Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

On Earth As It Is on Television is an unconventional debut novel by Emily Jane that challenges readers with its unique story setup, irreverent dialogue, lack of a traditional plot, and overarching concept. If you're looking for a book that defies the norm and pushes the boundaries of storytelling, this might be the one for you. However, if you prefer a more structured narrative with clear character arcs and a defined plot, this book might prove to be a challenging read as did for me.

The story begins with a bang as spaceships suddenly appear and then depart without any explanation. This event sets the stage for an exploration of humanity's place in the universe. Jane captures the essence of intense uncertainty as the certainty of not being alone in the universe leads to a questioning of our existence.

One of the main aspects that set this book apart from others is its irreverent dialogue. I’ve never read a book that structured its dialogue the way this book did. There are sometimes full pages of just dialogue, especially when you were with the children of one of the characters. It became very exhausting to keep up with at times. However, in regards to some of the conversations, they were often witty, sarcastic, and full of banter. While this can be refreshing and entertaining, it can also be polarizing and tiresome. Some readers might find it amusing and relatable, but I thought it often detracted from the depth of the story. It's a matter of personal taste.

The lack of a true plot is another notable characteristic of this book. Instead, On Earth As It Is on Television focuses more on exploring philosophical questions and the emotional journey of its characters. For readers who enjoy introspection and pondering the meaning of life, this approach might be fascinating. However, those who prefer a more structured narrative with clear goals and resolutions may find it difficult to become invested in the story.

The saving grace of this book is the big reveal, which finally provides some answers and gives the story a sense of direction. It is at this point that the investment in the story begins to pay off, and readers may feel a newfound connection to the characters. The anticipation built throughout the book culminates in a satisfying way, making the journey worth it for those patient enough to stick with it.

In summary, On Earth As It Is on Television is an ambitious and thought-provoking debut by Emily Jane. It challenges traditional storytelling norms and offers a fresh perspective on humanity's place in the universe. If you're open to a different kind of reading experience and enjoy philosophical musings, this book may be worth exploring.

One day, alien spaceships appear over major cities and it's total pandemonium. But what if they were already here and hoping that they'd forgotten to come pick them up?
The premise is really interesting and I liked how it showed some very different perspectives as it jumped from character to character, but I really disliked how the story itself is told. It feels disjointed and made even the incredible details lack focus.
That said, I do think it's worth a read because I really did love the idea, I just don't feel a big rush to tell people about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the early read!

What a wild ride! Emily Jane's voice leaps off the page and had such a captivating way of setting out this narrative. One day, alien ships appear over various cities major cities, but then disappear. The ships never make contact with a message or violence. Himanity is at a standstill as to why they came and why wouldn't they contact us. The story follows multiple characters after this alien incident as the world comes to terms with aliens. I loved the "Wife" and "Husband" especially. Pick this up for an interesting galatic tale and great debut novel! .

On Earth as It Is on Television tries to strike a balance between light-hearted humor and deep reflections on what makes us human, coated with the thinnest veneer of basic sci-fi tropes. Unfortunately, for me, it really missed the mark. I found most of the humor obnoxious (the kid speak especially) and the reflections fairly superficial. Maybe it's just that I'm not a cat person, and getting internet cat jokes when I was expecting absurdist sci-fi was jarring and disappointing.

4.5 stars. I can pretty much guarantee that you've never read a First Contact story quite like Emily Jane's debut, On Earth as It Is on Television. Rather than focusing on the aftereffects of an alien invasion, Jane's novel instead asks: How would humans respond if aliens showed up in Earth's skies one day...and then promptly left with no contact and no explanation? The answers are zany, entertaining, and surprisingly heartfelt.

In a clever narrative full of humor, emotion, several pounds of bacon, and a lot of telekinetic cats, On Earth as It Is on Television follows four people whose lives are altered in ways big and small by the arrival (and subsequent departure) of the spaceships. Blaine and his supermom wife Anne, along with their half-feral children, depart for a last-minute trip to Disney World, while 19-year-old Heather embarks on a journey of self-discovery, and Oliver wakes up from the catatonic state he's been in for 20 years. I don't want to say much more about the plot than that, because I found the journeys of these characters a pure and surprising pleasure to read.

