Review Detail

You know those books that you want to give 5 stars, even though they don’t exactly deserve that rating?

Mothership is ones of those books. It’s so cuddly and fun and adorable that I couldn’t help loving it. Strong, proactive protagonist who isn’t afraid to tell her stupid boyfriend that he’s stupid. Parental units who are involved and try their best to do well, amazing best friends. A lighthearted take on an alien invasion. I loved it all! Really, I need more snuggly books like this in my life.

The only real issue I had with Mothership was the authors’ introduction of a parasitic pregnancy where the host mother isn’t aware of the problems that carrying the alien baby to term will bring. I’m expecting that, since this is a series, things will get smoothed over and the slightly disturbing alien/human relationship will get resolved. Or, it had better.

Because other than that, this book is amazing!

So…Elvie, our protagonist. She’s eight and a half months pregnant. Her boyfriend ditched her when she told him she was having a baby. (Also: in the future, abortions are illegal, à la Neal Shusterman.) Rather than going back to regular high school where she’d get made fun of, Elvie opts to enroll in a school that’s on a space station orbiting Earth. Then BOOM! Her absentee boyfriend and a bunch of other commandos arrive, the school’s faculty tries to kill all the students, and all hell breaks loose. Basically, it’s left up to Elvie to get her classmates off the ship before it crash lands. And she does this all while dodging her dumb ex-boyfriend and trundling along the unborn Goober (which is what she calls her baby).

Which then brings me to Cole, Elvie’s dumb ex-boyfriend. One really great thing about Mothership is that the romance element is pre-existing, which means there’s zero chance for a case of instalove. I just really like the idea of a book that focuses more on sustaining a relationship than starting one. It’s a more unique experience for sure. Anyway. Cole, in spite of his good looks, is extremely stupid. He just doesn’t get it. And Elvie is super smart, so she has the upper-hand in the relationship. The two of them together were super squishable. There aren’t very many books I’ve read where the woman constantly tells her partner how idiotic he’s acting. Plus, Cole totally understands that his brain capacity isn’t so hot, and he lets Elvie take the lead. Really loving that dynamic, after all the “romantic” alpha-male crap that’s been floating around lately.

Leicht and Neal did an excellent job with the alien aspect as well. The alien culture, maybe, was a little cliche and silly, but considering the kind of book Mothership is, I thought that fit really well. And, like I said, I did have an issue with the fact that the aliens were using human girls as disposable incubators, but I think that could also be the authors establishing a viable conflict that can be explored in later books. And for the most part, I thought the pregnancy issue was very tastefully handled. I mean, yeah, I was uncomfortable with Elvie’s situation and the fact that Cole forced her into it without her knowledge, but I suspect that was rather the point.

Oh, and the almost cliffhanger ending was pretty rad as well.

You know, while I was writing this review, I kind of talked myself into a five star rating. Mothership was so sweet and fun and squishy. It’s the kind of book you read while snuggling with your drooly, stinky bed-hog of dog (or maybe your dog smells nicer than mine and is willing to share the covers). I really really really liked this book.

So what the heck? I’m giving this all the stars anyway! Don’t even care.