Longing for mother is ubiquitous and this story has all the warmth and nostalgia and a wish-come-true you could want. Translating it into a 'real' register is appealing and certainly will have its audience, slow as this is to get going as a novel

the warm haze over the family, the story, , the acceptng husband and dream-like (well-observed) little girls becomes perhaps tedious but very appealing .. accomplished and moving.

If you’ve ever wished you could be back in your family home with your family, especially your Mother, would you right any wrong, would you hold your tongue, would you speak out. Or would you revel in the sight and sounds if time past. This is a very immersive book and did make me think of my childhood in the 70s. Hot summers cold ice creams and easier times. If your relationship with your mother wasn’t quite what you wished then read this book.

I have enjoyed every single moment of this incredible and unique debut thanks to Helen Fisher’s beautiful writing and loveable characters!

Immediately I felt a real connection to Faye, the narrator of this story and wanted to get to know everything about her. Her warmth, friendliness, humour and love shone through and I felt like she was telling me personally her story. I cared so much for everything she was feeling and experiencing.

As a young child, Faye suffered the loss of her mum and this is something that is always on her mind, especially as Faye has children of her own with her husband Eddie. When she discovers a photo of herself, labelled on the back ‘Faye, Christmas 1977’, she is overcome with memories and emotions. There she is, 6 years old, smiling and sitting inside a Space Hopper box. Faye longs to be able to see around the photo, where her mum would have been stood holding the camera. In a unique turn of events the box from the photo, which Faye still owns, provides a portal to a time Faye thought was lost to her forever; her childhood home in the 1970’s, where her mum is still alive!

I feel like I have been on a real journey with Faye as she gets to meet and spend time with her mum. The descriptions and details of her experiences were so vivid and I could really feel Faye’s torment as she struggled with wanting to spend more time in the 1970’s but also wanting to be in the present with her family too. I am so glad that she felt able to confide in her friend Louis about her unexpected time travelling adventure; he was such a brilliant source of support and such a great character!

There are so many clever little details throughout this story and I particularly loved the mention of The Smurfs figurines. My Mum had some when she was growing up and gave them to me when I was little to play with; I still have them now too! The roller skates on the cover are also really symbolic. Their relevance in the story was really clever and I liked how this led to a series of important conversations and events with outcomes that I definitely didn’t see coming. The two final chapters (including the epilogue) left me with the biggest smile on my face too and a real warmth in my heart; I absolutely loved them! It was so incredibly clever and just the most perfect end to a truly unforgettable story!

It took me a while to get into the story but once I did I actually enjoyed it.

Faye lost her mum at a young age, so when she’s presented with an unusual opportunity to see her again, why wouldn’t she?

I found the story to be quite endearing and enjoyed the relationships. A nice gentle read.

This is a book about a woman who, by chance, finds she can travel back in time to the 70’s and spend time with her younger self and her mother who died when our narrator was young.

Faye is a great narrator, I particularly enjoyed the way she would talk to me, the reader, directly. We learn about her life and everything that’s been happening from her directly and she tells the story in what felt like a very honest and real way.

The pacing was a little slow to start and it really took until half way for me to feel we were getting somewhere but by the time we had come to the conclusion I wanted more and I was sad to see it was the end.

I really like the cover artwork.

All in all, a very good book.

I really loved this book. I admit the draw was originally the Space Hopper but i loved the story from beginning to end. I didn’t find it slow at all and loved how each event made an impact on others later in the story.

I really loved Louis. I would have loved him to have been in the story even more - it would have been great if he could have gone with Faye!

The ending was brilliant. I really didn’t expect it at all

I am not going to lie- this was a very unusual book. I can honestly say I have not read a book like this. It’s like a normal holiday chick lit read combined with a sci fi book. I did enjoy it, but it was very unusual. If you fancy something different, lighthearted but still quite moving - give this book a go. There are truly raw emotions in this book, but the weird quirky side to the story kind of throws you off a bit.

Review
Space Hopper
by Helen Fisher
Published by Simon & Schuster UK


Maybe we've all wished we could spend just one more day or even a moment with someone we've lost in our lives. Here we explore the emotions Faye experiences when an old photo leads to a strange discovery.
This book challenges us to suspend logic and allow the tale to unfold.

For many years she's had to lock away her sadness & grief but she can't let go of her childhood memories & the deep ache Faye has left by the loss of her mother.

 Will she really be able to have that moment? Or even more than a one? But why would Faye want to escape so badly when she hs a great husband and family at home? The answer is in the form of a simple box. You might have to stretch your imagination a bit but we join the lives of some very likeable characters that lead us to a quirky twist.
Will there be a sequel?

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the advanced reader's copy of Space Hopper by Helen Fisher.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read about a woman's longing to reconnect with the mother that died during her childhood and the lengths that she is willing to go to feel close to her mother again. Faye is a happily married woman and mother to two daughters that she adores. By all accounts her life is pretty much perfect except for the lingering questions about her mother's death when she was a child. Faye doesn't think that she will ever have any more information about her mother than she did when she was a child but she finds a relic of her childhood that opens the door to memories and so much more. Faye's life will never be the same but will it change for the better or the worse?