Jane's writing is snappy enough to make On Earth a fun beach read, but it's also an emotionally resonant, thoughtful book that touches on themes of consumerism and capitalism, selfhood, and found family as it celebrates the simple joys of being alive. It's lighthearted and weird, satirical and witty, quirky and imaginative and incredibly endearing. The characters are lively and jump off the page, full of spirit and heart -- particularly Blaine and Anne's children, who are absolute delights. For a novel that begins with aliens, the story is rooted deeply in what it means to be human, and it is all so strange but so perfectly executed.

Captivating and entirely unique, On Earth as It Is on Television made me an immediate fan of Emily Jane's writing, and I can't wait to read whatever she writes next. Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

Emily Jane's debut novel is a fun read that tackles many US culture war issues with aliens-among-us as stand-ins for everything from undocumented immigrants to militant conspiracy theorists. While I felt that Jane sidled up these issues in a creative and relatively non-threatening way, in the end, I was disappointed by her resolution. In the world of comedy and satire, I don't expect serious issues to be tackled with the deadly seriousness of a drama, but I found the ending too easy...with too little conflict, especially given the way some of the characters are treated by rabid, paranoid types and government officials.

Jane's writing is nice, but a bit too repetitive and narratively distant for my taste. She has some really fun ideas, though, and I look forward to seeing how her work evolves.

On Earth as It Is on Television by Emily Jane was the surprise hit of the season for me! I absolutely adored this book, and it is one of those rare reads that just got better and better as the story progressed. The premise is one of the most unique that I've read in alien stories, and I have been telling everyone I know to READ THIS BOOK! It was entertaining and heartwarming and thought-provoking, a rare trifecta!

This one was hard to get into and it took me longer than I expected to finish it. It starts off rough (fleeing abuse, death) and though it gets better I just didn't connect to the story. It's described as "rollicking" and though there were some witty moments and I laughed a little bit, I found it to be more introspective than I expected. Even though it all came together at the end, I found it hard to connect to the story and the characters. It just wasn't for me, I guess I was expected more aliens/sci-fi.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. This was not at all what I expected from a first contact novel. It was really interesting to see how this could affect real people who are not the focus of all of the usual alien movies and books out in the world. There was a lot of internal retrospection that got a bit heavy after a while. I did enjoy that the character threads came together to connect who we had been following and everyone got the ending they wanted, in my mind. Not a light read but a good one.

This heartwarming, delightful, and immersive novel is a deep dive into how the world would react if aliens showed up and didn’t attack.

This book was like a sleeper hit for me. I had no idea what to expect going in, as the blurb is rather unassuming and kind of quirky, but I absolutely loved it!

You know what it is? It’s a NICE story. There’s no murders, no psychopaths. There is passing mention of abuse, but it’s very brief and the point behind it is escape and healing. The novel made me smile, chuckle, and left me feeling kind of … happy. Books rarely do that for me, so it was nice to have a story that was rather heartwarming and reminded me of the good things in life.

The book is a bit zany, it’s very stream-of-consciousness, and if you don’t have kids in your life (whether your own, niblings, or students of some sort), you might not realize that the sections with them are pretty realistic. The two kids in this book, despite being a few years older than mine, reminded me so much of my kids, it was unreal. They were hilarious - the way they talked to one another, their parents, and the cat. The cat names in this book are also fantastic (Mr. Meowmitts killed me). I also thought Blaine, the “TV Commerical Dad” - kind of bumbling but endearing - was a nice guy and a good dad, albeit a bit overwhelmed, and who goes through … something … in a manner that was realistic. And believe me, if you start the book and are enjoying it but aren’t sure about the marriage subplot, keep reading.

The Heather plot was great because her privileged state isn’t a huge focus of the book, and her actions and feelings do make sense. A rich person, I actually didn’t mind.

