A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

‘Home: My Life in the Universe is the first book in a new series by Mark Ballabon. Philosopher, environmentalist and author, Mark has been teaching and writing about personal and spiritual development for over two decades.

Every so often you come across a book that belongs in every high school library in the world. Home is one such book. It’s a wonderful coming of age story. Leah is a character who like us all has questions and tries to find the answers while she is away at an international summer camp.

The illustrations by Grant MacDonald really help to draw the reader into Leah’s universe, even more, giving a true insight into her thoughts and feelings.

If you love books that make you think, regardless of your age, Home is a book you should consider reading.

Home was an absolutely lovely read and I wish I had this, when I was younger. The story about self discovery was so wonderfully written and portrayed, I am sure a lot of teens will find themselves in this.

Where do I start, this book is hands down one of the most beautiful stories I've read, and definitely up there with my favourite books!

A beautifully written story, which is thought provoking, inspirational and a book that everyone needs to read at some point throughout their life.

The illustrations are stunning, as are the cover images. It has a diverse range of characters, who all have their flaws and it was lovely seeing them develop throughout the pages.

The topics covered are current and global warming is something we should all be made aware of, and the damage we as humans are causing to our 'home'.

I can't wait to read Dragonfly now.

Many thanks to Random Things Tours for my tour spot.

This book is like Sophie’s World for younger readers – asking the right questions at the right time.

14-year-old Leah is like any teenager – trying to figure out things and life in general. But unlike most people, she actually wants to do something about it.

So join her in her journey to understand the world and to try to accept it – or maybe change it.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Home is the start of Mark Ballabons new series Leah’s Universe; a series of contemporary novels following the inner world of the titular 14-year old, as she ponders the big questions that come with growing up. A profound experience in the woods and attending an international summer camp spark the question in Leah’s mind that is at the centre of this first instalment: what is “Home”?
As much as I liked the idea of this book, and felt like I should have been the kind of reader to enjoy it, this was a big miss for me. The best way for me to describe it is this: have you ever heard of #imfourteenandthisisdeep ? Because that’s exactly what this entire book felt like to me.

What I liked:
The first thing you notice when picking up this book is how stunning it is to look at. Each chapter starts with a full page coloured illustration in a similar style to the cover, and they are spectacular to look at. Each illustration, and every stylistic choice in this book match the feeling and context, making for a beautiful cohesive whole.
Speaking of the content: I’m a big fan of children’s- and YA literature that takes their readers serious, and isn’t afraid to throw some big questions and important topics their way. One of my favourite books for the longest time as a kid was Sophie’s World, and I was really hoping to find something similar to this in Leah’s Universe. Unfortunately, as much as I liked the concept, the execution was very off-putting to me.

What I didn’t like:
As soon as we go into the content of Leah’s musings, the story begins to fall apart. It’s filled with so much melodrama and pseudo-intellectualism that it made me cringe at times. Take sentences like:

“How do these crises come about? Are there too many people, or is there too little care?”
or
“Down here is only a smaller, different version of what’s up there. You’re a living breathing universe. (…) Look at your fingerprints. That’s the universe’s unique signature.”

Or the fact that Leah calls chapters “windows” and goes on for half a page on why that word fits better. It tries so hard to sound profound while really being quite mundane even for e 14-year-old. The further into the story we get, the more I began to dislike Leah. How hard the author tried to make her come across as a “special” girl, and a “deep thinker”, but also how pandering and preachy the tone became about topics such as climate change or how to treat other people. It may just have been me, but to me it hit a wrong nerve.
Another thing that bothered me was that Leah never felt like a fully developed character. She was more so a blank slate for the author to project his own philosophy and views on climate change on, but through the voice of a “woke” teen.

Overall: spectacular first impression with the concept and the art, but left me disappointed with the end result. Don’t take my word for gospel however; I’m about a decade outside the intended age category.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Eminent Productions Ltd. for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book just was not it for me. I tried to enjoy it, but it felt patronizing and under-developed. It's a character (instead of plot) driven story, which lends itself to very unique thought developments for the character, but the way it was done left it lackluster.
I loved how Leah was trying to ask important questions and discover her world, but I think it could have been done so much better. Instead of overly present explanatory narrative, it could have been a beautiful discovery story for both Leah and the reader.
I also did not like the writing style at all, but that is personal preference more than anything.

I'd recommend this to people who like Natasha Carthew's writing style.

4/5 • Home by Mark Ballabon

• no spoiler review •

This was an interesting read for me, it follows 14 year old Leah and her exploration of “home”. It was a whimsical, magical, and thoughtful story, but it felt a little clunky at times. Some conversations between the characters felt as if they were saying things purely for the reader, rather than as natural conversion between characters, but it’s important to note that is novel is aimed at readers a little younger than I am now, and I know that 14-year-old me would have LOVED this book. Perhaps not the greatest for adult readers but I could see this being incredible for an early teen. I believe this is the first in a series, and while I enjoyed this, I don’t expect I’ll be picking up any more, I’m happy with where Leah’s journey was left at the end of this.

The cover first attracted me to this book but the writing style of the author kept me reading. I don’t often read books targeted at a younger audience, but I’m very glad I read Home. There are the gorgeous illustrations from Grant MacDonald among the pages, and while I think they really popped out when reading the Kindle Edition, I found that I preferred the look of them in the paperback.

This is book one in a trilogy about main character Leah, and I’m already looking forward to reading more about her life. The subjects in the story are relevant to us all as we follow Leah in her search for the meaning of ‘home’. Our place in the universe, death, and climate change being some of the topics covered.

I immediately liked Leah, I felt her longing to escape from the unkind world of body shamers and bullies, to stargaze and feel as if she is the universe experiencing itself. Sean and Kayleigh are equally likeable. In fact, all of the characters were three dimensional and entirely credible.

While this is for younger people, I feel it is also a great book for many adults to read too. It may awaken a long dormant curiosity about life and what ‘home’ means to us, and encourage conversation between parents and their children. With that in mind, I recommend this book to everyone, young and not-so-young. I gave Home: My Life In The Universe, by Mark Ballabon, four stars (no pun intended 😉).

Thank you Readers First for an advanced copy of HOME in exchange of my honest opinion.

I have never read anything by Mark Ballabon before so I didn't know what to expect. And now that I have had the pleasure to read HOME, I don't really know how to review this book.

No words will express everything this story made me feel.

Let's start by the easy part, I think. The illustrations. Every chapter, called window, starts with a stunning illustration in the colour range this book has going on: blue, purple and white.

They get prettier and prettier as the book advances and they were able to bring me straight into the story.

I also found myself asking me questions, as did our main character, Leah, and trying to answer the ones she proposed. The majority of them were quite deep and hard to answer but made me think about us, as humans, and our role in Earth.

I felt like I was friends with Leah. I could feel her anxiety and worry, I could relate to her thoughts and I wish I have had a Maia when I was younger for support.

I loved Leah's relationship with nature. The care, the love, the respect, the understanding. It is a great lesson for every reader.

Without a shadow of a doubt, 5⭐. HOME is a book worth reading.

This is so utterly beautiful. There’s not a single thing I didn’t love about this book, I can’t wait for the sequels.

Unfortunately this book was a DNF (did not finish) for me.
I read a total of 25% of this book and I just couldn't get past the writing, which came across has preachy and teachy, nor could I ignore the fact that the teenagers and situations exposed in this book, came across has too perfect.
It was obvious this was an adult writing about what teenagers. Also some situations seemed forced, like they were just put on paper to teach something and the connections with the rest of the plot were weak.

I hope in the future this author comes with other books that appeal to me.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book, still.

Told from from 14 year old Leah’s perspective. A typical curious teenager she has more questions than answers.
Leah wants to understand the meaning of home especially within the wider universe.

This is the first book of a proposed trilogy with Leah as the main protagonist. I enjoyed this book immensely, for me was an easy read. I feel it would be a perfect transitional book for a young teenager from 12 years and up. It has simple uncomplicated language that is thought provoking especially for a younger person.
I particularly enjoyed the addition of illustrations, however reading the ebook didn’t give the full impact. I will be picking up a physical copy for niece whom at 12 would love reading about Leah.
Ballabon is a philosopher and environmentalist which fits with the main theme throughout the book. I look forward to reading what’s in store next for Leah’s Universe.

As sometimes I happen to be a teacher of foreign languages to teenagers, I am often surprised about the deep human knowledge as well as of the extent of concern about everyday topics we, adults, are rather tempted to hide under the carpet, such as global change. Therefore, I was not surprised by the level of maturity and philosophical approach to life by Leah, the main character of Home, the debut YA novel by Mark Ballabon.

