The Gravity of Us
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Description
"I'm so starry-eyed for this wise, romantic gem of a book." - Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
'A big-hearted, witty, and intensely relatable debut about reaching for your dreams without losing what grounds you.' - Karen M. McManus, New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep a Secret
_______________
Two teens find love when their lives are uprooted for their parents' involvement in a NASA mission to Mars in this smart, heart-warming YA debut, perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera.
Cal wants to be a journalist, and he's already well underway with almost half a million followers on his FlashFame app and an upcoming internship at Buzzfeed. But his plans are derailed when his pilot father is selected for a highly-publicized NASA mission to Mars. Within days, Cal and his parents leave Brooklyn for hot and humid Houston.
With the entire nation desperate for any new information about the astronauts, Cal finds himself thrust in the middle of a media circus. Suddenly his life is more like a reality TV show, with his constantly bickering parents struggling with their roles as the "perfect American family."
And then Cal meets Leon, whose mother is another astronaut on the mission, and he finds himself falling head over heels--and fast. They become an oasis for each other amid the craziness of this whole experience. As their relationship grows, so does the frenzy surrounding the Mars mission, and when secrets are revealed about ulterior motives of the program, Cal must find a way to get to the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.
Book Information
Posts
2.5/5 Opposed to the ratings of some of the reviewers I follow on here, I am rounding down, because I personally had points that actively lessened my enjoyment of this book. This is really cute, don't get me wrong. And it had things going for itself! There's mental health rep (depression & anxiety), there's a set up for discussions of family, there's a m/m romance! The things I took issue with were: the way social media/online fame were handled (it felt really unrealistic, not just because of INCREDIBLE numbers, but also because it is stressed how hard Cal works on this, but he's never shown working on it, you know?), the way the best-friend subplot was handled, the insta-love between Cal and Leon (in the book's defense, that is already stated on the back, it just reeeeally doesn't work for me personally) and I suppose in general this was more telling than showing. I could imagine this works well for people who rank plot higher than characters. The plot didn't feel fast to me, but it moves along quickly. For me personally the depth was lacking in the characters, there were a lot of possibilities for deep topics (and everything that was said felt respectful indeed), but I was left wanting more reflection; deeper, more complex descriptions and thoughts. As I said, this is definitely a matter of personal taste, this time we just didn't match up well.
This book felt like a breath of fresh YA air. I'm obviously a sucker for anything space themed, but that's not even my favourite thing about this novel; it's the protagonist. I just loved how confident Cal is - in himself, his sexuality and his style. It's just really uncommon for a YA character to be so sure of himself and that's incredibly refreshing to read. The first half-ish of the book felt a bit rushed, with everything happening very quickly, but I didn't mind that all too much. I would have wished for a little more character development though.
I don’t know, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea. The plot wasn’t exactly bad but never managed to really catch my interest. I wasn’t all that fond of the MC. But what really irked me was the pace. The relationship with the LI as well as the depth of their feelings for each other developed way too fast. The story itself was told kinda fast as well and made all interactions (and sometimes even relationships) feel shallow.
What I love about this book: - people being flawed and being allowed to be flawed - space and gays - not too forced love story without the drama of labeling - loveable characters - portrayal of mental illnesses as illnesses and not as character flaws or weaknesses What I didn‘t love: - DUDE, CALL DEB BACK!! - people my age being called old - my youth becoming something retro and hipster for the youth of today - kind of a ‚been there, done that‘ feeling In the end it is, what it wants to be - a contemporary YA story with queer characters and space. And I like it. Not every book has to be innovative. Nevertheless it /is/ nice to have a gay couple just being themselves and not „oh-no-i-am-gay“ or „they-won‘t-accept-me-for-who-i-am“ and also to not have yet another comig out story (even though they are important and I live them every once in a while).
Description
"I'm so starry-eyed for this wise, romantic gem of a book." - Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
'A big-hearted, witty, and intensely relatable debut about reaching for your dreams without losing what grounds you.' - Karen M. McManus, New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep a Secret
_______________
Two teens find love when their lives are uprooted for their parents' involvement in a NASA mission to Mars in this smart, heart-warming YA debut, perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera.
Cal wants to be a journalist, and he's already well underway with almost half a million followers on his FlashFame app and an upcoming internship at Buzzfeed. But his plans are derailed when his pilot father is selected for a highly-publicized NASA mission to Mars. Within days, Cal and his parents leave Brooklyn for hot and humid Houston.
With the entire nation desperate for any new information about the astronauts, Cal finds himself thrust in the middle of a media circus. Suddenly his life is more like a reality TV show, with his constantly bickering parents struggling with their roles as the "perfect American family."
And then Cal meets Leon, whose mother is another astronaut on the mission, and he finds himself falling head over heels--and fast. They become an oasis for each other amid the craziness of this whole experience. As their relationship grows, so does the frenzy surrounding the Mars mission, and when secrets are revealed about ulterior motives of the program, Cal must find a way to get to the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.
Book Information
Posts
2.5/5 Opposed to the ratings of some of the reviewers I follow on here, I am rounding down, because I personally had points that actively lessened my enjoyment of this book. This is really cute, don't get me wrong. And it had things going for itself! There's mental health rep (depression & anxiety), there's a set up for discussions of family, there's a m/m romance! The things I took issue with were: the way social media/online fame were handled (it felt really unrealistic, not just because of INCREDIBLE numbers, but also because it is stressed how hard Cal works on this, but he's never shown working on it, you know?), the way the best-friend subplot was handled, the insta-love between Cal and Leon (in the book's defense, that is already stated on the back, it just reeeeally doesn't work for me personally) and I suppose in general this was more telling than showing. I could imagine this works well for people who rank plot higher than characters. The plot didn't feel fast to me, but it moves along quickly. For me personally the depth was lacking in the characters, there were a lot of possibilities for deep topics (and everything that was said felt respectful indeed), but I was left wanting more reflection; deeper, more complex descriptions and thoughts. As I said, this is definitely a matter of personal taste, this time we just didn't match up well.
This book felt like a breath of fresh YA air. I'm obviously a sucker for anything space themed, but that's not even my favourite thing about this novel; it's the protagonist. I just loved how confident Cal is - in himself, his sexuality and his style. It's just really uncommon for a YA character to be so sure of himself and that's incredibly refreshing to read. The first half-ish of the book felt a bit rushed, with everything happening very quickly, but I didn't mind that all too much. I would have wished for a little more character development though.
I don’t know, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea. The plot wasn’t exactly bad but never managed to really catch my interest. I wasn’t all that fond of the MC. But what really irked me was the pace. The relationship with the LI as well as the depth of their feelings for each other developed way too fast. The story itself was told kinda fast as well and made all interactions (and sometimes even relationships) feel shallow.
What I love about this book: - people being flawed and being allowed to be flawed - space and gays - not too forced love story without the drama of labeling - loveable characters - portrayal of mental illnesses as illnesses and not as character flaws or weaknesses What I didn‘t love: - DUDE, CALL DEB BACK!! - people my age being called old - my youth becoming something retro and hipster for the youth of today - kind of a ‚been there, done that‘ feeling In the end it is, what it wants to be - a contemporary YA story with queer characters and space. And I like it. Not every book has to be innovative. Nevertheless it /is/ nice to have a gay couple just being themselves and not „oh-no-i-am-gay“ or „they-won‘t-accept-me-for-who-i-am“ and also to not have yet another comig out story (even though they are important and I live them every once in a while).