I listened to this as a synthesized voice eARC from NetGalley. It was my first time listening to a book like that and I was aware the entire time that there wasn't a person behind it, we empathize on certain words, or phases, and it was off putting to hear a "man" narrating what was very much a boy's young adult book with monotone. It was sometimes accidentally funny in not-funny spots and some jokes I had to think on before I actually understood why characters where reacting to a scene.

I did like the book, it remanded me of the 2002 movie, Treasure Planet. Only in that it has a boy getting help from pirates, to the theme of Treasure Island. Leo finds himself and his family torn between the "enemy" Djarik aliens, and the Ayakari - aliens who supposedly act as Earth's benefactors, and a pirate "family" that his brother Gareth stows him away on the ship of.

How Leo does and doesn't fit into the puzzle of the universe without his mother, without Earth and a "home", or ship to call his own, and now on a pirate ship looking for the last of his family makes a interesting adventure and I'm looking forward to how it all comes apart and back together with the sequel.

“Wait! When is book two coming out?! It was a cliffhanger!” So say my middle school library students. I am prepared to hear the complaints. The students will find Leo relatable. Middle school angst is definitely a thing. Sibling problems? A thing. Confusing parents? A thing. Wondering who to trust? A thing. Grief? Definitely a thing. My opinion? I’ll buy this for my middle school library and encourage the kids to check it out and prepare myself for their “complaints.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

It's a fun space adventure, and with many interesting backstories. So many things are explained and yet so many questions remain.

Oof. I gotta say, John David Anderson's <em>Stowaway </em>was incredibly boring. I feel bad saying this, because I know that there's certainly some worth in this story--one focused on found families and the concepts of trust and manipulation--but I had such a hard time getting through it. And I think it's telling that you can have fantastic ideas and intriguing plots, but if your characters aren't interesting enough to hold the reader's attention, you have a problem.

<b>Stowing Away</b>

Honestly, I'm not sure if it was the characters or if it was the pacing that really did this novel in for me. Truthfully, it's probably a little bit of both. I simply couldn't bring myself to connect with the characters at all and certain parts of the story took <em>way </em>too long.

It's really surprising that the characters were so difficult to feel emotions for. Most of them had very distinct personalities. But something about the way the characters were written really prevented me from building any emotional connection to them. Their emotions were never displayed in a way that allowed me to. The writing of their big emotional moments just felt so flat and dry. Leo, despite losing his father, and his brother in a way, never really displayed the emotions I would have expected from him.

And the story hurts for this.

Alternately, the book as a whole just dragged. Moments that meant absolutely nothing dragged on and on. And then bigger moments, the exponentially impactful ones felt<em> so damn rushed</em>. It's as though Anderson put the emphasis on all the unimportant miscellaneous moments. And then barely spent time on anything that was meant to really hit you emotionally.

<b>It's Unfortunate</b>

The sad thing is that I do think this book had potential. The themes within it were genuinely great ones. I've grown to really love the concept of a found family in my adult years. Those connections are important. The ideas behind trust given through manipulation and lies is definitely something worth exploring.

The only problem is that these concepts are never really deeply explored. Anderson set up this world with these brilliant themes...and then proceeded to follow a very <em>tell</em>, not <em>show</em> format to them. We got all the information regarding the trust built through lies and manipulation entirely in dialogue exposition. And <em>it was so boring</em>.

So, I'm just kind of left with this novel that really could have been...<em>something</em>, but is instead just disappointing. And I think it comes down to the execution. You can have great ideas, but if you don't put in the effort to write them properly, your novel is going to fall flat.

I get that this is a middlegrade novel. And there are many young boys who will probably love this. But I don't think it was written well. And I, for one, am very disappointed.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

When a new powerful element is discovered deep within planet Earth, mankind is excited to discover its many uses. They're not the only ones hungry for technological advance, however, and Earth is quickly plummeted into an intergalactic war over who has the rights to the most powerful fuel source in the universe. Leo's father is a scientist famous for his breakthroughs in V research, and when he is given an opportunity to study the substance on a scientific space expedition, he uproots his already crumbling family and sends Leo and his older brother into a world of alien attacks, space pirates, new planets and the infinite darkness of outer space.
There were a lot of things I liked about this book. Leo is a believable character who makes some mistakes but consistently tries to do what's best for his family. Every time we saw a flashback to the destruction on Earth through Leo's memories, my heart ached a little for the seemingly inevitable disaster that greedy mining companies inflict in their pursuit of valuable resources and the struggle of those who are not quite tall enough to stand against it. The space pirates added a fun note of chill rebellion and cheeky nostalgia that helped to offset the occasionally harrowing battle scenes and moments of despair as we wonder if Leo will ever find his family again. The world building was well done, and I enjoyed imagining the bizarre locations that came into focus after the light speed jumps. Although I'm skeptical about the line that says that "every single one of Earth's countries agreed," I appreciate how this sets up several key twists in the book and reveals an interesting side of psychology. While not quite thrilling, it's certainly believable.
This book fits in well on my shelf with the Star Wars and Ender's Game books, though it's considerably more family-friendly and easy to read. I don't know if I'll continue reading the series as space epics aren't really my jam (despite my large collection of books that might indicate the contrary), but I will definitely recommend Stowaway to any of my students who are looking for something exciting to read when we discuss climate change, space travel and finite fuel sources.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free audiobook in exchange for a honest review!