Oliver was wonderful - his determination to figure out his past and find a future was admirable.
Honestly, I really cared about every person in this book. They felt real in that they were regular people that didn’t require a big heaping dose of trauma to have a story arc. It seems to be a trend that every character has some sort of trauma in their past. I’m not against this at all, as those stories are important to understand other perspectives or life choices, but I also really enjoyed the lack of trauma in the people in this novel (except for a pair of them, but, as I said, it’s only mentioned briefly in passing).

This is one of those alien books where I - shockingly, given my love of alien cultures - honestly didn’t care that we didn’t get a lot about them, as it’s more of a human story.

It’s also funny, with lines like, “'Well, clearly the aliens made a deal with the government.' The Deep State had, yet again, betrayed its people” and “A gift of cell phones would dissolve any semblance of control or separation between children and screens. Children and screens would fuse irreparably.” It’s not preachy, though, more just poking fun at things.

There were two minor things that I did take issue with. The first was the “something” Blaine goes through does go on a lot longer than I had patience for (my least favourite subplot of a book though this one honestly handed it very well). The second was that someone who doesn’t know how to ride a motorcycle simply purchases one and just rides away on it.

As I said, though, very minor. I loved the writing style, as it was very stream-of-consciousness. This is definitely a minimal plot type of novel, though there are twists! It’s like a quirky little indie movie that stays in its lane, and for that it, quite honestly, almost perfects what it was aiming to do.

I loved it.

A first contact story, count me in! This book had me hooked from the beginning... why are spaceships hovering in the sky? What does it mean? What should I do?

Emily Jane's debut novel shows promise for a successful career. Though I had trouble at time understanding which characters were which, the more I read, the more fleshed out the character became. I feel the confusion was intentional, to make the chaos of aliens arriving that more impactful. I look forward to more works from this author.

My biggest critique is I did not feel connected to any characters. I feel exploring the dynamics and developing the characters deeper earlier on in the story would have lended me to want to read this book and consume it at a faster rate.

3.5/5 stars

I felt like this book was written just for me.

I remember the joy of discovering Douglas Adams at summer (nerd) camp when I was 12, and this one reawakened all those feelings -- it deftly combines the nostalgia of campy scifi with beautiful language and captivating storytelling. It was hilarious and poignant and so full of heart.

The story opens with first contact and the ominous hovering of spacecraft over major cities across the globe. And then they just...leave. Which understandably spins humans (and cats!) on Earth into an existential crisis. Featuring a great ensemble of characters: Oliver, the car crash victim who has just come out of a catatonic state after twenty years and can suddenly communicate telepathically with his new cat, Bouchard; Blaine who loves his overachiever wife and rambunctious kids (I LOVED their dialogue) but sometimes frets that he's the boring one; and Heather, the sulky teenager in a gap year who's trying to figure out who she is, and what she wants from life. And the cats! So many amazing cats.

It's a story about the anxious turmoil of our current day, and finding the pieces (and people) of this world worth grabbing onto with both hands when everything else keeps changing. But it's also fun! A terrific, fresh read.

DNF: This was supposed to be funny? It starts with a kid trying to escape a rapist? No, just no. Not even remotely what I call funny. Hard pass.

In this, her debut novel, Emily Jane hits a home run with On Earth as It Is on Television. This sci-fi/fantasy book is a funny, heart-warming look at what it means to be human.

Spaceships suddenly appear and hover over major cities around the world. The aliens don't communicate but hysteria breaks out between those fearing the end of the human race and those wanting to welcome these extraterrestrial visitors. Why are they here? What do they want? And why is the government just now telling people that this isn't the first time they have visited? Just as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone. Meanwhile...

Oliver has been catatonic for twenty years after a horrific car accident. Now he is suddenly waking up and slowly recovering his memories. What triggered his awakening?

Blaine is trying to cope with life. Married to a woman who can do it all and two constantly bickering children who are only civilized when watching TV, he is in a dead-end civil service job with a flat-world espousing, part-time militia member of a partner who loves to flaunt the rules. When the spaceships arrive, Blaine's partner feels vindicated in his beliefs and heads for his survivalist retreat leaving Blaine to ponder what's next for him and his family.

