengers but at least it's only one month and not a hundred years or so! We immediately learn that Astra and her brother has a decease, or there is something wrong with their DNA which isn't good. Because in their society, you have to be perfect or else...
Astra and her family where supposed to go on this terraforming mission to find a cure for them, but that is a secret that the government are not allowed to know about.
A string of murders happen, and the ship is being sabotaged. It seems that somebody does not want this mission to succeed, but who and why? And importantly who can she trust?

Astra Meador is our protagonist, and I'm not that fond of her. And she isn't perfect like she should be, but she is special as all YA protagonists are.
Astra is different, and she has an unknown power in her.
So the big dark secret that Astra has, we learn about that early on, which is nice for a change. I really don't like when the authors make you wait almost throughout the book for the secret only to find out that it is so lack luster

Something strange is happening on the planet that they have landed on. Astra has this strange connection with the plants on this planet, which my guess must be due to the medicine that she takes, which just annoys me that she doesn't figure that out faster. Though I guess in her situation with everything going on it should be completely understandable. But still it took her almost the whole book to figure it out, for a smart girl she is really slow. Honestly she is pretty dumb. I guess you could say that she is master of one and that is plants but that is where her intelligence ends.


The connection Astra has with the planet they are on, is not just mental but also physical. Whenever something bad happens to the trees, she visibly gets sick and in pain. But what is the real reason for that? And it's not just her but also her brother Nash. Could it be due to the plants their mother used to be able to conceive them?
Meanwhile Astras brother Nash is acting weird, ever since he woke up from hypersleep he has not been the same as he used to be. What could be the reason for that?


Thane the second in command and Jax the assistant engineer serve as the two love interests, and they are obviously both good looking. So both guys quickly start liking Astra. It's kind of insta lovey. Astra feels a connection with Jax, she feels safe and that she can trust him. Astra and Jax both have that instant attraction to each other, really their romance is just insta love.

On the other side she is a perfect match with Thane, at least genetically. We barely get any "screen" time with him. We don't really get to know about his personality or backstory. Other than what Astra says, we don't "personally" get to know him as we do with Jax.


SPOILER

When Jax disappears, and even her brother why does she not go out to look for them considering how much Astra claims to care about both of them. All she does it work and go on about her day, of course she worries about them. But she doesn't even try to find them. If my only family member disappeared I damn well would not just keep on working instead of trying to find them. I would fight everybody that tried to stop me from finding my family.

SPOILER END


So reading this book I found the plot twists predictable. I had already figured the out what was going to happen before it did. The villain is exactly who you expect it to be. And so much info dumping, too much of it.
Around the 200 page mark, the book turns really weird, and that is also where we get the most info dumping.

And this book is romance heavy, the romance is not as much a sub plot, it's more in taking over the story. Pretty much everything is about Astras feelings towards the male lead.

Also we don't really get introduced to a lot of characters, as in if it's not the main leads you wouldn't even know that they existed. If we exclude the 3 main leads then only characters that are introduced and actually in the book, can be counted on one hand perhaps two. And these characters are barely in the book. Mostly it's just Astra and the male lead that is in the book, the second lead does not get as much attention, if any at all.

Side note something I just seemed to notice lol. There seems to be a lot of hand holding in this story, whenever the characters(Astra, Jax, Thane) goes anywhere they always offer her a hand that she takes. I mean, I don't take peoples hand in mine when I walk into their room. Astra takes a walk, she holds their hand, she's running and she's holding their hand. There is nothing wrong with it, but just something that I noticed.

This sci-fi/fantasy was so fascinatingly unique from any of Colleen Houck's prior books! Having read all of her titles to date, I was expecting the formulaic structure I've come to know and love about her books, namely a curse to be broken, mythological influences, and love triangles to sort out by the end of the story. Those elements are still here in Terraformer, but they take on an entirely new life in this interstellar journey! I loved the brief touches on Greek mythology that popped up in this book! It would be great to see the author expand on this base more in future books as she did with Indian and Egyptian mythologies in her prior series.

The best way I can describe this story is that the plot is a sort of cross of the films "Passengers" and "Avatar" with a certain brand of magic that only Colleen Houck can produce!

