GENRE/TROPES: Sci-Fi, YA
POV: Multiple POVs
SERIES: Standalone
STEAM LEVEL: 🔥

What an unusual, unique, unbelievable fun sci-fi romance! I’ve never in my life read a book like this. As a space-loving, alien-believing individual, I devoured this whole book like I would a top secret government file on UFOs. Slow and steady.

The main characters are Cassidy and Hayden. There are TONS of side characters that are a big part of the story. I don’t want to give anything away, but I ended up really liking how they were all introduced. Adds so much depth and intrigue to the plot. All I’ll say is you just have to pay attention and hang on. This book is just like a mystery, giving you blips and “hidden in plain sight” clues that just kept compiling until it all comes to light and you’re like, THANK YOU!

And what a sweet little romance. I’ll admit a few times I had to pause reading because it wasn’t fluid. It was like reading a file, a bit disjointed and choppy in storytelling. But I ended up loving that aspect. Not a typical story and I just have to say I’m impressed. 🤷🏻‍♀️

A huge thank you to Entangled Teen & NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this given that I haven’t been read that much contemporary YA these days, let alone in the sci-fi genre but the engaging writing and intriguing premise had me hooked! The pacing was quite fast as well so it was easy to just read on and on.

Our main lead, Cassidy, was driven and smart that I had the best time going on this journey with her towards helping her mom and finishing what her mom started. Hayden was an interesting lead too! He was sweet and charming but his suspicious actions had me curious about him and his family all throughout! Their light romance was enough to keep me going because it was so adorable without overtaking the plot. Besides our amazing leads, I also love the side characters especially Alondra, Jake and Trudy!

It was exciting to me having more disability rep with Alondra being deaf and her and Cassidy speaking in ASL. I also liked seeing more of the cultural references made with both of Cassidy’s Dutch and Indonesian side.

I enjoyed the alternating chapters between the ongoing present plot of Cassidy solving the case with Jane’s disappearance along with them trying to get at the bottom of “alien abduction” like experience she and her friends were having and the past chapters told in emails and flashbacks from those involved in the issue which eventually led to the revelation of the conflict. These two timelines coming together towards the end was so satisfying and shocking in the best way!

Overall, I’m so happy to have given the opportunity to read this amazing book! It was exciting, engrossing and mind blowingly good! I highly recommend this for fans of sci-fi and aliens!

Under the Milky Way is a beautifully written paranormal romance perfect for fans of the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The main character Cassidy was very well-written, and I really enjoyed the plot. I loved this book, and it’s definitely one of my favorite books I’ve gotten to review on NetGalley.

Oh. My. Goodness. VANESSA WHAT DID YOU DO!? This book...amazing. You want mystery? This has it. You want romance? Done. You want paranormal? Well let me just tell you, this book has that too! Tired of reading YA contemporary books because the pacing is predictable? Well Vanessa just comes in and shakes up chapter structure and even POV/timeline so it is impossible to get bored or feel stagnant with this book. I am cautious to say too much about the actual plot of this book because there are so many twists that feel like they will be predictable and then AREN'T, and I don't want to spoil any of the amazingness of this book.

This book is about Cassidy, a 17-year-old high school student in a small town in Colorado who is confronted with a challenge that her mom is unable to solve - which sends her to a "Wellness Center" - so Cassidy takes it on herself. In the process of all of this she ends up missing chunks of time, reconnecting with people who know her from moments of her life she has no recollection of, and falling for a senior at the school who seems too good to be true. The conspiracy theories in this book are so well thought out, and so believable, I almost wonder if I missed something in the "real" world and these are things people actually think.

Also, that ending - the way that it is written leaves it open for a sequel but gives such nice closure to this book, which is my favorite. But, can we get a sequel? Is that in the works already? Because I'll read it! Only question - does Cassidy ever go back to school? I know she was mentioned to be in class a couple times (plus Homecoming & graduation were mentioned) and then never again. No biggie, but about 3 pages from the end of the book I was worried about her education. But objectively, I think she learned more about the world in the experiences she had during those days/weeks of uncovering the truth than she would have in school. Just something I noticed because I'm strange like that.

Overall, I cannot stress this enough, if you are looking for an easy to read (in terms of writing style) paranormal mystery YA this is THE book you need to pick up when it comes out. 10/10 would read again.

Thank you Entangled Teen for sending me an e-arc for review!

I love a good alien story so I was really excited to get to this one! When the book first started out I was a little worried because it all felt a bit slow for me. I was assuming we’d get into the thick of things really quickly, so at first this book felt like it was too long. However, around the 25% mark I got really invested into the story and everything picked up! I found the aliens and the abductions to fascinating, especially because we were finding new information as our character found things out. When the story first started out it seemed like there were a lot of random plot points that had no connection, but by the end everything connected really well together and it all made sense. I really enjoyed how between some chapters we were get stories from the past or correspondence between people.

