Fun book with an even more fun concept. Liked the tone of the story and will be recommending to all my fellow book readers.

In a Nutshell: An unusual novel straddling multiple genres: humour, romance, mystery, thriller, science fiction, and end-of-the-world. Slow-paced and a bit repetitive, but entertaining enough if you are looking for a light read with an unusual plotline.

Plot Preview:
Let me copy-paste the GR blurb here for once:
“It's the age-old story. Boy meets girl. Girl lies to boy about being human. Girl accidentally destroys planet. Girl apologizes super hard.”
This story is epistolary, written as the apology letter by the girl to all humans, especially Greg. The “girl” is an alien queen, and that’s what turns this *age-old story* into a humorous novelty.

Bookish Yays:
👽 Our narrator and the writer of this extended apology: the alien queen known as Aria. Unlike any queen you have ever met in fiction, be it human or animal or alien, Aria’s quirky nature and impulsiveness lead to many goof-ups, and this multi-hued character development makes this book an entertaining one.
👽 Many of the other characters are also atypically sketched. The queen’s aide, the local politician, the human who ends up as Aria’s confidant, the FBI agent – I won’t take any names so that you can discover who’s who when you read the book, but suffice it to say, none of them were portrayed the way these characters usually are. Their portrayal offers a novelty that might not necessarily be positive but was certainly refreshing.
👽 The “aliens’ – I loved how their depiction broke the mould of standard alien behaviour in fiction. Their tech was matched by the community spirit.
👽 The blurb makes the book sound like a romcom with some fantastical elements. The book is much more than that, covering some serious themes and a well-written coming-of-age arc for Aria. While I wouldn’t have minded an alien romcom for the sheer quirkiness of the idea, I liked the depth of this storyline even more.
👽 Goes without saying that the plot is one of the most unique stories I have read. It hops across multiple genres – romance, mystery, humour, alien sci-fi, end-of-the-world, and action – but manages to do justice to most. The retrospective epistolary style adds a further newness to this storyline.
👽 While I never like romance to make an appearance in non-romance genre books, the story keeps the romantic track exactly where it should be – on the backburner. Though it is Aria’s feelings that set off an unexpected chain of events, they are written in an almost comic manner, even when she’s lovelorn.
👽 The cover is adorable!

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🛸 Aria has a tendency of explaining many of her words/statements with the use of footnotes. Too many footnotes! There are 259 footnotes in the book, 25 of which appear within the first 5%. Footnotes can be fun additions to the plot when limited to a certain quantity, but this went a bit too far. Of course, many of the footnotes were hilarious. But some of the notes contain major foreshadowing, which I dislike. I don't mind footnotes in physical books, but in digital copies, they are more of an encumbrance. After a while, I began skipping the footnotes unless I was too curious about the highlighted word.
🛸 As the letter is written retrospectively as an apology to humans, we already know that the aliens somehow managed to explode the planet. The plot is mostly a build-up to how this happened. This meant that in some of the situations, we already knew the whats, but read on to figure out the hows. But the mystery is a good one and not that easy to figure out.
🛸 The humour in the book is funny and even sardonic, especially at the start. But after a point, some of it feels forced. Aria’s selective forgetfulness of [A]’s name was especially annoying as it felt too repetitive after a point.
🛸 There are a few convenient coincidences in terms of Aria’s meeting the right humans at the right time, especially through Greg who seems to know exactly the kind of people Aria needs. But let’s put this down to fictional leeway and alien luck.
🛸 The book starts off well, but in between, it feels repetitive and dragged. The ending salvages the story as we finally see what led to the catastrophe. The proceedings aren’t exactly as anticipated.

Bookish Nays:
👾 Minor issue: There are some inconsistencies in Aria’s communication. For instance, she redacts all human cuss words but retains the bad words from her own language. She doesn't know much about human first names and last names, but knows a surprisingly large number of male names beginning with the letter A.


