An interesting read. Explores the interconnectedness of nature. I do wish the main character had been a little more emotionally compelling. She didn't seem to have much emotional connection to what was happening.

Thank you to Colleen Houck and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy.

This work was not what I expected from the title and that is a good thing. While it is science fiction, there are elements to the book that would lean toward fantasy as well, so it is a good "cross-over" book. While there is a significant romantic element to it, that is to be expected in a "coming of age" work. The main character is a flawed female with distinct weaknesses, who, through perseverance, compassion, and intelligence, overcomes those weaknesses and makes them strengths. The book details the main character's navigation of complicated work, social, and family relationships, as well as the loss of family through death, arrest, and travel.

The book is written from the point of view of the main character, Astra, who, along with her family, is a pioneering colonist on an interplanetary mission, when she is awoken early from cryosleep. The book follows her through her troubled time along onboard ship, to navigating a flawed, sabotaged colonial development on a new planet.

As the book contains romantic scenes, one might expect sexual content, but intimate scenes were limited to kissing and simple embraces. While there were references to significant violence, including assaults and murder, the majority of that violence occurred "off camera" and was not generally actively described. There were a couple of scenes towards the end in which violence took place, but it was not graphic, gratuitous, or glorifying of violence, and was necessary to advance the plot. A lot of authors would have used opportunities to introduce sexual content or violent content to fan excitement, but Ms. Houck's work was compelling without being salacious. While there were two male love interests competing for the attentions of Astra, and both did things to be of assistance to her, the author did not portray Astra as a weak woman relying upon the men for support and meaning. In fact, the author details Astra's struggles against a variety of constraints placed upon her by her relationships, in her efforts to control her own destiny.

I enjoyed this book and would have no problems with suggesting this book to my wife, my daughter, or my nieces, for the theme of female empowerment. Moreover, the story itself is compelling and enjoyable by any gender identification. I would recommend this to friends as well who are science fiction fans.

I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I will admit immediately, this is not the kind of book that has an impact so big I will think about it for years to come. It is mostly a dystopian young adult with a love triangle and teenage coming of age in an unsafe world, while the main character cannot be sure who she can trust. And that is completely fine, I love reading those books sometimes. (I do wish the love triangle was over and done with though! I've learned it's a common feature in these books, and I don't give lower rates for it anymore, but one love interest is quite enough, thank you!)

It is a book that I easily read on after I picked it up yesterday. I saw the 500+ pages here on goodreads (my e-arc doesn't show page count), and I expected to be reading for a lot longer. The story had a fast pace, but never felt rushed. The world was build around what Astra did and learned herself, so it felt very natural. And yes, I love the concept of young people having to build up a colony and their lives on a strange world.

Loved this so much . I thought it was going to be my sort of thing when I saw the cover and yes. Fantastic book. 5 stars. Colleen Houck great book, and thank you Net Galley.

Astra has a secret that her family has hidden her entire life. Her mother even went so far as to forge documents for Astra to join a terraforming ship to a new planet. This voyage is not normal though. Her mother is stopped from boarding and Astra discovers upon waking that her father died in transit. It is now just Astra and her brother in a strange new world. After the ship lands and the crew begins the tasks they trained for, Astra’s supervisor is killed and that means there is a murderer among them. Astra has two boys going after her heart, but is there something on the planet that is going after her mind? Who can she trust on this new planet?

Terraformer is the first book in a new science fiction series by Houck. Although Goodreads does not have it listed as a series or trilogy, Houck has posted on her blog that she is writing at least a sequel. This is different than most of Houck’s other series since it isn’t primarily based on a myth, although, readers could see some “creation” myth weaved into the story … that is not the primary plot. Terraformer has a little bit of romance and a lot of intrigue nestled throughout its pages. The underlying drama slowly builds until everything is revealed during the last few chapters. Readers who get to the end will know that there must be a second book and it will be exciting to see where this story goes next.

I love the tiger curse series from Houck so I guess I went into this thinking it was going to be like that.

