Review: Lost on Mars

Author: Paul Magrs
Edition: Firefly eARC
Released: 14th May 2015
Series: Lost on Mars #1
Pages: 336 approx.
Links: Goodreads | Author's Blog | Buy the book!

With the scale and scope of the great science fiction epics, Lost on Mars tells the story of Lora and her family, settlers on the red planet struggling to survive in incredible circumstances. The family clings to life on a smallholding, surviving storms and sinister rumours of people disappearing – until one night Lora sees the Dancers. When her father and grandmother disappear, Lora and her family are driven out to seek a new life across the plains. But none of them are ready for what they find – the beautiful, dangerous City Inside.

I'm not 100% sure of my feelings for this book so I'm going to have to break it down into my favourite things and my not-so-favourite things.

The Highlights

• I loved the fact it was set on Mars - it just made it that little bit more unique.
• I quite liked the main character, Lora. She was a great lead for the novel and fit into the storyline very well. I also really liked Peter's character, who we met later on. I'm quite intrigued as to what role he'll end up playing in future books and what he'll bring to the storyline.
• I also really enjoyed the fact that there was so much mystery surrounding everything - even having finished the book, nothing is clear to me! I'm just left with the gut feeling that something isn't right and the world Lora lives in is mucked up.
• The world was, undeniably, very complex.
• You can also see how the author has written Doctor Who books because there was a general foreign, alien feel to the book - which I rather enjoyed!
• **AN UPDATED ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHT** It's thought-provoking - I finished it this morning and all I've been doing since is mulling it all over. It gets in your head.

The Lowlights

• It didn't feel like that much actually happened overall in the novel, and some parts seemed to drag. It took me longer to get through than a lot of books I read - though I wouldn't say at any point was it bad.
• I wasn't overly attached to any of the other characters we were stuck with for a majority of the novel, aside from Lora and Peter and her Da.

To conclude, I did really enjoy this book - I'm just unsure at the minute as to the extent of my enjoyment. I've not quite decided whether I'll pick up the sequel yet but I may just end up doing so because I need answers badly!

**UPDATE** The more I think about the book, the more I think I've enjoyed it. Strange, maybe, but I'm going to roll with it.

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo