I Hope You Get This Message
By Farah Naz Rishi
Rate:5/5
Synopsis:
News stations across the country are reporting mysterious messages that Earth has been receiving from a planet—Alma—claiming to be its creator. If they’re being interpreted correctly, in seven days Alma will hit the kill switch on their “colony” Earth.
True or not, for teenagers Jesse Hewitt, Cate Collins, and Adeem Khan, the prospect of this ticking time bomb will change their lives forever.
Jesse, who has been dealt one bad blow after another, wonders if it even matters what happens to the world. Cate, on the other hand, is desperate to use this time to find the father she never met. And Adeem, who hasn’t spoken to his estranged sister in years, must find out if he has it in him to forgive her for leaving.
With only a week to face their truths and right their wrongs, Jesse, Cate, and Adeem’s paths collide as their worlds are pulled apart.
Review:
What would you do if you knew you have a week left to live? After receiving this exact message the world goes to shit and three teenagers have to deal with their baggage before the end arrives. This book was so much more than I expected. I was expecting three class mates to be thrown together to survive but in reality it was about three souls that intertwined out of coincidence. I do not want to spoil alot of it because it is such an amazing story that should be experienced. So with that said... this was so beautifully written. I love how the story was about the characters and what is going on around them but it also gives us a look into what the Aliens are doing and thinking. There are also good bye messages from people that rounds out the worries and expectations of the minor characters of the story. Jesse was a beautifully flawed character (who is gay but doesn't follow any gay tropes). Cate who is a broken girl trying to hold everything together. Adeem (my true love) a lost boy who just wants his family together again. All of these characters experience the highs and lows of a society losing their shit when faced with something unknown (similar to our current situation). Where due to fear thousands are doing things that maybe they wouldn't usually do or trying to help only to get taken advantage of. There are also those who are selling fake hope for a quick buck. In the end it was destiny for Cate, Adeem and Jesse to meet and be together on the last day in Roswell, New Mexico. And though they couldn't all have the conclusions they wanted it was beautiful. This book did have an open ending but I felt that the story actually benefited from it. It leaves us to create the tragedy or happily ever after for our characters. I would love a sequel to this story, just because. But the story ended in such a way that I feel comforted by it. On top of this it had amazing poc representation and LGBTQ representation. This was another Owlcrate book and it had a different cover that I loved. The hard cover of the book I got also had a message on it in binary which kinda leads me to believe that there wasn't a happy ending but again you would need to read it to understand. All in all this was an amazing book.