Wow. What an an absolutely unique and fully imagined story. As a longtime fan of Colleen Houck, I’ve come to expect interesting, well developed characters and immersive worlds when reading her books. While Terraformer is her first foray into science fiction, it can stand with any of her previous novels. It is a quick read and very engaging - I finished it in one day.

I really liked Astra and Jax. I adored the planet and the beings that lived there. If you like science fiction and mystery sprinkled with romance, then you’ll enjoy Terraformer.

Terraformer is a young adult science fiction/ dystopian novel by Colleen Houck. Terraformer is not like the typical books that I normally read. I don’t read too many science fictions stories anymore, but I enjoyed this book, and it makes me want to venture outside of my comfort zone and read more dystopians and sci fis. (leave me recs of your favorites in the comments below!)

In Terraformer, our main character Astra boards a ship with her parents to travel to a distant planet, Crillain IV. The planet was supposed to be barren when they arrived, but instead they found it full of all kinds of plants, and covered with a lush forest. The world descriptions were interesting. The book is set in the future and there are heavy themes of pollution and waste that have destroyed our planet. But they were in for a big surprise on Crillain IV. The plant aspect of the story felt a little reminiscent of the movie, The Happening. (but don’t worry, I enjoyed Terraformer a lot more than The Happening) When Astra wakes her parents are both gone and she is on this foreign planet pretty much by herself. (her brother is also there but he was acting strange pretty much from the moment that Astra wakes up.)

The romance starts pretty quickly in this story, which you all know I appreciated. There is a love triangle in Terraformer, between Astra, Thane and Jax. It seemed like everyone in this cast of characters had their own secrets. Some were surprising and some felt a bit contrived, but I enjoyed seeing how the secrets would fit into the overall plot. Terraformer is a science fiction, with some mystery elements woven in. The mystery of the planet, the mission they were on, and why people were turning up dead was what kept me reading. I also enjoyed the romance, but it didn’t capture my attention as some of the other plotlines. Overall, this book was fun and felt like a good young adult science fiction that is all too relevant with the environmental themes. This was a good book. I enjoyed stepping out of my norm and now I am in the mood for some more young adult sci-fi with strong romantic elements.

Bottom line: If you are a fan of science fiction and romance, you will enjoy Terraformer.

As I’ve come to expect from this author, I was immediately dropped into a beautifully vivid story that I could see all of the beautiful scenery and not so beautiful events just come alive off the page as I read. The cover gives you a perfect idea of how this planet the ship lands on must look. You might think it is a fantasy story, but no, this is science fiction. From the space travel, to looking at how we had polluted the Earth and our own human weaknesses coming about, it hit very close to how many people feel about the world these days.

There was a lot intrigue and mystery to keep you turning pages along with the creative science fiction aspects of the story. While this might be a YA series with the main characters being around 17 or 18, it had so many twists and turns and deeply hidden trails it was comparable to many adult science fiction novels I’ve read in the past.

Personally I’ve always been not the biggest fan of plants. I mean I have a total black thumb myself, can’t get them to grow when I try or keep them alive either. And then I’ve always been a bit creeped out by things they can do without what we would think of as a “brain”. Then the author threw in a part with flowers that could echo or speak, and that reminded me of the plants in The Ruins by Scott Smith, a favorite book of mine, but also one that is very creepy!

The creatures that developed on the planet as well as its history or background in all life in the universe was so incredible to think about that I just ended up enjoying it all and taking time to stop as I was reading just to try to picture in my head what the author had described.

I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by this author, and I intend to read more and even go back and finish up the ones I have not read yet.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book!

Although I wasn't completely sold on this story, I did enjoy it and felt myself being sucked in and unable to put it down at times! Some parts seemed forced- like Astra somehow, despite secret birth defects, being chosen to be a "junior leader" of the new colony they are developing on this new planet. I also would have liked more focus on the connection between Astra and the new planet and not the love triangle that develops between her and two very different guys. I did enjoy the development of the planet they landed on and learning what made it so special. I wish we would have learned more about Uncle Harm though!

