
Member Reviews

With the Earth on the brink of collapse after years of misuse from humanity, a team of women take matters into their own hands to try and save the future of mankind. All they need is a spaceship and a plan. Valerie Black is the leader of her handpicked crew of the five best females she could find. On an Earth where women have become increasingly oppressed and restricted in what they can do, she hopes that by spearheading a mission to a new planet she can create a new society, a better one, for all. She wants to make a difference. But at what price? When things start to go wrong on board their stolen ship, it’s left to Valerie’s adopted daughter Naomi Lovelace to uncover who’s been keeping secrets from the rest of the crew, and what sacrifices she must be willing to make in order to save those loved ones left behind on Earth.
I went into this with some trepidation – I’m not known for my love of science fiction, but what really pulled me in to this was the description of an all-female crew. For too long, I’ve felt that science fiction has been heavily fixated on men. This story centres fully on these women – their relationships, their lives and opinions, and most importantly of all, how passionate they are regarding their work. Naomi is the botanist of the crew – it’s her job to ensure the rest of the crew are fed, as well as unlocking the secret to getting crops to grow on their new home planet. It’s an incredibly important job, and we see how Naomi came into the profession, and watch her many rejections as well as achievements, that make her the woman she is. Being a woman, she’s had to work harder than most men to get where she is – and that’s made her resilient and resourceful. As a scientist at heart, she analyses her predicaments and comes to (mostly) logical conclusions, but also isn’t afraid to follow her gut when required. She was a great character, with a good amount of development over the past and present timelines we read about to make me really warm to her personality and what happened to her. I cared. I cared a lot.
I also really loved that the story itself has been inspired by a part of history I knew nothing about before this. It mentions briefly the history of Mercury 13, whereby thirteen female astronauts were screened for NASA, many outperforming their male counterparts, yet never made it into space. They were overlooked because of their gender. Goldilocks takes this idea, and re imagines the women fighting back for this injustice. It’s empowering and enlightening, and got me researching more into Mercury 13 and these forgotten women.
The plot itself is fast paced, with many twists and turns along the journey as we find our crew in increasingly dangerous and tricky scenarios to keep the reader in suspense for most of the novel. I wasn’t expecting a lot of the plot points, and some do hit a little close to home in the current climate, but I liked that for each new twist we got, we would see the women struggle with very real moral dilemmas. There often wasn’t a right or wrong answer, and it was exciting to see what decisions they would make. Naomi’s very important issue that arises early on was particularly great to see unfold – I wasn’t expecting a long distance love story to grip me in the way that it did. I do wish that the author had added a bit more backstory for the other crew members however, as I felt I never really got a good grasp of their personalities compared to Naomi and Valerie. I would have loved to have seen how Valerie recruited each of them properly, with flashbacks into their past as well as Valarie and Naomi’s.
This was a really engrossing and unique novel that feels very of its time. It’s a powerful example of the importance of women in science and the difficult decisions that those in leadership must make for the good of humanity. The ‘trolley dilemma’ crops up a few times in conversation between Valerie and various other crew members. If given the choice, would you do nothing and allow a trolley to kill five people – or pull a lever and kill one? What is the right choice to make? This novel explores that ethical concept and more. A thoroughly thought provoking read that I’d highly recommend.

