Moondust in My Hairnet is a heartfelt sci-fi romp featuring a neurodivergent main cast, family drama, political intrigue, and the wonders of space. Lane, the autistic younger sister of the great child prodigy and scientist Faraday Tanner, never wanted to be in the spotlight. Her sister was the bright one, the shining star around whom their new space station was supposed to rotate. But Faraday and the most brilliant scientist of her generation are killed in a terrorist attack, and suddenly Lane must process her grief, as well as the grief of an entire space station who didn’t know the real Faraday. Lane tires to get into her new routine as a lunch lady on the station, but people keep making everything more complicated. Her boyfriend’s new love interest’s girlfriend (polyamory is alive and well here) is Faraday’s self-proclaimed biggest fan, someone is stealing and hoarding supplies, and everyone seems to have secrets. And, no matter how much she wants to, Lane can’t just curl up in bed and ignore everything else. She has to figure out how to save her sister’s greatest creation and the lives of everyone on board.

The heart of this story is Lane and I love her. She feels everything strongly, but in a way other people don’t always understand. She is great at putting mysteries together, even though reading people is difficult for her. And she knows she can be a great cook and works hard to become one. I also love the depth of the side characters: Lane’s boyfriend is a golden retriever who would do anything to protect her, but his past is dark and follows him always; Faraday’s super fan is brilliant in her own right and loves her partners fiercely, but she seems to have it out for Lane; potential love interests are sweet and thoughtful, but they aren’t always best at communicating; and even those who turn out to be traitors to the station have stories that are real and heart wrenching. More than just being a story of survival or political threats that underlie the main narrative, Moondust is a story of living through grief, navigating all manner of personal relationship, and determining what makes living worthwhile. Anyone who enjoys a found family space opera and/or Becky Chambers should check out this novel.

Moon Dust in my Hairnet is a very annoying book. :/

The biggest problem is the plot. It's so.......BORING. D: Nothing really happens. Glaciers are melting faster than the pacing. The backstory is a little confusing. The big bad guy also never really does much.

Wayyyyyyy too much of the plot is dedicated to who is having sex with who, or who would like to have sex with who. Because the world is so messed up, you either have lots of sex with whoever or you go and kill yourself. Wha-? Half the time the main character just keeps inner monologue about how hot someone is instead of doing the task at hand. It got real old, real fast.

The only good thing about this book is the diverse and inclusive cast. There are people of color, LGBTQIA+, and disabled characters. Plus open talks about grief and mental health. This is all awesome! Sadly a diverse and inclusive cast can't save your book from bad writing that more often than not felt like fan fic. D:

I wanted to like this book. It sounded so good! But it is just NOT. It is boring. The story feels like nothing really happens other than who will hook up with who. The plot never grabbed me at all. Too much time is dedicated to being horny instead of moving the main plot forward. The only positive is the diversity and inclusive of the characters.

While we’re in the process of moving, I’ve been watching a lot of Dimension 20 and listening to podcasts and audiobooks. One of those audiobooks was Moon Dust in My Hairnet by J. R. Creaden, about a young autistic lunch lady on a newly founded moon base.

Lane’s older sister was a brilliant and famous inventor and the founder of the Lunar Trust, the moon’s first independent community—until she was killed. Lunar Trust One has to find its feet without her, as does Lane.

I love autistic sci-fi!!! Moon Dust in My Hairnet has everything: a cast full of autistic people, polyamory, grief counselling, a group of scrappy twenty-somethings working together against a Rich Bastard(TM).

It’s a book about a future where humanity is living through disaster after disaster, where enemies follow the Lunar Trust community even to the moon, but where ultimately hope and cooperation prevail.

I did think some of the ending was maybe wrapped up a little too nicely for my tastes, but that’s really a small detail. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for more queer, autistic and polyamorous sci-fi!

Moon Dust in My Hairnet by JR Creaden and narrated by Sarah Kisko is a colourful, speculative, dystopic story of the dichotomy between two sisters and what happens when one is left behind to carry the torch forward. Lane Tanner is the Autistic Underachiever whereas her sister, Faraday Tanner was the globally renowned scientist who had rebuilt the future, including a moon base

The narration was absolutely on point, flawless and a delight to listen to

Everything about the flow, structure and storyline was skillfully structured. The dialogue was engaging and the worldbuilding and character development was perfect, a really enjoyable read

Thank you to NetGalley, Mythic Roads Press | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks , the author JR Creaden and narrator Sarah Kisko for this incredible ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

"Moon Dust in My Hairnet" by J.R. Creaden is a very warm and optimism-oozing sci-fi, full of excellent representation and deep, complex characters within an engaging plot. It deals with Lane Tanner, a young autistic woman in her 20s working as a lunch lady on Lunar Trust One, the first independent lunar colony of humankind. Lane's journey links closely to a legacy left by her late sister, Faraday Tanner, the visionary inventor whose dream for a utopian lunar colony had been the driving factor behind space colonization until it all blew up in a storm of unexpected new alliances and old conflicts.

