Cassidy has one goal: get her mother out of the mental wellness center she is in. A mystery that her mother tried for a long time to solve grated on her mental health so much and the break down brought her to Eden Estate. But the place seems off and Cassidy knows she will have to work on solving that mystery to save her mom.

Hayden and his “family” are transplants in the town and while their non human identity is a secret, the evidence was glaringly obvious and made me chuckle at parts because of Cassidy’s obliviousness… but he and Cassidy have a really cute, blossoming romance in this book that I enjoyed.

When people in the town start to lose big chunks of time, there is clearly something going on. Cassidy and her friends (along with Hayden) discover there is more to this mystery than she ever thought possible.

There was so much going on in this book. And the format threw me off a bit. All of the back and forth between timelines was a little off-putting and felt like it took away from the current story. But then, again, I get why they were necessary.

The idea of this book seems like it was more extravagant then the execution. I enjoyed this book, but major aspects didn’t meet the expectations I had. The premise is so fun and, while this book was enjoyable, (and even though I LOVE ya as a genre) this would be better for a younger audience. There was definitely a major cheesy-ness factor in this book that brought my four star down to a three star.

All in all, I think the general themes in this book were all super fun and interesting. I hope to read more of this author in the future!!

This is a high school teen, sci-fi mystery
With elements of fantasy, suspense and history.
Set in Dawson, Colorado, a quiet, peaceful town
The last place you’d expect aliens to be coming down!

Cassidy Roekiem goes to the local high school
Where the new boy, Hayden, is reserved and cool
Until he notices her and takes more than a glance
Could this be the start of a grand romance?

This is a suspense filled sci-fi romance
Where even an alien will go to the dance!
However, where’s the time going?
Somehow hours are missed without them knowing.

As Cassidy worries about her Mum’s well-being
Others can’t believe just what they’re seeing.
The story has great characters and is full of surprises
And all aliens aren’t bad Cassidy soon realises.

I highly recommend this engaging read,
Especially if sci-fi adventure and romance you need.
Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley, too
I enjoyed this book and this is my honest review.

Mini Review: This was a good YA book! It had plenty of twists and turns, and the ending made me gasp! I would definitely recommend this novel to any fans of sci-fi books, or anyone who just wants a good book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Ms. Barneveld is a new-to-me author, but if you’ve followed my reviews at all, you know that doesn’t stop me from trying new things. The cover was beautiful, the blurb grabbed my attention, and the fact that it gave me Roswell vibes (a fave TV show of mine in my younger years) all worked together to make me really, really want to read this book. And it’s a romantic suspense, so that was also a plus.

Cassidy and Hayden were adorably awkward and adorably awkward together. I enjoyed watching their young love grow and blossom. And the plot, especially the twists and turns, kept me turning pages until very late into the night when I really should have been sleeping. While some parts felt a bit choppy and underdeveloped, all in all, it was a delightful read. However, the ending had me wondering if there’s going to be a sequel, which would make me a happy camper. Either way, I’m glad I took a chance on this author and look forward to whatever story she brings us next.

NICUnurse’s Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

We all have our reasons for choosing certain books. In this case, I was drawn to the title, because hey. One of my favorite bands from the 80's, Aussie band "The Church", had a titled Under The Milky Way. And reason number two, the story is set in a fictitious town in Colorado, where I live (not the fictitious town) , but I can so picture this Dawson, Colorado and it's inhabitants, human and alien.

I'm keeping my review to a high level because there's a lot going on in this story, with going back in time, with inserts about government experiments, and subsequently with the present. This is where the heart of the story lies, with teenager and Dawson native Cassidy, and the newly transplanted, Hayden. Cassidy is quirky and bright and I really enjoyed being in her head. It's was a joy to watch her falling in love, and to see what she comes to mean to Hayden.

With Under The Milky Way, Vanessa Barneveld weaves a tale that is funny, romantic, and filled with mystery. The dialogue is fantastic, and again, I loved being in Cassidy's head. She wildly entertaining and highly relatable. If you even have an inkling of interest in the extraterrestrial world, and should you love YA, this is the book for you. 4 Stars and recommendation.

*Trigger warnings: divorce, kidnapping, mental illness & needles.*

I loved this book so much! I'm not typically drawn to "alien" books, but this one was fantastic. There's romance, conspiracy theories, and so much more. I adored Hayden...swoon!