Astra Meador is our imperfect protagonist that we follow throughout the book. Now, personally, I enjoyed the fact that Astra was not the perfect strong female role (to start with). I could relate to her on quite a few aspects, which kept me engaged with her character and more invested in her growth and change throughout the story. Not only is Astra plagued with doubts about her own capabilities, and sense of self, apart from her protective family, she also struggles to conceal a secret about herself, a secret that could lead her to being ostracized by her fellow colonists as they start a new life on an uncharted planet. A mysterious string of murders leads Astra to question if the leaders of this colonizing mission are being perfectly candid, and soon finds her loyalties torn between an alien force beyond her understanding, and her own species. Not to mention, a growing tension between the man she is biologically a perfect match for, the future leader of the colony, and the man that she is unexplainably attracted to and with whom she feels the unprecedented ability to trust with her deepest secret.

I find the romantic relationships that I become invested in for any YA books, are the ones that are rooted in honesty, vulnerability, and of course, witty banter. There's no shortage of each of these aspects in the budding relationship between Astra and Jax...

"'Okay, tree girl,' 'I don't think tree girl is a flattering designation,' I said, drawing my hand away. 'Right,' he said, rubbing his jaw. 'How about botany babe?' 'Cut it out,' I said, grinning and punching his arm lightly."

Yup, I'm a sucker for lighthearted banter that can give me a good chuckle!

The only reason I felt I couldn't give the book a full five stars was because of the ending. Without spoilers, I will simply say that things took a turn that were a little too otherworldly for my taste, but that's coming from a reviewer who is not an avid science fiction reader! I will say that the story did come to a satisfactory ending that I felt tied off all loose ends to create a well-rounded standalone book. I highly recommend trying this one out for yourself and forming your own conclusions!

I'd give this book 3 out of 5 stars. For me, Terraformer just wasn't exactly memorable.

Initially, I hoped the book would really propel me deeper into a world beyond imagination, especially since it's a sci-fi story involving nature. Yet as I read the book, I found it to lean more towards its romantic subplot throughout the whole story. The mystery and sci-fi sure established the world and the plot but the story was actually quite predictable. Also, I couldn't connect with the characters. Throughout the story, I felt Astra was a bit bland and I couldn't connect with her or anybody at all.

Yet what I liked about the book was the planet they were in. The worldbuilding was nice. There was a lot of potential in exploring the current situation of Earth, especially its environment, economy, and social class structure yet the romance seemed to overpower it.

Overall, I feel neutral about the book. I liked the concept yet the characters and the focus of the plot could have been developed better.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Trident Media Group, and author Colleen Houck for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

This book is very YA. The gorgeous cover pulled me in, but I was disappointed in the end. The characters were predictable, and you could see what was coming pretty much the whole way through. It was okay enough to finish, but no worthy of high praise for me. I think this just needs a bit more time to marinate and come together into a more cohesive storyline.

Thank you to those named above for the chance to read and review this ARC!

This book is a mixture of Annihilation and a cheesy romance. Yes, there are a lot of cringe moments, plot-holes and non-understanding of science but... you have to keep in mind it's YA - that means it is not intended to be read by graduated PHDs in physics and engineers. For what's worth, the book is very original, entertaining and there were so many plot twists I did not see coming! It's a solid 3.5 stars for me (and not a 2-star book at all!)

I'm a fan of colleen's but this one... it needs to be edited some more. It just doesnt flow and the characters need more overall development.

I don’t know how to quite put my feelings into words for this book. So I’m goin got list what sticks out for me in this book. I did not like any of the main characters. Astra was “I’m not the smart one, I’m so weak, my brother is smarter”. Astra kept going around asking dumb questions. Jax was just creepy. Thane was so obviously the “hot jerk who won’t get the girl” character. Nash was so strange that it was obvious what what going on with him right from the start. The siblings weren’t honest with one another. Too many OBVIOUS “secrets”. I didn’t like the whole plant based storyline. I will not be continuing this series. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

I requested this ARC because the author is well known and I had never read one of her books. I thought this book was very heavy and dense with descriptions. It was a lot of information all at one time and it was hard for me to take it all in. I think that the writing in this book shows that the author is good at painting a picture, but for me that picture was much too detailed and all the details distracted from one another. Good author, just not the best book for me.