Thanks to NetGalley and Mythic Roads for this ARC.

I found Moon Dust in My Hairnet very enjoyable. The plot is very simple, and I felt that the book focused more on the relationship of the characters anyway.

The book tells the story of a community that goes to live on the Moon, that is made possible by a clever device invented by a young scientist. Unfortunately the inventor, and founder of the community is no longer alive by the time the move happens, so the events that follow are told by her sister's point of view.

As younger sisters often are, our main character, Lane, (and her parents) keep unintentionally comparing her to her sister, which paints an unfavourable picture of her, and leaves her feeling unloved. When a mysterious girl approaches Lane to involve her in a complicated polyamorous relationship, she is so starved for love and positive attention that she would do just about anything for this girl.

The main premise of the book was interesting. Moving to a vulnerable extraterrestrial location is exciting, especially in the light of what they left behind on Earth. I was confused about the way the plot progressed further. Both the main character, and the community leaders go investigating the strange occurrences in their colony, and the possible ways the big bad corp guy from Earth can harm them, but everybody is so focused on the 'who' and the 'how', none of them stops to question 'why'. However, this lack of explanation wasn't too bothersome, since the story is told by a 20-year-old autistic person's point of view who may not be interested in such explanations.

The story features a lot of neurodivergent characters. A lot. In fact, as the book progresses, and the main character gets closer to others, we learn that every single friend she made is neurodivergent. I liked that in this future everyone is accepting about queerness and disabilities. This futuristic community is otherwise depicted culturally homogenous, but some people are still referred to as "Black" with a capital B when describing them. (This is odd, and felt offensive to me. As if being black came with further implications than the colour of their skin.)

The characters are all lovable, trying to find their place in a world not unlike ours, which makes this an easy, lighthearted read for young adults who like to picture a more tolerant and respectful future.

I really liked the premise and how this could in fact be our future. I loved Faraday from the start and she held such a presence throughout the story.

With such a huge cast of characters, it was hard to care enough about everyone and keep all their names straight along with their descriptors. Felt like navigating the maze of hallways on the base! A bit more chatacter development may have helped or maybe cutting back a bit.

Quite often I was on Lane's side, even when she was in the wrong. Her quirks made her relatable.

The imagery on the lunar base was solid and having the comms and menus at the start of each chapter was a nice touch. I did find the pacing a little off at times but overall it was an enjoyable read.

I was a little bit torn on my opinion of this book, at the same time I loved it but also kind of wanted it to end.

I love the range of representation, from neurodivergence to physical disabilities, POC & queer identities, and poly relationships. At times they were approached somewhat sloppily, so it felt clumsy. The normalization of therapy and needing support were very nice, though sometimes cliche. (Not inherently a bad thing, I just didn't enjoy it this time.) I did enjoy the way grief was approached.

The world-building wasn't to my taste and I didn't enjoy the writing style too much, but these are completely personal tastes so I just didn't happen to be the target audience for those. The pacing felt confusing to me, it felt like "there's imminent danger and we need to act quickly!" But at the same time, we might skip a week and a half. It was difficult for me to figure out how much time there would be to get something done.

I hoped to relate to the MC more, but as there are so many variations of autism, we ended up being extremely different. I mainly felt sad for and pitied the MC but I didn't end up liking her too much. I really wanted to like them, but kind of wanted to read more from another character's POV instead. I did love the growth she went through after actually seeking proper help!

I found the characters somewhat irrational and confusing when they seemed to be changing their minds without explaining their reasons. I kind of felt like Lane could've had at least some resentment etc. towards her mother around the end, instead of completely accepting everything as soon as she gets praise.

The twists felt like a little too much for me, I almost couldn't keep up anymore. The whole thing felt a little too stuffed with SO MANY new things for Lane to navigate. Even though that's realistic since life doesn't care how many things are going on, it might throw another crisis at you, I felt like we wanted to address too many issues in one book and had to add them to the mix.

I really liked a lot of aspects of this book. Loved the dystopian "Earth is fucked" thing and the cozy sci-fi space vibes, the diversity was great and I liked the writing style.

I suppose it would be an uncommon sentiment to say that I wish it had less plot, but I do. I didn't really care about the big bad guy enough to be interested in that part of the plot and I wasn't interested in solving the mystery of who the spy was.

I wish it had just been a cozy story about adjusting to life on the moon, making new friends and healing from grief.

Overall, I still really liked this. The space vibes were great.

I’m giving this a book a 3 just because it wasn’t my personal preference of a book and at times the relationships were confusing. An overall good plot and character build up.

"Moon Dust in My Hairnet" offers a refreshing and diverse take on the sci-fi genre, following Lane, an autistic lunar lunch lady, as she navigates relationships and confronts corporate threats on Lunar Trust One. Lane's journey is both relatable and compelling, as she grapples with survivor's guilt and embraces her role in her sister's legacy. The novel expertly balances moments of humor and heartache, capturing the complexities of Lane's experiences. With its engaging plot and well-rounded characters, "Moon Dust in My Hairnet" is a captivating read that promises both entertainment and insight into the human condition.

This was an amazing book from both an autistic and polyamorous representation perspective. Lane grapples with disability, her parents’ need to coddle her, and feeling like she’s not worth it while those around her are viewed as smarter, more talented, and/or better able to mask. There is a host of other disability representation as well, both for physical and mental diagnoses. Characters handle therapy and choosing medication as well.

I loved reading about the mistakes the characters made on their way to forging strong and lasting relationships, and the way they jumped off the page and made you care about them even when they frustrated you. The author did a great job of showing everyone’s perspective.

Hopeful sci-fi is just the genre I needed right now. Though everyone is dealing with grief, loss, and seemingly insurmountable odds, they still do the work to try and change the world, and they do succeed in the ways they can and that I hope we can too.

Fantastic world-building (moon-building?) and loveable characters in this book by JR Creaden are sure to please fans of cozy sci-fi.

Thank you to Netgally and Mythic Roads Press, for providing me a digital review copy.

A cozy sci-fi dystopian set on the Moon with a gaggle of queer, disabled, and autistic characters AND it's a mystery? I was so here for this book it's not even funny.

Centered around 20-year-old Lane Tanner, an autistic woman who has recently moved to the first independent colony on the moon, the novel explores grief and mental health in a very nuanced and insightful way that I appreciated. Lane is the younger sister of Faraday Tanner, a woman who everyone agrees was pretty much amazing for not only inventing the thing that makes living on the Moon possible, but for they way she seemed to inspire others.

Needless to say, Lane doesn't feel she measures up in comparison. I liked the relationship between Lane and Faraday, they obviously cared for each other, and Lane seemed more than happy to be in her shadow. While everyone grieves the loss of Faraday, the visionary, Lane grieves for her sister and struggles to ensure her vision continues on without her.

This novel is very much a character piece with a diverse and interesting cast that I loved spending time with. The political machinations kind of went over my head and there were times where the narration and dialogue fell flat, but I still enjoyed myself immensely and would defiantly recommend this to anyone interested in a queer, sci-fi story with a strong cast of characters.

We are following 20-year-old Lane Tanner as she adjusts to her new life as part of the Lunar Trust One moon colony. Lane must come to terms with her new life as a lunar lunch lady, the loss of her sister, and the aftermath of the events that caused this colony to set up home on the moon. However, as their rivals threaten the legacy of Lane's sister, and colony founder, Lane must work with her new friends and colleagues to save both their home on the moon and her sister's life's work.

This book is very character-driven and I loved being introduced to and getting to know these characters. The representation was fantastic with a very diverse cast of characters: There are several characters with disabilities; Lane and several other characters are autistic and we are given a great discussion around autism. Several of the characters are queer and the central relationships within this book are polyamorous.

Given the nature of this book, there are several discussions surrounding mental health and grief. Ultimately we are following these characters as they adjust to their new life on the moon, coming to terms with the people they left behind, and the loss of their family and friends. This is a very large part of Lane's character development as we watch her navigate the loss of her sister. I thought this aspect of the book was handled with a lot of care and it made for really beautiful character development as we watch Lane grow so much confidence over the course of the novel.

I also loved the use of the found family trope! The relationships between the main characters were really special and each of those characters play such an important part in the discussions of loss and community.

I do think, however, that the pacing wasn't great, which meant some of the most tense and high-stakes parts of the plot fell flat. It picked up significantly at the 80% mark and I was very invested in this part of the book, but I would have liked to have felt the same sense of being on edge within the lead-up. It just felt like it took too long for anything to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley, J.R. Creaden and Mythic Roads Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Moon Dust In My Hairnet is a book that explored topics and themes I am less familiar about, but that I was excited to read. For example, in the story we follow Lane and her open and polyamorous relationship with Andrek as they arrive on the Moon after the terrible attack from the RC which killed her talented sister, among others. Similarly, there is some disability representation in this book, which I though was done well.

Something else I enjoyed was the queer and trans representation, and how little of an issue they were to the day to day folk (oh when that day really arrives...!).

