“Normally I hated new beginnings, but this one was different. This would be the last new beginning of my life.”
At just 13, Liz Smith is going on a journey no one else has gone on before. She has been chosen to travel to Soma – a moon for the planet Somavia – with a group of people to create a permanent colony to mine tirtellium. While waiting to land on Soma, the spacecraft carrying the colonists faces a huge solar storm and the ship breaks apart. Liz is the only survivor and finds herself crash landing on Somavia in the escape capsule she was reading in. With her legs pinned during the crash, she has no hope of surviving – until some natives show up.
I was asked to review Heartsong by its author through my blog. The story sounded interesting and I was given a free copy in exchange for a fair review. I enjoy finding good young adult fiction to read for my children.
Heartsong follows Liz’s journey of discovering life among the aliens she calls Somavians. They teach her the language and she discovers they can feel what each other is feeling when they touch, including her. They call this “singing your heartsong.” Just as Liz gets used to life among aliens, a spacecraft with humans lands on Soma and she must choose to stay among her new friends or go live amongst her own. After spending most of her life in foster care, she doesn’t like change or strangers, but a threat comes that makes the decision for her.
Heartsong is a well-written young adult novel that will appeal to readers who like sci-fi and personal stories. It is interesting to see Liz’s character develop and change throughout the book. The story is easy to follow and even though it’s set on a fictional planet, the places and new plants and animals are easy to figure out.
Do you have any interest in traveling to space? Comment on the blog!