I did not want this book to end. Ever. I can't recall ever being so invested in a bunch of characters and felt their hopes and pain so deeply - yes, they are THAT good. The writing is absolutely superb. The story... oh, the story... I wish I'd been plugged into a heart monitor while reading. So many ups and downs and "oh, please, no" moments. A few tears, a few smiles, lots of gasps, and, yes, a few expletives on my part. "Goldilocks" is so much more than the blurb can hint at without spoiling the story. You need to read this. You won't regret it.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Taking its name from the so-called “Goldilocks zone” (the habitable orbit around a star), Goldilocks is part eco-thriller, part science fiction. Having long dreamed of going into space, Naomi Lovelace’s last chance to realise her ultimate ambition lies with her stepmother, Valerie Black. Valerie’s company has been researching how best to get humanity to the planet Cavendish, a potential fresh start for our species, having thoroughly befouled the Earth. However, women are increasingly being side-lined and kept down by men in positions of power, and the mission is taken out of Valerie’s control. New plans are drawn up that will see the ship crewed by an all-male contingent. Quite understandably, Valerie has other ideas, and having already picked her ideal crew, decides that their only option is to make off with the shiny new ship before anyone else gets their booted feet through the hatch. Grand theft spaceship, as one crew member refers to it.
Valerie’s handpicked all-female crew is five strong, consisting of her, Naomi (the ship’s botanist), defected cosmonaut Oksana Lebedeva, pilot Jerrie Hixon and her wife, Irene Hart. The relationships between the different crew members are well developed throughout, with all five of them distinct and believable characters. There is a great deal of history between Naomi and Valerie of course, and much of this is explored through flashback chapters interspersed throughout the main narrative. Not only do these explore the relationships between Naomi, Valerie and other characters, they also give valuable insight into their motivations, giving us a frame of reference for their actions onboard the Atalanta. As a helpful signpost, each chapter also begins by stating when it is set - eight years before launch, two days after launch, etc. These timestamps also heighten the sense of urgency in some of the later chapters, acting almost like a kind of countdown as events begin to unfold and the pressure mounts. This is where the thriller portion of the novel really comes to the fore, as Naomi begins to suspect that someone on board is not quite what they seem. The revelations surrounding this, when they do come, had me open-mouthed with shock - always a good sign. There are also a number of big, complicated moral choices that Naomi finds herself in the middle of as a result of events onboard, which test her character and evoke a lot of sympathy for her too. Her desire to escape from Valerie’s shadow, as well as from the long shadow of her brilliant, deceased mother is a trait that only adds to her likeability.
An early mention of the Earth as it’s seen from space by this time makes for somewhat sobering reading. Lam certainly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to showing just why humanity needs Cavendish so much, with this particular scene really resonating with me. It brought to mind the pictures in the media a couple of years ago, during that summer that seemed never-ending, of the UK scorched brown in the heat. Elsewhere in the novel, we see the havoc that climate change has wrought on society, with climate refugees in the millions, sea walls to combat rising tides and disease rampant (if you are keen to avoid all mention of pandemics right now, buy this and come back to it later). Climate change deniers (who, incredibly, still seem to exist) might take issue, but for the rest of us this is a frightening and all too believable future, which we need to be doing more to avoid. It never felt like I was being hit over the head with the politics of the novel though, whether it was those to do with climate change or feminism. Despite their foregrounding, there is a real lightness of touch around these big issues; certainly, none of the characters ever state that they’re doing what they’re doing for womankind, or with any particularly feminist motivations. Rather, they are doing what they are doing for the sake of humanity and because they are the best people for the job, who won’t be held back by some ridiculous patriarchy. Their actions certainly feel like an attempt to push back against their world’s slide into the nightmare futures of the likes of Vox or The Handmaid’s Tale, but this motivation is secondary to saving the human race.
A contemporary theme, strong characters and a tightly woven plot full of twists and turns make Goldilocks both an exciting and highly satisfying read. It warns without ever feeling like it preaches, and we would all do well to heed it. The strong, female crew is also very refreshing in a genre still dominated by male characters. Prescient, urgent and thought-provoking.

A tightly plotted, suspenseful space thriller that kept me guessing until the very end! I loved how the different strands of politics, science, and interpersonal relationships all wove together to make the story what it was, and the focus on *growing*- plants, people (literally and metaphorically), relationships, societies- made it an incredibly compelling read.
Honestly, I'm so glad that I read it now, during the COVID outbreak. The vision of the future of Earth it gives is realistically bleak, but Lam allows for a grace and humanity in her writing that has the same hope as the first, tentative shoots poking from the dirt after a hard winter,
Please give this a read. I'm always a sucker for space books, and Goldilocks has taken its place among The Calculating Stars and Planetfall as one of my favourites.

GOLDILOCKS is the rare kind of sci-fi that kept pace from beginning to end without any kind of lull or overly descriptive narrative. I have just finished the book on a wow whilst congratulating myself on already having secured an order for a signed hard copy; it was that good.
This did not feel like a story I’d read before, it was fresh and gripping. The protagonist Naomi was the daughter of a renown scientist and protege of a leading researcher into all things space science. This story was set in the backdrop of a close dystopian patriarchy with an active programme of sidelining women and their rights. Therefore, this story took a matriarchal path into the future on another world.
I could not predict the twists in GOLDILOCKS, nor could I predict many of the character developments. But I knew Naomi, I came to admire her, cheer for her, will her survival. The team she was working in was complex with allegiances unknown. The morality and ethics of the mission had me taking quick in-drawn breaths, thinking…what???
“Success will never be linear. Success is illusive, it’s a mirage. What you learn, what you do, how you react – that’s what matters.”
Success came at a price in this story, this mission and whether the crew were willing the pay that price was the nugget to follow through the story. The ‘baddie’ of the piece came from initially unexpected quarters for me, although later I questioned why I hadn’t been more suspicious.
The science in this story was utterly palatable, readable and not beyond any readers’s comprehension. I liked the botany aspects of the science, I found the futuristic nutritional ideas fascinating. This was an intelligent read and I devoured it front to back.
I am now off to work out if I can turn Alexa into a male voice in my house…you have to read to understand this subtle but creepy suggestion.
Thank you to Headline Books for the early review copy.

