Do You Dream of Terra-Two

I recently finished Do You Dream of Terra-Two by Temi Oh. I saw it on the new release section of Audible and figured I would give it a shot. I thought it sounded like an awesome book. It was not awesome. It was alright. , but nothing special.

The premise is that about a hundred years ago astronomers discovered an exo-planet that was Earth-like. It speeds up the space race and by the beginning of the 21st century we have people on Mars and a satellite base orbiting Europa.

We pick up with the team chosen to head to Terra-Two for the United Kingdom. The mission will take twenty-three years. The story bounces around from each character, almost like journal entries.

The idea really sounded good. Sadly, it was the execution that was lacking. From here on out there will be spoilers…

I wonder if this book started out as a YA novel. The characters are all young (makes sense that they would send young people since mission would take 23 years). So much of the stuff they deal with is teen drama. The characters get into fights, they try to deal with their emotions, and they worry about their own insecurities.

The entire mission focuses on the first year or so and the problems they run into getting past Jupiter. The problems are all mental and personal. Depression, homesickness, love-sick, belonging…it all gets pretty old. I get that it is stuff that might be an issue, but it just seems weird that on day one they all just fall apart.

One of the things that really bothered me was how unprepared they seemed mentally for the trip. They all had issues and I just cannot imagine they would have been chosen. Although, there was something interesting late in the book where we learn that the UKSA (United Kingdom Space Agency) did not think there was much of a shot of making it. Some of the characters learned this and wondered if they were chosen because they were expendable. I think they could have explored this a bit more.

Now, I will say the book had a decent ending. It was a little predictable, but it was well written. I think that ending was probably enough for me to give Temi Oh another shot if her next book sounds interesting.