Unfortunately, that's were the possitives ended for me. I couldn't figure out what Lane's whole goal was in the story. It seems her main trait was her self-deprecation in comparison to her sister, but she had no goal in the story until V came along, and even then it felt more like she was doing it for V than for her own sister.

I also couldn't connect with the rest of the characters or care for the plot points. Whilst I understood and liked her connection to Andrek, any other relationship felt forced and abrupt, including her relarionship with V.

I gave it a 2 stars.

4.5 rounded up

There are so many things to love about this book. I love the beautiful cover, the departmental memos at the start of each chapter, and the crescent moon scene dividers. But what I really loved most was the portrayal of grief, the diversity of characters, and the exploration of polyamory, all overlaying a mystery that threatens the very existence of humanity. I'm amazed how JR Creaden created this gorgeous, cozy vibe amid war, profound grief, and PTSD, but it's left me feeling so hopeful and enriched.

Lane is an excellent character and you can't help but feel for her and cheer her on. She’s portrayed with tenderness and I admire her determination. While she’s grown up satisfied with remaining in her sister’s shadow, she’s forced out into center stage and her character growth is amazing.

Grief is such a profound process and it's handled beautifully here. I love how Lane’s grieving process is depicted—an overwhelming experience that's up and down and doesn’t always make sense, but eventually starts to ease. There’s so much love and support and community as the characters open up and reveal their emotional wounds.

I love books with a diverse cast of characters and there is so much diversity to celebrate within this book including people of colour, those living with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and those on the spectrum. I love the inclusivity and seeing everyone bring their unique talents to the table.

I also appreciated the exploration of polyamory. There are so many ways to be polyamorous and I love how that’s explored in this book.

The mystery element is fantastic and kept me guessing. All in all, this is a great read and not one to miss.

I went into this book not entirely knowing what to expect. I knew the premise, but I couldn't get a feel for what type of book it was, and while that slightly sticks with the book throughout, it doesn't stop the read being an enjoyable experience.

There's fantastic representation for the world as it might be, both good and bad, warnings and a promise. Disabilities are accommodated without a thought. Global warming has kinda mucked up the world a lot.

There was the adventure at the core, that pulled you through the book, and a cast of characters that I would have loved to learn more about. There were slight pacing issues, and a few clunky plot pieces. If anything, it tried to do too much, and perhaps needed to focus its energy in one direction.

It's a good debut, and I've rated at 3.75* rounded up, as I rarely get to see people like me in books, and it was really affirming to see them.

I originally thought this was set to be lighthearted and funny based on title and cover. It definitely was not that. I did enjoy the emotional aspects and the diversity of the book, but felt it lacked some in the sci-fi realm. Liked the world building, and when the author would take us on trips throughout their domes. Plot was fine, but might have wrapped up too quickly? Overall, I felt for the MC and even teared a little at the end.

This delightful book is a rare treasure.

It's dystopian scifi without being dreary. Is cozy scifi a thing? If so, this book should at the top of the genre list.

And Lane should be at the top of the favorite characters list in the cozy scifi genre.

She is the unassuming, spotlight shunning, and strongest main character we didn't know we needed.

"I'd been on the outside of big decisions and happenings ever since I could remember. ... As the listener, and interpreter, of those conversations, I knew my place."

But Lane, the pan autistic lunch lady with a big heart, is the hero the Lunar Trust colony gets.

(There are some heavy content warnings; please note them.)

Going into this book, I thought it was going to be more lighthearted than it is. It deals really well with themes of grief and neurodiverse people, which was good. The representation was also done very well, lots of normalization of queer themes, but at times was done roughly/sloppily.

I struggled with the characters changing their minds on whims for no real reason and the character development overall was a little lacking for me- I skimmed the last half and didn’t feel like I missed anything. The ending was also a little too perfectly wrapped up.

This book deals with the themes of mental health, loss, and grief with an autistic main character quite delicately which I appreciated. Lane was certainly a character that you rooted for throughout her healing journey. The representation included in the diverse cast of characters was also very refreshing to see. Some of the twists were a bit predictable but overall a decent read. Like others have mentioned this seemed more of a YA book which I wasn't quite expecting going into it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free review copy of this book. This book being provided for free did not influence my opinion on it.

That out if the way, I'm glad this was a Netgalley book and nothing I wasted money on, only my time. If I could I would give it zero stars, or even negative stars. I cannot put in words how disappointed I was throughout the nivel and I lost count of how often I cringed.

First the good, as there was quite little of it:
The themes of grief, loss, and mental health were approached in an insightful, validating manner which is something I definitely appreciate about the book.
While I did find the representation for multiple disabilities, most prominently autism, various racial identities, and different queer identities interessting and important, there isn't really anything good to say about the book beyond that.