Really enjoyed Goldilocks the story of rebellious women stealing a rocket ship and attempting to save the world - a world which is increasingly disparaging the skills and worth of all women.
This is a social story but also an adventurous one, with an intriguing group dynamic of characters and a story that is full of little twists and turns. A dying planet, one who will go to extraordinary lengths to prove a point all wrapped up with a science fiction speculative bow.
Very good indeed. Recommended.

Laura Lam is a very underrated author who utilises unique imaginative storylines as we have seen in her previous novels. Her debut novel Pantomime and the two subsequent novels for example were initially introduced as young adult novels but were easily accepted by an older readership. Several novellas followed these in the form of Vestigial Tales. Hearts and Shattered Minds took us in a different perhaps darker direction. All of which I might add I found immensely readable.
However I digress somewhat and will turn my attention to Goldilocks for which I was pleased to receive an early preview.This latest offering is a foray to the stars. We have a planet almost destroyed by environmental disaster and women basically restricted and not given the equal respect accorded to the male portion of society. A group of women basically hijack a space mission hoping to find a way of saving humanity and their total annihilation.
Valerie Black is in charge together with other women, one of those being Naomi whom she has treated as a daughter but Naomi has been avoiding contact with her for some time. However all involved seemingly in agreement about the seriousness of what they are attempting. Unfortunately aboard the ship things begin to go awry, Naomi suspects someone is hiding something and the situation could be worse than they thought. Part of this plot line may sound familiar. The repression of the female portion of the human race the end of the world but this is no Handmaids Tale nor is it a children’s story as the title Goldilocks suggests.
The world building is very good and also the interaction between characters are well defined. No spoilers here. Looking forward to much more from Laura.

Goldilocks by Laura Lam is an epic story focusing on four women who have dreamed of travelling to the stars. Their destination is an exoplanet named Cavendish, situated in the habitable zone (the goldilocks zone) of its star. It is just right for humans to be able to live on its surface, and it offers a safe haven for humanity to start anew. Earth has been turned upside down. Climate change has ravaged the surface of the planet, forcing many people to flee their countries which have become inhospitable. Scientists predict that Earth can only host human life for another thirty years. And so there must be a plan B for when that becomes an eventuality. Cavendish offers humanity that chance.
A mission lead by Valerie Black is set to become the first human-controlled mission to Cavendish. It also means that the three other women will become the first human beings to set foot on a world outside of our solar system. But all doesn’t quite go to plan during the mission.
This genre is quite different from what I usually read, but I have become a fan of science fiction more recently, and this book seemed right up my street when I first heard about it. And there are elements of a thriller to this book as well which intrigued me even more. I think I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to learning about the solar system and the universe. I could see that Laura Lam had done her research.
There are so many topics that Laura Lam explores in her book, climate change, feminism, and greed are some of the main themes. Climate change is something that has been brought to the forefront of people’s minds recently. It is scary what is happening in the world now, but I dread to think what the world could be like in thirty years time if we don’t do anything about it. Laura Lam sets her book in the not too distant future, so it brings those fears a lot closer to home.
In the future version of the world which Laura has created, Valeria Black and her team are among the women fighting back against a male-dominated society. And when they take charge of the Atalanta, the ship which will take them to Cavendish, it angers leaders back on Earth. In their eyes, the women are criminals.
Laura Lam keeps the tension mounting as the crew on the Atalanta race towards their new destination. But as events escalate back on Earth, soon a perilous decision will have to be made. This leads the book to an explosive and a satisfactory climax. I’m sure will stay with me for a while.
This book deserves to be huge. If you’re a fan of sci-fi and thrillers, you will definitely enjoy this book. But if you haven’t stepped a toe out of each genre, I would highly recommend giving this book a go.