Weird things have started happening in Dawson, Colorado and to Cassidy and other residents. Hayden has recently moved to the area and there's an instant attraction between him and Cassidy. There's a non-linear timeline as it goes back and forth between present day Cassidy and previous events that are linked to what's going on now. As Cassidy tries to unravel the mysterious, some unexplained phenomenon are uncovered and Cassidy, Hayden, and their friends are pulled into a conspiracy that was never meant to be unveiled.

This book was beautifully written and I loved how the plot was teased out through multiple timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teens for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this novel as an e-ARC from Entangled Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cassidy Roekiem has only known a normal life in Dawson, Colorado, with her dad being a lawyer and her mother being in a mental health care facility. Cassidy takes it upon herself to pick up research that her mother had long abandoned, and Cassidy discovers there may be more going on behind this cold case. With the help of her friends and new kid Hayden McGraw, Cassidy finds herself in an investigation out of this world.

This book was okay. I will admit that the overall premise and ideas were pretty interesting on their own. But in the context of the book, it felt kind of lackluster. There were constant flashbacks and switching POVs that made it feel like it was detracting from the overall narrative. Some of them I understand were essential to help set up this understanding for the reader about who might be really behind the overall mystery. But the characters in the book just happen to loosely find it about 80% of the way through the book, so there wasn't that much build-up.

I was very torn on the characters. At first, Hayden was this kind of shy and awkward kid to be around. Then at times he was just spontaneously charming and smooth? It almost felt like the author couldn't pick which main personality trait to give him. We also got some chapters from his perspective and in my opinion, it ruined the whole illusion with Hayden. There were so many moments, both with Hayden and his family, that screamed so loud "Hey we're not who we say we are" and it really irritated me with how oblivious Cassidy was. I wish we could have figured everything out just from Cassidy's POV, not being force fed it like kids.

I can't really say much on both the Deaf and Dutch-Indonesian representation in this book as I am neither of these things. However, I will say that there was much more use of sign language than that of the Dutch-Indonesian culture. The latter was something discussed much more in the beginning of the novel and eventually tapered off. I did some research since there is a side character who is deaf and explains that a disease she got attacked her hearing system, causing her to go deaf. There is actually a disease out there called autoimmune inner ear disease, which can cause hearing loss. However, according to research, less than 1% of the deaf community who have hearing loss have it because of this disease. Again, I am not from the deaf community, so I cannot fully speak on this topic, but I am speaking up on this based on my own research.

I don't really know how I felt about the romance? It almost felt too spontaneous and the first kiss only happening about 40-50% of the way through the book. I wish it could have been slowed down a bit more to allow for that intimacy to grow between Cassidy and Hayden.

Under the Milky Way for me was an average novel. It might be better suited for a younger audience, and just wasn't for me. But I think this is a good starter science fiction novel for someone looking to start the genre.

Thank you to Entangled Teen for the E-ARC of this book in exchange for a review. I've got tube honest, when the first chapter was an alien abduction, I really didn't want to continue reading. While I definitely believe there is life out there and I grew up watching all the UFO sighting and abduction stories on Unsolved Mysteries, it's just not my favorite in books or movies. However, this book really had some great moments. First and foremost every chapter is named after a song on a playlist. While I was reading I would play the song that the chapter was named after and this play list was BOMB. The budding romance between our MCs, Hayden and Casidy, is very sweet and intensifies quickly, which is to be expected for teenagers. They live in a town where the UFO and alien culture is strong and it finds it's way into their lives in a pretty big way. I did really like the news stories and government documents sprinkled throughout as well as a few flashbacks to the past. I don't want to say much else for fear of spoilage but over all I would say that this book was a good read. I did really enjoy the writing style and will be checking out this authors other works.

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld is a young adult romance with mystery and aliens! A well-written story that I absolutely loved.

RATING: 3.5 STARS

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld aimed for the moon and landed among the stars. In other words, she did a great job with this book. Before going into the bulk of my review, I want to give props to the author because they listed potential trigger warnings on the first page of the book (before the story even began). It's nice to see an author who is cognizant of their reader's potential sensitivities and wants to give people as much advance notice as possible.

Cassidy is just your average teen, who helps out in her dad's office in the very quiet town of Dawson, Colorado. When she's not doing normal high schooler stuff, she's hard at work investigating the one case that her reporter mother could never solve. Things start to get very heated in the little town in Colorado when new kid Hayden suddenly starts to take an interest in Cassidy and reports of people disappearing due to "alien abductions" become widespread.

