This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

I just loved getting to read this title. It was just so much fun seeing these characters and I just couldn’t get enough of them. I look forward to reading more wonderful stories in this series.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Upon reading this, I learned it was a YA sci fi.......that was where it ended for me. I am not a sci fi reader and unfortunately, I just couldn't do it.

I liked the premise of this book, but I wasn't prepared for the constant switching POVs for just about every chapter. It made it hard to really connect with the story, and I ended up being kind of "meh" about it.

This book is about a girl who will do anything and everything to get her mom back. Her mother was researching the disappearance of a young girl who went missing. She happened to be the presidents daughter. But it seemed to be too much for her and she checks herself into a wellness center to deal with her mental health.

But Cassidy can’t shake the feeling that her mom isn’t there for the reason she says she is. Specially when she isn’t allowed to visit her. She’s determined to solve this case for her mom so she can bring her home.

Going into the book, I thought it was going to be a nice contemporary book. NOPE!

We got Aliens! Along the way Cassidy meets and befriends her new classmate Hayden. But Hayden isn’t who he says he is, not really! They are keeping secret! But my gosh they are so cute! This story kept me completely attached!

Cassidy starts to believe aliens have been abducting her repeatedly. She meets others who were abducted along side her. Every encounter she looses her memory of each event. But things start to become clear. Cassidy and her friends definitely do the most to get to the bottom of it all.

I really enjoyed the book, one Con Would be the Star Wars references, I’m not into that fandom and found it a little annoyed. But to each their own. Other then that this was a good read.

Romance, and Mystery, and Aliens? Those are the reason why I wanted to read this book. This is a sweet young adult sci-fi tale that follows high school senior, Cassidy Roekiem as she tries to solve a mystery that landed her mom in a 'wellness resort' that feels more than a little questionable.

I wanted to give a hands down to the author for listing potential TW. This was such an interesting novel to be quite honest. You really have to stick through the beginning to get to the good stuff. It was really a fun read but not my cup of tea to be honest, it just kind of went downhill.

ARC received by the author and publisher of NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book

This novel was a riddle from the start! I loved solving the mystery surrounding the plot with the protagonist throughout the storyline. I was never able to predict what was going to happen next, it was always a guessing game which I love in a new read and always makes it different from the boring predictions of some,

The one thing I would critique was how quickly the romance progressed, it felt a little rushed and cliché. It didn't effect the book so much overall but it was something that I picked up on.

Under The Milky Way was an interesting and cute love story with some mystery. Alien and love story just didn’t seem romantic or glamorous to me first and I was very skeptical about it before I started to read. As I read, there was more than just a love story! I think it’s worth try if you are into sci-fi and romance.

This was such a great YA novel! I loved how carefree it feels and how easy it was to read. I have been reading a lot of complex novels so this was a fabulous read!! An amazing gift for anyone.

"Under the Milky Way" by Vanessa Barneveld is a cute, fun young adult novel! It also falls under the genre of science fiction, which added a fun new element to the story. I haven't read many novels that combine these elements, but I think Barneveld handled the combination well. This story was fun, but it wasn't my ideal type of book, so it fell a bit flat. Some parts felt believable but I didn't become very engaged in the storyline or the characters.

Cassidy’s life in Dawson, Colorado used to be quiet and predictable, but that has definitely changed. She’s randomly falling asleep, her mom unexplainably checked herself into a “wellness center”, and Cassidy hasn’t heard from her since. Add in some strange lights in the sky and a cute, but aloof new boy and you have quite the suspenseful story! Who (or what) is Hayden? And how does he fit into all of the other mysteries occurring around her?

I loved the natural inclusion of a deaf character and although a bit slow at first, I enjoyed the story overall. If you like a little sci-fi with your romance or are intrigued by aliens or alien abduction, this is the book for you!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Thank you to Netgally and to the publisher, Entangled Teen, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
DNFed at about the halfway point. However, I do not think this is a bad book, just not right for me. I read a lot of YA even though I am in my 20's, I usually really enjoy YA. This book, for whatever reason, did feel a bit young for me, even though the writing is not immature or simplistic. The other thing that didn't really work for me was the whole Aliens thing, which granted, is a really significant part of the book. In my defense, when I first requested this book the only thing I had to go on was the cover and description which did not scream Aliens, UFO's, or Extraterrestrial to me. I don't know if I would have wanted to give it a chance anyway if I had known, but probably less likely.
I was really interested in seeing where the mom's story line was going but by the halfway point there wasn't really enough of that part of they story to motivate me to continue reading the rest. I also felt that the relationship between Hayden and Cassidy was progressing at a good pace though some of the dialog between them was a bit odd .

Well, wasn't this the cutest little book I ever did read! Kudos to the author for making me instantly fall in love with the characters and making me stay up all hours of the night just to finish this book! Truly inspirational writing and I can't wait for more from this author!