There's a lot to enjoy about Goldilocks. The main character Naomi was an excellent mix of tenacity and vulnerability, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition between how she attacked scientific problems and how awkward she felt in personal relationships. I also enjoyed how Naomi recognised her privilege (which is so rare in fiction) without getting defensive. I also really enjoyed the relationship between the crew, and how they were all drawn to the magnetic Dr Black.
While I thought the first 100 pages or so was exciting and pacy, I felt the pace of the story slowed considerably once they were in space, and the journey ended up being completely different to what was set-up in the initial pages. While it was a good, well-thought out twist, I just wasn't as interested in where that took the story. I really wanted it to be about establishing a colony on Cavendish. I also felt that the book could have been a bit longer. I wanted to hear more about Dr Black's rationale, and more about the lives of the other crew members, as I felt that would have laid more emotional stakes that would have better explained their final decision.
While there were aspects of this book I really did love, overall I had the sense that this ground had been covered before by other authors (both recently, and several years before), much of it felt familiar, which reduced my enjoyment of the book.
However, if you enjoyed Goldilocks you might also want to check out Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh, Across The Void by S.K. Vaughn, Planetfall by Emma Newman, Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, and A Closed And Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

I'll start by saying that I loved the concept for this book. The first few chapters of this book where it goes into the crew stealing the spaceship is one of those 'fist punching the air' feminist fiction moments - of course I want to read a bunch of female scientists saying screw you to the people trying to steal their work and hijacking a spaceship! It's a great start to a book and I'll be looking for this strong of an opening in similar books in the future.
I'm the first to say that space survival as a genre isn't my cup of tea. It's not that I don't think the books are entertaining I just find it really upsetting to deal with the idea of being in an environment where you might suddenly not be able to breathe - any other asthma/chronic respiratory condition people with me? But this book managed to bring in so many other threats to existence (not a sentence that would normally make me happy) so it feels like a much more nuanced look at what it would take to stay alive on long haul space travel than just 'oh there is no air outside'.
What's interesting about this book is that it isn't simply about escape, but about the earth these women leave behind and the terrible things that are happening there. For the most part, Lam managed to avoid creating a narrative of 'oh no the men we have left behind whatever shall we do' and instead it's about responsibility, and justice and...a whole other bunch of ethical decision making that I wasn't expecting. So, while it is a thriller, this book has a lot of the more emotional aspects that I would expect from a less-thrilling science fiction book.
Potential small spoiler in the next paragraph read at your own risk.
My other personal issue with this book was that I felt like one particular plotline (I won't say too much but it involves pregnancy) felt like it took over the book. I think that might be a wonderful thing for some readers but for various reasons - mostly my total lack of desire to be pregnant at any point - I just wasn't here for it as much as I might have been. I don't think I would have minded if it had felt more like a side plot but the focus just felt a little imbalanced to me.
Some aspects of this book are quite difficult to read, there are some important issues tackled. If you're trying to completely avoid any virus-related content I'd maybe leave this one for a little while. But I think this book does what science fiction does really well, it poses questions that, while we may not be thinking about them now, we'll almost certainly have to face a variant of at some point - and who is to say we can't apply some of that thinking to our lives now?
Overall, I thought this was a good book but not one I'll be tempted to repeatedly re-read. I pondered over the star rating for this one, but I think so many of the things that bothered me were personal things I had to plump for the 4 stars.
My rating: 4/5 stars
I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Goldilocks is out April 30th!

Reading at home at the start of the Covid-19 crisis, I put Goldilocks up next as some pure escapism...a five women crew on a space ship, off to colonise a new world...perfect!
Ah. Not all is as it seems on the ship, and not all space missions are created equally, Set in a future where the world has been mined and abused into an increasingly hostile environment, the social structure of the US has become equally hostile to women in a dystopian denial of rights; so five women "steal" a space ship and head for Cavendish.
I really, really enjoyed this. Even though there are only five women on board, it took some longer than others to start to really become real in the story, but that fits the pattern of events unfolding on the ship.

As a huge lover of sci-fi (especially space travel) I was very excited to be approved to review this one!
5 women steal a spaceship from NASA and embark on a trip to Cavendish - a planet capable to sustaining human life. It had all the potential, yet it didn’t really take off for me.
The premise is fantastic, but it seemed like the author barely scratched the surface of the world that they were creating.
We’re told that Earth is slowly becoming inhabitable and that women’s rights are basically non-existent, yet never provided with anything more solid to describe/explain this climate.
Similarly, the characters didn’t feel complete. As I read this, I couldn’t explain why any of the characters would embark on a journey like this. None of them were really given backstories as to why they would want to pursue this, plus there were a couple of characters that seemed like that had zero introduction.
I guess everything needed to be more fleshed out. There are so many interesting topics raised that could have made for some very good discussions!
Overall it didn’t quite match my initial expectations. A fantastic premise with some glimpses of cool science, but not fully fleshed out.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The first half of the book is interesting, the comparions to The Martian and The Handmaid's Tale are pretty apt. But then it moves into Watchmen territory and it just doesn't work. There was already an interesting story, then it just gets bogged down. A shame. Not for me.

