Book Review: The Wanderers by Meg Howrey

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. I had high expectations for it when I read that it was being compared to Station Eleven and The Martian which are two of my favorite novels. The Wanderers doesn’t bear any resemblance to Station Eleven and the only slight similarity between it and The Martian is that both books are centered around the planet Mars. First of all, the book lacked characters that I cared about. If I had to chose one of the astronauts whose family I was interested in it would be Sergei. He was the only one with a family I actually looked forward to hearing about. The plotline about his two sons. primarily the older son was very touching and I really enjoyed his letter at the end addressing his sons lifestyle and showing that he was a good father who loved his boys. The other two astronauts lacked personality and I just didn’t care about them or their families. Second, I kept waiting for something to happen the entire book. I genuinely thought there would be a great big reveal and was sadly let down. The hint of possible major plot twist led me to believe that this story could turn into a thrilling “how could they do that?” situation. The author could have done so much with that plotline had it turned out that way. I read until the end and can honestly say I wish I hadn’t. I always hate to leave “bad” reviews because I know someone out there will love this book. Plus I can’t even imagine how much work goes into writing a novel and I hate the idea of being negative against someone’s life work and their art. Books are like art in that they are subjective. Each reader goes into a story with their own history and beliefs and that is why some books sit differently with others. I wish this author lots of success because like I said, I am sure many people will enjoy reading this book.

Synopsis:

In an age of space exploration, we search to find ourselves.

In four years, aerospace giant Prime Space will put the first humans on Mars. Helen Kane, Yoshihiro Tanaka, and Sergei Kuznetsov must prove they’re the crew for the historic voyage by spending seventeen months in the most realistic simulation ever created. Constantly observed by Prime Space’s team of “Obbers,” Helen, Yoshi, and Sergei must appear ever in control. But as their surreal pantomime progresses, each soon realizes that the complications of inner space are no less fraught than those of outer space. The borders between what is real and unreal begin to blur, and each astronaut is forced to confront demons past and present, even as they struggle to navigate their increasingly claustrophobic quarters—and each other.

Astonishingly imaginative, tenderly comedic, and unerringly wise, The Wanderers explores the differences between those who go and those who stay, telling a story about the desire behind all exploration: the longing for discovery and the great search to understand the human heart.

If this does sound good to you…here is the purchase link: http://amzn.to/2mYa28b

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