To The Moon and Back by Eliana Rampage
Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy
This is a novel about Steph, a Native American who grows up wanting to be an astronaut. It’s the story of her family and friend relationships, her Native American heritage, her single minded determination to become an astronaut, and her romantic relationships with other women. It packs a lot into the book. I liked it but at times felt like it was a little too long.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

To the Moon and Back follows Steph Harper, a young woman determined to become the first Cherokee astronaut, across three decades of her life.

The biggest word that comes to mind when I try to sum up To the Moon and Back is sweeping. Not just in terms of time and space — though the novel spans several decades and several wildly different locales — but in terms of the thematic content it grapples with. A book like this might be boiled down to one character’s journey of identity, which this certainly is in many ways. But in Steph’s long and harrowing journey of self, Ramage grapples with motherhood, daughterhood, love, desire, ambition, history, colonialism, and a whole swath of other facets of the human experience. The characters here are richly realized, particularly the women we spend most of our time with (Steph, her sister Kayla, and a love interest Della), and though I often found it difficult to like them, their stories were still magnificently engaging.

To the Moon and Back is a book so rich and textured that I will spend a long time thinking about it. I am thrilled to see what else Ramage has in store.

Ramage does gorgeous character work in To the Moon and Back, the story of Steph Harper (and her friends and family) as she seeks to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming an astronaut.

Steph is Cherokee, and surrounded by people who seem to care more about Native ancestry than she does. What Steph cares about, overwhelmingly, selfishly, ambitiously, is going to space. As Steph ages, you see the slow shift in her mind as other things (and people) gain importance to her. She could be so unlikable in the hands of a less capable author, but Ramage makes you care for Steph as well as the supporting cast of characters - who, as Steph discovers, have their own dreams.

Though this novel moves slow in parts, I found I didn’t mind because it was so engrossing and deeply moving. I’d be surprised if this isn’t a hit once it’s published.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

What a fantastic debut about a Cherokee woman in her pursuit of becoming an astronaut and going to space!

I was so impressed with how this story combined such a captivating story, flawed characters, current events, and indigenous pride into a clearly well thought out book. Steph is one of those morally gray characters that is selfish in her pursuit of excellence and leaves a wake of chaos behind her. While the pace could drag at times, I found Steph’s growth over her life to be relatable in parts and stressful in others as her impulsiveness and selfishness took center stage. I can see where some readers may not connect with her, but don’t we all love something enough to pursue it relentlessly, or at least want something that bad? Don’t we all want to find that special someone that fits perfectly into our life?

I loved the queer representation and the commentary about being “enough”. Cherokee enough. Queer/lesbian enough. A good enough daughter and sister. A great enough candidate to be an astronaut. Steph made some rash decisions at times, but at the end of the day she was still finding herself while wanting to be what she envisioned for herself. Her sister was also a gem despite the hardships she endured and her mother will leave you pondering how we often forget that it’s our parents first time here on earth too.

If you’re looking for your next literary read with a great story and something that offers perspective, then this is for you! It’s an impressive debut that leaves you bittersweet in your goodbye to the main character and reflective of her life and how current events fit in.

What a fantastic debut novel! I was sucked in on the first page and barely put the book down for the two days it took to read it. The multiple perspectives worked not just to add depth to Steph's story, but to highlight the varied lived experiences of Native American and queer women. At times I found main character Steph exasperating, which seemed to be the author's intention, as my experience as a reader seemed to mirror the experiences of Steph's loved ones. I'm looking forward to whatever Ramage writes next.

To the Moon and Back was a beautiful story about a young girl's dream to be the first Indigenous astronaut. Ramage brought a great deal of nuance to Steph's exploration of identity, queerness, Indigenous sovereignty, family history and secrets, and more.

Thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for the eARC!

This was such a sweet book. It was very unique and I couldn’t put it down! It was beautifully written!

Eliana Ramage's To the Moon and Back is an extraordinary debut that soars as high as its protagonist dares to dream. With vivid prose and a deep sense of purpose, Ramage tells a story about ambition and identity. From the opening pages, this novel captured my heart.

At its center is Steph Harper, a Queer Cherokee girl with stars in her eyes and the determination to chart her own course to the moon. Her drive is fierce. She may be the most stubborn character I have ever read. As the story unfolds across years and continents, we witness the push and pull between her individual ambition and her ties to her family. That tension gives the novel its emotional depth.

Ramage brings every character to life with warmth and complexity. Whether it’s Kayla, the sister whose influencer status hides her inner conflict, or Hannah, their mother, who carries generations of pain, each voice feels distinct.

The structure is ambitious, weaving timelines and perspectives, but Ramage handles it with remarkable skill. Her language is lyrical without being sentimental. She offers no easy answers, only an invitation to witness what it means to strive, to break, and to heal.

This is a novel that pulses with life. It celebrates survival and self-definition and gives us a clearer glimpse of what true geniuses and superstars are actually like...meaning, not the fairy tale stories but instead the stubborn, driven, and hard-to-love trailblazers! I came away from To the Moon and Back feeling moved, inspired, and utterly in awe. It’s one of the most original and heartfelt books I’ve read this year.
#AvidReaderPress #Tothemoonandback #elianaramage

To the Moon and Back is a radiant debut that blends lyrical storytelling with a tender emotional core. Eliana Ramage explores themes of family, identity, and generational love with grace and poignancy. The novel moves effortlessly between past and present, painting a portrait of characters whose bonds are as deep as they are complicated. Ramage’s prose is poetic without ever being overwrought—each line filled with longing, resilience, and hope. It's a love letter to ancestry and a quiet celebration of connection in all its forms. To the Moon and Back is moving, intimate, and utterly unforgettable.