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld, 400 pages. Entangled Teen (Entangled Publishing), 2021. $10.
Language: R (109 swears, 12 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Cassidy is a senior in high school, intern for her father’s firm, and self-appointed successor of her mother’s work -- she does not have time to be abducted by aliens. As she struggles to remember the abduction and how to stop it from happening again, Cassidy discovers that she isn’t the only one who’s been taken. And she’s not the only one ready to do something about it.
Buying into the ideas of alien abductions and aliens living among us was difficult for me, so I allowed the pages to drag and took long breaks from reading Cassidy’s story. As the story got more complicated, I struggled with the alien conspiracies. Barneveld’s conclusion was unsatisfactory in how the antagonist was dealt with, but I found that I am content with her interpretation of aliens now that I have the whole picture. I’m still not a huge fan of alien stories, but this one isn’t bad. The mature content rating is for underage drinking and mention of drugs; the violence rating is for murder and mention of suicide.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Talk about a sci-fi roller coaster!! This book made me what to start looking for UFO’s in the sky. If you are interested in Aliens you will love this book. It is a great mystery thrilling sci-fi.

Cassidy who is just a normal teen discovers that there is more to her little town of Dawson than meets the eye. She is in class one day and notices this boy named Hayden. She thinks he is cute and mysterious. She gets and opportunity to know him more but getting him a job at her dad’s office. Well one night he invites her to his house for dinner. She winds up fainting and when she comes too she decides to go home. Hayden decides to follow her. So she takes this shortcut that is suppose to take 10 mins. Well when she returns home it is 9:53. She lost 2 hours of time. She is wondering what happened.

Later on in the book she discovers that she was abducted by Aliens?

This book was a wild ride! I loved all the twist and turns. There were so many conspiracies. And I honestly had no idea where is was going to go. I’m not usually a big sci-fi person but this was great! It gave me some Stranger Thing vibes as well. It liked the romance and the friendship. I also loved the diversity in this book. There is deaf rep is not in a lot of books so that was super awesome! I have always wanted to learn ASL.

The only reason I gave it 4 starts is because it was a little slow at the beginning. But overall this is great! And I would read more from this author!

Thank you so much to Entangled Teen and Netgalley for giving me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC)!

Hello Books Lovers,

this is the last post before the blog goes on vacation for a few weeks, so as to give me time to finish some reading. I remind you that if you want to have a look at my August / September TBR, it’s online on my tiktok, @meandbookblog. Meanwhile, today I’ll tell you about a new Entangled publishing release whom I thank for the copy, a sci-fi titled Under the Milky Way written by the australian Vanessa Barneveld.

I tell you the truth, initially the story did not attracted me very much. Sometimes I found the writing itself unprofessional, a few repetitions here and there and other phrases that I personally would have structured better, but perhaps as an author, after seeing a small error then I could not help but notice several to follow.

I continued reading driven by the similarity that this story gave me with one of my favorite TV series of the moment, Roswell, New Mexico, which I recommend, and it will soon have its place in the TV series column. Aliens are apparently everywhere and are becoming very fashionable. And thank God I continued because the more I read the more things started to get interesting, intriguing.

Moving on to the plot. Dawson, Colorado, has always been a very quiet city, strange things have only recently started to happen, including Cassidy’s mother who voluntarily locks herself up in a nursing home, where it is not possible to make visits, without presenting any apparent disturbance. This will be one of the mysteries that our protagonist will want to give an answer to.

And then there are the lights in the sky, strange happenings in the city and among these is added Hayden, the newcomer to school, faster than anyone else in the cross-country team, fascinating but also very mysterious. He will be one of the keys to solving the mysteries.

What also bothered me while reading were the chapters with time jumps. One chapter to the present, and the next to the past. This is a detail that has always bothered me when reading any book because I have never been able to follow the story well. In a complex of opinions I give 3.5 stars to this volume.

I thought this would be all romance and I was gladly proven wrong. I got romance. I got mystery. I got aliens! This book was really good and I will be adding it to my shelf ASAP!!

I admit to being intrigued by the idea of aliens among us, but, I imagine that they’re here and may in the form of people like George Carlin and Jon Stewart, pointing out the many foibles and idiocy that reigns supreme in the human race. Did I digress? Not surprising. I usually do.

Anyway, Vanessa Barneveld has penned an interesting and fun YA novel in Under the Milky Way. The story follows Colorado high school senior, Cassidy Roekiem, whose journalist mother has committed herself to a mental health institution to seemingly recover from a breakdown. But Cassidy is suspicious, especially after she visits her mother and finds a woman who is a fragment of her mother.

Simultaneously, around town, there are lots of UFO sightings and people talking about UFOs. Cassidy doesn’t believe but finds herself drawn into the flow, especially after an evening when hours pass that she can’t account for. And, then there’s the cute new boy, Hayden, who seems to have secrets of his own . . . not to mention his rather uptight and eccentric family.

I loved the idea of Under the Milky Way and I thought Barneveld did a lovely job of building tension and presenting “research.” I do wish that the stories presented as past encounters had been woven together for something surprising. Although I did think that Barneveld did link some excellent twists in the tale.

Cassidy and Hayden’s romance is very sweet and I thought Cassidy was a kickass heroine who even managed to acquire her own Scooby gang by the end of the story.

I read this one very quickly because it was so intriguing. Excellent read Vanessa Barneveld!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5
The characters and writing were good, but the pacing ruined everything for me. There were areas where I didn't understand what was going on and there were parts that didn't make any sense. The story seemed poorly edited overall.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.