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Terraformer by Colleen HouckPublished by Colleen Houck on May 12, 2020
Pages: 536
Goodreads

Print Length: 348 pages
Publication Date: May 12, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B084Z551M6
Praise for TERRAFORMER“I was rooting for Astra and entranced by the seamlessly crafted world of TERRAFORMER! Colleen Houck gives you a chilling glimpse into what can happen when technology and nature collide.” —Kimberly Derting, author of award-winning young adult novels The Body Finder, The Pledge, and The Taking
“A richly imaginative page-turner!” —Melissa Landers, bestselling author of Blastaway, the Alienated trilogy and the Starlight duology
A new dystopian sci-fi YA series from the New York Times bestselling author Colleen Houck
Warning all Astronauts:
COLONY BOUNDARY WARNING!
PERMISSION TO ENTER ALIEN FOREST IS REQUIRED
NOTE: NO RESCUE ATTEMPTS WILL BE MADE
In the future, a terraforming ship lands on a perfectly green planet.
Two perfect young men, one a budding colony leader, the other an engineer, compete for the affection of one perfect young woman training as a botanist.
The only problem?
She’s not perfect.
Astra has a secret.
A big one.
And someone or some thing just maybe trying to kill her for it
Deadly toxins can be hidden inside the most beautiful flowers.
That’s what Astra Meador’s famous biophysicist mother taught her.
As her mother’s apprentice, Astra has developed skills in botany, chemistry, medicine, and, most importantly, in keeping secrets.
In fact keeping Astra’s secret was the reason her family decided to leave the Earth and join a terraforming mission to colonize a distant planet called Crillain IV. But when Astra wakes early from hypersleep, she discovers that her mother never made it onboard, her father died in transit and his body has been ejected from the ship, and she suspects that she’s not the only one awake.
When the ship finally lands and she’s reunited with her brother, Nash, Astra hopes to settle into a new life, especially when she meets the charming young engineer, Jax, and is recruited by the mission commander to train alongside his handsome son to be a future leader of the small colony.
Then Astra learns that she’s not the only one with a dark secret.
As both young men contend for her affection, Astra searches for answers, trying to determine who to trust. But with theft and murder occurring in the colony along with the sudden disappearance of her beloved brother, Astra can’t listen to the whisperings of her heart, especially when someone or something else on the planet is whispering to her mind even louder.
REVIEW
The story of Astra reminded me of some of my favorite sci-fi things like the movie Passenger and Across the Universe but along with These Broken Stars while mixing in a bit of The 100. There is a tremendous amount of world-building that gets a bit technical but it is well done and interesting. Astra wakes up ahead of schedule while en route to a new planet which is strange because she shouldn’t have woken up because of a dream. And now she finds that her father is dead and her mother didn’t make the departure. Once on the planet, she finds her brother Nash and to me, their relationship is not the best.
Yes, there is a love triangle but Astra overcomes that with her own inquisitiveness when the new planet plays host to several murders. Things just aren’t what they seem. While Astra thinks her secret – there are so many secrets in her family – that she thinks is her weakness becomes her strength. Overall, I enjoyed this one and while this one wrapped up nicely, I can see room for a followup.
INTERVIEW
1. What is on your nightstand?
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It’s taken me a long time to get around to this one but I’m so glad I finally moved it to the top of the pile.
2. What author would you totally fan?
I’ve always been a huge Stephanie Meyer fan. She’s finally publishing Midnight Sun this year and I can’t wait! Any time a Twilight movie is on television I automatically stop and watch even though I have the movies memorized.
3. What makes you cringe?
Dishes in the sink or general messiness or clutter. I’m a bit of an organizational freak.
4. Do you obsessively plot out each point or just go with the flow?
I tend to go with the flow but plot out the main touch points or where I want to end up.
5. Is there a word you love to use?
My husband said it was granola bars and backpack for the tiger series. For Terraformer it was probably trees. I’ve been gardening a lot this year so flowers and trees and plants are on my mind quite a bit.
Also, if you have any pictures of your pet you would like to share, please attach them. My readers love animals!
Yes! I’m an animal lover too. I’ve had three dogs. One toy poodle, Prissy, who passed away at age fourteen in 2010 and I have two currently, a standard dachshund, Murphy, age eleven, and another toy poodle, Bitsy, age seven and eleven koi fish of great size. I also live on ten acres of land and have noted hundreds of birds, some who peck at the windows every day, various ducks who visit my pond, squirrels, rabbits, a great horned owl, turkey vultures, hawks, a bobcat, coyotes, moles, gophers, weasels, a herd of blacktail deer, and a variety of rodents.
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