The Outsider

It's an automatic 5-stars for me, so I'm not even going to try being serious.

I first read this when I found it at the town library, and part way through reading the series, the TV series came out, and I was ALL. IN.

After binging the Roswell: New Mexico remake, I wanted to revisit the original books and show, and I regret nothing. Pure nostalgia.

Did I enjoy it while I was reading it? Yes.
Do I remember anything about it a few weeks later? No, not at all.

Didn't help that I watched the corresponding episodes at the same time. At any rate, my two remaining brain cells have long moved on.

It's one of those things where the facts are almost irrelevant because they're buried under a franchise that I love whole-heartedly with childish loyalty, without objective criticism. Any distinct features about the book itself have mixed and blurred with my memories of reading it as a kid, watching the show as a kid, and watching the remake as an adult.

Basically, I'll take the story of Max, Isabelle, Michael, Liz, and Maria any which way you serve it to me, and I'll say “Thank you, more please!” and that's just how it is sometimes.