I absolutely adored The GRAVITY OF US!

The love story was ADORABLE. The social media aspects of the story were relevant and interesting, and the setting was immersive. It touched upon mental health in a positive, realistic and informative way, between both Leon and Cal's mother's character arcs, and it carried some incredible messages and themes about staying true to yourself, following your dreams, and doing the right thing.

Plus, I'm a sucker for ALL THINGS NASA-RELATED, so the entire premise -- revolving around missions to Mars and astronaut training -- was right up my alley.

This book is an homage to all things science-related and all things journalism-related. It's cute, it's fresh, it's light, it's fun, and I LOVED it.

Definitely check this title out -- it's a fantastic read, for both a cute summer romance AND an all-around-amazing novel!

This wasn't a bad book by any means but somehow it disappointed me. I think it's the fact that I spent half the book thinking it was just a fluffy young adult boy romance with a gimmick before the real plot actually reared its head. I would've been disappointed were it just fluff because the premise would've been wasted but also, I'd resigned myself to it being fluff by the time it revealed itself to not be, so I was disappointed in both ways.

Cal is super boring as a main character. He's oddly bland - he wants to be a a journalist and he fancies Leon. Those are the tenets of his personality. He enjoys cassette tapes because he's a hipster and something to do with a dead aunt. Leon seemed exciting by comparison but it turns out he's dull too - he has depression and doesn't want to be a professional gymnast. At least Cal has an aspiration. Leon either goes along with what Cal is doing or he sulks at home and ignores Cal and causes internal strife for Cal. He doesn't really do anything else.

The astronaut stuff was interesting enough, but not knowing anything about it myself made me unsure which parts were real life and which parts were made up. My fault really, for never caring much about the history of spaceflight.

This was such a cute book! The cover was the first thing that drew my eye, it's so pretty! This book is a great light-hearted read for summer. Though be warned, it does deal with some talk of mental health and family fights, but there's always hope at the end of the tunnel.

I really enjoyed reading this book! The Sci-fi element and setting was so unique and it felt very fresh to me. I also thought the relationship between the two main characters was so compelling, and I loved watching their growth and character development. Everything in this book felt so tender and genuine, even in the most dramatic moments. I was entertained from start to finish, and just really loved reading the gravity of us!

Throughout June, GeekMom has been celebrating Pride Month with lots of LGBTQ content. Follow the Pride Month tag to find all the content in one space and keep checking back for more throughout the month. Today’s book review is The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper.

The Gravity of Us is a YA novel set in the not-too-distant future when NASA is on the verge of launching the first manned mission to Mars. Calvin Lewis Jr. is a 17-year-old boy living in Brooklyn in the apartment above his best friend Deb. An avid planner, Cal has precisely mapped out his life for the next few years with the end goal of becoming a professional journalist. He has already converted his existing online fame on the popular video streaming platform FlashFame into an upcoming highly sought-after internship at BuzzFeed, and he has started a list of college applications for where he plans to move to with Deb.

All that planning is thrown a curveball, however, when his father – a commercial pilot – secures the final place among the Orpheus 20, a batch of new astronaut recruits who will be part of the Orpheus missions to Mars. Cal and his family are immediately uprooted and moved to Clear Lake, Texas, to live in a retro ’60s-themed community with the other astronaut families as NASA attempts to recreate the golden age of the space program in hopes of maintaining public interest (and funding) for the program. Worse, media coverage of the program, the families, and their lives, is controlled by StarWatch, a TV show more interested in showcasing drama than covering any of the real science going on, and they’ve told Cal he can’t continue his FlashFame channel. His carefully planned future appears to be crumbling away in a matter of days.

An indignant Cal decides that he won’t be controlled and continues his channel anyway, despite increasingly serious official warnings. Even better, he meets the adorably handsome Leon Tucker and his sister Kat – the teenage kids of another astronaut in the Orpheus program. Cal and Leon immediately hit it off, despite Leon’s depression and Cal’s increasing anxiety at having his future plans wiped away. As StarWatch becomes ever more manipulative, Cal decides to take matters into his own hands and prevent StarWatch from ruining his burgeoning relationship with Leon and even the future of the Orpheus missions.

I held The Gravity of Us for the final installment of our Pride Month series because I wanted to save the best for last. I absolutely fell in love with this book and am already hoping for a sequel. Cal is an instantly likable character despite his flaws and I found myself rooting for him from the get-go. I understood his frustration and anxiety at being ripped away from his life and his future because of his father, who initially doesn’t understand why his family is so resistant to him following his dream. There’s some fantastic character development within Cal’s family as all three of them begin to understand one another’s perspective about this new life they are living.

Another thing I loved was how much science content there was. This is no The Martian, but the book doesn’t shy away from talking about the mission Cal’s dad is working toward and Cal’s increasing interest in it. This, coupled with Cal’s desire to showcase the science side of NASA over the drama favored by StarWatch, makes this a genuinely interesting book. I was – like Cal’s dad – born in the ’80s so I missed out on the excitement of the Apollo program where the whole country came together to follow the missions. The Gravity of Us made me feel incredibly excited at the prospect of that happening again in my lifetime, with a potential real-life manned mission to Mars on the horizon.

The relationship between Cal and Leon does smack of instalove, but the characters are well-written enough that I was able to overlook it. There were also more than a few eye-rolling moments in the overall plot, particularly toward the end, but again I was enjoying the story enough to simply roll with it. StarWatch makes for an interesting antagonist although there were a few moments where I thought the story was hinting at their actions being even more heinous than they were, only for that trail to go nowhere. As awful as it would have been, I feel like that version of the story could have been even more exciting and certainly more dramatic.

The Gravity of Us has been one of my favorite books of the year so far and I devoured it in just two sittings. It is both a cute, LGBTQ love story and an enjoyable YA drama that dips a toe into science fiction. Because of that, I imagine it could find wide-ranging appeal and I would recommend it to anyone with a love of space travel and/or contemporary romance.

If you’re interested in more Mars content, GeekMom will be running Mars Month throughout July to celebrate the imminent launch of the Perseverance rover so please keep checking back for more.

GeekMom received a copy of this book for review purposes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I LOVED THIS. The story is great, the characters jump right off the page and the emphasis on diversity and inclusion is sorely needed. It was so nice to hear a positive story about space exploration, especially one that also included a queer love story. Love love love.

I really wanted to love this one. This is my second time reading/ trying to get into this book and this time around I got about halfway through and ended up skimming the rest. Whilst the premise was awesome I just couldn’t really seem to connect to any of the characters. Cal just irritated me and his whole online, social media platformed seemed a little ‘fluffy’, its hard to put into words what I am trying to say but to attempt to sum it up, it just came across as very unrealistic. Another aspect of this book in which sat uneasy with me was the romance, and whilst I loved the love interest - Leon, I just found their relationship kind of came out of nowhere, there wasn’t much of a build up and while I am not saying love at first sight can’t be a thing I just felt like there wasn’t much development and things just happened. It kinda made me put the book down and think huh, what. By this point I was only 80 pages in. Whilst this book personally wasn’t my favourite I feel as thought definitely has potential for others. This story felt so rushed to me and it was a bit cheesey. The characters, pacing and the development sadly didn’t sit well with me. However I feel as though if I were to re-read this in the future, in a different headspace ,with no expectations it would be a different outcome.

Set against a fictional Mars exploration venture centred on NASA we watch the interaction of two families and their burgeoning relationships both personal and professional. The artificial setting reflects the 1960s moon shot even down to the decor in the homes and this contrasts with the ‘Trueman Story’ type television coverage and the up to date blog commentary that demonstrates modern journalism. There’s a delicately down relationship blossoming behind the cameras between the two boys complicated by the cynical: machinations of the TV network whose only interest is reality tv ratings. This book is far more complex than it appeared at first glance and is deceptively simply written. There are some serious issues of ethics, loyalties and of how to negotiate a fragile first love all explore in a virtual dual time frame .There were a couple of moments When credulity was a tad stretched but I was swept along by the excitement and the passionate emotion nonetheless. I look forward to the author’s next book! Recommended.

Cal dreams of being a reporter. He has his life planned out, so it throws him a little when his dad drops a rather major piece of news...he’s applied to NASA to be one of those involved in the planned travel to Mars. This means the whole family has to move from New York to Houston, where their every move will be reported on as Cal Sr prepares for his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I’ll admit to having only a glancing interest in the story of space travel, but the passion and enthusiasm shown for the subject here shone through and drew me in. I may never get as excited over ‘space dirt’ as some of the characters we see here did, but it’s clear to see the reverence such a program is held in and how much it means to many.
A substantial part of our story focuses on the romance between Cal and Leon Tucker, son of one of the other astronauts. Things got set in motion ridiculously quickly, but the developing relationship between them was only a part of the focus. Watching how they worked together to figure out how to support their loved ones actually worked pretty well.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication.