I would definitely recommend giving this book a try!

*Disclaimer* At the time of my approval. I had already purchased a Kindle copy of Terraformer so I'm including that review here. 💖


I have been reading Terraformer for years. YEARS. Long. Drawn. Out. Angsty. Dramatic. Teenage. Dream. Years. 

Ok, not really. But, it felt like it. Usually, when a book drags as much as this one did, I DNF. I have no problem DNFing. I will legit DNF on page one. Weirdly, quite like the plot of Terraformer, I kept being drawn to this book. I saw it multiple times on Netgalley but I never requested it because I already had/have 3718119 other books to review. I kept thinking about it some more. I saw some bookish friends talking about it. When it officially released in May, I couldn't and still can't find a physical copy. I ended up buying the Kindle copy. Cue, me reading it. Veeerry slowly. The story is interesting enough. The characters are... ok. But, I had no desire to pick it back up after I put it down. 

Terraformer is a book that should have been perfect for me. A group, in the future, is traveling across the universe in cyro, to a distant planet to help save the human race. Or something. I honestly don't remember. Anyway, Astra wakes up early. Hello, Across the Universe. She lives by herself for awhile, à la the Jennifer Lawrence movie, The Passengers. Then, once everyone is awake and they reach their destination, it turns into The 100 television show complete with relationship drama. *eye roll x Infinity* 

The Scifi new planet part and the whole 'plants' thing were my favorite and the most interesting. I recently finished Goddess in the Machine, which I highly recommend, and saw some parallels to it. The asthma plot was also interesting yet confusing. 

The stuff I didn't like so much; The plot dragged, in case I haven't made that clear yet. We got way too much telling and not showing. You can't just say *this conversation and character development happened vaguely over here and now it's canon and you understand what's going on* because, wtf, no we don't. *more eye rolls* (Spoiler alert: I did this a lot) And after all the relationship triangle drama that takes up at least 80 percent of the book because of course you're on a new planet just trying trying to survive but OMG this dude's eyes jaksksks K-I-S-S-I-N-G 🥰🥺😍😘, the ending is rushed and thrown at you almost out of nowhere. Use caution: whiplash may occur. 

I don't know. The book wasn't bad. It wasn't great. But I finished it so that's saying something, I guess. I haven't read any of Colleen's other work so I don't have anything to compare it to. Yet.

This one felt very similar to These Broken Stars to me, and I will say it wasn't my favorite read. However, I'm not a huge fan of space dystopian, and considering that, there were a lot of parts to this book that I enjoyed. I think the twists were entertaining, and I also loved the love interest. Although I found the main character a bit annoying at times, I overall appreciated her growth throughout the book. So, although the premise didn't really do it for me, I was still pretty keyed into the story and overall thought it was a good read.

I am not a reader of Science Fiction. It is not my favorite genre in the least bit. However, my husband is a Sci-Fi fan and I often find myself watching Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. My favorites so far is Passengers and The 100. Terraforma is the perfect mix of these two shows and with a hint of murder and romance. I loved this book. I am a fan of Colleen Houck’s writing to begin with but this was a bit different.

Astra is a character that is easy to love. Her life is anything but easy in this new world but she is strong minded and determined. Her relationships with Jax and Thane are important to her but she is aware that not everything is as it appears. Her brother Nash, is acting strangely as well and she is alone when it comes to expressing her thoughts. Who can she trust and what is happening on this planet?

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

A new dystopian sci-fi YA series from the New York Times bestselling author Colleen Houck⠀
⠀
Warning all Astronauts:⠀
COLONY BOUNDARY WARNING!⠀
PERMISSION TO ENTER ALIEN FOREST IS REQUIRED⠀
NOTE: NO RESCUE ATTEMPTS WILL BE MADE⠀

“Nature has a way of balancing things.”

