Synopsis
A spine-tingling thriller by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, about a 10-year-old girl with an impossible power, her father, and an unlikely stranger, who come together to confront the dangerous forces that want her at all costs. A strange story of family, love, comets, and bacon. Perfect for fans of Stranger Things.
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.
Review
This is not a romance. At least not in the way I usually read them. But it’s a love story of a different kind. The kind that I think will stick with me for a while. It’s a family finding each other.
The story started off pretty slowly. I wasn’t sure what really kept me reading at the beginning, but the writing felt really smooth and compelling in a way I can’t explain. But then suddenly the story went off like a shotgun and things got really exciting the rest of the way. The pages flew by for me after that. Klune conveyed their feelings so well to me and every little interaction had my heart race. I was as worked up and nervous about their trip as the characters were.
I loved finding out more about Artemis. She was such an interesting character and I enjoyed seeing Nate completely lose his mind over her multiple times. There wasn’t much world-building since this was set on Earth as we know it, but her character more than made up for that for me.
Nate and Alex were great too. We found out about their backstories at different speeds but the way that was handled felt well done. I really enjoyed learning more about them and seeing them bloom around each other.
While I did find the very end a bit cheesy, overall I had a great time. The build-up and climax were satisfying and I really enjoyed the characters. I’m not quite sure who I would recommend this book to yet, but I do hope to see more people reading it.
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