As for the romance, it honestly wasn’t my favorite part. I felt like it didn’t feel believable. They went from not speaking to each other to being super close the next day. However, I really love our characters individually.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and would definitely read more from this author!

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Entangled Teen!

Under the Milky Way is a standalone YA book about Cassidy and Hayden.

Under the Milky Way is the first book I’ve read by Vanessa Barneveld and I liked it! When I was looking through the ARC options of Entangled Teen, the synopsis and cover immediately grabbed my attention. The story sounded so interesting and right up my alley. I really liked the concept of this story and I think Vanessa Barneveld did a good job with this book!

I really loved Cassidy as a main character. I like the way she is and I love that Vanessa Barneveld added sign language to this book. I haven’t read that many books with sign language and/or deaf characters, so it’s always nice to read a book with those topics. I also really liked Hayden although it was a bit obvious what his dark secrets were. But I still enjoyed reading about them.

Under the Milky Way has a special format. It’s not just Cassidy’s POV but also documents about research, etc. And I wasn’t the biggest fan of the format. I think that’s the reason why I didn’t give this book more than 3 stars. But besides the format, I still liked Cassidy and Hayden’s story and I’m looking forward to discovering more books by Vanessa Barneveld!

📚 ARC REVIEW 📚
Release date 10th August 2021

Under the Milky Way by Vanessa Barneveld

I've literally just finished this book after being selected by @entangledteen via @netgalley to review.

I'm blown away. Cassidy is trying to navigate life with her dad after her parents separation, when a visit to her mum in a rehab facility changes her outlook on life.

This book contains
👽 Aliens
🤯 Conspiracies
✊ Kick ass heroine
🥵 Hot high school boys
👩‍🏫 American Sign Language

Vanessa Barneveld has created a masterpiece. This is Young Adult romance with action and intrigue laced throughout.

Under the Milky Way is an entertaining young adult sci-fi romance. I love the cover of this book. It’s so gorgeous, and I was drawn to the unique-sounding story. It’s not your typical alien romance. This story includes disappearances, aliens, conspiracies, and decades-old mysteries full of intrigue and danger. The plot is pretty unique, and I like how the author wove several seemingly unrelated stories together. The story went in a few directions that I didn’t expect, and the connections are tied together well. It made for an enjoyable read.

Each chapter begins with a song title from a playlist Cassidy’s mother made for her, which is another intriguing element of the story. Are these possible clues left by her mother, or are they something else? The story also includes snippets of news articles, memos, reports, and more throughout the book. These, as well as the song titles, offer insight into the several mysteries in the story. It’s interesting to see how everything ties together and how information that seemed unrelated or unimportant became significant as the story unfolded.

The characters are also interesting, though I wish some were a little more layered. Cassidy’s friends and aunt and Hayden’s family are so interesting, and I could easily see some of them being the focus of future books by the author. Cassidy is a great protagonist. She is resilient and determined, and she shows such courage throughout the story. I like that she trusts her instincts and never gives up on the people she loves. She’s also really intelligent, curious, and accepting.

The love story in this book is sweet and complicated. Cassidy and Hayden have a great connection, and I love how behind his athleticism and unbelievable good looks, Hayden is awkward and a bit bumbling with Cassidy. You can tell how taken he is with her, which is very sweet. Cassidy feels the same way, and their growing relationship, though complex and riddled with problems, is great.

Secrets, lies, betrayal, conspiracies, abductions, and more make for a suspenseful and entertaining read. Part sci-fi, part mystery, the intrigue definitely propels the plot. I became easily engrossed in the story and didn’t anticipate many of the surprising twists and turns. It’s an interesting and enjoyable read that will appeal to readers of ya sci-fi romance. Thanks so much to Entangled Teen, NetGalley, and the author for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is like twilight for aliens! A lot of similarities! I loved the romance of Hayden and Cassidy! It was so sweet! It also reminds me of The 5th Wave! It would be very cool to see this book as a movie.

This book, had me very, very much intrigued when I read the synopsis. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and the plot was really something new. I was very excited to read this as it is also my very first e-arc!