I really enjoyed this novel. It's a sweet teen LGBTQ romance set against the backdrop of a NASA mission to Mars. When Cal's dad uproots them from their Brooklyn life, Cal is devastated. Not only is he leaving behind his best friend Deb, but also an journalism internship and seemingly his life as a journalist. When he meets the mysterious Leon, his ideas of returning to Brooklyn might be put on hold. But the NASA training is over shadowed by a reality TV show called Shooting Stars, apparently the one thing that is keeping the govt funding this mission. But theirs is more of a chokehold on the families involved, filming their every movement and manufacturing drama when the lives of the astronauts and their families are already on tenterhooks. Can Cal break their chokehold and reveal the truth of their involvement with NASA?

REASON TO READ
This book is absolutely charming. It’s a simple boy meets boy love story wrapped up in the space race to Mars. It is a great, solid debut novel.

REVIEW
In short, the book revolves around two teens Cal and Leon, who find love when their lives are uprooted for their parents' involvement in a NASA mission to Mars.
I will continue to say it, but I am so glad like that books like this exist. Hats off to Phil Stamper for this.

Any books that represent gay life as positive, full of joy, full of passion and full or love and opportunity is a massive thumbs up from me. On reflection growing up gay, books like this didn’t exist and I know I could have done with just one book like this to show me it was all going to be ok. Books like this have never been so important.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it. However, it is probably aimed at a younger audience than me and felt somewhat formulaic in parts to similar books such as #RedWhiteandRoyalBlue and #OnlyMostlyDevastated. But that said it has great characters, humor and some great things to say about self-identity and mental health in our age of social media.

Charming, summer romantic read ⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of five

A YA novel set around a space shuttle launch? With gay romance? And a never-more-now examination of the role social media plays in our everyday lives? Sign me up! The Gravity of Us grabbed me from the start with its fresh voice and engaging lead character, Cal, a seventeen-year-old who's plucked from Brooklyn and moves to Texas with his family when his dad is selected as part of NASA's mission to Mars.

Obviously miffed, Cal decides to document the whole thing on his 'FlashFame' account (a clear stand-in for Instagram), which sends his follower count soaring with mixed results. The social media thread is the novel's strongest. Author Phil Stamper neatly explores the consequences of documenting the lives of real people, particularly as Cal competes with NASA's official media representatives, StarWatch (who, obviously, aren't too happy with Cal's success and plot ways to derail him).

The romantic plot – in which Cal falls for Leon, another teenager whose mother is part of the space programme – is briskly handled and Stamper ticks all the romantic comedy boxes without overindulging. What worked best for me was the book's unique location (I loved all the NASA stuff) and its lead character's unique struggle. Cal isn't perfect, and I enjoyed watching him grow in this strange goldfish bowl of an environment. Highly recommended.

This book was everything i needed right now, the characters i just loved and the plot was fantastic. Ive read a lot of books about space but never one about NASA and pair it with teenagers and social media and it brings it into the 21st century. It definitely took turns that i did not expect and gave me a whole load of different emotions. Such an easy, quick read and it is one i recommend.

This book appealed to me as the description reminded me of Love, Simon. Fans of that book will devour The Gravity of Us in days. The story is sweet, uplifting and a must read for all young adults Struggling with becoming who they really are and who love literature. The plot is quite simple and the gay love story is steady, enough to keep you reading to find out how it develops. The use of social media in this book is a great reflection on today’s society and really fits with the subplot. I especially enjoyed the friendship with Deb “back home” throughout the story as she really kept Cal grounded and gave him more
Depth to his character. The twists in the NASA programme and the coming of age plot provides enough of a page turner for the reader. I just felt there was something missing in the detail. I just did not feel for some of the characters on this book. Like Cals mother for example, she has anxiety issues yet I feel this could have be explored more within the story. Overall this is a perfect coming of age story for today’s modern world. I really enjoyed reading this book, I look forward to more from Phil Stamper.

With thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury

I found the Gravity of us an okay book, not bad, but not brilliant either. I found the main character was rather selfish and the romance between the two characters didn't really work for me, still a good book.

First off, thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Gravity of Us to read in exchange for an honest review.

Now lets get into it.

The Gravity of Us is a story about a 17 year-old influencer who focuses on the important issues in the world and has a huge following. He has an aspiring astronaut father who gets a new job offer and up they must go, a new life begins.

This for me is a hard one to rate. It sounded incredible and I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of it. It has a queer love story, brilliant! It's a cute YA contemporary, great! It's about space, cool! I had such high expectations, and maybe that's why I felt let down by it. I didn't love this book, but I also didn't hate it. It was inoffensive but also kind of lacking in all areas for me.

I felt like the characters were a little 2D. There wasn't much to them and I found myself not really caring about any of them. The romance that I was so excited for tuned out to be an instalove story, which is a trope I don't appreciate and so that irked me. But even for instalove I still felt it was too rushed (is that even possible?) I felt like they barely had a moment to talk and yet they were already fawning over each other, blegh. Very unbelievable. Yes they were cute, but I couldn't feel anything about them as a couple which is a deal-breaker.

I must say it was an incredibly easy read and although I was in a bit of a reading slump when I started this and it took me a long slog to get through the first half, I put my mind to it and flew through the second half of it pretty quickly.

I'm really gutted that I didn't love this one, because I was so sure I would.

2 1/2 stars, if only because I finished it and didn't hate my time reading it.

I was really excited to get to this book, as I saw it pop up on my net galley shelf I literally screamed. It's a book that's been on my TBR and on my twitter feed for a while, I didn't know when it was getting a UK release but I applied on net galley just incase and i'm so glad I got a copy of it. It's exactly what I wanted if i'm honest it it's so cute and just a feel good book. I'd recommend this book throughly especially if you want a quick book that will lift you up!

The Gravity of Us = Gays and Space + Drama + DID I MENTION GAYS AND SPACE?!

There's a lot to talk about when it comes to this book. It's a fun, enjoyable and engrossing story that at surface level will leave you feeling good. I love how Phil Stamper writes, it feels immediately welcoming and warm. But the one element about this book that makes it so great is also the reason it falls so flat. In one word characters. They feel two dimensional and they don't feel fully realised, if the book had less characters or even had more focus on Leon and Kat then I think it would have been much better. Like don't get me wrong I absolutely adored the relationship between Leon & Cal but it was literally "Hi I like you", "Hi, I like you back", "Kiss". Before we even knew anything about Leon properly Cal had fallen for him and vis versa. Even afterwards Leon only feels like a device to propel the plot forward when this book is all about Cal and his journey and love. So I guess the question is how well can a book about love be when the protagonists boyfriend feels empty? Don't get me wrong there were some great moments and I dig the romance but it literally felt as if we missed something. They go from 0-100 within less than a chapter or so, maybe it's because my mind can't comprehend that but yeah it just confused me.

Even when we take out the fact the romance felt extremely quick (even the characters mention it at one point!) we're still left with two characters, Deb & Kat whose purpose really doesn't make sense? You barely see Deb apart from a few chapters at the beginning of the book and the odd throwback too throughout the book. I know why you don't see much of her because it's putting across that Cal is a tad self-centred and wrapped up in himself, but it just rubbed me the wrong way because we're supposed to care about the fact he suddenly dropped Deb in the cold when we literally know nothing about her. The same goes for Kat, she felt like she had so much potential as a character and it just upset me that nothing really happened with her apart from her being the excuse for Leon and Cal to hook up.

But you might be thinking, "Ben, did you actually like this book? You keep saying all the things wrong with, so why should I actually read it?" Well I did like this book, in fact i'm planning to read it again because I loved it. But I also had some gripes with it as well which are still okay to have even if you loved reading a book!

In Conclusion, this book is lovely. It's heartfelt and warm and fuzzy and cosy. It's a book i'd love to pick up and read by the fire. But it's also a book I wouldn't give too much thought too after i've read it because although it's fun while it lasts it doesn't give you that *oh my gosh, oof* feeling you get after finishing some books, but that's okay! What makes this book so good and what sets it apart is the space aspect of it. It was so interesting to learn and read about NASA and the different Apollo Missions. The space race feels so much fun to read about and I just wish we had more of it to read about here. I'd recommend this book totally but just know what you're getting yourself in for. Phil Stamper is a great author and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next!

