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.

Sorry Humans (especially Greg)
By Faralee Pozo

Rating: 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 because the book deserves it)

Quick Rundown
- Humorous writing
- Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Alien takeover

Aria is unhappy living in the compound assigned to the alien refugees, so she begins her girls’ nights out with her partner in crime. Enter Greg! Spotting Greg across the room changes her night completely. Possibly her life?

Sorry Humans (especially Greg) reminds me of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in tone. The banter between characters and the general writing style made me literally laugh out loud. This book offers more than just a typical romantic comedy—you won’t find a deep-seated connection to the romantic aspect, but you will enjoy the author’s twists and turns in the plot. As a debut author, I believe Faralee Pozo will go far. I look forward to reading more of her work.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel. This review is based on an ARC copy I received from NetGalley. These opinions are my own and were given freely.

What a fun read! The main character, Aria, seventh daughter of Morr, Keeper of the Sacred Sponge, Heir to the Fallen Branches of Bough, Final Monarch of the Thirteenth Planet of LifeStar, literally had me laughing out loud.

While trying to figure out why explosions seem to be following them, Aria and her advisor Penny find help in Greg. Aria has quick developing feelings for Greg against Penny's wishes. Aria keeps Greg near and has him helping to figure out what's going on. Hopefully, before, any more people are hurt.

This book was full of creativity and hilarious footnotes. It reminded me of the humor comparable to Hitchhikers Guide to thy galaxy.
I loved the characters and the hilarious footnotes that accompanied her.

Thank you to netgalley and Splinter Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review honestly

A refugee alien queen falls for a human man on earth - what could possibly go wrong (spoiler…everything, but don’t worry, it’s funny)?

I thought the plot premise was interesting, and the format as an apology letter unique, but the writing didn’t jive with me - it was wordy at times and I felt the humour in parts contrived. There are many (256!) footnotes throughout, and while necessary for extra information and often humourous, it was a bit annoying to maneuver back and forth on the ebook and this disrupted my reading flow. As such, this took me longer to read than necessary, and I couldn’t get as into the story as I wanted too.

Overall, this was an interesting concept that lacked the style of execution I prefer.

Thank you to Netgalley and Splinter Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel doesn’t fit easily into any one bucket, but the closest thing I can compare it to is Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But, in the end, the only thing that they both have is the earth being destroyed at the beginning of the novel.

The whole novel is the backstory, told by Aria, the queen of her people who have taken refuge on earth, because of some hinted at disaster that happened on their home planet. They have been living in Alaska, under ground, but since Aria is the queen, she and Penny, her assistant, are able to sneak out once a year to experience life above ground. That is where she runs into Greg, and falls in love with him, though she never names what she is feeling as such.

Since Aria is “writing” this novel, she has a lot of footnotes to explain expressions that are peculiar to her race, and what they mean in English.

And then the bombs start happening, and Aria has to figure out why the bombs, that are made with an element only found on her planet and amongst her people, has suddenly started being used on Earth.

It is a fun and funny novel. Sometimes I got frustrated with all the red herrings, but that is really all part of the fun.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out on the 30th of August 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Splinter Press for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

This was such a cute book! Imagine a cross between Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Princess Bride, and you’ve got Sorry, Humans. While at times the footnotes were overwhelming, the overall story was still adorable and worth the read. I loved the characters, I loved the romance, and the twist at the end surprised even me. Definitely pick this up if you want a cozy science fiction book that’s quirky and delightful. 4⭐️

Sadly I DNF at 45%. I was really into the premise and concept of this story but I could really not get into it. It is told from the POV of the main character Aria who is an alien and she has written this apology letter to explain an apologize for the destruction of earth, so that was unique. I usually like quirky characters and humor but this one felt a bit flat for me personally. I liked the concept of the footnotes, although I think there were too many of it. And I could not feel the connection between Aria and Greg.

Thank you to NetGalley, Splinter Press for the oportunity to read this ARC and share my honest opinion.

Aria is an alien queen of a group of interplanetary refugees, finds sanctuary on Earth as long as they follow an extensive list of government-mandated rules. She meets Greg on her annual "females night out" in Washington DC (i.e., annual escape/outing from the government compound in Alaska they call "home"), who works as a staffer for an Alaskan senator and is temporarily in DC for work. They end up trying to solve a mystery together, and the whole story gets a bit twisty but not too hard to follow. This book is ridiculous and I love it. Imaginatively written with a lot of dry humor, from the unique perspective that the Earth has already been destroyed (and Aria feels bad about it, hence the title) so you're searching for clues while you're reading as to the how and why. I guess you'd call this sci-fi/romantasy? I felt like it was equal parts sci-fi and romance; Aria's relationship with Greg is equally the focal point along with the survival of her people. Aria was fantastic, and Greg was sweet but not terribly dynamic, this was really more Aria's story. Fair warning, this book has copious end notes, and normally I don't like switching back and forth because it hinders the flow of the story for me, but I got used to it. Great debut story from this author, I'm looking forward to more from her in the future! Thank you to NetGalley for providing an Ebook ARC of this story. Publishes 8-30-24.

Thank you to NetGalley and Splinter Press for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Sorry, Humans (Especially Greg) was as funny and as unique as its title indicates. Following Aria, a refugee alien who invaded, er, arrived on our planet we see her meet the very human Greg and try to pass off as human, breaking many rules in the accord that humans set up with the aliens when they arrived. And of course, leading to the destruction of Earth.

Written in the form of an apology explaining everything this was hilarious with Aria as the perfect narrator, bringing the reader along with her as she explained her home planet and others in the universe and just how different Earth was. The perfect blend of comedy and inquisitive, I wish I could read this for the first time all over again. The only thing I found a tiny bit annoying in the reading is that there are several clever footnotes and while they are hyperlinked for my kindle it’s not so easy to go back to the page being read from them (or maybe I’m missing something). Pick this one up if you’re a fan of comedy, sci fi, or just really entertaining books.

Once i’ve started this book I couldn’t put it down! It felt so unique and funny and like anything that I read before! I Love the premise of the apology and the romance is engaging,sweet and fun !