The whole book was incredible, but the ending was truly amazing. This book is brilliantly written and was a pleasure to read. The protagonist and other key characters (including those divested of physical form) had a lot of depth. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in aliens.

I really loved the idea of this book. It was a slow paced read but i loved every character. Annie and her sarcasm were just amazing. I wish there would be more action but story itself was amazing and heartwarming. I laughed out loud when i saw the first chapter name ''The Fault in Our Starship''. It was amazing.

Science Fiction
14-Adult
Here’s a great new sci-fi novel for young adults with great crossover appeal for adults. Sixteen-year-old Annie Collins lives in Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, where a spaceship landed three years ago. It landed, and has been sitting there ever since. Nothing happened. No alien invasion, no first contact, no “bring me to your leader” or space rays. Nothing. Nada. Oh, sure the military arrived, and an Independence Day-type motorhome camp has been set up with nerdy tech pointed at the squat black ship, but that’s it. Except something has changed, and government analyst Ed Somerville arrives, in the clumsy pretense of a reporter, to figure out just what is going on. The top expert on the spaceship, he’s never set foot in Sorrow Falls before, so General Morris tells him to hire uber-socially connected Annie as his local guide and interpreter. Annie is a delight – smart, savvy, a bit mouthy, and oh-so-16-years-old. She has a crush on Sam (one of the soldiers), loves her mum, is best friends with an odd but brilliant homeschooled girl named Violet, and rides her bike everywhere because she’s not very good at driving yet. The story is told in third person, shifting between main characters which includes Annie, Ed, Sam, and a couple of folks in the alien hunter camp. The plot moves along steadily, unveiling clues but still the key twist was a surprise to me, which is always fun. Doucette has a sequel to the story, but the ending is fully satisfying and doesn’t feel at all like a setup. You just want to read more about all the characters he’s giving life to. It reminds me of both The Martian and Stranger Things, with a bit of not-quite-zombie action. A mash-up that is a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a movie version will be coming soon. My thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the advance reading copy provided digitally through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38242137

Three years ago, a spaceship landed in a sleepy Connecticut town called Sorrow Falls. Despite being cordoned off by the US military and despite the concerted efforts of scientists and analysts, absolutely nothing has been learned about the ship, who made it, or why it is here. Well, not quite nothing: anyone attempting to approach the ship becomes obsessed with the pressing need to be somewhere else.

Just outside the boundaries of set up by the military, and encampment of RVs is populated by conspiracy theorists who use various kinds of equipment to observe the spaceship, and it is clear that everything they report is a product of their own imagination.

Annie Collins is about as normal a 16 year old girl as possible, considering that her mother is dying of cancer and her father is nowhere in sight. Annie has a gift for making friends, understanding people's motivations, accepting the weirdos conspiracy theorists in the RV camp, and pretty much knowing everything that's going on. So when a military analyst ineptly disguised as a reporter, arrives for yet another investigation of the spaceship, he hires Annie as his native guide. The adventure begins slowly but soon picks up steam when the spaceship starts turning locals and troops alike into zombies who go around asking “Are you her?”

The smoothly flowing prose style captures much of the charm of a small town filled with eccentric characters and a colorful if fictitious history. Annie herself is lovable in her complexity, her vulnerability, and her endless resourcefulness. A highly recommended read, full of inventiveness, humor, and surprising twists, and truly alien aliens.

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything about it.

I downloaded THE SPACESHIP NEXT DOOR to preview and determine if I wanted to add it to my SFF collection at the library. I do and have placed it on my next order list. I think my rather rabid SF fans will enjoy it, which is what I'm always looking for when I select for this collection! Thanks!

This book is so much fun. Whatever its shortcomings, and there are a few, the pleasure, campiness and joy involved in the tale are immeasurable. It falls somewhere between YA and SF but I’m not sure that really matters. Several classic tropes are used and possibly over-used, but why not? There’s no good reason not to use them in a tale that intentionally indulges movie fans of all stripes. Plus there is dialog that is cute as can be. So if your taste in science fiction runs closer to G movies than dystopia, this book is for you. A spaceship lands in a small town and nothing much happens for three years. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley. There’s a second book I’m eager to read now.

This has a slow, laid-back pace to it, but charming and interesting characters around a great premise. I wasn't blown away, but I did enjoy it.

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!)

Ah! Loved it. This is a terrific YA scifi story that reminded me so much of Douglas Adams I wondered if there was a family relationship. A fun story all about a little town and a young woman in that little town... the catch... a spaceship lands in a local field and... well... nothing changes.

Initially.

This is a great story about consequences and what ifs... what if a spaceship landed on earth, what if nothing happened for a while, what does the population, the military, the government, the townsfolk do about that? 

Annie is a great character dealing with a fair amount of crap. There are parent issues, government issues, friend issues... 

Then ordinary things are not so ordinary any more.

Characters are well fleshed out, containing oddities, flaws and amusing behaviors all of which make them seem quite real. The sci fi concepts are interesting, clever and make you think. The alien life forms are unique and something I had not encountered before in a book. Very well told.

I really enjoyed this story. its one all sci fi readers will enjoy...

Annie Collins is a 16 year old girl with a mother dying of cancer and a demeanor more adult than that of most adults. She's witty and young but also extremely mature on the outside, even when she doesn't always feel that way on the inside. I really enjoyed this book, especially because of the character of Annie. The entire town knows that Annie is the person who knows everything and knows everybody. Despite the book dealing with what could be the end of the world, the book is also lighthearted and funny.

