Earth Girl (Earth Girl, #1)

Overall: A great story well told. This is an excellent book that is easy to read, yet deals well with serious topics while introducing rounded characters and a fascinating setting, all wrapped up in a page-turning story.On 1st Reading: I chose this book as a less serious counterweight to some recent serious reading (inc. [b: The Machine Stops 4711854 The Machine Stops E.M. Forster https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347943820l/4711854.SY75.jpg 4776249], mindblowing and not exactly cheerful). With a title like “Earth Girl” it was going to be a bit of fun right? Well, this turned out to be an excellent page-turner of a book in a fascinating setting with a main character who is one of the most interesting that I've read in quite some time. The central hook of the story is that in the not-too-distant future teleportation portals are invented and used to colonise other worlds (rather similar to [b: Pandora's Star 45252 Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, #1) Peter F. Hamilton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440699949l/45252.SX50.jpg 987015]?), leaving Earth mostly underpopulated and consisting primarily of nature reserves and archaeological sites. All well and good, except every 1 in a 1000 babies are born with a condition that means that they must dwell on Earth or die. Speculation is that there is some substance required for their systems to function, but nobody truly knows. Being unable to “Portal” these Earthers are looked down on with extreme prejudice and mostly abandoned, though well cared for in what are essentially orphanages.Our main character, Jarra, grew up in one such institute, never knowing her parents. On reaching the age of 18 she elects to join a university course centring on the archaeological study on New York. The catch is that she intends to prove to the off-world students that she is just as good as them by covering up her “Handicapped” Earther identity. The book progresses with three key draws: The course itself, which slowly reveals the fascinating future history thought up by Ms Edwards, Jarra's growing interest in a male student (handled well by the author), and Jarra's own struggle with her identity.It's that last bit that makes the book really special, I won't go into detail as I wish to avoid spoilers, but this is a major chunk of the book and goes into depths that are unusual for a book classed as “Young Adult”. This psychological aspect is very well done and very gripping. Other YA authors could learn from reading this.Oh and there is a big drama at the end that left me flying through pages at high speed – but you'll just have to read the book to find out why...Really good stuff!On 2nd Reading: I was impressed by the quality of writing with regards to the main character's mental state. Since first reading this book my understanding of this has grown and I could really appreciate things much more.On 3rd Reading I came back to this book like visiting an old friend - yet it continues to surprise me, not only the detail that the author has put into the setting, or the little facts that she has pulled into whole other stories in later books - but the pure skill with which she tells the story. I do think Ms Edwards has gotten even better (her latest book, [b:Borderline 49123502 Borderline (Hive Mind #4) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575756887l/49123502.SY75.jpg 73281674] is a truly excellent detective story), but as her first published novel this is a story it seems so tightly written that even after three readings it just feels like a great story well told.

Pros: fascinating premise; intelligent characters; great mix of humour and sadness; linguistic shifts, history and scientific cohesion give a sense of realism, minor romance

Cons: everything goes a little too perfectly for Jarra

Jarra is an ape, a throw back, a nean(derthal), handicapped: a human born with an immune system that won't allow her to portal to other worlds the way the Norms can. Dumped on Earth to be raised by Earth Hospital as a ward just after birth. She's fascinated with history, having worked on archealogical digs from the time she was 11. She wants to prove that she's as good as any Norm, so she enrolls in a pre-history course run by an outside university for the purpose of meeting, fooling, and then telling off some Norms. But as she gets deeper and deeper into her cover story, lying about most aspects of her life, she also realizes that maybe she didn't think her plan through very well. And maybe these people don't deserve her hatred any more than she deserves their derision.

Set 600 years in the future, the book touches on a lot of science (solar arrays, Planet First, colonization, and most importantly, transportation portals), but the main focus of the book is on Jarra's decisions. This is a character driven book that reads at a quick pace (I finished it in a day).

The author does an amazing job of making Jarra feel real. One minute you're laughing out loud and a few pages later you're crying. Jarra is almost a Mary Sue in that everything seems to go well for her, but she's definitely got some negative character traits. And around the half-way mark something goes very wrong that affects her deeply.

I loved the linguistic shifts that allowed the characters to swear without swearing, and showed how culture and morality had shifted (both due to time and on various planets). For example, Beta is more sexually liberated than the other systems, allowing for nudity and having triad marriages. Meanwhile Gamma, who runs the university course Jarra is on, is much more conservative.

While most of the characters were 18, there were a few instances when they acted younger (mostly when baiting each other at the beginning of fights) but they generally acted their age, learning more about the freedoms of adulthood without going overboard.

There's an understated romance that pops up about half way through the book. I really appreciated the mature way it was handled. Unlike most teen books where angst rules, here the characters thought carefully about the future and what their current decisions would mean for their future. I also liked that when Jarra was strong her beau went along with things, but when she needed help he stepped up, showing that they were both strong characters, but in different ways.

While in no way preachy, the book examines prejudice - and how it can hurt people on both sides. Facing your own beliefs - both positive and negative - is a part of growing up, and it was nice to see Jarra questioning her hatred once she's interacting with Norms, rather than watching them in vids. The Norms too, get some lessons on how important - and knowledgable - the Earth dig teams are, making them question their beliefs.

The book has a few flaws but I highly recommend it. The humour alone is worth the read.