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!

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of the audiobook & book for an honest review

I started reading this book today and it took me reading throughout the day to finish it (When I normally can listen to an audiobook in one go), but with this book, I found myself drifting in and out of interest for the story so had to take time away every few chapters.

In this story, we are following the main character who has Autism and how they see, feel and deal with things differently a lot of people do not understand them... but also they are dealing with grieving the death of their beloved sister who was loved by so many people as well as living on the moon. In this book, the autism representation I thought was OK but not brilliantly done and I feel a little more could have been explored in explaining it 🤔 since you are told a few times the main character has autism ( I am a person who would rather see what ur saying in the words rather than just saying the description or word to explain it).

This book was interesting in places but couldn't hold my full interest, but I do see others enjoying this book I was just not the target audience unfortunately but still enjoyed it in places

Being autistic and asexual, I really looked forward to reading a story with a queer autistic FMC.

Sadly, the dialogue just wasn't for me - I found it very cringey and I didn't like the bit about having sex or commiting suicide. I get that it's meant to be sex positive and in favour of polysmorous relationships, but as an asexual individual I just couldn't relate.

Overall, it was amazing to see so much representation, but the book itself didn't work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ALC

Moon Dust in My Hairnet follows Lane, an autistic lunch lady on Lunar Trust One, a new home designed by her sister as a safe place following the destruction of their home planet. However, Lane's sister is murdered before traveling to the new colony. Now, Lane is trying to juggle her grief, newly formed relationships, and life on Lunar Trust One. But when this life is threatened by corporate overloards and secret spies, Lane will find herself and her friends trying to unveil and overcome these issues to restore peace to her sister's vision.

After being burned by several books with this much representation, I found this book refreshing and satisfying in its realistic portrayal of queer, neurodivergent, POC, and poly characters. There wasn't a reliance on stereotypes or stale tropes. And it made this book wonderfully understanding and sensitive in its handling of minority identities. Additionally, the main characters were all treated as individuals rather than a tool to assist Lane through her character arc. All in all, very well done.

I also liked the crew announcements. I thought it was well implemented, especially as a world building aspect. They made understanding the set up of how everyone's new life worked easy. In regards to the world building in general, the building's layout and individual rooms were easy to visualize.

With that being said, the pacing of this book did not work for me. The beginning was good. I was engaged at page one. The ending was great, with plot twists that were surprising and held me on the edge of my seat. But the in between was all over the place in terms of pacing. Some parts seemed rushed, especially as we approached the ending. Some seemed too slow, as the book seemed to favor the world building and character development with a bit too much of a heavy hand at times.

Final Thoughts: A great new voice in the hope punk speculative fiction genre wrapped into a book with good representation, surprising twists, and an interesting world worth diving into. I'm really looking forward to what Creaden comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mythic Roads Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lane and her parents move to the moon without her sister, whose dreams are being realised there. We follow her as she struggles with her grief, the fact that her parents may have pulled some strings to get her her lunch lady job and her autism and the way that impacts her experiences. Oh, and worse? There is a spy (or spies) leading the very people who killed her sister (and have negatively touched the lives of many of those living on the moon) to the moon, threatening their way of life and safety. And Lane and her newfound friends want to try find a way to stop them, ideally without being found skirting the rules by those in power.

This is one of those books I loved in a way that's difficult to put into words. I related a lot to Lane outside of all the romance stuff (as an ace (and probably aro) person I am pretty much the opposite of her in that regard!). But there was a lot going on outside of the romance. I'm so glad she found her people. Seeing struggles presented in such an authentic way was incredibly refreshing, especially since things were portrayed as something to learn to cope with rather than something that needs to be fixed. I also loved all the announcements at the start of each chapter (especially the running theme about the state of the towels!). It gave an idea of some of what was happening in the broader colony while letting us continue to focus on Lane.

The book is marketed as cozy scifi, but I would say it's more cozyish or cozy adjacent because although the book has a lot of themes around acceptance and love, it does also have a higher stakes plot although maybe it is a bit vaguer than it would be in less cozy novels. While I prefer that (pure cozy scifi and fantasy often don't do it for me because I get bored) I think it is important to know before going in depending on what your preferred brand of cozy spec fic is. I do think the pacing could have been a little better. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved all the worldbuilding and character development! I just wish that the action at the end had been given a little more time, even if it meant a longer book (and I don't mean even in a bad way!).

If you like cozyish stories exploring diverse characters and their struggles then I can definitely recommend this book! While cozy, it still hit hard in so many ways and I would love to read more from this author or about these characters.

I really did like this book, the whole idea of earth needing a place for its habitants to live elsewhere because of the destruction of our homeland could very well be a possibility. It was a nice touch that the person who invented the means for this to happen was basically a kid. There has always been the need for us humans to take over other lands to claim as our own, so its not surprising the same happens on the moon in this story. I loved that the underdog, Lane, who had so much to live up to with her sister being the savior, finds her way from obscurity in the kitchens, to being part of the next round that saves those on the moon. Many times those who go unrecognized have the potential to be beyond amazing, if only given the confidence to reach their potential.

The part of this book I really did not like was how many people fell in love, had sex with multiple partners. It kind of cheapened the value of the relationships. No one knew where they stood with each other, and I think that took away from the whole story line than added to it. I may be old fashioned but clear lines of friendships and romance are preferable to me, than the many different tendrils that seemed to be weakend by the multitude.

2.5 rounding up to 3. I had the opportunity to listen to an advanced audiobook of Moon Dust in My Hairnet by JR Creaden, narrated by Sarah Kisko. I love the idea of a “hopepunk” genre, but ultimately I found that I couldn’t quite get into this book.