Things I liked in ‘Under the Milky Way’-

The plot. The plot was a very different and new idea which I haven’t seen much in YA.
The character of Hayden. I loved how he wasn’t this perfect YA love interest, he had his insecurities, his problems and complications.
The INTRIGUE. Gosh, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t obsessed with this book. From day 1, I knew something could happen, in any page.
The character development. Honestly, our Cassidy, was like a new version of ‘Bella Swan’ in the first few chapters. But unlike Bella, Cassidy actually had the brain and guts to do something PROPERLY, without help.
Insecurity discussion. Yes, I’m saying it again. Not much in this book was the typical picture perfect YA. No prefect parents, best friends, friends our boyfriend’s families. I love how every relationship was very in depth and realistic.
The cover. Yes, I ADORE the cover, honestly, look at it. It’s gorgeous.
How it managed to not give Twilight vibes. I mean, look at it. A gorgeous guy, very fast and very cute. A normal girl, ordinary of sorts. Total twilight stuff. But still this book didn’t follow Twilight which I’m grateful for. If it had, I might have broken my heart.
The Suspense. I am totally not a sci-fi reader. I still haven’t read ‘Lunar Chronicles’ because I’m worried about how I’ll feel after reading that. But the fact that this book was sci-fi and still managed to keep me hooked is fantabulous.

Things I didn’t like in ‘Under the Milky Way’

The way it was written. The writing at many times, didn’t make sense to me. There are tons of snippets of news, articles, reports, that I didn’t understand how that works. I mean, I did understand it when I finished the book. But really, I was so confused when our story halted and random articles came up. After a point, I started detesting it.

How everything eventually leads to one thing. There were a ton of mysteries in the beginning of the book. About Jane. About Cassidy’s mom. About Hayden’s family. I hate how it ultimately leads to one thing.

The ending was rushed. I had hoped for a happy ending, which I did get. But as I reader I’m still left confused. What exactly happens? Does the government re-approve the treaty? Does Hayden live on Earth? What even was that with Cassidy on a beach and then in the forest with Hayden’s dog and him?

The start didn’t make sense. The starting of the story was no doubt very well crafted. We see a struggling musician who becomes successful, and encountered certain beings, Why is the start so unrelated to the whole story? Not even once, is the musician from Australia mentioned again. I had hoped he had some role to play.

Well! And that’s a wrap for my very first e-arc review. I totally recommend this book to all sci-fi, fantasy, YA, Twilight lovers. Grab it if you love suspense, intrigue and realistic books!

Thanks to netgalley for an arc!

I really wanted to like this book but I found it quite confusing at the beginning and then quite blunt. Cassidy as a character seemed one-dimensional and I would have liked to learn more about the alien aspect of other characters. The book could have done with a bit more show don't tell and world-building.
Everything was wrapped up quite nicely and plot points completed but it all seemed a little too convenient in places.
All in all this book can be described as 'meh'

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Interesting concept, a YA type of book but with aliens, and part Mystery/Thriller. I haven’t really read many YA aliens books. Some readers will love the author's direct writing style of tell-don't-show, but I found it not my style. It was a ok book but honestly not my favorite book, it fell a little flat for me, I wanted more romance.

I'm not sure how to start this review. Under the Milky Way was a rough book to get through. It definitely wasn't bad by any means. I just never really had the desire to continue reading after I set it down. So it took awhile to finish. I was a part of the official cover reveal and the synopsis and cover immediately made me add it to my tbr. Conspiracies? Aliens? Romance? Hell, yes. Those are the best kinds of scifi novels. But, even though Under the Milky Way had a pretty strong start, it started to fizzle fast. I was never drawn into the story. I never felt the chemistry between any of the characters. The interlude chapters that were supposed to slowly reveal the past and help clue us in to what's happening, felt more jarring than revealing. We didn't get much of the 'alien' side of things. That's what I was mostly interested in. I wanted to know more about them. Not who we actually learned about. It was still interesting. And we don't have too many unanswered questions by then end. I did like that. While, Under the Milky Way does read like a debut, I liked it enough to read a sequel or anything else the author might write.

***Thank you to Entangled Teen and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.***

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Under The Milky Way in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this because the cover is gorgeous and I love alien stories, but the narration really didn't work for me here. It's very, very blunt and non-subtle and since it already deals with a more fantastical plot, the narrative style made it impossible for me to experience this as a story instead of being constantly aware that I was reading a fictional series of events someone came up with.

3 stars. Interesting concept, a 'YA Paranormal' type of book but with aliens, and part Mystery/Thriller. Some readers will love the author's direct writing style of tell-don't-show. Other readers may be very triggered by the loss of a parent (even though said parent is still alive.) This book contains all of the heartache of losing a mother, and can very easily trigger a massive, unwanted grief response in readers. Perhaps the Content Warning should be more clear.

This one was great. I loved the writing, I loved the characters, and I really enjoyed the story in a whole. I would recommend this.

So, I honestly don’t know what to say, I felt like I was in a trance like it was just weird. The plot was good and at some points I was shocked, but the writing wasn’t the best and it was sort of corny. I never have the alien believer so maybe that’s why I didn’t like it as much, I did have high hopes and I was kinda sad it didn’t exceed my expectations. Thank you Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this and I hope others enjoy it more than I did.

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