The novel explores neurodivergence and mental health through Lane's richly complex character. It sensitively and plainly explains her problems with grief, survivor's guilt, and societal expectations. Disability representation is shown in the neurodivergence across the colony in characters negotiating therapy, medication, and complicated relationships that combine to create a holistic view of diverse experiences.

The plot is interesting, pacing well between mystery, political intrigue, and personal growth. Lane's existence on Lunar Trust One is complicated, living in the shadow of her late sister while trying to fulfill the expectations of her father and finding an identity. The colony that Faraday had built upon his dream of a society where everyone works towards the common good begins to show cracks as the supplies go missing and equipment gets tampered with.

Together with her very supportive boyfriend and new friends, Lane takes it upon herself to investigate the killing of girls from her school—right away occasioning in the story a sense of suspense and urgency.

The setting of Lunar Trust One is vividly realized, featuring intricate descriptions of the facilities of the colony and a wide range of people living there. The author seems to fold elements of accessibility and inclusivity into world-building in a way that creates a society perfectly spanning toward people with different abilities. Relationships—one of which Lane is a part are all dealt with care and respect. This novel deepens due to its exploration of queer identities and different romantic relationships, hence enriching it as a work of art.

The writing is personable, easy to track in style, and interspersed with moments of humor and humanity that further balance the serious themes. The dialogue is realistic, as are the characters—all very fleshed out and having their own perspective on life. It is these interstitial updates from the Sanitation department that are quite quaint, providing much-needed humor and incursions into colony life that enhance this immersive experience.

Overall, "Moon Dust in My Hairnet" is an engaging read that is both delightful and thought-provoking, gleaming the oft-maligned science fiction genre with glamour. That being said, J.R. Creaden successfully brings alive an enthralling story full of valid thematics about identity, inclusivity, and community empowering one to stand strong. The novel works to instill hope and inspiration, especially when tested. This will no doubt please fans of "Battlestar Galactica" or anyone who enjoys reading Natasha Pulley and Andy Weir. "Moon Dust in My Hairnet" is an impressive first novel, with the obvious promise for more to come from J.R. Creaden in the future.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this on audiobook to review through NetGalley.

Thoughts: For the most part, I enjoyed this. I did start to find Lane's survivor guilt a bit overwhelming to the story and struggled with the immature way her parents were dealing with this. The story is slow in the beginning and then incredibly fast (almost overwhelmingly so) in the ending.

Lane is the younger sister of the great Faraday Tanner, who invented the gravdrive in her teen years and went on to become not only the founder of the moon's first independent colony but the voice of peace and innovation for a whole generation. When Faraday is killed in an attack that Lane survives, Lane is left to deal with the guilt of her survival and the world's disappointment that the "other" sister survived. Lane is autistic and her parents had to force a spot on the colony for her where she works as a lunch lady. Lane desperately wants to be involved with the Memorial for her sister but when strange "pranks" start happening in the colony her and some of her friends decide they need to do some investigating to help.

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book. I loved the idea of the open relationships these young adults are forming and how supportive they are of each other. I loved the idea of a moon colony where people go to escape corporate overlords and start a new collective way of life. I also really enjoyed a lot of the characters and the descriptions of life on the moon. I like how open everyone is about mental health and how they accommodate each other in suppotive ways.

There were a lot of things I didn't like about this as well. There is a theme of the younger generation just assuming the older generation is stupid and not worth dealing with. Lane's parents are portrayed as always attacking Lane and she attacks back just as aggressively; this was in contrast to what this community was meant to be. Same with how far under her sister's shadow Lane continues to be. Also, the fact that Lane hasn't under gone any counseling in the time since her sister's death when the community is so open about mental health issues is weird. Then there were all the deep secrets everyone had from each other which again seemed opposite of what this community stands for. There were a lot of contradictions.

I also felt like we spend a bit too much time in Lane's head with her angsting over one thing or another; it starts to feel repetitive and gets in the way of the overall story. I did enjoy how everything wrapped up but thought in some ways it didn't feel very realistic. The "evil" guy in this book is supposed to be super smart and manipulative and to have him suddenly trust someone he's been estranged from for years felt odd and unbelievable and just way too convenient.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was very well done; I have no complaints. I would definitely recommend listening to this if you enjoy audiobooks.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this but didn't love it. Some of the things in here are very cool; I loved the community formed on the moon and the openness around relationships and mental health. Other things were inconsistent. I also think we spent way too much time rehashing the main character's internal thoughts and that the ending was unbelievable. I am on the fence about whether or not I will read more books by Creaden.