Leo, his dad and brother live on a research vessel in space working alongside the Ayakari, an alien species they have formed an alliance with. When their vessel is attacked by the enemy, the Djarik, Leo’s father is kidnapped. The rest of the crew is left stranded on their damaged vessel. They are then boarded by pirates. Leo’s brother, Gareth hides Leo on the pirate vessel so he can escape and try to find help. From here the real adventure begins!

This was such a fun middle grade science fiction that I couldn’t stop listening to! It had humor and lots of twists and turns that I thoroughly enjoyed and was surprised by! Would absolutely recommend!

This is a fun middle grade story about a boy who ends up as a Stowaway on a pirates’ spaceship. There are themes of adventure, found family, criminals with hearts of gold. In Stowaway Earth has been attacked by an alien race, and humans live across the galaxy.

Stowaway will be published on August 3, 2021.

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This wasn't the most original story, it seemed to be a typical science-fiction adventure. There were a lot of current pop references, which seems like it'll date this book quickly.

I would recommend this to someone who doesn't have much science-fiction experience. The story was fun and the characters were memorable.

I was required to download this book as part of a test for NetGalley and will not be reviewing it.

I agreed to a one-hour test to assist NetGalley, but because that test required me to download audiobooks I will not be covering professionally and have no interest in and then placed them on my shelf, it created almost 20 hours of work in order to listen to the book and review it. I agreed to one hour, not 20. This is a terrible system to employ when asking users for a favor. It creates a tremendous amount of work which the user did not agree to but which will have to be completed in order to not damage feedback percentage.

I completed the test as required because I agreed to do so, but I will not be giving 20 more hours to reading and reviewing books I did not request and have no interest in purely because the testing system was poorly designed.

This was another great sci-fi dystopian book to be able to listen to! As a huge fans of big space opera films like Star Wars this was such an enjoyable read, and I would definitely liked it a lot more if I were younger. The character dynamics was fun to read and quite adventurous along with the political intrigue ongoing with the war. I was cheering on for Leo the whole listen through and the family themes in this book made my heart full!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing this advance copy of Stowaway.

I absolutely enjoyed this book. From the beginning, the reader is catapulted into a journey of space exploration forty years in the future as we follow Leo and his brother and father. Though this book is aimed for a middle grade/younger audience, the themes of grief and loss resonated with me very strongly, and John David Anderson handles certain sensitive material very delicately.

As a person who struggles with anxiety, I especially related to Leo's moments where he also handles his own anxiety, and I loved following his journey. The best part about this book? It almost feels like a Marvel space adventure with its bouts of humor mixed in with the heartfelt moments.

John David Anderson is a new author to me, but I'll be following his career going forward!

What more can you want? A couple of plot twists with a side of space travel all the while Leo is trying to find his family. Extremely well written and well paced. I really liked how there were not a ton of “alien” names to keep straight. I feel that this book is something for middle school readers more based on turn of phrase used. Looking forward to seeing what will happen next.

aliens, space travel and pirates!! how exciting!
this story follows Leo as he tries to get back together with his family after an incident in space. the people he meets and the adventures he encounters are well written, and you find yourself rooting for Leo to complete his mission!.
the flashbacks to his life pre-aliens is well done, and flows well with the story.
the things we find out about alien relations makes us want to find out more, follow Leo on more adventures.
thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this, I enjoyed the story. it was provided as a VoiceGalley, with a computerized voice. I found this distracted from the enjoyment of the story for me, but just goes to prove that those voice actors are amazing :)

There needs to be more middle grade sci-fi! I’m so happy to be able to add this to the collection. This was a great story filled with strange aliens, intergalactic pirates, a moody robot, interesting political war strategy, double crosses, and wonderful themes of family and belonging.

There are a few jokes that make this more in the middle grade arena than the lower elementary side of things. For example, there’s a joke about showing a middle finger, kicking people in the groin in self defense, and a few words that could be considered crude for younger children (“hell of a week”, “like hell you will”, etc.).

Overall, this was an interesting space romp that balanced big ideas of grief and loss, action-packed adventure, and funny slapstick moments.

I voluntarily listened and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. It was well written and the characters are described well. This is an enjoyable and entertaining book. The pacing is good. It was an overall good listening experience. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone and everyone. This audiobook will be in stores on August 31, 2021.