All in all, this is a fairly entertaining debut, that, despite becoming lax in its tempo and plot development in between, kept me reading. The outlandish plot and the curious characters combine to create a novel that’s simultaneously fun as well as frightening. It didn’t grip me, but as a light entertainer, it passed muster.

Recommended to readers looking for an offbeat novel that is light and dark at once.


3.5 stars.

My thanks to Splinter Press for providing the DRC of “Sorry, Humans (Especially Greg)” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Hilarious alien-ends-the-world apology letter (not a spoiler).

The whole book is, as I say, an apology to humankind for the end of the world. Just that alone made me pick this up.

It has a small pinch of Douglas Adams in there, and a very witty alien lead in Aria, Queen of her people, who are quartered (or rather imprisoned) in Alaska, away from the knowledge of almost every human on the planet.

And this book is her 'sorry' to those humans, who she'll apparently be leaving homeless in a week's time. This is the narrative of how this occurred.

Great premise. And great characters - the queen (who tells half the story in footnote 'asides') who needs to escape every so often to see a bit of the world, her reluctant but loyal friend/servant/bodyguard, the human man she instantly falls in love with - the eponymous Greg. Who may know who Aria is.

This is fast-moving, very funny and even a small bit romantic (inter-species). I could visualise this on a screen with a narrator. I really want to see what these aliens look like!

Enjoyed the alien tech aspects, the misunderstandings and strange plot revolving around explosions and the interplay between queenly-but-crushing Aria, her gruff bestie/security Penny and the loveable Greg.

Great fun, refreshing and original.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the author for letting me read the ARC!

Rating 3/5 (rounded up from 2.5)

Perhaps one of my least favourite book tropes is when a smart, capable female MC (or in this case an alien MC) meets an attractive guy and all priorities fly out the window. Listen, I too, am a sucker for a pretty face, but I can't imagine that in any scenario I would put my feelings above the common good (especially if said feelings violate intergalactic laws but to each their own). As a further point, Aria putting her feelings and infatuation over what her close friend and advisor are telling her (ie do not trust this random human. You have no clue about their intentions etc) frustrated me to no end. I despise it when the MC brushes aside their friendship and guidance for whoever has caught their eye. And I think this is one of the reasons I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.

I did, however, enjoy the numerous footnotes throughout this book! I thought it added a different dynamic and engaging way to read the book (though it sucked to read it digitally and have the page flip instead of opening the footnote though that's neither here nor there). It was also a pleasant surprise to see Aria grow and mature and understand her role as the Queen. I also think the antagonist was exceptionally well done. I think it's difficult to write an antagonist that you kind of agree with and want to see succeed in their mission, and I think Faralee did an excellent job of this.

Overall, this book is a nice change of pace, especially if you read high-fantasy books, but it was not my cup of tea.

This was such a fun book! i absolutely adored every single thing! the characters, the plot, the writing, the cover! it was such a wonderful book! definitely adding this to my collection

Female-type alien meets boy, fireworks (or at least, mysterious massive explosions) ensue. A good time is had by all (except the many, many causalities). I enjoyed this! It's most reminiscent of a Hitchhiker's Guide book in the sheer zaniness of its extraterrestrial, light-sci-fi premise, but ultimately with a pretty different vibe (very cheerful and weirdly optimistic for a book about blowing up the world, kind of vivacious, just not at all British in tone). I started out not thinking much of the footnote asides but, as footnotes usually do, they won me over.

First, I want to give a huge thank you to Splinter Press publishing for providing me an ARC copy via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so much fun! The whole story is Aria writing a letter apologizing for blowing up earth. It was humorous and cute with some science fiction thrown in. I've never enjoyed a book about aliens as much as I did this one! I typically don't do romance, but the romance in this book was just so genuine and adorable. I loved the footnotes (I didn't read all of them, there were a lot), but the ones I did read were great! I especially loved Greg's flapjack recipe in the end as well. This book was so light hearted and the author did an amazing job creating a unique plot and atmosphere throughout. Overall a really great, quick, and super fun read!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Splinter Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Sorry Human's (Especially Greg), is a Sci-Fi/Romance novel about an alien queen who falls in love with a human and accidentally destroys life on Earth. The book is from the perspective of the alien queen, Aria, and is written as an apology/explanation of how the destruction came to be. I thought the science/technology/culture of the aliens was cool. Also, the book was funny.