Naomi is an expert in growing plants in the soil of an alien planet. She just isn't there yet. She has spent her career building up to this moment, only for it to be snatched from her grasp by politicians who don't want women in space. But her former boss has a plan. The future of humanity is in their hands.
This such an unapologetically science-based mission in space, and you can just tell Laura's been researching everything about space thoroughly (there's an event that's similar to something in a book I read last year, and it is so much more sensible and thought through than that other book). If you like books about space travel grounded in reality, add Goldilocks to your shelves.
The future in which it is set is one inspired by the slow erosion of women's rights by right wing politicians in the US, combined with escalating climate change. The planet's only hope is to find a new home, and the Atalantis is built to take the first crew to settle Cavendish. The ship was designed by women, with an all-female crew, until the president pushed women out of jobs, including the space programme. Knowing the replacement team would be a failure, Dr Valerie Black takes matters into her own hands, and they steal the ship.
The book follows Naomi Lovelace, Dr Black's prodigy, who is the botanist on board, responsible for producing the crew's food, unappetising blocks made from algae, as well as establishing agriculture on Cavendish. Growing up Valerie?kept posing the trolley problem to her (that one about if you are in an out of control vehicle and you have to choose between hitting and killing one group over another), and this becomes relevant to the whole story.
As well as Dr Black, the crew is made up of Lebedeva a Russian engineer, Hart the medical doctor and Hixon, the pilot. There are hard choices to be made, as they evade any retaliation from Earth and make their way to a faraway planet that has only been visited by probes. And what about the people they left behind?
I was drawn in by the science and sucked into the stories of the crew and the dilemmas they face. The characters are fully formed, and flawed, just as you'd expect. There's sadness and joy, and a whole lot of tension.
If you're wondering, the title is Goldilocks because Cavendish is in the sweet spot of not too hot and not too cold.

This book hit a little too close to home. Set in a post global warming world where the human race is in a race for survival. People have to wear protective masks outside, the sea is kept at bay with huge concrete walls and terrible weather systems affect what little survivable land is left. Valerie Black has long since decided that Earth and the human race cannot survive much longer and found 'Cavendish' a planet in the 'Goldilocks zone' of a Gas giant. Neither too hot nor too cold, the right temperature for water to be liquid and the right atmospheric pressure for life to grow. With her company Hawthorne and NASA working together they were able to build the Alcubierre drive, a literal portal through space, and the Atlanta the ship that would carry Valerie, her adopted daughter Naomi, Hixon, Hart and Lebedeva, 5 women all with their own specialities to Cavendish to see if humans could survive there. A hiccup arises when a new President is elected. One who believes that a woman's place isn't in the workplace and the five women are removed from the mission stating it as too dangerous. Valerie Black is not a woman to be told what to do. She enlists the other women and hours before the men are supposed to depart they launch a rocket from a long ago abandoned Russian space centre. All seems to be going well until Naomi Lovelace, Valeries adopted daughter and resident botanist has to communicate with their only contact on Earth, Evan Valerie's son. After talking with him she realises that Valerie maybe withholding information from the crew, information that could put their lives and the mission at risk. Only Naomi has no idea the true secret Valerie is keeping and how it wont affect just them but the whole human race.
When I saw that the book was described as The Martian meets The Handmaids Tale I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but, honestly, it couldn't have been described better. There are quite a few bits of the book that talk about the Science behind space travel, growing plants in space etc and though I grasped most of it, some definitely went over my head though I was able to grasp the concept thanks to the context of the plot. The present in this book doesn't seem to be that different from where our future is heading, and a big theme of the book is what happens if we don't stop killing the planet now. It didn't paint a pretty picture of the world environmentally, but what really hit me was the attitude towards women. In this future they are gradually being weaned out of the workplace, families are only allowed one child, and if they have more they have to pay a tax that would nearly bankrupt the 'regular' population. Though this is stated as more prevalent in the US we can also see parts of it being implemented all around the world.
I loved that this was a nearly all female cast, in fact the only man we really get any insight from is Evan, Valerie's son but even then it is all told from another perspective. This book is Naomi Lovelace's story. We find out right at the start that she refuses to tell anyone what happened on the Atlanta, and it is only one night when she sneaks into her daughters room and said she'd tell her everything. Naomi was a really intriguing perspective to read the book from. As Valerie's adopted daughter, she has an almost blind spot when it comes to the woman who raised her. However, she is also the only person who knows her tells and can see through her lies. Without Naomi on that ship the mission would have gone completely differently. I found her quite a likeable character and someone I could easily empathise with. The book jumps back and forth to before the mission and during with each chapter which gave you a great insight into how the mission and them inevitably taking over it came about.
A big theme in this book is 'hard decisions.' Who should make them, who has the right to make them, and will our morality let us? We see this play out through Valerie and Naomi's characters and interactions. Valerie is not a likeable character, and I would guess that was intended. She is anti patriarchy almost to the point of anti the human race and though her decision making was horrendous there is a little part of you, teeny tiny part that thinks she may just have a point. She seems to completely lack morality, which is the thing that would stop us from making such a decision. I really enjoyed seeing the crews reactions to her plan, at first resigning themselves to it and then gradually realising the depth of what she has done and their desperation to try and stop it.
This was such a brilliantly written book. I was hooked from the first page, and though I have read some reviews stating it was slow paced, I flew through the pages. I think having the chapters flit between the past and present were a massive help in this, you got some great insight into Naomi and Valerie's past, which helps you understand their current relationship. The themes brought up in the book were on point for today's society, and had me asking myself a lot of question's by the end. I panicked a bit, coming to the end, that the author wouldn't have time to give us a deserved ending but I needn't have worried. The ending was beautifully done, and though I wouldn't class it as happy, it left me with feeling content.