Colleen Houck newest book opens up with Astra Meador is woken up early from hyper-sleep. She recalls exactly what events transpired concerning her family and why her mother wasn’t aloud to board the ship Venture. A spaceship setting out with colonists to terraform and colonize the planet Crillian IV. Things start off bad from the beginning with the discovery that her father had died from a pod malfunction. His body had been ejected from the ship, and she suspects that she's not the only one awake. Once the ship has landed on Crillian IV, She finds completely different than what was expected it to be. The planet was supposed to be barren It was supposed to be partially barren but instead it is full of tall thick forest and strange fruits. And to make things even worse her brother is actHer brother Nash was acting different,
A swiftly moving plot and engaging romance makes for a faced paced Ya Sci-fi Mystery. A twisty read here that had me pretty much-questioning everything that was happening within the pages. Overall I enjoyed reading this unique storyline and it’s characters.

Astra wakes up alone on a spaceship headed to colonize a planet far away. Her mother has been arrested and her father is dead. When they arrive on planet and everyone wakes up she has 2 young men vying for her attention and an entire planet of plants who need her help to save their lives. It’s a really good story. Lots of science, villains, a strong heroine, and a little romance. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book! I've enjoyed Colleen Houck's books before, but it's been a while, and this was a mix of futuristic sci fi and fantasy, where her previous books have been contemporary fantasy. So I was interested to see where this book would go.

Right off the bat, we know something is wrong. Between the beginning with the other narration, and then Astra waking up, well, things have not gone according to plan. Getting to know this world, these characters, blossomed so easily from there!

Part of the promotion that Colleen Houck did for this book was to post character profiles, and those, I was really interested in, because they gave details that were pretty interesting, and I couldn't wait to see how they'd play out in the story, like Jax living off the grid for most of his life.

I really enjoyed how it all came together. I'm a little confused about one or two details, but other than that, it was a fantastic ending! I really loved that ending, though, when we had that different narration again, it gave hints of the future, and I adored that!

This was a really fantastic read, and I really enjoyed it!

While I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own.

This book, so freaking crazy. Just when I thought I was figuring it out, it got weirder. Not completely sure I loved it, but I most definitely liked it a lot. Definitely like it enough to pick up any more books if they follow in this series. The premise is new (at least to me). And the idea of colonizing other planets is something that is just real enough to seem like it could happen. Makes you wonder...

I've read the Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck and I did enjoy them. The first book was a little difficult to read, but things improved as the series went on. When I saw Terraformer on NetGalley, I thought why not give it a try? (Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)
This one was also rather difficult to start. The first two chapters were about Astra waking up on the ship and then just hanging around waiting for someone else to wake up. I think all of that could have been condensed to just a few paragraphs, but once the others woke up, things started moving.
I was quite intrigued by the world that Houck built for this book. It shows an earth that has been so devastated by pollution that people can only live in specially controlled environments. The new planet, Gaia, is completely different, though. It is full of foliage and living things. I especially thought it was interesting that Uncle Harm asked the plants’ permission if he could use them for food. I’m not sure that we need to go that far here on earth, but perhaps if we were not so quick to take what we wanted all the time…would it help?
Anyway, Astra was an interesting character; she was quite intelligent. However, I cannot say that I agreed with her choices in men. Honestly, I didn’t really like either of them. Jax seemed unhealthily infatuated with her and Thane could only think of what was best for the colony. Also, I wish that Astra’s relationship with the trees could have been more fully developed. She went from knowing little, to being super connected to them. There was not a long in between section that helped transition and develop their relationship.
So I don’t know about this one. I enjoyed the setting and some of the ideas behind this story, but I found that it could have been coloured and shaped differently.

I'm a sucker for well done world building and this book did not disappoint. Highly recommend for teen readers looking for an adventure or adults that enjoy excellently written YA/Scifi.

I love YA science fiction and I am always out looking for new favorites however this one disappointed me. I wanted to love the setting and the characters but it felt like someone was telling it instead of showing it to me and I wanted to be immersed in the story. Unfortunately I didn't end up finishing this one.