Nowhere on Earth
Written and Illustrated by Nick Lake
Reviewed by Junior Reviewer Leonard Cavallaro
Leonard is 13 years old, an aspiring writer and loves fantasy novels.
Three hearts out of five – I enjoyed this book
Who is your favourite character? Describe them and tell us why you like the The pilot Bob who had the misfortune to crash land with our main characters, Emily and Aidan stowed away inside his cargo plane. From there, he is thrown into a whirlwind of crazy verging on outrageous events. While for the most part Emily and Aidan remain calm, Bob has more irrational and as such relatable reactions. This makes his character more relatable, and he connects more personally with the reader.
What was the most interesting/exciting/suspenseful moment in the story? The suspense at the start was masterful with our author Nick Lake combining slight flashbacks, glimpses of characters thoughts and general intrigue to keep the reader hooked. Just enough information and backfill was shared for the reader to be heavily involved in the plot but to still have constantly changing ideas of where the story would go next.
Did this story make you laugh/cry/ throw it across the room? Nowhere on Earth had a blurb that to me felt so poor I laughed at its overdramatic seriousness. This meant as a reader, the story was approached with low expectations however after just the first short chapter, my attention was completely captivated by the plot and left me desperate to learn more about our character’s pasts.
Would you have changed anything in the story and why? This book had some extremely heartfelt moments and character relationships such as that between Emily and her younger brother Aidan. However, the extra-terrestrial aspect of the book meant that this was partially lost at points and overall, the story seemed to be caught between its sci-fi/thriller elements and its more emotional parts. In the end, they both detracted from each other but still created an enjoyable yet imperfect blend.
To whom would you recommend this book? This book is recommended for ages 12 and up due to regular violence and certain character relationships. Also, sci-fi fans will particularly appreciate the plot, specifically closer to the end.
9. How many hearts out of five? Three hearts
♥ = Didn’t finish it
♥ ♥ = Ok, but not for me
♥ ♥ ♥ = I enjoyed this
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ A great book, I recommend it
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ One of the best books I have ever read!
Penguin 2019