I tried really really hard but ultimately I think this book just wasn't for me. Lane is an autistic lunch lady wracked with survivors grief over the loss of her sister Faraday, but when everything her sister worked for is at risk Lane and her friends step up to save their new home.

I really enjoyed the diversity of the characters in this book, both in disabilities and the way people explored their sexualities etc. That was a real highlight for me and I enjoyed the care and thought put into the characters, unfortunately I think the writing style just isn't my kind of thing.

I can appreciate the story, and I think if you like sci-fi you will love this book, I just have never been a huge sci-fi enthusiast and I found myself drifting in my mind while I was reading it and I couldn't quite connect to the story. Beautifully written but just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC for an honest review

This was a great story!

This is a tale about the autistic underachieving sister of a scientist/politician prodigy, who struggles to find her place on the new moon base while grieving the loss of her famous and widely beloved sister.

The plotting and pacing were tight and well-framed. The relationship building was fascinating, as it included polyamorous groups. The future world building was plausible and interesting.

The action really ramped up in act three and really drove the pace; the end was super exciting!

I would recommend this title to folks who like Becky Chambers and LM Sagas, for sure, but also anyone who likes relationship-driven sci fi.

I discovered the audiobook through the Listen Now section on NetGalley. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I loved the idea of a dystopian sci-fi with good representation.

I really wanted to enjoy it, but it didn’t quite work for me - mostly because I didn’t find the main character (or any characters, to be honest) particularly likeable or relatable. Because of that it was difficult for me to get fully immersed in the story or care about the characters and it makes me think that I simply wasn’t the target audience. Judging by other people’s reviews it’s either a hit or miss and readers are polarised in their opinions.

I’m all for the incorporation of diverse characters, but here it seemed a little bit forced. Also I wasn’t ready for all the smutfest, as it isn’t really my thing. I felt that it was taking away from the story and I would’ve gladly traded it for more sci-fi elements, but that’s just my preference.

The way Lane talked to her parents made her sound like she was twelve, not twenty - and the contrast it made with her being horny all the time didn’t sit well with me. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading about adults and not children.

What I liked about the book was that it touched upon important subjects like dealing with grief, survivor’s guilt and healing. The setting and the premise were also very interesting and I wish I could learn more about how the colony works. I also loved the title - it was a really good choice.

My perception of the book might have been different if I’d read the ebook instead of listening to the audiobook. The narrator’s rendition of certain voices rubbed me the wrong way and at some point I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the book.

All in all, I’m happy that we’ve been seeing much more diversity in literature in the past few years and I hope this trend is here to stay.

Thank you so much for letting listen to this audiobook. I can't really say what it was. But I think I didn't get what the story was about.

What an enjoyable read. A blend of light-hearted moments with some deeper emotional undertones, it kept me engaged and waiting for what came next. Just enough intrigue to keep you guessing, some awkward moments that remind you what new relationships are like and a refreshing take on the normalcy of diversity. It was a great story about finding strength in loss, the importance of community and family, and having courage to trust yourself enough to embrace your own path.

Thank you NetGalley for this audio ARC.

I loved the premise of this - Lane's simple life on the moon as a lunch lady. It was diverse and had great representation.

Unfortunately, I DNFed this at about the 30% mark because there was simply nothing happening. I'm fine with a slow paced story, but there still has to be something - anything going on. The substance this story did have already felt repetitive.

The best parts were the little chapter intros. I'm assuming they get even better as the story goes on and things start to go amiss.

This one was rough for me; I simply didn't like the narrator, so I couldn't get into it. Her voice was a bit too nasally for me, so I didn't last longer than an hour

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the gifted audiobook

This was a really interesting read. I recommend giving it a read. I liked the narrator. The writing style isn't my favorite.

Seeing as I received the audiobook version, I think I should start off with my thoughts on that. It was okay, but I found the voice grating, and I didn’t enjoy the attempts at accents. It wasn’t seamless, and was a little distracting. I do think this audiobook would have benefitted from having several narrators, rather than just one trying to do all the different voices and accents.
In regard to the story; who doesn’t like a good space novel? I love seeing different people’s creative visions of what the future might look like, specifically moving the human race off Earth and onto another planet. It’s a book that is different from a lot of books I’ve read, and that was refreshing. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with polyamorous relationships in it, so that was a new experience for me as well!
Admittedly, I didn’t really gel with the characters that much. Lane was decent; I liked her inner monologue and her style, but aside from her, I kind of dislike everyone else. But I do think this might have something to do with how the narrator portrayed them. Because of the different accents they attempted, it just made me feel irritated with the characters. Perhaps if I had read this book rather than listened to the audiobook, I might have liked the characters a bit more.
The flow of the book felt a little slow, and at the start I was a little unsure of what direction the story was going to take. But JR Creaden did a good job of just about keeping my attention - thankfully - and in the end I really enjoyed hearing about Lane and her partners in a modern-day intergalactic romance story.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting the chance to listen to this audiobook - I’ve kind of become obsessed with audiobooks at the moment; they’re just so convenient! So I’m definitely looking forward to listening to more!

