An excellent and thought provoking speculative fiction. It kept me hooked and I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine and the storytelling.

A cozy sci-fi with big stakes that may actually just be big emotional stakes. But they are worth it. And if that's not enough, then a cute cat in space should be.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Del Rey for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: death, grief, deadnaming, injury

When the Home Worlds took to space and beyond the stars, they thought they would find thriving civilisations and planets from which to learn more. Instead, they found graveyards full of ruins, all life destroyed, and every ocean and forest gone. What happened to those planets is unknown. Home now knows that they are the last civilisation in the universe, and whatever destroyed the others is also coming for them. The Archivists, a group hoping to find the last gifts of these planets, hope to discover the secret to what took the others and how they might survive. Scout, their brother Kieran and their ginger cat Pumpkin are part of this group, collecting cultural traditions and technology of long-dead societies. During an excavation, Scout discovers a cache complete with a surviving message from one of the worlds, narrated by an alien who witnessed what happened thousands of years ago. Blyreena was a leader to her people and a scientist in the world of the Stelhari; her life, and that of her soulmate Ovlan, swiftly becomes fascinating to Scout as it details the end of her civilisation and possible ways to protect the rest of the universe. Soon enough the siblings (along with Pumpkin) are chasing the other caches containing the pieces of Blyreena’s story, even as it puts them into direct conflict with the Verity Corporation, a group that claims information and sells it to the highest bidder. Without the information, Home will be destroyed, taking every memory that Scout, Kieran and Pumpkin love the most, along with everybody in the remaining universe.

The first thing that grabbed me about this book is the cat in a space helmet on the cover. Once I started reading it I found myself caught up in the fast-paced world of Scout and Kieran as they travel through destroyed worlds seeking answers. Alongside them is their cat Pumpkin, complete with his little spacesuit, and a rackety old ship that’s now their home. I loved Scout from the first page, they are so deeply determined to find anything that might help Home that their safety doesn’t matter. They’re struggling with the grief of losing their mother but are still hopeful in the face of everything, even terrifying aliens and the high probability that their planet is next. The Remnants are genuinely scary and I loved the scenes where Scout and Kieran are racing against Verity Co. to get to the caches. The world-building is gorgeous and the mostly light-hearted tone meant that this was a quick read, I loved getting to discover Blyreena and Ovlan’s story even though they’d been gone for such a long time. The darker moments were very satisfyingly written, especially as Scout has to deal with the deep uncertainty of what their future might be and how to move on from the loss of their mother, who held the two siblings together. This is the story of connection made through centuries and across universes and I really enjoyed it. More books should have judgmental, emotionally supportive orange cats in spacesuits.

'It's strange what hindsight does. Takes all the layers of emotions and flattens them, turns them either good or bad. It can take time to see the shadows as something beautiful.'

An exceptional piece of science fiction writing.
What I loved most about reading this was the simple fact it was an easily accessible sci-fi novel but still provided a good amount of detail and world-building. I have found that the majority of books in the genre can often get bogged down with the detail, in fact, a sheer information overload.
To add to this, it may be a story of science fiction but also does an amazing job of highlighting more human elements and how we deal with things such as loss and love.

The story follows a brother and sister duo of activists (let's not forget their cat), who are traveling the universe in a hunt for documents from fallen civilizations. Soon they discover the potential of some information that could potentially change the course of their civilisation's future.

A beautifully written and heartfelt sci-fi novel. One I'd suggest even non-fans of science fiction should check out.

An interesting story about the effect of grief and living without loved ones, set against the backdrop of space.

Unfortunately for a short book I found this very slow and quite meandering. Not for me unfortunately.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

The Last Gifts of the Universe first came to my attention last year as it was the winner of the 2nd SPSFC and now having read it – albeit the traditionally published version – let me tell you, it’s a great read!

It’s cosy in the way of Becky Chambers’ books but has a nice dash of adventure as we follow a sibling duo of space archaeologists – Scout and Kieran - and their cat Pumpkin as they go on a sort of scavenger hunt to track down information caches from dead alien civilisations. An unknown phenomenon has slowly been exterminating worlds and these caches essentially archive their technology and culture. One particular cache that they come upon may hold the key to survival but a corporation looking to monopolize any and all information are working to track down these caches too.

What I expected going in was a story packed with non-stop action and while there were some tense moments of just that it was a nice surprise to find that at its heart this book was less about the chase and more about the characters and their personal, emotional journeys.

Despite being a short book with the plot having a small scope we follow the characters to various planets and the titbits of information about the wider universe and all the intriguing technology fleshed out the worldbuilding nicely. I also liked that there were moments that showed the downtime during space travel too, of Scout, Kieran and Pumpkin just chilling and having a meal together. The mundanity of an every day activity like that is often skipped in sci-fi so it was nice to see here.

The part I loved the most though other than Pumpkin having space adventures – Pumpkin is great and truly stole the show – is how through witnessing and connecting with the final messages of the Stelhari called Blyreena (which in itself is such a moving story), Scout was able to unpack and work through their own grief. How it showed the commonality we all have when it comes to grief and loss regardless of the circumstances. It was beautifully done!
Final Rating - 4/5 Stars

Thank you Random House UK, Cornerstone | Del Rey for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I’ll be honest, I requested this because of the cover. Such a colorful and cute cover that didn’t fit the story. The story is about two brothers, who felt like teenagers to me, I mean the pizza, the beer, the dude calling, lots of swearing and overall not being very serious at all. It starts with a cat puking, on a spaceship in search for technology to save earth… I couldn’t take anything they were doing seriously and that hurt my reading experience in terms of actually believing the story. The info dumps didn’t help either, neither did the trying to be funny and cool all the time but not really making me laugh at all. It does have its moments but overall a disappointing read.

Scout and their brother are space archeologists traversing the universe with their cat, exploring why planets have been dying. When they find a data cache that might have some answers, it is stolen by a pair of corporate bounty-hunters of sorts who are on the same mission but with different motives. One cache leads to the next, but our protagonists are always one step behind their competitors.

Along the way, Scout digs into the recordings of one long-gone leader in search of clues to their planet's demise. The book cuts across the two narratives, giving a glimpse into this other world. Scout reflects on their life and their work as more of the leader's past is revealed.

This is a story about how we live with loss. While it has heavier moments, they are spread out at intervals between pacy interplanetary action, giving you time to reflect while also enjoying a bit of space adventure-ing. I sense a second book, maybe?

I am so glad that the cover and the blurb did not give some layers of this book away.
I am going to start by saying what I would normally say last, if you are looking for hardcore sci-fi, it is not what this book is.
Yet, if you are ready to board a journey that takes place in space, as a setting, has aliens and literal data mining (kind of), but is essentially about a trio of two siblings + their cat, human-like aliens hence being human, blame, love, camaraderie and grief, and is witty and sarcastic when it not tender, this is a lovely book.
I was happy to encounter so many layers, which I did not expect to find. the humanity, the cat and Scout’s narrative.
From the perspective of the human story, this could be a short story but then a series of short stories in the same setting and same trio as the leads.
From the perspective of enjoyment and engagement, I wish it were longer, or I hope there will be other books with these characters.
This works well as a standalone story, though I got a bit attached to the cat.
4.5 stars

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This is a really interesting tale of two siblings on a quest in space. From the cover it looks quite cosy but it’s darker than it looks. A strange threat is wiping out entire civilisations across the universe. They are visiting these planets to investigate what has happened in the hope of preventing it from happening to their home. However although they are making progress, they continually run up against agents from a corporation that seeks to acquire the knowledge themselves and monetise it, even at the expense of many lives lost. There’s plenty of commentary in this about corporations profiting at the expense of human lives and the extreme monetisation of things like healthcare.

There are some cute and cosy elements in this book like the cat called pumpkin and the siblings having pizzas from their favourite place stored on the ship. But there’s also a lot of sadness and facing up to change, families changing and growing apart and reflecting on those who are no longer around.

An enjoyable space based novel that gave me some of the same great vibes of Starfield. Interesting and thought-provoking.

