Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca & NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC!

I read 'Strange Love' by Ann Aguirre a few years ago & was honestly shocked how much I loved it, so when I saw this book available on NetGalley, I was PUMPED.

Alas, in a word this was "okay". I didn't feel connected to any of the characters & the romance was tepid as all hell (I think the word we're looking for here might just be "friendship"). The plot felt like it was building to nothing (both in & outside the romance). The sex scene at (GENUINELY) the 99% mark had me just -_-

I could've dealt with less scenes at the con (the scene with the sleazy actor didn't really contribute to anything) & WAAAAAY less of the group chat (fewer of these on page would've had more impact, I think).

I'm interested to know where Poppy & Ravik stand after this book; felt like there was so much hinting!

All my complaining aside, it was a fine book; it just had the potential to be so much better.

3.25⭐

This was cute and has a lot of potential, but could probably use a pretty thorough edit.

'I Think I'm In Love With An Alien' is about a group of friends who met on an alien-focused forum, their initial meeting at Space-Con, and what follows. Specifically, it focuses on Jen and Tam (Seeker). Jen is a human who loves everything to do with space, and Tam is an alien who has been trapped on Earth for that last year because of a tourism mishap.

This was a pretty easy read. The relationship was kind of adorable, and I especially liked the second half of the book, when Space-Con was over and the focus was on what kind of life they might have.
The first half of the book seemed to drag, as so many unnecessary descriptions and mundane details were included. (Why did the hotel printing out everything matter when it wasn't a plot point later on? Why did I need to know the entire layout of her hotel room?)
There were also some missteps with the plot/characters that bothered me:
• First, Tam is supposed to be extremely smart (smart enough to be talking about writing research papers), but thinks the human calendar/time system is arbitrary. It makes sense that he'd believe something different would be better, but not that it was just totally made up with no rhyme or reason, and it made me question how bright he really was since that's something he could have found an answer to with an ounce of research.
• Second, the sexual harassment at the convention....I truly cannot picture a worker caring enough that the famous person gets thrown out without video evidence or something just as damning backing it up. It's a nice idea, but too unrealistic, even for alien romance.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Writing was really cringey m. I was ok with it for the alien side but the main character girl just sounded awkward and over described things.

I was a little iffy about this book based on the title, but the description of Galaxy Quest meets Roswell sold me on it. Actually I would say it is more Galaxy Quest meets Resident Alien (the TV show, as I have not read the source materials.

The story was well told, with all the sci-fi nerdy details in all the right places. The shifting POV between the central characters was effective and the group chat/private chat chapters helped fill in the gaps.

The concern I had was that this story would get way too spicy with space spunk in all the wrong places, but telling the requisite love scenes from the other person's POV toned down the spice and kept if from turning into 50 Shades of Grays (and if you get that joke, this book if for you).

Another wonderful love story from Ann Aguirre. Similar to the Galactic Love books, a human and an alien learn to love each other.
The characters are a fun and diverse group, and I feel privileged to read their story early.

Cute, lots of chatting, lots of teen angst and thoughts. Lonely girl falls for online friend who is a real alien, no spoiler there, it's in the blurb - pretty simple, although should have some warnings for real teens, or anyone for that matter, not to meet strangers from chats in isolated situations or away from home, it won't always have a HEA.

A bit more procedural than Aguirre’s other alien romance books, but it leaves room for the small details of alien world building and characterization.

Good critique of capitalism.

My complaints:
Blaming sexual harassment and assault on “chemical dependencies” is wildly bigoted. Name the person as a sexual predator, but don’t vilify or moralize substance use. Disabled people in chronic pain need access to medications to help them. Disabled people have nothing to do with people that are sexual predators. Leave disabled people alone. Stop creating stigma and barriers around harm reduction and medical care. Stop assigning moral value to substance use.