I did feel that Aria was too trusting of Greg, I was suspicious of why he seemed so interested in her. <spoiler>I also was pretty annoyed that she listened to him instead of just using alien tech to immediately break Penny out of jail</spoiler>

Throughout the book, there are 257 footnotes. The footnotes provide a lot of information (and most of them made me laugh), so I do not recommend skipping them. However, there are enough of them that they get to be distracting.

Although a friend of mine introduced me to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie over a decade ago already, I only started reading the books a couple of months ago. I was very positively surprised and really enjoyed myself. So, when I scrolled through Netgalley and stumbled upon this book I immediately got curious. So, I requested a copy and I was very happy when I was notified that the author had approved my request.

This book is a really fast read. I flew through it. But, I have to admit that I did not read the footnotes. Since I was reading digitally, reading the footnotes meant constantly interrupting my reading to go to the note and to then go back to the story. This is probably easier in paperbacks, where the notes could hopefully be added on the same page. I do think the footnotes, and there are really a lot of them, are part of the fun, but the few I read afterwards were not adding much, so I didn't read them all.

I mostly didn't read them because I already felt while reading this book that the book was trying to be funny a little too hard. I love laughing out loud while reading. I just don't laugh out loud when the humor feels forced. The most hilarious situations are when people, both the characters and the author, are not really trying their very best to be funny. They just are. However, I'm pretty sure some people will love this and will laugh out loud throughout the entire book.

At least, I hope so, because it's the main selling point of the book. There's also a plot and I eventually liked how everything came together, but it was not as exciting as I had hoped it would be, which is mostly because the entire book takes place on earth and we're not seeing much of all the other planets clearly existing in this universe. But, the author now created an entire universe and despite the fact that this was not my book, I hope they allows themselves to play around in it!

Read from August 21st, 204 to August 30th, 2024. Written on August 30th, 2024.

NEW BOOK RELEASE!

~4.5~

All I can think about doing is clapping and congratulating the author on this incredible journey she created. From thingamabobs to flapjacks, spies and love, this book was a perfect mix of aliens and humans narrated by someone who can't even remember a name of someone she saw multiple times in about 10 days. Was it Absalom or Andrew? No clue.

This book will make you laugh out loud, gasp with revelations, and laugh even more because I swear this was, at times, incredibly hilarious. The destruction of Earth told by the alien who caused it, she is accompanied by her weirdly violent friend and advisor and the human who makes great flapjacks (can't wait to try his recipe) and may also be a great kisser.

Now, was it a bit slow at times? Yes, it was. But it made up every time. The story speed fluctuated sometimes, which did make it a little bit hard to carry through, but it was all worth it in the end. And the end? So funny and satisfying, could not ask for better. Also, the cover is amazing, kudos to the artist behind it!

Honestly, I am so so happy I got the chance to read this book. I hope you like it as much as I did. Thank you.

(Free ARC from NetGalley and Splinter Press that I chose to review after reading)

4.25⭐
-
An apology letter from an alien, who may or may not have destroyed our planet. On the plus side, she also may or may not have fallen in love with a human.

I had a lot of fun reading this book! I honestly went into this book for the vibes, and it delivered. The comparisons/references between the two planets/people/cultures were entertaining; I was laughing out loud so much. Those footnotes? *chef's kiss* something about it scratches something in my brain + they were hilarious!

This book is honestly just a fun time - perfect for a "palate cleanser" between books or just for a good laugh.

*PS. If you're ever looking for baby boy names starting with "A", this book is surprisingly perfect for you!

**PPS. There is also a delicious pancake recipe in this book, crucial to the storyline obviously.

Thank you Splinter Press & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.5 rounded down.