Superficially Goldilocks is about a journey, but ultimately, it's about the fight for human life, freedom and the future of Earth.
"It is horrible, terrible. I am not going to pretend it is not. They had their chances to fix things, and they did not. They knew what was at stake, but they still bought plastic, ate beef, took flights. I did, too. If I had been left behind, I would have died with them. But that is not my fate. It does not have to be yours. Think, Naomi. Valerie is making the hard decision, the impossible choice, so we do not have to."
This book is topical, it is about Earth at the point where the prophesies we're discussing here and now in 2020 have come to past. Climate change, displacement, refugees isn’t a topic for discussion or other places, it is affecting everyone directly, it can't be avoided. It is very real.
It raises the question: Whose job is it to change the world, guard and protect it? Is it elected officials, rich people with a vision or scientists with the expertise to make a difference?
Goldilocks starts with a crew of five women who on the face of it steal a spaceship and go off to find the new planet that Earth is banking on to be habitable, so saving the remaining population.
Why appropriate the ship?
Earth is now almost a dystopian nightmare, the environment polluted, landmasses have been altered by climate change and the refugee crisis is overwhelming. Concurrently the freedoms of women have been eroded. Capable, experienced and talented women are being relegated to motherhood and excluded from the workplace and decision making.
"Everyone had grown used to giving orders to the pleasant-voiced feminine robots. Alexa, Siri, Sophia, Sage, do this for me. A perky ‘okay’, and your wish was her command. They’d all been doing it for years before women started realising the men in their lives had been conditioned to do the same to them. And by then it was too late."
The government wouldn't allow the women who built the ship to be the people who received public acknowledgment for their efforts or the accolades of finding the next home planet and saving the human race.
The Journey
We are taken on a journey of quiet intensity as these women are faced with the knowledge of what they have done, why and the catastrophic consequences of their plans not being accomplished. The atmosphere of isolation on the small ship, insular relationships and interactions are exquisitely depicted conveyed. As they travel farther away from Earth, the decisions made there seem ..almost irrelevant.
I don't want to say much more as I came to this blind, having only read the synopsis and no reviews. I would like other readers to experience the awe and freshness of reading Goldilocks. To tease out for themselves the themes of family dynamics, romantic relationships, population control within a gender imbalanced world.
The Aftermath
Goldilocks begins relating the later life of one of the crew and everything that is unsaid makes it clear that something went wrong - not to plan - with the novel as the reveal to what extent. We see through flashbacks at different time periods the dreams, plans, and realities of this mission.
I liked that it made me think about women's rights from another angle and the parallels to environmental concerns. It seems odd to know that this review has little content about the plot itself, I haven't relayed many details about the themes and barring the quotes, the women are nameless. I feel as if I am compounding the 'make women invisible' stance But in truth, this is about all women, all people and acknowledging that their efforts are not in vain, unappreciated if nameless or unattributed.
If it's not been made explicit from this review, then I will state it here: I loved reading Goldilocks, this thought-provoking book packed a Sci-Fi space journey punch. It also made me consider how I could assist with small or big efforts in saving the world from human interference.
Finally, take it from me that the number of quotes indicates the depths that the themes resonated, my enjoyment of the writing and appreciation of the prevailing optimism.
It is comforting to conclude with the following:
"The crew of the Atalanta were only five women out of all of humanity, but they could still found a whole new place for humans to flourish. Sometimes you only need one tiny proportion of the population to enact change".
4 Stars - Loved It
Thank you NetGalley and Headline for a digital ARC in exchange for a candid review.