For fans of time travel this book will meet all of your expectations and more. A really good read by an author that I will definitely be watching out for!

Space Hopper by Helen Fisher a four-star read that made it in the end. I started this one four-times, I just couldn’t get into it, its an odd read and I honestly don’t know what to write about it, as its one that anyone who has lost someone close to them in particular a mother will no doubt find this an all encompassing story and will keep reading and I was one of those people but still struggled, you will need to suspend your reality to enjoy this story, so if you want to let it all go and just sink yourself into something that will entertain and you can put everything else aside then pick this up, but if you struggle to suspend your reality then give this one a miss.

I loved this book. A new twist on the time travelling theme. A cast of genuinely sympathetic and likeable characters - which is all too rare in modern novels! And the ending was just perfect! Highly recommended.

What a clever concept, and what a heartbreaking, sweet, lovely book.
I think we all wonder what if and wish we could go back and change things. I need a sequel, that ending can't be it!

This is a super hidden gem of a book that isn't getting as much appreciation as it should. I loved this book a lot and enjoyed reading it.

Faye is a married woman with two daughters but she has never got over the lost of her mother when she was just a child.
She accidentally discovers that a cardboard box is a time machine and she can travel back in time to visit her mother before she died.
I’m a fan of time travel stories but this was a very slow and didn’t hold my interest.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was enticed to read Space Hopper by the alluring blurb. I rather enjoy the idea of time travel and how it might help unravel family mysteries, or just reunite family for a few minutes.

Space Hopper is told in the first person from the perspective of Faye, wife to Eddie, mother to Esther and Evie, and only daughter of Jeanie Greene who died when Faye was very young.

Despite having amazing adoptive parents, Em and Henry, Faye has always wondered how her mother died. Em and Henry told her as a child that Jeanie had caught a cold and died. But she has always questioned this explanation.

Tidying up one day, Faye finds a photo of herself taken at Christmas 1977, sitting in a box which had contained a space hopper, under a Christmas tree. It evokes memories and leads her to find the old box, stored in the loft. Faye discovers that this box is a gateway to her past, back to a time before her mother died. This gateway provides an opportunity to see her mother again and perhaps prevent her from dying and leaving Faye alone.

I found this story very slow to get going. The first half is told at length, with Faye pondering the possible effects of her actions. Rather than drawing me into the story, I found this cumbersome to a point where I considered not finishing the novel.

But then along comes Louis and the writing changes; the story becomes more readable and I thoroughly enjoyed the last half of the story. It made me think about actions and their consequences; the possibility changing events in the past; family and the prospect of just one more day with a loved one, no longer in our lives.

Now heavily invested in the story, I assumed we would learn what happened to Jeanie, but was not expecting the twist that came at the end of this tale.

As well as time travel, Space Hopper is about faith, family, friendships and love, and proved to be an enjoyable read.

Faye is in her 30s she has a loving husband and two amazing children. When she was very young, Jeanie, her mother went missing. Her kind, caring neighbours, adopted her and bought her up like one of their own. The only treasure she has to remind her of her mother is a Space Hopper box, and it so happens that the box can take her back in time.
We follow Faye and her journey through time until she has to make a difficult decision.
Space Hopper is a quick, light and likeable read.
I want to thank Netgalley, Simon and Schuster and author Helen Fisher for a pre-publication copy to review.

A refreshing break from the norm!
As a lover of time travel stories, I was intrigued by this book. I will confess that in the first chapter, I was wondering whether this book was for me- it had a fairly slow start and the first person narrative didn’t quite work. However I was soon sucked in, and really enjoyed this heartwarming story.
The time travel aspect is very well done, it’s really original and refreshing.
The concept of being able to visit a parent lost at a young age seems simple, but the dangers and repercussions were well explored.
The ending of the story is superb, and I greatly enjoyed suspending disbelief and immersing myself in this highly original and moving story.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the style of writing for this book and it was light hearted too. Although Faye never knew the circumstances around her mother and couldn't remember her it was a really touching story to see her go back in time and relive and get to know her mother more.
I loved this from start to finish and would recommend anyone to read this book. It was a brilliant story.

A great time travel adventure that has well rounded characters and support characters. I loved the details and lives of the support characters which was unique from the monotonous daily life that can become the usual in novels.
The love of the main character for her friends and family in the first few pages was what drew me in, and the unique take on time travel and a well written novel was what kept me turning the pages. Some theories on the subject were explored and the ringing plot of Faith in all things in life, was strong throughout the piece. An emotional and thoughtful story on how life and relationships can take a turn in a direction we never dreamed of.

Really not sure what to make of this book. At times delightful, all absorbing and tender ... at other times, a little contrived and then again far-fetched. But it can be touching, demonstrates differences and embraces friendships of various types. It shows how actions we take in one context can have a different - and unintended - impact elsewhere.

It took me ages to read this book - about 3 times longer than usual - perhaps this was due to the unusual nature of the book, but as I’ve read several in the genre I’m just not sure.

If you like this type of book, with social history, complex relationships and a little bit of fantasy/magic realism ... then you’ll probably love it. But too many things irritated me to rave about it.

It’s probably a 3.5* but I need to think about it. Certainly a ‘different’ book