There was definitely some cheesiness with the romance in this book, but it's a young adult (YA) novel so that's somewhat to be expected. Cassidy is a strong, fierce, and stubborn character. Her dedication to the people she cares about is awe-inspiring. For the other half of the main relationship, I really liked Hayden as a love interest and a character. He's cute and super sweet to Cassidy, but it’s clear that he's hiding things. He had so many slip-ups about the whole alien thing that I was surprised Cassidy didn't catch on sooner. Their relationship did get very touchy-feely very fast (they really like kissing each other) but everything else seemed fairly natural and authentic.

In addition to the characters, I loved the representation in this book. Being Dutch-Indonesian myself, I recognized almost all of the food references that Barneveld included and it made me very hungry. There's also a character who is deaf in this book, and the author features the use of sign language so it was nice to see that community get some representation in the YA world.

My main critique of this book is the format. I enjoyed the flashbacks, but the research documents and communication memos kind of interrupted my immersion into the story. For example, one communication is just a bunch of binary and then a small memo at the bottom which was confusing. I didn't really understand how it related to the overall story arc. I think it would have been fine without them.

I would recommend this book to young adult fans of the fantasy and science fiction genres. It has all the makings to be a perfect Halloween read, between aliens, paranormal mysteries, and widespread cover-ups. Under the Milky Way had very similar elements to Stranger Things or Romeo and Juliet (Cassidy and Hayden are star-crossed in a different way). Thank you to Entangled Teen, NetGalley, and Vanessa Barneveld for allowing me to read an early copy of this book at no cost to myself.

CW: Discussion of divorced parents and kidnappings, scenes depicting use of needles and extreme physical pain, scenes depicting a character with mental illness and undergoing drug therapy

**I received an ARC from Entangled-Teen in exchange for an honest review**

Secrets? Betrayal? Mystery? CONSPIRACIES? Romance? OH MY GOODNESS I'M IN!

I really enjoyed this story from start to finish it had all the things I crave in a YA Paranormal Romance and you mix secrets and conspiracies in there with other stories woven in and you have me hooked.

This was my first time reading from this Author and it will most definitely not be my last.

If you love all that I mentioned then pick this book up, no matter what I tell you about this book it will do NO justice until you read it for yourself.

Definitely loved the unexpected twist this story takes. It’s exciting and interesting all the way through.

not the biggest fan of this. starts off slow and was not really in the mood for this type of story. would definitely recommend this more to mood readers as it will suit them best

I really enjoyed this one towards the end honestly the beginning started off VERY slowly and I truly didnt like it at first but Hayden definitely made me think otherwise. I'll write some pros and cons of the book but I DEFINITELY reccomend this to those who love some paranormal or stranger things (because it gave me the teen version of stranger things vibes).

Cons:
Starts off really
The past entries annoyed me, not sure why.
Wished there were more chapters of Haydens POV.

Pros:
Hayden and Cassidy dynamic was the thrilling thing about this.
The intensity of it all and the way everything was described.
A character that is deaf !!! Loved seeing that.


Amazing book, loved it. You really have to stick through the beginning to get to the good stuff. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. Definitely need the physical copy of this though.

I expected the story to be more weird. To have more mystery and while at times it did, those moments were few and far between. We’re told nothing happens in this town so you’d think someone’s parent going to a rehab would be big news. It’s not. I thought that would be the reason she was desperate to help her mother. It’s barely mentioned which seemed strange, but ok. Hayden is the love interest. He is an alien who wants to blend in which I can understand, but so do most teenagers on Earth and they STILL are terrible at blending in. Somehow Hayden succeeds at being normal to the point of being dull. His only shortcomings are staring (normal teenage problem) and occasional stalking (abnormal problem for anyone) Despite having powers, he’s amazing at suppressing his abilities which is a let down because I would have liked to see more of how he did that and the way it made him feel. Despite him being around for much of the story it’s hard to get a read on him. I know someone will mention that he clearly states that he likes Cassidy but to me if you need to have him say it then it isn’t obvious. Cassidy swoons while Hayden is sort of robotic so the romance comes across as lukewarm.

I was more interested in the mystery of it all and while Cassidy was trying to figure out the truth Hayden was too busy trying to appear normal and slowed down the action of the story. I really liked the other characters and felt like there wasn’t enough of them in the story. Definitely loved the diversity rep. I wish Cassidy had relied more on her friends instead of Hayden to discover the truth. That might have made it more interesting. It also didn’t help that the story decided to use letters, chapters with track names and past and present that felt like overkill in a story that seemed pretty straight forward. (If you can put an epic info dump at the end of a story and everything still makes sense then I’m gonna say there was to need for the other strategies)

Overall, it was a decent read. If you like mystery and romance I’d say check this out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5

‘You have to deal with the cracks that occur in life, patch them up, and move forward’

So I ended up really enjoying this book and I absolutely appreciated the fact that the first page listed trigger warnings and disclaimers for the books content. Its great seeing being adopted by more authors!