3.5* Good read. Enjoyable.
https://theworldsofsff.com/2020/goldilocks/
I received and ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Firstly, let me say this is not the typical Sci-fi book I’d normally read. Now I have a blog up and running and have invited others to join me, I am working on expanding my reading horizons and promoting diversity. It is also the first book I have read by Laura Lam. I can safely say I enjoyed this book, having read it over two days.
Goldilocks follows an all-female crew of 5, who steal a spaceship and set out on a journey to Cavendish—an earth-like planet capable of supporting life. The backdrop is that Earth is approaching an apocalypse. Estimations state Earth will only remain habitable for roughly 30 more years; humans must find a new home by then. The political climate is heavily misogynistic: women are being passed over for new jobs and promotions, discouraged from working after giving birth, eliminated from contention for work in space, and myriad of other oppressive actions.
A lot of interesting topics are eluded to in Goldilocks, ones that make you think about where our future, in real life, may lead on our current course: global warming; meat being produced in vats; growing organs; growing babies in wombs outside the body; private police and firefighters; large walls holding back the seas; flooding; mass numbers of refugees; ownership and laws on other planets; vast differences in wealth and its distribution; and even the internet is so expensive it’s a luxury for the few. At one point a statement is made regarding the “ramshackle housing” many live in and how they are not classed as a permanent residence, and therefore, those people cannot vote.
Though these topics are eluded too, they are not explored, and I think an opportunity was missed there. I was asking myself a lot of questions regarding the above, as I do in life anyway, and wanted to know more about the world-state in Goldilocks. It wouldn’t be possible to explore it all, but there were some opportunities, and other opportunities could have been created, to explore these topics. Eluding to these topics brings up an awful lot of question about life on Earth in the book.
As mentioned, the story focuses on five women who steal the spaceship and their journey; it is told from the perspective of Valerie Black—a very rich person who is the mastermind behind the plan and leader of the group—and Naomi Lovelace—a leading botanist who was raised by Valerie after her parents died. The other members of the crew are Oksana Lebedeva (engineer), Irene Hart (doctor) and Nixon (pilot and I can’t remember or find her first name). Hart and Nixon are a married couple. The names of the crew were used inconsistently at times, at least to me. Hart, Nixon and Lebedeva were almost exclusively, referred to by their surname, yet Valarie and Naomi almost exclusively referred to by the forenames. On the ship, there is a command structure and surnames are therefore the norm, understandably, but it wasn’t always the case for Valarie and Naomi. It’s minor but I noticed it.
Regarding the crew, I thought opportunities were missed for more dialogue among crew members. It wasn’t until chapter 13 (possibly 14) that the crew had an important dialogue between them. You learn a lot about Valarie and Naomi, as many chapters are set in the past, painting pictures of events that led us to the present moment. I felt like I really knew both by the end; I understood their motivations. I was invested. I can’t say the same about the other crew members. We know bits about them but not much. Just one small chapter for each would have been enough to satisfy curiosity. Or use conversations and interactions on the ship to bring out their personalities. We learn Lebedeva is effectively not allowed back into Russia, but not much more. At one point, Hart discussed how Hixon didn’t leave a lot behind, how she hadn’t had a relationship with her parents since coming out. In this instance, a chance to explore the situation for members of the LGBTQ+ community in this future Earth was also missed. And in turn. A chance to challenge the prejudice and perspective of some towards the LGBTQ+ community.
Yes, these three are secondary characters, but they are on the ship with Valerie and Naomi and I didn’t think I got to know them enough. The book isn’t long and there was room to have a chapter for each of the other three crew members, which I don’t believe would have detracted from the book or story; I believe it would have enhanced it and made me more invested in Hart, Hixon and Lebedeva.
As I’ve said, I enjoyed Goldilocks. Overall, It’s a well-crafted story. What I was expecting to happen, was obviously not going to about 60% into the book, making me guess again. I saw a few probable scenarios, but I was still guessing towards the end until the story became apparent. The pace of the book increases around the 75% mark and it got me going. It tapers down at the end, with an ending I didn’t expect, after the main story if you like, and it becomes somewhat reflective which I liked.
It's been good for me to expand my horizons and read outside of my very comfortable zone. I'm glad I did! I would happily recommend this book to others. If this is your usual type of read, I suspect this book will be a 4* for you, maybe more.

