Smart and unflinching, this #OwnVoices debut contemporary novel stars an ambitious college student who refuses to be defined by her central auditory processing disorder. Edie Kits has a learning disability. Well, not a learning disability exactly, but a disability that impacts her learning. It isn't visible, it isn't obvious, and it isn't something she likes to advertise. And for three semesters of college, her hard work and perseverance have carried her through. Edie thinks she has her disability under control until she meets her match with a French 102 course and a professor unwilling to help her out. Edie finds herself caught between getting the help she needs and convincing her professor that she isn't looking for an easy out. Luckily for Edie, she has an amazing best friend, Serena, who is willing to stitch together a plan to ensure Edie's success. And then there's Hudson, the badly dressed but undoubtedly adorable TA in her French class who finds himself pulled into her orbit... Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads, Meet Me in Outer Space is a sweet, heartachingly real story of love and college life by debut author Melinda Grace. Praise for Meet Me in Outer Space from the Swoon Reads community: "Edie’s resolve not to give up her lifelong dream for a guy is heartening ... This #ownvoices debut tackles the stigma of a hidden disability." —Booklist "A sweet college romance that features a disability experience not often represented in teen fiction." —School Library Journal “I can relate to Edie. I don't have CAPD but I have ADHD and that makes everything study related/ everyday functioning super hard. Reading on because this hit so close home.” —Tara Olivia, reader on SwoonReads.com
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Edie Kits is an early 20-something college student just trying to pass French so she can go to Paris in the summer and study abroad in the Fall. That is her goal: Paris, Paris, Paris. Her French professor, Mr. Clément, and the cute TA, Wes Hudson, make it achieving this goal hard enough without the added complication of her disability. Edie Kits has central auditory processing disorder (CAPD); messages get jumbled up or completely distorted, especially in noisy environments where she can't focus. You know what also makes it hard for her to focus? Wes Hudson. Between her growing infatuation for him and struggling to pass French 102, will she ever make it to Paris?
I wanted to like this book. I really did. It is a #OwnVoices novel for a disability that 1. doesn't have a lot of visibility in fiction and 2. doesn't have a lot of visibility in the real world either. I was also looking forward to a cute, fluffy romance, especially considering my past few reads this month. Unfortunately, by 30 pages in, I wasn't feeling it and by 60, I was ready to DNF this book. However, since the ebook was only 160 pages, I figured I might as well finish it. By 111, I just started skimming the pages to get the gist of what was going on and to find out how it ended.
I thought the concept was cute and like I said, I was excited to read it. It wasn't a /bad/ book, in my opinion, but it was not the book for me. However... it just....... annoyed me more than anything and that is incredibly disappointing. Edie was whiny and the hot, then cold, then lukewarm, then tundra aspect of her relationship with Hudson was just ridiculous. At many points in the book it felt like she was overreacting and because she wanted to be upset, or wanted to find some... flaw in Hudson to be like “See! Paris,” she would twist things to be offended. All of the characters, even Edie, were quite flat and one dimensional and I really just didn't understand Hudson. One moment he was all “I can't do this; you can't have it both ways,” and then quite literally in the same breath said, “Let's overanalyze this later and kiss for now.” It made no sense. His reactions– their entire relationship– did not make sense to me, at all. And part of me thought that maybe things that he was doing– the constant apologizing, the biting at his nail beds, the bouncing knees– were pointing to an anxiety disorder and that would maybe explain things, but.... no, that was never even suggested. Edie was just as bad; she wanted to say she wasn't leading the boy on, that he knew what he was getting into, but just as often as she was like, “Nooooo, Paris. None of this,” her actions contradicted her words and she continued to pursue a relationship with him– even if she didn't want to admit to herself that it was a relationship (if you're not in a relationship with someone and you're sure that they know that they're “just your tutor,” then why do you feel the need to preemptively break up with them, hm?)
I am very proud of the author for writing a book that sheds light on her own disability, one that we don't hear or see in the real world or fiction that often. And like I said, it's not a -bad- book and I'm sure that there are many with tastes different than mine that might love this book. However, I just... really did not like it.