Into the book itself, this one was super fast paced for the most part and, although I thought it was a bit of bulky in the middle and there were a few times I was a little confused, by the end of it everything had been explained and revealed In such a fun and unexpected way that made all the suspense pay off! This was one that quickly became hard for me to put down because I needed to know what happened next.

I loved the way this was written, set mostly in the present with brief cutaways intertwined over the span of 60 years. These feed you snippets of information that lead up to the big climactic ending and it was so fun seeing all the pieces fall in to place. I really enjoyed the sweet relationship between the two main characters and the development of this throughout the book. I would have loved to have seen a bit more of the other friendships but the morsels we got were cute - and I’m hoping for more in the future?...

I’ll admit it didn’t quite go where I expected it to, which I really appreciated because I didn’t end up being an overly predictable plot. I haven’t read a book like this and I think it was a really well done and different story with an interesting plot. It had some adorable romance some great friendships and a little bit of teens making bad decisions. I am totally ready for the possibility of another book, and I really hope we get one!
I really appreciated Vanessa’s take on this. At the end of the day, this is a YA target audience and I think that’s easy to forget when you’re an adult reading these books (that in no way means other people can’t read it too, I LOVE YA books) but it showed teenagers.. being teenagers, making mistakes and falling in love and everything else a teenager goes through when they’re growing up (maybe minus the aliens) and I think it’s really great that these characters and (some) of their experience are relatable to younger readers.

If you’re looking for a fun and different read I highly recommend Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld!

Thanks to the Entangled Teen and Netgalley for providing an eARC of Under The Milky Way in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited for this book because the cover is so gorgeous and the plot was good, but the writing really didn't work for me here. It came across as corny and very predictable and because of that it was very hard to get through it. The book was confusing to follow and the writing was very blunt, which I don’t really mind, but there needed to be a lot more world building in my opinion.

I could not finish this book. Some scenes gave me too much anxiety. I liked the idea of the book and I liked the writing. But my own issues got in the way.

This was a really good sci-fi YA book. It had some really good elements in with the sense of mystery as well. I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book, it is so beautiful. I did think by the cover, the book was going to be more based around the romance between the two main characters. I found the plot took a front seat in this novel which was very entertaining.

I liked the plot of this book, it was very unique and I thought it was dealt with in a mature way. When the word ‘aliens’ come up in a book, it might be seen as childish or weird, but it was shaped into a way fit for young adults in this book. I found the main characters, Cassidy and Hayden, to be lovable and intriguing to read about. I feel like both of them and their families have secrets and they need to learn more about each other. The main theme of this book I would say to be conspiracies, I really wasn’t expecting the ending of this book. It was shocking to learn about the truth behind the book.

I found the ending of the book to be where most of the action was. It was fast paced and I wanted to read on to find out more about the story. I found the middle of the book to be slower paced but I still enjoyed it. I loved the relationship between Cassidy and Hayden. Despite there not being as much romance as I expected, I thought they were very sweet.

The chapters in this book were short and quick to read. There was a mixture of present day chapters, past chapters and chapters which included documents. I thought they brought the book to life and gave it more depth. Using documents within the book made it more interesting as the reader could get a sense of mystery. This also can be said for the chapter titles which are song titles. I believe they could be clues left by Cassidy’s mother. A lot of left for the reader to think about throughout this book.

4.5/5 ⭐️

This story follows Cassidy, she is in her senior year in High school where she meets Hayden, the new boy in school who is really reserved but starts noticing her. Also she has to deal with her parents separation and her mother being checked in a wellness center but Cassidy doesn’t know at what point her mom ended up like that because only a few months ago she was perfect.

At first I didn’t know what to expect because this is the first book I read about UFOs, Aliens etc, but from the very first page I was hooked, it was a really easy and enjoyable reading, with a little of mystery because in between chapters you get like reports of things that happens in the past so you start building theories about how everything is related, and a little towards the end, without saying spoilers, you get a plot twist that I really didn’t saw coming and that I loved, because I love when books surprise me like that, it wasn’t anything predictable.

Also I want to add that you can see the love that Vanessa put into her story, you can see that she really did her research in this topic.

Thanks Entangled Teen and NetGalley for letting me read the ARC of this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.