An all-female team of astronauts are crewing the first mission to the planet Cavendish, having defied NASA's attempts to replace them with a team of men by hijacking the ship. Behind them, Earth is in environmental and social collapse, with women's rights gradually being further and further restricted. Cavendish offers the hope of founding a new society on a healthy planet. But something seems to be going wrong on the ship, and our protagonist and lead botanist, Naomi, determines to find out what it is.
I'm not sure why I felt so profoundly disappointed by Goldilocks, and have rated it higher than I would otherwise have done in recognition of the fact that it does a lot of things well. The worldbuilding is pretty solid for something that sits on the boundary of popular thriller and science fiction, and I became increasingly convinced by the scenario Laura Lam describes as I read on. In particular, I liked the idea of a patriarchal dystopia where birth is restricted rather than promoted; in the context of the climate crisis it makes sense for pressure to be brought to bear on women to have only one child then pour all their resources into it, and this contextualises the many ways in which women's rights have been reduced. The unfolding dilemma for the women on the spaceship also works well, given the situation back home, and there are some realistic questions raised about what trying to start a new society might actually mean in practice. There were a few echoes of the haunting Netflix film I Am Mother here, although the plot takes quite a different turn.
But despite Lam's thoroughly competent handling of this premise, the book still felt clunky and wooden to me. I think the fault might lie in the characterisation. The crew are pretty stereotypical. This is most obvious in the writing of the protagonist, Naomi, and her mentor, Valerie, simply because they get the most screen time. By the end, I was finding Naomi extremely irritating because of her lack of human flaws; there's nothing about her that brings her to life as a person. Meanwhile, *SPOILER* Valerie becomes a ridiculously cartoonish villain, responsible for almost everything bad that has happened on the mission, and in Naomi's life, so far! This book would have been so much more interesting if Lam had been brave enough to write a genuine conflict between Naomi and Valerie, allowing the reader to decide who they sympathise with the most, rather than giving Naomi all the moral cards. *END SPOILER* Despite these issues, I think other readers may get more out of this book than I did. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to netgalley for this advanced copy to review.
The structure of the book is that each chapter is told in a different time period. I enjoyed much more the chapters that were set after the shuttles launch.
An all women team on a shuttle are trying to heal combat climate change. Men’s Rights activists are against them. Plus things keep going wrong but is it for nefarious reasons?
If Sci-Fi is your thing give this a try.

I received this as an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The book comes out in April.
I've been really excited about this book since I heard about it because I liked the concept so much - the Martian by way of handmaid's tale. This was that, but not quite - or at least the elements I was expecting from that crossover weren't the ones I got. The crew scenes from the Martian yes, patriarchal politics yes. Lots of science, and afaik pretty accurate too. (I like space stuff. I try to keep on top of it.) it had an Interstellar vibe too it as well.
(Actually it was just everything I love about humans in space kind of movies but in book form.)
This is: five women go to space to steal a planet.
It is also: fraught foster-mother/daughter relationship on a spaceship.
and it's also: political commentary on climate change and US politics that is not even remotely subtle about it.
It's kind of a quiet thriller. That doesn't make sense, maybe, but it wasn't the kind of thriller that had me at the edge of my seat with my heart pounding, but that's not to say it wasn't a tense book - it just also had its quiet moments to balance out the tension. The non-linear narrative helped to both balance it out and intensify it, and I really liked that structure. It was like a slow unfolding of layers that revealed more about both Naomi and Valerie, giving you a deeper understanding of who they both are as people, and I enjoyed how that structure also allowed for a lot of mystery. Even though I'd figured it out off the bat, I didn't feel that the fact I'd worked it out diminished the mystery.
Anyway, I really enjoyed it. I came to really sympathise with Naomi and I loved how her relationships with the other characters unfolded (which is about the most non-spoilery way I can put it. I don't want to write a spoilery review right now. Maybe I'll amend it later). Valerie struck me very much like a female version of Elon Musk, which was very interesting, not least because they generated their wealth through different types of science but ultimately both spend it on Go Live In Space projects, and the gendered difference (if gendered? discuss) could be pretty interesting to get into.