Book Review: The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette

I received a free copy of this book, thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinions on the book.

Now this is a better-looking version than the one I got as an ARC!

Book Blurb:

Three years ago, a spaceship landed in an open field in the quiet mill town of Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts. It never opened its doors, and for all that time, the townspeople have wondered why the ship landed there, and what—or who—could be inside.

Then one day a government operative—posing as a journalist—arrives in town, asking questions. He discovers sixteen-year-old Annie Collins, one of the ship’s closest neighbors and a local fixture known throughout the town, who has some of the answers.

As a matter of fact, Annie Collins might be the most important person on the planet. She just doesn’t know it.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Tags: Dystopian, Slow-to-fast-paced, Humor, Sci-fi, Small-town, Intrigue

My Thoughts:

The Spaceship Next Door took me a bit by surprise. After reading reviews on how it was slow-going and that nothing much happened, I lowered my expectations going in. They were right on one thing, it was slow-going for more than half the book, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened! Somehow, the story unfolding captured my interest and kept me turning the pages. It has a small town feel to it, plenty of funny bits(which caught me by surprise, I wasn’t expecting humor) and unnervingly accurate insight into the human psyche! Slap on top of that some odd events and zombies and you’ve got a strange but unique dystopian story.

Our main girl, Anne, had to do some growing up along the story and I love how she can take care of herself despite her lackluster circumstances. She has a way of finding out things whether you reveal it to her or not, though it comes off as nosy at times. There were other side characters like a soldier, two doomsday-fanatics, a hacker and a government analyst posing as a journalist(and doing a very bad job of it) that altogether made an unlikely band of survivors.

I sussed out one major twist before they revealed it, so one the one hand I feel smart but on the other a bit disappointed. Other than that, The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette was an unexpectedly enjoyable read. (Apparently there’s going to be a sequel, although I don’t feel it’s necessary. Nonetheless, I’m curious as to what Doucette will bring us next. I’d love to read more of his keen insight and tidbits of humor!)

…

Parental Guidance: 12+
Violence – Some
Sex – No sex scenes or nudity
Religion – No
Profanity – Some

Recommended for:

• if you don’t mind a slow-paced story that speeds up in the last third of the book
• fans of the humor in Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
• relatable insights into human behaviour

Grab this now on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository | Goodreads

Bonus Stuff: Here’s a blog post by the author himself, a taster of the kind of humor you’ll find in The Spaceship Next Door.