Review: 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

"Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back.

It’s been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon, and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to moon base DARLAH 2—a place that no one but top government officials even knew existed until now. The three winners, Antoine, Midori, and Mia, come from all over the world.

But just before the scheduled launch, the teenagers each experience strange, inexplicable events. Little do they know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back there until now—a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun. . ."

This is one of those books that really gave me mixed emotions. I finished it a while ago,and I know I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. However,  I really don't know why I didn't enjoy it. The story was interesting enough, it just kind of fell flat for me. I think it had everything to make a creepy science fiction novel, but it definitely wasn't developed enough.

The author did a great job of implementing a lot of history throughout the book, so props to that because it did feel very "official". Though this story really didn't start until about halfway through the book and dragged, there were a lot of little events thrown in that kept me reading to know more.

The story has a lot of characters, and they all get their own chapters. I think this was a big issue with the book because it's hard to develop five characters in a little less than four hundred pages. For someone with limited knowledge about NASA, I continuously wanted more information about the places and people to really get into the story. Character wise, there are people I really liked and really hated throughout the book. A lot of my negative feelings had to do with the author developing side stories that really added nothing to the actual plot. I wish these things and some of the actual characters, namely the man living in the care facility, were left out or changed all together.

Though I know this book is a standalone, I kind of wished there was another book following because it felt more like a setup for more to come. By the end I was finally getting into the creepy plot and wanted to know more about what was truly happening.

Overall, this was a decent story with a great idea! Though some things were answered, it left me with a lot more questions I'll always wonder about. I think people who enjoy science fiction would like it. However, if you're anything like me and want things answered so you can have a bit of closure at the end of the story, I wouldn't recommend it. High fives to Little Brown for providing me a copy for review!

Soundtrack:

Subterranean Homesick Alien - Radiohead

The Aliens Are Coming(Pave the World) - Michael Tolcher 

?? - Cynthia Lin - This song is very fitting, but could also be a spoiler, so don't look if you don't want to know.

Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers

Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere