The Gravity of Us is a YA novel that leaves you a full heart and a fuzzy feeling.

Focusing on Cal whose live is uprooted and moved across the country, the novel explores a developing queer relationship, teenage and adult mental health, and the use of social media to challenge reality tv. I loved the setting of the NASA Mars exploration and how it was used as a vehicle to explore all of these subject matters. The book combines both light and heavy moments to create a fast-paced novel, with highly likeable characters and great LGBTQ representation

TWs: Anxiety, depression, mentions of suicidal thoughts, discussions of death.

I wanted so badly to love this because it was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. But I just couldn't get into it and no-one is sadder about this than me.

Aside from Cal, the main characters were all a little bland. There's ample time for Leon and Kat to be developed further, but apart from learning one of their hobbies each, we don't get much depth of personality. Leon is very withdrawn and I know part of this is due to his depression, but it felt like we just didn't learn much about him as a person, which was a shame.

I liked the romance between Cal and Leon, but I found it a bit nondescript. Within a few pages of meeting, they know they both like each other, so there's no build-up of 'will-they-won't-they'. We're just waiting for one of them to ask the other on a date or decide to go out, but it doesn't feel exciting because they don't have much chemistry?

But I think my main issue was the pacing. It starts off fast but then slows down and remains slow for the rest of the novel. And this impacted the plot, which was simple to begin with, because it felt like nothing happened for the middle third of the book.

One of the best things about this book, though, was the continuing discussions of mental health. Cal's mom's anxiety is explored in depth throughout the novel and Cal's own anxious feelings arise in certain chapters, showing that there are different types and planes of anxiety. Cal and Leon navigate their relationship alongside Leon's depression and Cal learns that he should stop thinking of ways to 'fix' Leon, and focus on supporting him as much as he can.

This book challenges the stigma surrounding mental health in a really positive way, encouraging more open-mindedness towards MH in general. It normalises anxiety and depression while also encouraging support for individuals living with them.

I really liked what the author was trying to do here, and although I thought the plot could have been executed better and the characters developed further, there were some really heart-warming moments.

As someone who is obsessed with the history of space exploration, this unique setting of this novel piqued my curiosity and kept my hooked throughout. The main character of Cal felt real whilst being in a situation that seemed totally unreal. The love story is woven through the drama with care and true affection that will appeal to the target audience. I was very impressed at the quality of the writing and the background knowledge that shone through the words.

The cover design deserves recognition too as it’s beautifully drawn and will grab the attention of readers.

I loved this book.

The Gravity of Us was overall an interesting and fast paced read. I loved the premise of the story. I thought it was quite an original combination. It has interesting topics such as queer romance, mental health, social media popularity, and space exploration. The Gravity of Us is the story of Cal, who has to abandon everything he planned for his future, leave his life and best friend in Brooklyn and move to a small town in Texas, because his dad may become one of the first astronauts going to Mars.
I can’t give five stars, because I think it was too much insta-love, which is not my favourite trope. Also, Cal is not so lovable, I found him quite arrogant. I mean, honestly, I felt so sorry for Cal’s father for the whole book and probably the family dynamics and issues should have been explored a little bit deeper. I just think that in a normal life situation, things would have been more complex to solve. Still, I appreciated how the writer talks about depression and anxiety issues, it was well handled. It had a lot to offer and definitely it was a great debut novel. I look forward to reading more from Stamper.

I have been waiting for this book for ages. And I am so happy to say that I wasn't disappointed!
This book is just so good. Reading it was so... nice? Warm? Pleasant? Amazing?
The story is very good.
One day Cal lives with his family in New York, he makes plans about his future with his best friend Deb and is looking forward to start his intership with BuzzFeed. Three days later he moves to Houston because his dad is going to be an astronaut. That's a lot.
Cal's plans have to change now because of his dad's dreams.
Cal can't wait to go back to New York. But everything changes when he meets Leon and his sister Kat.
I love how Cal slowly becomes the part of this community. How he starts to really care about NASA and this project. How he learns lessons about fixing people/things.
And of course, I love his love story. It was a bit quick, but this thing between him and Leon just feels right. Natural. True.
I enjoyed this book so much, and I am sure that one day I will re-read it.

As much as I love supporting #ownvoices books, I struggled with this one and ended up concerned by so many of the topics it failed to address. I also thought it would be more centred on space, sure not the teens themselves going to space, but just...discussion on it? Interest in it? I came for the PLANETS and instead I got a book on social media and reality TV, with a premise I couldn't believe. I just, I can't get onboard with the idea that NASA could ever only be hanging on because it gets enough...erm, social media approval? And as much as we want to think having 500,000 followers would change your life and make you super powerful...it wouldn't. It doesn't. Plus we have teens going in and out of NASA headquarters, no worries, there was just no security. It felt sloppy and haphazard.

Cal was a very self-centric, so controlling and dismissive. He was actually a very much "white saviour", while he single-handedly saved NASA with his social media following and managed to kiss Leon's depression away. The book laboured the point that mental illness couldn't be fixed with love, but they said one thing and did the exact opposite. An insta-romance and Leon was choosing university and trying for a job. Depression? Who. Cal also made so many snide comments about his mum's anxiety. And it was just ALL about Cal. He couldn't care less about his best friend, who he knew was in a bad place, as soon as he moved away. The only time he remembered to care about her was when he realised she couldn't be his backup plan. I would've felt better too his flaws called out as a character arc. But it just wasn't. He is the golden saviour at the end, famous and perfect with everything he ever dreamed.

Maybe it's harsh to judge wish-fulfilment stories, but that's all this felt like.

(Social media isn't going to save NASA.) (Science literally doesn't care about your twitter followers.)

Space!!! Queer!!! Cute!!! Love this story, 4.5 stars rounded up. I wasn't a huge fan of Cal, as he came off as a bit selfish and pushy at times, but I think he realised it. Loved the space and social media aspects of this.

A cute fluffy space-y romance? As soon as I heard about this I was fully in, and it didn't disappoint? Both Cal and Leon were well written, believable characters who I was really rooting for from the start. The twists in the plot outside of that were fairly obvious but I still enjoyed the resolution to the story.

The thing that surprised me most was the depiction of mental health illnesses in some of the main characters. While I think this could've been done in a bit more depth, it was still nice to see it be normalised.

I'm taking 1 star off just because I would've liked to have seen more of the relationship after they got together, but overall this was a fantastic book and perfect for fans of m/m fiction.

The Gravity of Us is a YA novel about journalism, media coverage, and astronauts with a romance at its heart. Cal has amassed a lot of followers on the FlashFame app reporting on NYC news and election candidates and is all set for an internship at Buzzfeed as he prepares for his final year at school. However, when his father is selected for an astronaut training programme for the highly-publicised Mars mission, Cal's life is upended as he moves to Texas and becomes part of the astronaut families reality show. Feeling like he has to give up his dreams, Cal finds an alliance with the children of another astronaut, Leon and Kat, and quickly finds himself falling for Leon. The new life he's found in Texas might be over before it begins though, as the coverage around the Mars mission becomes complex and fraught.

A YA romance with astronauts as a narrative point will undoubtedly attract a lot of people, though actually the NASA elements are perhaps less important to the overall feel of the book than the way a media outlet wants to paint the astronauts and their families as full of drama and intrigue. The highlight of the book was the look at mental health, through depictions of mental illness and also looking at the need to 'fix' people and how life can't work like that. The message that Cal needed to learn that he couldn't just fix everything was important, though clearly the character had further to go with that. In general, Cal can be a difficult protagonist to like as he makes a lot of rash or self-centred decisions that affect those around him, but that really brings to the forefront the fact he needs to stop trying to fix people and listen to what they actually need.

The narrative is fast-paced and the romance happens perhaps more quickly than you might expect from conventions of other YA romance books, but it therefore focuses more on the burgeoning relationship than the stage before that. Particularly considering the circumstances, it makes sense in the book, but some readers might prefer it to be more drawn out. The side characters are interesting and Stamper does try to work in little snippets of detail around their lives and skills, though again, Cal's shortcomings occasionally make you wish you could see more of what they're doing.

The Gravity of Us is a romance with a drizzle of space that is a good light read with a few messages that hit home. It will probably delight fans of similar YA romance novels, though perhaps not any looking for more of a sci-fi feel.

What is that? Another book from Netgalley that I have finished. Who am I? Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me an e-copy of The Gravity of Us for review, I really appreciate the opportunity. 

Now, I am the first to admit that I don't do romance and very rarely read anything like this. However I had seen the hype that this book had generated, and I really fancied something fluffy so I thought I would give this a go. I am really glad that I did. 

I really like Phil Stamper's writing style. I love the way that he puts time and effort into the readers experience. It really did pay off. I found this a really easy book to read, and very light-hearted. It is just what I needed, especially with all of the heavy fantasy that I tend to read. This really cleansed my palette and opened my eyes to a genre that I want to be more involved in. 

Now as I have said, I'm not always the biggest romance fan but I did enjoy the romance in this. I love the characters in this and I really did build quite a connection with them. I was definitely routing for this romance and really enjoyed the direction that Phil made it go. I must admit when I first started reading this book, I thought the romance would be overbearing and over the top but that was not the case at all. 

The concept of the book was also unique and something that I enjoyed. I loved that there was a Sci-Fi element which is not something you tend to see in this genre. It really added to my enjoyment of the book whilst not fully taking my attention away from the rest. 

This is a book I would recommend to other people even if you are not a fan of romances within books, this is one that I don't think you will be able to resist. I can't wait to read future books by Phil Stamper, he is definitely an author to look out for!