Moon Dust is the story of a woman who is morning the murder of her sister by an evil warlord bent on taking control of all of mankind. Her much beloved and famous sister is the reason people can now live on the moon, which is what her family does after the massacre. It all begins innocuous enough, with Lane being given a job as a lunch lady while her parents and boyfriend work in the labs. She gets roped into planning a memorial for her sister, and discovers there are moles and spys in the moon base she's begun to call home.
Lane is also autistic, something that is at the absolute forefront, and never bogs down the story. This is also an extremely queer positive, non-monogamous world which I felt at times did bog down the story as its so short it was hard to believe the relationships that we were being told were blossoming. If anything, I found myself getting annoyed at the boyfriends for abandoning the girlfriends they knew needed stability.
There was also just not enough time for me to find the romances believable for anyone beyond the already established Lane and her boyfriend (only because we are given glimpses of their functional and established relationship.)
I see a lot of people complaining about the hope aspect of this, or how the ending is tied up nicely- this being a hope-punk scifi, that's not really a spoiler so much as a necessary element of the genre. I can't understand why. They whole point of this type of book is the hopefullness of it, which I found to be refreshing in a sci-fi that also contains gritty elements.

I did not expect myself to like this book much tbh because its genre is something a lot different from what I have generally read this year. But it was soooo beautiful! The characters, friendships, emotions, everything was, in simple terms, lovely!

The journey of Lane, from feeling isolated and unvalued to gradually discovering herself, forming some special friendships/ relationships and mending old ones was written so well that I could feel myself connect with her. Her discovering her flaws, acknowledging them and trying to do better not just for others, but for herself, was one of the things I found particularly sweet.
The ending of the story when her mother says the words of affirmation to her she'd always needed, I almost teared up.

The overall plot wasn't much suspenseful, but it was intriguing. Everything, from the plot to the characters to just the regular happenings, it was all really an enjoyable experience.

And of course, kudos to the narrator, who deserves the appreciation for the amazing narration! As I've always said, narrators play a major part in whether you're gonna be able to enjoy an audiobook or not, and Sarah Kisko did a great job!

I’m rediscovering my love of sci-fi, and when I saw the cover and blurb for this, it sounded like a great take on the genre. The idea of the main character being a neurodivergent lunch lady on a new lunar colony really appealed to me.

Moon Dust in My Hairnet is a dystopian yet cosy sci-fi. I really loved some of the ideas, although I was slightly confused by the worldbuilding and felt as though I’d missed something with the political landscape, as certain things felt unexplained.

The themes of grief and trauma run heavily through this story, and are handled well, as is the subject of mental health. It’s a book that obviously strives to be inclusive of sexuality, neurodivergence and physical disabilities.

Lane seems younger than her actual age, which at times made it feel more like a YA/NA book, although it was marketed as being adult fiction. The plot was fairly simple and straightforward, which contributed to this as well.

I listened to the audiobook, and found some of the accents a bit suspect (bordering on racist at times). My star rating is based solely on the author’s work, however, not the narration.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing this audiobook in order for me to give an honest review.

3.75 stars, rounded up.

Moon Dust in My Hairnet was a fun read that had pretty decent representation for Autism and ployamory. These were both key components of the story as we follow our main character, Layne, as she navigates her life as a lunch lady on the moon, all the way trying to uncover secrets to figure out who has been putting her new lunar home at risk.

It was a refreshing break from some of the more serious and dour sci-fi books that are out there by staying fairly light and fun. I felt that the characters and motives were incredibly relatable (you know, despite us not living on the moon in the alternate future) and was quite representative of some of the Autistic experience. Give it a try, you may just love it!

RAVE!

Rave rave rave, rave rave, RAVE!

YA/NA has been super hit or miss for me lately and I've been convinced I'm slowly going off of it but I LOVED this book. Oh it was amazing, character driven, DIVERSE, sensitive topics handled with grace and care.

Lane was a gorgeous character, so relatable and I felt her grief, it was on every page without being smoothering.

The Lunar V Earth conflict gave the story drive while the characters gave it heart. There was tension but it was balanced, secrets without miscommunication and it wrapped up flawlessly.

All and all I will be recommending this to everyone!