Nominated for the 2019 Carnegie medal
One of Barnes & Noble’s Top 15 YA Books of 2018
Shortlisted for the STEAM Children’s Book Prize 2019, celebrating science in fiction
Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met, never even spoken to – someone who is light years away?
Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.
Their only communication is via email and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.
But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?
Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone…
First Chapter | Amazon UK | Amazon US
The Loneliest Girl In The Universe is the third novel by Lauren James. It is a psychological thriller set in space and is out now with Walker Books in the UK and Australia. It is published in the US in hardback and audiobook (winning the Audiophile Earphones award) by Harperteen and will be published by Harpercollins Brasil in 2019 You can add it on Goodreads or subscribe to my mailing list for updates.
“A tightly plotted Agatha Christie mystery thriller in space” – Mackenzi Lee, author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
“Gripping psychological thriller with a very relatable heroine” – The Bookseller
“Black Mirror-esque. A fantastic slow-build drama. Lauren James is a genius.” – SFX
“Gripping romantic sci-fi thriller.” – Wall Street Journal
“This slow-burning psychological thriller has a killer twist that will make you gasp.” – Bustle
“A story of loneliness and heartbreak blended with sci-fi thrills, it’s one of the most surprising books to arrive this year.” – Paste Magazine
“A strange, witty, compulsively unpredictable read which blows most of its new YA-suspense brethren out of the water.” – Entertainment Weekly
“Suspenseful and clever” – Publishers Weekly
“A tense psychological thriller that will suck you into the claustrophobic interior of Romy’s ship and leave you gasping for air.” – The Scotsman
“Impossible to stop turning the pages” – Irish Times
“As much psychological thriller as space odyssey” – Kirkus
“This slow-burn genre-blender has surprising twists and turns, and patient readers will be rewarded by the explosive ending” – Booklist
“A satisfying sci-fi psychological thriller with a scary twist” – NZ Herald
“Moves at full throttle from beginning to end. Lauren James isn’t just headed for the stars – she’s already there.” – Samantha Shannon
“The Loneliest Girl is a page-turning science fiction thriller with some terrific twists.” – Philip Reeve
My tumblr posts about The Loneliest Girl In The Universe are all collected here. Here are some links to get you started:
- Read the first chapter on Wattpad
- Listen to a sample of the audiobook
- Meet the characters
- Romy’s blog on tumblr and Wattpad (more on her fanfiction here)
- About the fanfiction
- Where I got the idea
- A podcast where I discuss the book (starting 30 mins in, full of spoilers!)
- How to research a book set in space
- Moodboard & fanart
- Playlist
- Romy’s cameo in The Last Beginning
- 7 Times Studying Science Taught Me To Be Brave (my own experiences studying science like Romy)
Romy in the stacks by Alice Oseman
My calculations spreadsheet for the space travel
Art by beantoreo
Romy inspired candle by @bookwormcandles