Heather feels like the odd person out in her family. Her stepfather is a highly successful reality television show producer who was once a Jeopardy! champion; her genius stepbrother is debating between attending Stanford or Harvard; her mother always tries to include her in the family activities, and she just broke up with her video-game-addicted boyfriend. Life couldn't get worse, right?

These are the main characters whose lives we follow as they deal with the reality of the spaceships' sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance.

Although I could have done with less of the bickering children, all-in-all this was a fun read. I especially liked the role the cats played and how the appearance of spaceships affected the main characters. Reading this book may result in one reassessing those odd neighbors: are they really aliens in disguise? 4.5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for an advance copy of this book. The publication date is June 13, 2023.

I have learned that zany, humorous science fiction is just not my jam. That being said, I think this first-contact story got stronger as it went on and slowly revealed its secrets, but I appreciated it more than I enjoyed it. The book switches between multiple narrators, but their voices were all a little too same-same. If you like weird, goofy stories, I think you'll do well with this book, and I definitely liked the second half of the book more than the first. Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for a digital review copy.

“For thousands of years, humans had gazed up at a brilliant plethora of unreachable universes; they had pondered the expanse between the flat Earth and the starry heavens, the meaning of Earth and sun and sky, the existence of life elsewhere, life in all its wondrous forms. Throughout the short span of their existence, individual and collective, they wondered: What did it all mean? What was out there? Was it brutal and merciless? Ravenous? Curious? Soft and kind? Would they find in the heavens, as on Earth, life across the spectrum, from kitten to shark, from clever child to brainless worm? No one knew. No one had ever gone out there, past the cold hunk of orbiting moon. Not until now.”

I’ll admit, this book took me a minute to get into. Alien spaceships that appear out of nowhere, then disappear without any reason for their abrupt coming and going? Cats randomly flocking, and lots of seemingly disconnected perspectives? I honestly almost DNF’d it. But I pushed through and I’m so glad I did! Once you start to connect the different characters the book focuses on, and once some things are revealed, it gets really interesting and the storyline shows up. Throughout the book the writing is witty and hilarious. It’s truly what kept me going. I don’t even like cats, but all the cat voices talking in peoples heads cracked me up! And the crazy kids, and the Malortian obsession with plastics and bacon. It really is a quirky, funny book that is ultimately an endearing story about family in all it’s forms, and what it means to belong and be accepted. It was sweet and I would recommend to anyone who can stick with it through the first half. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I DNFed this book fairly early. I agree with the other reviews that the synopsis didn’t come close to the content. I too was expecting something lighter than what I read.

The elevator pitch was interesting enough: A first contact story about alien ships that arrive on Earth, hang out for a bit, and then... leave.

And that's the basic plot. But it leaves out the surrounding elements that make this book special: TV-obsessed children, runaway cats, and perspective on what really matters when you think about where you're from, where you're going, and why.

Emily Jane's On Earth as It Is on Television takes a little bit to get going, but it grips its cats claws into you and doesn't let go. It's earnest and heartfelt and often hilarious. It's about aliens and humanity and heckin' chomkers; it's about buying 10 packs of bacon, false accusations, conspiracy theorists and reality television. It's about road trips and reflections and family.

It's a great book.

DNF. I think I'm going to start waiting until sample chapters are available somewhere to request things on NetGalley because this is the third book in a row where the content didn't remotely match the cover or description. This book starts in such a dark and upsetting place (a minor fleeing her rapist). I was expecting a quirky, fun alien contact story, but this book just made me sad. I couldn't finish it.

I saw the title and immediately I requested. On Earth as It Is on Television is a funny alien invasion story. We follow 3 characters and read about their experience while they were dealing with aliens coming to Earth. I really enjoyed it a lot. It was such a fast-paced book with humor. And I should mention there are cats in the story. I won't spoil what they do. Overall, this was a really lovely read. I'll recommend it a lot. Thanks to Hyperion Avenue the for the arc.