Three years ago a mysterious object landed in a field in Annie's town of Sorrow Falls. Into town comes Ed, a "reporter" who is really a government operative and he's here to find out what is going on with the mysterious object, after three years of it seeming to stand dormant in the field. Soon he has Annie working for him since she is the person who knows the most and can introduce him to everyone. Little does Annie know, Ed is also the person who has a plan for the government to destroy Sorrow Falls and the surrounding areas, if what he discovers seems too dangerous to allow to exist.

Very strange things start happening in Sorrow Falls. I've never read or watched a zombie story but I accidentally did so when I read this book. It's kind of delightful in a sick sort of way because I do enjoy this book so much and look forward to the next one (not that zombies are guaranteed to be in the next story). I want to know more about what happens to Annie and the mysterious object. I do wish the ending of the book didn't just end with Annie and Ed, without telling a little more about the other people that were with her towards the end, in Sorrow Falls. They were all interesting characters and I wish we had more information about them and how the town is getting along in the days after the strange happenings.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for this ARC.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest evaluation of its merits.

So much of science fiction writing today falls into easy-to-define categories, like space operas, sci-fi as metaphor or Y/A first-person, present-tense verbs, dystopian-esque works. All of these are fine in their own right, but such repetition can get a bit old, which is why I so much appreciated The Spaceship Next Door. Some reviewers may find the characters a bit clichéd, but I would suggest that when you write a 16-year-old protagonist, making her a bit too sarcastic and smart for her own good also makes the character memorable. Average people (myself included) are very boring and do not have great quotes spewing from their lips at every moment.

To best understand this book, imagine if The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Gilmore Girls had a literary love child. The Spaceship Next Door would be that creation. Annie and her friend Violet talk they are old souls in teen bodies (kinda like John Green, but a little less existential). Some may say this sounds unrealistic, but I work with smart teenagers in my day job and these two young ladies ring true. The rest of the cast of characters are similarly clever are also quite fun.

Admittedly it takes a while for the story to get going, but I’m OK with that because the folksy-snarky charm sets the tone for the rest of the tale. Therefore, when you get to the part where the real sci-fi part comes in (Spoiler Alert: think The Walking Dead), then you are invested in the characters and really want to know what happens with them.

If you’re looking for civil wars with space cannons or a three-page description of an alien race’s culinary delicacies, this is not the book for you. However, if you like your science fiction with a little bit of attitude, I bet you’re going to have a good time visiting The Spaceship Next Door.

How would you react if an alien spaceship landed near you? A spaceship landed in the small town of Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, a small town that consisted of mainly farmers, mill workers and businesspeople.
The spaceship was matte black, it had four squat legs, it had vents and deep holes on the sides, a curved surface, but no door.
Billy Peterson was the first person to see it, he got as close as the blackened grass and he suddenly lost interest in going any closer to it.
The sheriff was called in, and he fired two rounds that hit the outside of the ship, flashed brightly, and disappeared.
The President was finally notified after about two weeks, after the military took over the immediate area near the ship and he held a press conference confirming that the planet had been visited by aliens and Sorrow Falls became the most talked about place on the planet.
For three years, nothing happened, the spaceship sat in the field, and people went near it, but there was no reaction from it.
Then a man named Edgar came into town, and he started a conversation with Annie a 16 year old high school student who knows everything about all of the town’s inhabitants - from the people in the trailer park outside of the military base to the richest man in town.
Edgar claims to be a reporter, but he has a secret, as does Annie and other people in the town. You will have to read the book for yourself to find out what happens to Annie, Edgar and the town of Sorrow Falls.

An intriguing missive on what would happen if aliens came to Earth and were reluctant to communicate. Doucette does a fine job with plot and characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for advanced copy!
This was a fun book to read. A spaceship sets down in basically nowhere and just sits there for 3 years. The protagonist, Annie, is a precocious 16 year old that everyone in town knows and likes, including her reclusive best friend that no one seems to remember 5 minutes after meeting her. The military has cordoned off the town and nothing has really changed since.
Then comes the excitement. ....
I really liked this book. The characters were well developed and likable. The action, although it took a while to get all the back story and lead-in to what was really happening going, was well written.

I don't know how to describe this book other than to say that a spaceship lands in Sorrow Falls and for three years nothing happens and for two thirds of this book nothing happens either. The action finally picks up towards the end but by then I've pretty much lost interest, not a quick read. Characters were fun but that was about it.

The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette. A unique look of what happens extraterrestrial beings come to Earth. Well written, with lots of humor and likeable characters.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I really liked this book and found it to be quirky, irreverent, and funny. Three years ago a spaceship landed and took up residence in sixteen year old Annie’s town, Sorrow Falls. Nothing ever happened in this small western Mass town, and of course it creates quite a stir. Now three years later, the mysterious ship is surrounded by trailer dwelling UFO enthusiasts, an army base, and residents who go about their business as nothing has changed. Or has it? Ed comes to town, pretending to be a reporter and is allowed to enter the area around the ship with a general. Everyone knows he’s not a journalist so when Annie offers her services to help him get interviews and introductions to everyone in town Ed reluctantly takes her up on the offer. Together they discover everything has changed, and in a big way.