I was telling my sister about this book and her response was, "pick a struggle," but I actually think that's what the book did well - dealt with the intersectionality in a realistic way. Showed that there are lots of different ways to inhabit a single identity. I think this book had a lot of great ideas, but maybe had too many ideas overall, which seems like a first novel problem. I really wish that some of the other characters either had more time chapters from their point of view or just none at all. The random sister chapter just seemed out of place. I felt like we shouldn't have left Della behind.

The story of a young woman hoping to be the first Cherokee astronaut starting with her childhood and dealing with intergenerational trauma, cultural identity, and becoming an adult.

I wanted to give up on this many times because it’s too long, too slow, too all over the place. The characters are totally unlikeable even though I did want Steph to come into her dream of becoming an astronaut. She had to sacrifice a lot, but she doesn’t like people anyway, so maybe destroying all her relationships worked for her.

There were some good points toward the end, but by then I was too frustrated.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES SEPTEMBER 2, 2025.

Steph is EXTREMELY hard headed and set on one thing, being the first Cherokee astronaut in space. She won't let anything or anyone stand in her way. I think I had a hard time connecting with Steph because I am very much her opposite in that I am an extreme empath lol but I still really enjoyed her story in finding herself and making her dreams a reality, even if it was at the cost of others. Though she does make some growth throughout the story. I have a feeling she is neurodivergent even though that is never explicitly mentioned in the story. I also had a hard time relating to Kayla as I feel like even though she liked to pretend she was different, she definitely was not that much different than her sister. Felicia was definitely my favorite lol It was a little slow at some points but there were also really exciting points as well. Overall, I did enjoyed this one!

3.5 stars but rounded up to 4

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for a free copy of, To the Moon and Back, by Eliana Ramage, in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed the first half of this book with the complexities of the characters. However the second half of the book really fell off for me. I found myself not feeling invested in the characters anymore.

This book is about Steph who is a queer native woman who wants to become an astronaut. We follow her on her journey and how generation trauma has affected her life as well as her community. I will say that Step is a very complicated woman that at times frustrated me to no end. But that's how you know an author has created a dynamic character, because Steph felt so human at times.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This is a really tangled book of love and grief and it moved me in a lot of ways. Also, I think the cover is really pretty.

What an honor it was to read Eliana Ramage's debut novel "To The Moon and Back" before publish! To anyone awaiting this book, considering reading it in the future, or of you are just discovering it for the first time in this review, this book is a MUST read.

Ramge takes you on a journey that spans generational divides, Native rights, and what it means to be selfish and to want in a space where wanting and choosing to be selfish is not always met kindly. It is a book about maturity and learning who you are and who your family is in time. Not only is this book well written but it is relatable and moving. This book is one I will be thinking about for a very long time.

**To the Moon and Back** by Eliana Ramage is a tender, beautifully written novel that explores the complexities of family, grief, and finding your place in the world. Ramage’s lyrical prose pulls you in immediately, and the characters feel so real and raw that you can’t help but root for them. It’s heartfelt without being heavy-handed and leaves you with a sense of quiet hope. A moving, memorable read.

This novel about generational trauma attempts to contain entire universes, but ultimately feels overstuffed and disjointed. Steph Harper, a queer Cherokee woman, is a toxic narcissist who has multiple opportunities to change her behavior towards others, but in the end, makes only half-hearted, insincere tries and can never really pull away from putting herself and her needs and demands first at all times. Even when she's making big self-sacrificial gestures, she's still only acting for herself and her own goals. Her straight sister Kayla is a different kind of narcissist, using her Native identity and a sense of self-righteousness as an Indigenous mother of a daughter to become an idol, only to fall and, without learning very much, or being willing to learn, start again in the same mode, always seeking attention and adoration. Their straight Cherokee mother actively impedes any bettering her daughters' lives and sabotages them and lies to them because of her own trauma and inability to grapple with it in any meaningful way. Steph's first lover is a much more nuanced character than the three Harper women, but her story is abandoned as soon as Steph is done with her,, and remains the only non-Steph first-person POV voice in the book, which is odd from a structural angle. There are other characters whose voices might have made the book more interesting and given it more facets: Steph's other lovers, Kayla's husband and daughter (although we do get letters written by Kayla's daughter to Steph), others on Steph's missions with her. The independent and easy-to-cheer-for Steph of the book's beginning becomes a Steph who is intolerable, and while this book seems to end on a hopeful note, none of the women depicted in it seem to be able to think about others, let alone change for them. If that was the author's point, she's hit the nail on the head. If she was going for showing nuance and complexity and sympathy for the characters, well, then, not so much.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. The description of the book leads one to believe it may contain a lot of space related material but it is more focused on the Cherokee ancestry of the main character Steph. Her childhood and growth to adulthood are cast against her growing up Cherokee and the child of a single mother. The characters were well developed. The story was well written.