It Came from the Sky by Chelsea Sedoti is a whimsical and thought-provoking tale that blends humour with a touch of magic. The story revolves around an unusual event that shakes up a small town, prompting the residents to confront their beliefs and aspirations. Through quirky characters and unexpected twists, Sedoti explores themes of community, connection, and the extraordinary within the ordinary. With its engaging narrative and clever wit, the novel invites readers to reflect on their own dreams and the unexpected moments that can change everything.

A geeky teenager, Gideon, and his not quite so smart brother, Ishmael, mess up a science experiment. To cover, they tell a story, and then a bigger story, and then a bigger one. The small town quickly becomes unwitting co-conspirators in a hoax that gets drastically out of hand. I felt like Gideon’s footnote comments were appropriate for his character, though some of them were unnecessary and just seemed to be there to continue the concept. Overall, this was a great story of kids in high school being kids and the unintended consequences. I’d compare this book to Kevin Wilson’s Now is Not the Time to Panic and/or Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Well, and maybe a little Pink & the Brain! Not bad company and a really enjoyable read despite its length.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free copy of this advanced copy of the book to read and review.

I have read a lot of reviews and people really liked this book. Unfortunately I did not. The characters are likable and fun. There was just something that did not work for me personally. I think the SCI Fi aspect just did not work for me. SCI FI is not one of my first choices.

This was a little different Chelsea Sedoti's other writing, but better than I expected. It Came From the Sky was a fun read.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

This is an imaginative book about circumstances getting out of hand, people having the best intentions but not communicating well enough to understand each other, and a vulnerable hope about our place in the universe. If you are skeptic about MLM schemes, wonder about lights in the sky, or just want boys who so clearly like each other to just get along already, this book is worth a read.

Two brothers have a plan that serves very different purposes for each of them. Gideon wants a brilliant social experiment for his MIT application. Ishmael wants to pull an epic prank that will never be forgotten.

It started as a simple experiment to test Gideon’s latest handmade scientific tool. But when Ishmael was left in charge of setting off the explosion necessary for the test, he wanted to make sure it was big enough to be appreciated. Mission accomplished!

Gideon and Ishmael Hofstadt are each typical teenaged boys, unique in their own ways. Gideon is the smart one—he doesn’t count on any one liking him, and just doesn’t let anyone close since he’s sure they won’t. Ishmael figures he’s smart enough to get by, and being a fun prankster surrounds him with lots of fans and friends. Neither one is sure what to do when their experiment and/or prank doesn’t wrap up neatly when they’re done with it. It’s taken on a life of its own.

When the FBI and a charismatic cult leader are among the national audience drawn to their town by its reputation of alien encounters, the boys start to realize things are out of their control. Now they just want to find a way to straighten it all out, without losing the respect of their friends, or ending up in jail.

This was an interesting story in which Gideon wanted to share every minute of the experience. By interviewing all of those involved, the author tried to present the viewpoints of the boys and many of those who thought they were having alien encounters as well. I’d give this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was an interesting young adult read for boys or girls who enjoy a unique story.

This light-hearted YA contemporary novel was just what I needed to celebrate one year of pandemic-induced stress! This book made me laugh, broke my heart at times, but in the end, it just brought a smile to my face to read about these two brothers who get in too deep with a science experiment mishap. It seems that everything that could go wrong for them, does - aided in part by Ishmael's love for dramatics and being the center of attention, and Gideon's preference for the complete opposite. I also love Sedoti's habit of picking a super obscure, small-town setting for each of her novels, giving them an added unique factor that only adds believability to the bizarre events in this particular case. Pick up this book for a fun alien adventure set in small-town Pennsylvania, I promise you won't be disappointed.

The description of this book sounds like it was made for me- a faux science fiction plot, a story told in interviews and reports, and it's a story about two (vastly different) teen brothers working together. However, there were a few things about the book that prevented it from ultimately being a book I loved.

For one, there is an MLM story line. The MLM story line is pretty central to the story, and characters view the MLM differently, with some being in favor of, against, or indifferent towards the MLM and the fact that their family member is in the MLM. I don't think this plot point was handled as delicately as it could have been, and it irked me that I didn't know about its inclusion when reading the synopsis.

Secondly, the synopsis for the book states that it is "told in a report format and comprised of interviews, blog posts, text conversations, found documents, and so much more." This is probably my *favorite* narrative format to read in fiction, so I was so excited. However, the report format means that about half of the book is written in first person, past tense. I don't have anything against first person, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting and it made for a lot of "this happened and then this happened and then this person did this." It just wasn't what I was expecting, and I was definitely a little disappointed.

The book reads like a younger YA book, but there are some heavier themes (cults, grooming, MLMs) that make it feel potentially a little too heavy for a younger YA audience. It was not the book for me, but I don't think it was a bad book.

I couldn’t finish this....it was sooo slow going. I was mildly interested, but the layout was weird, and I felt like I should be at least halfway or a little more and then found I was only about 20% of the way through, and I just don’t think I can continue and finish this within any reasonably amount of time. This was a little outside my comfort zone, being “about aliens”, but it was still a little interesting. The scientific parts were a bit dry and boring...it was just too much detail for me. I feel like, if I finished it, it would get this semi-lower rating from me.

I went into this book, not really knowing what to expect. I’d read some of Sedoti’s work before, and enjoyed it, so I picked up this book from NetGalley back when it was an ARC.

