The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met, never even spoken to – someone who is light years away?

Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst the stars. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth – with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.

Their only communication with each other is via email – and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit across space. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?

Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone . . . 

Romy was born in space and has only ever known the inside of her ship - the only contact she has with other people is the delayed messages from her counsellor back on Earth and sometimes an update from NASA. That is until she gets a strange message about world politics back on Earth and then nothing makes sense. There is another ship catching up with her, with better technology, and Romy is communicating with J, the ship's only inhabitant. Finally having someone new to talk to, Romy is understandably excited and nervous about meeting J for the first time. That is, until she realises something about his messages...

I adored this, I literally flew through it! The story was incredible, not just on a sci-fi/ exploration of space level, but also dealing with growing up, isolation, and what it means to be human and a hero. Romy was one tough cookie; at just 17, she has lost her family and her crew, and is now solely responsible for getting her ship to Earth's next planet/project. And yet she was still so normal - she read and wrote fanfiction, she loved to binge-watch TV, and she liked to bake. I fell in love with Romy almost immediately, she was utterly adorable and very easy to relate to, even though her homework had slightly more dangerous consequences if she didn't learn it!

I won't talk much about what happens with J, I want it to be a surprise. One note though: I really loved it. Romy got her chance to prove herself and be her own hero. All in all, a spectacular book packed with everything from space travel and learning astrophysics to first love and trusting yourself to stand for what you believe in.

Published 7th September 2017 by Walker.