Lane’s sister, Farraday, was supposed to be humanity’s savior, working diligently to make sure people could thrive on the moon, but ever since she was killed in a terrorist attack, Lane feels like everyone expects too much of her. She’s gotten a gig as a lunch lady on the moon colony, and she doesn’t hate it. Plus, her boyfriend is supportive, they are dating some new crushes and Lane even feels up to helping plan her sister’s memorial. But when goods start going missing and vital equipment gets tampered with, Lane has to team up with new and old friends to find out what’s going on, and save the colony from invasion.

I loved both the autism rep and polyamorous characters in this book. It was a solid scifi space opera with mystery, political intrigue, and solid character arcs. The plot moved quickly and kept me engaged, and the twists and turns were satisfying. It was a fun read all the way round.

A tender, lunar hopepunk, near-future sci-fi story about cultivating community on a newly-constructed moon base. It features queer, disabled, autistic, and poly characters navigating the excitements of building new lives together while dealing with the challenges of survivor’s guilt and sabotage from an evil capitalist, all with a care and tenderness for each other that will warm your heart. Highly recommend, especially for fans of Becky Chambers!

I absolutely adored this story and devoured it entirely in two sittings. A queer, autistic, polyamorous main character? Sign me up immediately. I loved Lane more than I've loved any character in a long, long time and having a multitude of queer, neurodivergent, and POC secondary characters felt gratifying and almost revolutionary to read! The plot was incredible and unique and the ending could not have been more perfect. Seeing Lane's struggle and her journey through therapy and the various stages of grief was also like nothing I've ever read before and it was liberating to see. The futuristic world that Creaden created was incredibly well-developed and surprisingly, and somewhat worryingly, realistic (I really hope that humanity isn't heading in that direction, but with the way things are going...) Although I guessed who one of the spies was early on, I was still excited to continue reading to find out their motives because I just knew that it wouldn't be so straight-forward given how expertly crafted the rest of this book is. I cannot even begin to express how satisfying the ending of this book was as well. There was no "one hero who saves the day" - it was a group effort and that is more gratifying than I can say. Lane doesn't suddenly become this fearless powerful leader who saves everyone, she's just the same Lane she's always been (although with marginally better mental health after a few months of therapy) and I appreciated that immensely. This was the easiest five-star rating I've given this year, and I cannot wait to purchase the physical book to reread again!

In “Moondust In My Hairnet”, Lane is the younger sister of an extraordinary scientist who has created a gravity drive that has revolutionized space travel. We meet Lane as she and her family arrive on the lunar colony that her sister created before her murder. Lane works in the cafeteria but soon gets wrapped up in some things she wasn't expecting when she starts collaborating with V on a memorial.

Some books may call themselves diverse and only have one character that falls out of the typical cast. This was not one of those. I was pleasantly surprised with the breadth of diversity: neurodiversity, LGBT+, disability, and more. I also found the inclusion of polyamory to be interesting.

This novel held lots of promise, but I ended up being slightly disappointed with the overall pacing and character development. I listened to the book and often found myself zoning out or questioning if I accidentally skipped ahead. This might have been better to physically read instead.

Despite not quite hitting the mark for me, the universe that Creaden imagined has me looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mythic Roads Press for the ARC. My review is honest and voluntary.

Hope Punk Speculative Fiction - I like it!
What a wee marvel of a book. Even though it slowed towards the end, this hit just the right sweet spot to be exciting and cute at the same time.
My reservations would be: the insinuation that all polyamorous relationships are bisexual(?); and that the narrator, whilst perfectly plausible with voices in an American accent, any (and I mean ANY!) non-American accent is truly dreadful. Really, really awful! I would not listen to this narrator again. So many characters were undermined and made farcical by her woeful attempts to vary their accents.

I love the audiobook narrator selected for this. The writing style was amazing, and I loved the flow of the story. This is one of my favorite genres, and I loved the twists they put into this book. The representation was amazing as well!

Queer, autistic space politics, intrigue and hope, normalized polamory.

I love everything.

Proper review to follow, after my exams.

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Mythic Roads Press for allowing me a copy of this audio book in return for an honest review.

Set in the not too distant future, but after the fall of the U.S. and the U.N. the moon’s first independent colony has just opened up. Lane, a 20 year old autistic lunch lady, and sister of the recently assassinated woman whose invention of the Gravdrive made moon living possible, is attempting to settle into her new life, whilst dealing with her grief and her overprotective parents. Risking the potential of overextending herself she gets involved with her sister's public memorial project run by her new nemesis V, whose boyfriend and Lane’s have just started dating. Soon it becomes clear that the new colony is being sabotaged and Lane and her friends must band together to save her sister’s legacy.

Sarah Kisko did a great job of separating all the characters with unique voices. She kept the pace going well, though I did speed the narration up when I started to lose interest.

What I liked: I loved the crew announcements at the beginning of each chapter documenting the gradual collapse of the colony. I found the scenario and plot interesting, and the inclusivity of different relationships types and abilities was refreshing to see. I really liked the concept of the younger generation having more open polyamorous relationships. The fall out from climate change was well examined. I also liked the technology that was introduced as part of the story. Additionally I found the therapy sessions insightful.

What didn’t work for me: I didn’t connect very well with the characters so found my brain wondering quite a bit. Some of the plot points and situation solutions were too simplistic. I think I loved the title so much I didn’t read the synopsis carefully enough before I picked this book so in places it was a bit too teen melodrama for me.

Final thoughts: An enlightened sci fi adventure told through the eyes of an autistic young woman.

Who would enjoy this book: Fans of Young adult novels and soft science fiction.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

I absolutely adored this audiobook. It was novel, scary, exciting, and I truly loved following along with the characters. Ended was good though I’d also love more story. Thanks for the read.