The character development is on point here and I really enjoy the family dynamics, particularly between Gideon and his brother, Ishmael. The way they work together and the way they appreciate and use each other’s strengths is really wonderful and heartwarming.

Gideon himself is so relatable. He’s very focused on the literal, has trouble relaying his emotions and often bottles them up, and he’s terrified of driving. He wants to prove himself but also knows the it’s a futile quest because he’s human. Smart, but book smart, not innovative, as is evidenced by our first glimpse into his lab, in which he’s creating a seismograph. A tool that already exists and, sure, he’s making it himself without assistance from outside sources, but it’s not new. It’s not exciting.

So when the idea to fake an alien visitation comes to light, Gideon jumps on it much more readily than a man of science should. It’s his way to make a mark on the world, to see what happens. He treats it like an experiment, recording conversations, keeping transcripts, and interviewing people in the aftermath.

It’s all a little ridiculous but is incredibly grounded in Gideon’s real problems. He doesn’t see himself as remarkable, struggles with his place in the world in light of everything else. He feels so alone and isolated among his family and his friends. He’s nothing special--just a starfish in the ocean. He feels so small in the light of the stars.

Over the course of the novel, he discovers that maybe he’s not so isolated after all. That he’s not so different.

I wish there had been more Gideon and Owen. I wanted to see more of their interactions. I could read a whole book just about them, no hoaxes necessary. Gideon is so unsure of what his place is in Owen’s life. What does Gideon bring to the table? Nothing. He’s gay and Owen is gay and they live in a small town so, of course they would end up together at some point. It’s practically guaranteed. Except Owen genuinely likes him and Gideon can’t deal with it because he feels so much less than Owen. He’s less good looking, less popular. Why would Owen want to be with him when there are so many other options out in the world? But Gideon does have feelings after all.

The aliens fall in a distant place compared to the characterization and relationships. It was really interesting to see how things would pan out. Would the town find out about the hoax? Would Gideon and Ishmael’s questionable actions come to light and would they be arrested? I loved all the little mysteries along the way and how they all tied together.

This book has amazing characters, first and foremost, and a fun plot to urge the characters along. I just want to read more about Gideon! I doubt there will be a sequel so I must be content to imagine what happens next on my own.

This is Gideon P. Hofstadt's account of when aliens came to Lasburg, Pennsylvania, and The Incident that followed.

Except, they didn't come.

And Gideon and his brother Ishmael know that because the giant crater in their parents field was caused by a science experiment gone wrong.

I didn't finish this for a number of reasons - the text was laid out oddly in my proof, but I think that the way it's compiled is very clever and will read much better in the finished copy, being told through interview snippets, articles and posts.

Gideon was an interesting character - it's always nice to read about a geeky gay MC but honestly this just wasn't for me, Ishmael drove me absolutely crazy and he came across as either 10 years old (he's 16) or someone with severe issues. I'm sure many will love it but it's not my thing.

This was...okay.

It Came from the Sky is a nice, sweet story that isn’t particularly original or powerful. Essentially this book is fine, but not especially memorable or significant.

It’s a cute premise, and Sedoti has certainly given us a (mostly) likable protagonist. But alas, there are a million Gideons out there populating kid lit. They’re all a little awkward, they’re all essentially good-hearted, and unfortunately for this book, most of them are funnier than this young man.

Gideon is too much of a stock character to be meaningful to the audience, and all of the humor in the book falls flat compared to other books like it.

Additionally, the book feels miscategorized as young adult. It really belongs with a much younger audience, probably middle schoolers at the oldest.

In all, there’s nothing truly “bad” about this book. It’s just that there are hundreds of others far too much like it, and most of them are better.

Not my go-to ready category, but this was a fun title to read that was relatively quick. I thought the overall plot, characters and story were fun and entertaining.

Wow this was a REALLY long book. I did enjoy it, when I picked it up it was something that I just kept turning the pages as I read to get through the story, and see how it would all turn out. Honestly, there was a lot in this book. Not only did we have just your regular story parts, there were pages of the extra documentation that you find in a lot of books now. Interview transcripts, website posts with their comments, text conversations, and even little interludes where our main narrator gave us kind of extra thoughts or expansions of the thoughts we got within the story parts. It was a good story, just maybe a bit overlong, I can see some things that didn’t necessarily need as much time as they got, but that’s just my opinion. Nothing was not a part of the story, nothing didn’t fit. All in all a really good contemporary story since as we’re told from the synopsis, it is just a hoax.

This book deserves major brownie points for me simply because I was able to finish it. I don't read contemporary, and I ESPECIALLY don't read contemporaries that don't have romance as a main plotline. However, It Came from the Sky had enough quirky humor, fun relationship dynamics, and faux alien fun to keep me interested the whole way through.

Interesting journey into the concept of pack mentality and the ability to push people to believe a prank. I love the use of narrative styles, it fleshed the world out more. I was not a fan of the main characters. While I may not personally like them, their story needed to be told and included in the teen section.

It all started as a little white lie from a brother protecting his sibling. It spiraled into something so much bigger. This was different than almost any other book I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story had a little bit of everything: humor, mystery, love, and growth of the characters.

I enjoyed this story!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

What kid doesn't remember lying and then having to lie more to cover up that original lie? This book takes that idea to the extreme when brothers Gideon and Ishmael cover up a science project gone wrong by convincing their town that aliens have made contact. And while events get more and more absurd, there are also serious moments to ground the reader in reality. I love the mixed format of interviews, blog posts, texts, and found documents. And the wondering of when the brothers would finally get caught made for some great tension.