A lot of the dialogue felt either forced or so out there that it tossed me out of the narration a lot - while I understand that the book I read is subject to change and that an ARC is not always exactly what gets published, I can't imagine that all of the weird sentences and word choices would get removed in further editing.

The plot was incredibly predictable and the only point where I was surprised was at the 80% mark - up until then and afterwards, there was nothing that wasn't easy to guess - and that's coming from someone not too familiar with the SciFi/Space Opera genre in which this book probably fits.

The characters felt rather flat to me - more like archetypes or whatnot than wellrounded characters. While we get a bit more for some characters, it was not enough to make me root for an of them. At the best, its run-of-the-mill. The same is the bug bad guy™ didn't feel like much of a threat - we were only told about him but nothing was shown.

So, in short, I can't recommend this book, at all. Its capital B Bad.

I really wanted to love this book. It's marketed as cozy sci-fi, which is my favorite genre, and I'm on a particularly hyperfocused kick right now. I also adored the concept of following someone who isn't a super genius on the way to the moon: a caring, my-love-language-is-cooking young woman who is dealing with being in her golden sister's shadow while experiencing grief over the loss of said sister.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me.

The book’s portrayal of diverse and neurodivergent characters, including its focus on a growing polyamorous relationship, was something I genuinely appreciated. It's rare to find a novel that not only features an autistic protagonist but also explores grief from an autistic perspective. These elements, combined with the representation of queer characters and individuals with mobility aids, were highlights for me.

However, despite these promising aspects, the book didn't resonate with me as I had hoped. Marketed as cozy sci-fi, it felt more like a young adult novel: while the main characters are in their early 20s, they behave like 16-18-year-olds, and the beats of the novel were thoroughly YA. The looming threat of annihilation also detracted from the coziness I anticipated. Lane's healing journey through grief is constantly put under the threat of this enemy, so you can't relax into any part of it. Even the cooking scenes, which I assumed would be the coziest part of the novel, are brief.

I struggled with the writing style, especially the disjointed dialogue, which seemed to shift abruptly from crucial plot points to personal drama without much transition. I understand this is how neurodivergent minds work (having one myself) but through the internal monologue, we could have been led from one thought process to another. We also have bizarre moments, for example when Lane's parents find evidence one of her friends could be a spy/traitor, and she immediately accuses them of being racists. Many moments like this come out of nowhere.

But what ruined the experience though came at the very start. The lunar colonists have just arrived at the moon, finally fulfilling the dream of Faraday, child supergenius who was murdered right before she could see her dream come to fruition. They take the lunar oath, which the main character sums up as "F*ck you eEarth, we're lunar now" - and other characters agree that it's what "Faraday would say". Except, this made me HATE Faraday and her "dream" of the future. For a supposed super genius, her plan is no better than anything modern-day billionaires come up with today: F off to the moon and let everyone else fend for themselves. It's awful, selfish, and cruel, tainting my vision of her and the Trust.

The worldbuilding was inconsistent, with the portrayal of a sustainable lunar community clashing with scenes of wastefulness. There are small internal memos as the header of each chapter, and half of them are just menus, and others are the sanitation department complaining that people are leaving towels all over the place or using too much lotion.

The antagonist's motives and methods felt unrealistic, lacking the necessary depth to make him a credible threat. He's evil for the sake of being evil, for power, so his entire power structure doesn't work. Additionally, the way characters casually referred to the villain by his first name struck me as odd. It's as if everyone today was worried Bill Gates was going to attack, so in conversation, they talk about Bill's great threat.

At one point, the good guys' response to a woman having a panic attack is to put her in a chokehold until she passes out - and they're supposed to be trained in mental crises!

In summary, while Moondust in My Hairnet had elements I found admirable, such as its representation and exploration of grief, the overall story didn't come together for me. I continued reading out of respect for the author and the opportunity provided by NetGalley, but ultimately, this book wasn’t a match for my tastes.

DNF @ 50%

I feel sad about having to put this one down, however I still did not feel excitement about the overall story. For me, there was too much back and forth between Lane and her parents. All their interactions were angry and repetitive.

As a queer reader I did love the inclusion in this story, however it did feel like sometimes inclusion was presented like this massive thing. A big deal was made of things in even as they were dropped casually into the narrative.

At the end of the day this did not come down to the book being poorly written as I genuinely enjoyed Lane's voice at times. I feel like the blurb did slightly mislead me as I thought this was going to be a mystery on the moon with a woman who was dealing with grief.