(3.5 Stars - Great, but still has some glaring flaws)

I have to say this book took me by surprise a little bit, in a good way! If you go into this book because you want romance I think you will be disappointed because its not really the focus of the story! This book does succeed in being different to others out there at the moment.

For me this book was more about family and the media than anything else. The media and journalism aspects of the stories were really interesting and really showed both the good and the bads sides of media in the modern world. It's also abou ta NASA space project so what could be cooler than that?! But NASA have basically sold themselves to the media to get funding and they have turned it into a reality show.

I did like the romance, it was the teenage type of insta-love but it kind of worked. What was really refreshing about this relationship compared to other LGBTQ books was the fact that their sexuality was never mentioned explicitly.

This book did also touch of mental health but I don't feel like it did this very well. It also had the take that therapy helps every issue which is obviously not the case. The mental health issues just kind of felt thrown into the book for good measure to me.

Overall, a really good story about NASA, family, social media and romance. It was an uplifting story and a fun and easy read. I did like that it was not like all the other teen romance books out there and had a very unique story.

I loved the idea of this book, and it was a solid 3 -star read. Something that was enjoyable but to be honest not completely mind blowing. I struggled to connect with the characters and I wish the story would have focused more on the space element and the mission. I enjoyed watching the ins and outs of the mission become clear and I loved learning about the different main characters, I just wish there had been more development of ALL the characters and we would have met more of the astronauts.

I wish I had better things to say about the characters in The Gravity of Us. I felt as though the relationships that developed all the way through this book felt a little cheap and shallow. There were no other teenagers in the story so therefore the two lads fell in love, it just felt a little forced and cheesy at times. I wish there had maybe been a few more in the friendship group, some other driving forces to get to know each other. I think my resounding thought in this book was that everything happened extremely fast and it felt like insta-love. Which isn’t to say that the characters weren’t interesting but we just didn’t get to see any of that because it immediately fell into relationships and the drama that came along with that. I really wanted to love the main relationship in this book but I just couldn’t, I just didn’t see enough for me to think that it was worthy of my attention.

For me the best bits of The Gravity of Us was definitely all the bits to do with space and the mission. I loved the fact that we saw how NASA had effectively thrown themselves into reality TV to ensure that the funding was there. I thought it was a really good play on today’s world and really highlighted how fickle people can be. I appreciated also that they showed the downside of reality shows and how they can be manipulated for views rather than have them being the heroes.

I think for me the worst bits of The Gravity of Us, as mentioned above was just how quick everything moved and how underdeveloped everything was. I think there were moments in this book where the characters could have really shone through and it was a little underwhelming as a whole. I also wasn’t thrilled at the way depression was handled in this book, it felt stale and it focused more on how it affected everyone else rather than the person with depression which annoyed me just a little.

I would recommend The Gravity of Us, as long as you have lower expectations heading into it, I enjoyed it as a light and fluffy read and it was something quick and fun. I just don’t think it was as great as all the hype.

Stamper has crafted an excellent YA contemporary romance with The Gravity of Us, full of believable drama and space brilliance that filled my heart with joy. This is a book that unabashedly celebrates NASA and the incredible people that work there.

Cal was a fantastic protagonist, relatable and flawed. He’s unafraid to use his voice for good, highlighting the insightful journalism that should be the cornerstone of our society. However, he also makes mistakes that have consequences and allow him to grow, realising how his actions have ripple effects on those around him. I thought his personal development felt very natural and built gradually over the course of the story. The central romance is just so easy to fall in love with, with all the heightened emotions of first love. It’s all-consuming and just lovely, with a few bumps in the road.

Stamper has such a great writing style that is effortlessly engaging and charismatic. He offers a fresh, enjoyable perspective that flows so easily. I really liked the use of multi-media, from Cal's social media broadcasts to the reality TV aspects. I also loved how Stamper chose to shine a spotlight on mental health and how you cannot simply 'fix' people.

The shining star of the book though is the discussion of science and space, where you can feel Stamper's passion for the subject through fun and informative sections that my inner NASA nerd throughly enjoyed. It was educational without becoming preachy and always felt very fresh and exciting, giving the book a unique edge.