The Gravity of Us

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed by The Gravity of Us. The description hit all of my buttons - teen M/M romance, space travel, science nerd stuff - but the execution was a major let-down. The narrator, Cal, is so self-centered and self-righteous that I wanted to smack him numerous times, and even when he supposedly realized the error of his ways (this is a YA book so you expect the MC to grow and learn from his mistakes), he was still pretty insufferable. The way he treats his best friend Deb when he finds out she is homeless and couch-surfing was jaw-droppingly selfish, and it was impossible for him to redeem himself after that point. The object of his affection, Leon, is a nice guy with an interesting history (former competitive gymnast with ongoing clinical depression) but I didn't buy their instant attraction and extremely quick declarations of love, and I didn't feel the chemistry that Cal described.

The plot was intriguing and, frankly not at all far-fetched: in order to get public support (and funding) for a mission to Mars, NASA has been forced to partner with a cheesy TV reality show that insists on making all of the prospective astronauts and their families live in houses weirdly decorated to look like they are from the 1960s heyday of space travel. Every move they make is closely scrutinized, and they are subject to frequent interviews in which they always have to look and sound positive. As you would expect with this powder keg setup, there is intrigue, tragedy and the threat of delaying or scrapping the mission, all of which should have had more impact than it did. When Cal rides in to save the day, it felt completely unrealistic, even for a genre in which the teen protagonist is expected to defy the odds and claim a victory for his side.

Maybe part of the reason for my disappointment was the fact that I was on the waiting list for this book for months while my public library was closed for the pandemic, so it couldn't have possibly lived up to my expectations. Even if that is the case, Phil Stamper will have to do better with his follow up to keep me interested in his work.