While I did enjoy the story, it just started to drag a bit. It started out fun, hearing from the Queen of an alien race (well, alien to us) about how she accidently blew up our planet. And the end notes were informative and funny most of the time. Then in the middle though it started to drag on, and felt repetitive at times. The ending picked back up, not as good as the start, but still enjoyable.

I do wish the endnotes were actually footnotes though! On the Kindle, it was tedious to keep jumping back and forth between them and where I was at in the book. In the middle I ended up just skipping a lot of them, because they too became repetitive in nature, or didn't actually share any useful information with us.

I'd recommend the book if you're looking for a fairly quick, quirky read.

Sorry Humans, (Especially Greg)
By Faralee Pozo

Stars: 4
Synopsis: Who knew that the potential destruction of planet Earth could be quite so comedic--and romantic? I was hooked from page one. Dry/sarcastic humor is my love language, so this book absolutely delivers in the fun department.
Format: E-Book
Review: There wasn’t a moment during reading this book that I wasn’t thoroughly entertained. This read was so fun, and I loved tying all of this to a love story. Oddly delightful.
Pros: This book included miscommunication, one of my favorite micro-tropes. But not just any old miscommunication…language barrier miscommunication. The one where the MCs speak two different languages, and the gaps in understanding, context, and culture set the stage for hilarity. It's just the BEST.
Favorites Moments: This story was written in the form of an apology letter, and the footnotes were especially delightful.
Recommend (Yes/No/Maybe): Yes, if you love an absurd sci-fi fantasy read, aliens, and love to laugh, read this immediately.
Thank you, NetGalley and Splinter Publishing, for allowing me to review the title.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

The story was fine, but I think the author tried way too hard at injecting snark into the whole thing, to the point of adding like 250 or so endnotes. I already get annoyed with the use of footnotes/endnotes and how they disrupt the flow of a story, but to use that many in a book that isn't even that long is ridiculous. There are more notes than pages of story. Most of the notes were also just completely unnecessary, and were just used to try to add some humor without having to add it seamlessly into the narrative. And I guess some were also meant to add a misdirect? Like one early on plainly says a character is dead at the end, when they aren't, which doesn't even make sense to say, only to take it back later. Why bother?

All that aside, the plot is interesting enough, and there are a few twists thrown in to keep it moving. I'm skeptical about relationships based on humor derived from cultural misunderstandings and/or trauma bonding, but it's fine for a short, nonserious story.

Really, I probably would've rounded up my score if it hasn't been for the constant annoyance of having to go back and forth to read so, so many notes that didn't do enough to justify their existence.

What a cute, comical, adventurous mystery this book turned out to be. We meet Aria who is a 'decent' alien queen to her people. However, when one of her subjects causes danger to the humans she must work together with the human population (especially her crush Greg) in order to save the planet and human kind.

This is one of the funnier titles I’ve ever seen and while the book was also intermittently funny, it did overplay its hands in a lot of places.

Sorry, Humans (Especially Greg) by Faralee Pozo is an absolute delight! The main character, Aria—"seventh daughter of Morr, Keeper of the Sacred Sponge, Heir to the Fallen Branches of Bough, and Final Monarch of the Thirteenth Planet of LifeStar"—is hilariously unforgettable. Her apology letter to humanity had me laughing out loud more times than I could count.

As a fan of books with footnotes (they're like the literary equivalent of a dress with pockets—an obsession of mine), I was thrilled. However, I found that reading footnotes on a Kindle disrupted the flow a bit, which is more of a personal quirk than a flaw of the book. I’m definitely grabbing a physical copy once it’s released to fully enjoy the experience.

A huge thank you to Faralee Pozo, Splinter Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this gem. Sorry, Humans (Especially Greg) hits the shelves on August 30th, 2024—don’t miss it!

CAUTION: Mind (and World) Blowing

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Humor: 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This book is utterly original, absolutely captivating, and amazingly well-written. Faralee Pozo has created a story that had me laughing and grinning from beginning to end. The characters are fully fleshed out, and the arc is satisfying. The way that it is written as though through a letter was really what brought it to life for me. This seems to be the author's debut novel, and, if that's true, what an amazing tale to have weaved.

**I received an ARC for my honest review**

Go pick up this book on August 30th! You won't regret it.

The premise of this book sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot, though it's not my usual read.

The story is written from the perspective of Aria, the alien queen. It's an apology letter for destroying Earth, (especially to Greg, a human she met and cared for.) The letter explains her side of the whole story. We eventually find out that she may be a bit of an unreliable narrator.

The writing was humorous. The 250-something footnotes, while funny and explanatory, were a bit much!
It's sort of part sci-fi, part romance, part comedy, part mystery/crime solving, maybe part fantasy?

While I overall found the storyline interesting, the first half was pretty hard for me to get through. It just couldn't keep my attention.

3.5 stars from me

I read an advanced copy of this book, and these are my honest thoughts. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers.

Whoops! Some alien queen went and blew up the Earth. For what it’s worth, she’s written an apology. That should soften the blow, right?

When outer space visitors invade our planet and try to live among us, you don’t expect them to have a sense of humor. Nor do you think they’ll fall into a swoony romance. But that’s the unique, lively, and even heartwarming premise here. And if you’re in the mood for some smiles and laughs mixed with your sci-fi adventure, you’ll enjoy this little indie story.

Aria, ruler of the Brooshaloos, secretly leaves the US government compound in Alaska with her aide de camp (Penny) to explore the human world (and, as we later learn, support her people). Disguised as a beautiful woman, she meets Greg Jones, assistant to a US Senator. There’s an attraction there, but there’s also some information he might have about her mission. Despite Penny’s protests, Aria travels to Washington to discover more, where she can’t seem to shake Greg, either from her trail or her heart. Then, a mysterious explosion occurs, and Aria might have a clue as to whodunit. And that means trouble, both for her and for her adopted planet. Ours.

Tone and premise are where this book shines. It boldly goes where no one has gone before (see what I did there??!). Aria is the narrator, and she’s dictating a letter of apology to the Earth, with an eye toward her new love. She does a great job of foreshadowing without giving away spoilers. Her appreciation for all the wild, crazy, and fun things our world has to offer is heartening and sweet. Her affection for Greg will make you smile.

Sci-fi stories have a lot of rules, or a very specific order of events, both of which make this a rare genre for me. For the most part, this novel does perfectly fine, keeping the theme light and the plot not overly complex. The rising action and the race to the finish, however, do require close reading. And thus, the pace, which had been traveling at warp speed, hits a plateau. That said, the simplicity of the writing and the approachability of Aria, Greg, and the other characters push things in a satisfying direction.

Pozo also tries something different here: footnotes. No, really: there are 256 of them, sprinkled throughout Aria’s narration. They’re often funny, sometimes informative, and show us the interesting contrasts of our worlds. If you’ve been scarred by your college textbooks as I was, you might do what I did: read some, ignore at will. I found that to be a good strategy: if I were in the mood for a Rodney Dangerfield-esque one-liner, I read it. Otherwise, I passed it by. I don’t think I lost anything in the process. (Note: I read an ebook, which made these endnotes and not footnotes. Not sure how the printed version will treat these.)

(Another note: see what I did there? Writing about endnotes…with a side note? Yes! I got a million of ‘em! Try the veal!)

The character development was solid, and I got to know enough about them to like / revile / understand them. The romance doesn’t pervade the story, and the spice is set to Mild, but it keeps things moving and hits all the right points. The ending, which gets more than a little technical, was still fun and exciting. Likeable and clever are good words to describe this work.

And, if sci-fi / speculative fiction is your thing, you might check what else this little indie operation, Splinter Press, has to offer. I peeked at the website, and it seems non-traditional and off the beaten path.

Or in this case, tractor beam.