Home is the first volume of a projected trilogy, with an inspired beautiful illustration by Grant MacDonald. 14yo Leah is trying to answer questions about what does it mean home as someone´s place in the huge universe, but also discovers and observes human behavior and diversity.

Through dialogues, journaling and philosophical observations, Leah is building up her home of the mind. With the pure heart of the curious, she is writing her own home through interpretations and worldview discovery. There is always place for understanding instead of hate and violence, although familiar and fascinated by survival stories and experience that may teach you the lessons of the survival of the fittest. But when you realize that world is your canvas where you write your own story, there is no other choice but to be good and kind and understand the sadness of the bully.

Home can be easily considered a book for this generation as it reflects the topics and worries typical for young people this age. It is also a story of getting strong and empowered while nurtured by the life in the middle of the nature, trying to understand and respect its rules. I am very curious to read Leah´s next adventures that although may be suited for YA readership, can be equally inspiring for the parents of young readers as well.

I couldn’t finish this book. I got to 25% through and I just couldn’t force myself to keep reading. Maybe it’s just not my style of book, I think it’s quite similar to Aristotle and Dante and I found that hard to read that book too.

We read and interviewed Mark Ballabon for the spring 2022 issue of PaperBound Magazine. We adored Mark's writing and the illustrations inside that helped paint a picture of what the protagonist was going through across the narrative.

There are many young adult and teen books that I've borrowed from my children that I have really enjoyed. When I read the description for this book, and saw that it was billed as a modern day Sophie's World I thought it sounded like a book I definitely wanted to read. I have to admit, therefore, that I felt a bit let down when I read the book itself. I liked the premise of the story. There are some bits of the book that I really liked and which have stuck with me - I liked the idea of understanding people through their stories, I loved the short extract where Leah and Maia discuss in Window Three 'Words, Swords and Dancing Letters' the way that words are made up and can relate to others - eg where she highlights that the same letters make up the words listen and silent. I thought that there were some other interesting concepts and ideas brought into the story, and some very positive messages. I could see why it might appeal to many teenagers. I found it a bit of a hard read though - partly the language, and partly perhaps because the story didn't appeal to me directly. I will be recommending it to the teenagers I know in the hope that it speaks to them.

I want to say a huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book! “Home” by Mark Ballabon follows Leah as she goes on a self discovery journey at an international camp. I picked this book up with high hopes and was not disappointed. Even though, I could tell that I wasn’t very absorbed by the story because it’s middle grade and I am obviously passed the stage of reading those kinds of books, from an objective point of view, this was an outstanding book!
This is the kind of book I wish I could have read when I was younger, because it was so good. It’s filled with valuable life lessons disguised as heartwarming events in the life of a sweet and creative main character.
“Home” is definitely more of a philosophical book, but I enjoyed that about it. The main question of the book is “Where is home?”. It sounds quite simple but is actually complex, because this books demonstrates how home is so much more than a place.
I though it was so nice that Leah is a considerate, kind and strong main character, because any kid who will read this book, will definitely look up to her and she is most certainly a great role model for children who are starting their journey into their teenage years. She also has a lot of character development across the book, which I enjoyed seeing. I highly appreciated the fact that the book had a diverse cast of characters and that it dealt with important topics that affect the world such as global warming and bullying.
The thing I liked the most about this book was that it was written clearly yet anybody who reads it will interpret it a little different because the topics discussed are so personal that not everyone will experience it the same. I loved how open it all was and it is most definitely the kind of book that will make you reevaluate life and all of it’s wonders.
All of this being said, “Home” is a moving story about what it means to laugh, to hurt, to rejoice, to celebrate and to be human.

Leah is a fourteen year old girl who asks questions about her place in the universe. Whilst at summer camp, she begins to explore the concept of ‘home’ and links this with climate change and looking after our planet.

The author has a message he wants to get across, but he does this at the expense of the story. I felt the characters were shallow and one dimensional and I was unable to connect with them. The storyline lacked authenticity. Too many characters came into the story simply to reveal to Leah the next thing she needed to learn which meant that the whole book came across as preachy.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful book !
This is a book that should be given to all teens to help them on their journey through life. It certainly made me think about many things and who I was and in what direction I was going. Full of philosophical questions and ideas but presented in a very readable relatable format.