Terra-Two is humanity’s hope for the future. A new planet. A new chance at life. Ten specially selected astronauts will make the first journey and start the process of colonisation. It will take 23 years to get there, so six young adults are selected to accompany the more experienced astronauts. But things start to go wrong even before they’ve left Earth…

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? is a character driven exploration of what happens when you send a group of barely adult astronauts on a one-way mission. It’s set in an alternate version of history, where a planet was discovered a hundred years ago which could sustain human life. That planet is Terra Two, its discovery fuelling a space race and resulting in Britain having a space programme.

The younger astronauts attended the elite school of Dalton. The story starts as they find out if they’ve been chosen or not. They come from various backgrounds but have all been working towards the dream of Terra-Two for years. I loved getting to know them all. The focus is on the young adults, and I do say young adults over teenagers as they are pushing twenty. The themes are reminiscent of the new adult sub-genre that failed to really emerge a few years ago.

Whilst they knew each other at Dalton, and Astrid and Juno are twins, they are not really friends with each other. They must learn to live in close quarters, having arguments over missing chores, or being a bit too competitive. Harry is suspicious of Eliot and Jesse and Poppy retreats from social interactions.

They must all come to terms with their decision to leave Earth. It’s not action-packed, even when emergency strikes, it’s often drawn out, much like life in space must be in reality. The science generally seemed quite close to real, current day science too. It felt like it was written by someone fascinated with space travel. I loved my time with them and felt attached when it was time to say goodbye.

I was a little sceptical for much of the book on the size and selection of the crew. Why only ten people, when something could easily incapacitate them in 23 years? They supposedly had strict psychological evaluations at Dalton, so how on earth did this bunch make it? Harry is not fit to be a leader with his arrogance and bullying. Juno has an eating disorder, one she has been doing her best to hide. Poppy is depressed. And then there was the suicide at the start. However, during one conversation, the characters also ponder this, maybe they had ulterior motives for sending this crew.

POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: 16. A book with a question in the title

Goodreads | Amazon | Waterstones | Hive | Wordery

Book Source: Purchased