Scout, Riley and their cat Pumpkin travel the universe to collect treasure: the technology and knowledge of the lost civilization of a universe that has long been abandoned after a mysterious event wiped out the population on most planets. When they find a cache that seems to start off a trail that may point them to what happened, their adventure gets just a little more crazy and a little more dangerous.

Well, how can you dislike a book that has a cat that has tiny space booties and a tiny space helmet? I certainly couldn't. The book is quirky (see: cat in tiny space booties and a tiny space helmet) and although it seems lighthearted, has some really lovely messages about the importance of not wasting any time of your life.

All I can say is I wish is the book was longer to give it a bit more space to give it a bit more room to breathe - I felt there was a bigger, better story here!

First, I was intrigued by the cosy slippers (dull colour or not), and then I was angry by the corporation being allowed to copyright information that might save the universe. Being allowed to let people die unless they could pay. Then I was very, very sad as the book turned into grief and loss. There is a lot more to play with this story, into the world-building and end of the universe. But the story of how a person's desperate need for answers teaches them how to accept loss is a powerful one that the cosy vibes at the beginning did not prepare me for.

This was a short but sweet read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the non-binary/trans representation in the protagonist and how casually their identity was treated throughout, and I liked the sections where the hologram told stories about their people and lost loves. I would recommend this to any sci-fi fans looking for a fun adventure :)

I'll admit, I initially requested this ARC based on the cover, but fortunately, I ended up enjoying the book too, though it did leave me wanting more.

‘The Last Gifts of the Universe’ follows Scout as they travel the universe with their brother and their cat, Pumpkin. The siblings traverse the universe in search of lost knowledge and answers to why and how multiple worlds and their civilisations died. Interspersed throughout Scout’s story are excerpts of messages recovered from an alien who may hold the answers they’re seeking.

I’m someone who loves a short book when it’s done well, but I strongly feel this book could have been more engrossing and thematically rich if it had been longer. Riley August manages to fit a lot of important plot points into this brief story, and while nothing was left unresolved, I found myself wanting more! I particularly enjoyed the themes of grief and belonging and would have loved a deeper exploration of these. Additionally, more insight into the alien species we hear from throughout the book would have been so interesting.

Overall, I had a fun time and would recommend it if you find the premise intriguing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to pick this one up, it sounded so cute and right up my alley. I think I also heard someone describe it as a cosy sci fi, which also had me really excited. Unfortunately, it ended up being a bit of a let down. I don't really think it was a bad book or anything, it just didn't give me what I wanted from it, and as a result I wasn't super into what the story did end up being.

This definetely wasn't a cosy story, and I do wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't under the impression it was. I don't really know why, but I was just expecting it to follow Scout, Kieran and Pumpkin as they followed some clues to the answer, and that the story would be more about the information they uncovered and not really have much plot, but instead there was quite a lot of plot, and it was quite fast paced in parts and had some action going on. It's not like it was bad, it's just not what I wanted from it.

One thing about this book that I really didn't like is that as part of the information Scout finds, we get a fair bit of insight into an alien species. This species, called the Stelhari, was definitely not humans, but their culture was almost exactly the same as ours, and they constantly mentioned animals and other things that exist on Earth, such as snakes. At first I put it down to Scouts translation software just choosing similar words, but there was just too much that was similar to Earth for that to be the case. I'm not going to lie, it felt a bit lazy, like the author didn't want to develop the alien world, so just used ours.

Having said that, I think my favourte part of this book was when we got to follow the story of a Stelhari called Blyreena. Those sections gave me more of the cosy vibes I was after, and it also gave me all the feels, which I always love.

I don't think this is a bad book at all, and if I went into it with different expectations I might have enjoyed it more. If you like the sound of the synopsis, I would still recommend it.

I'll admit, I'm a bit boggled. Is this a standalone? Is it the start of a series? Is it just one big metaphor wrapped in a novella with a cute cat sidekick??

The Last Gifts of the Universe is a sci-fi space adventure following two brothers and their cat Pumpkin. While they seek caches of information left behind by past lifeforms, they also grapple with grief, self doubt, and guilt. Unfortunately, they need to be totally focused or risk making mistakes that can cost their lives, and when a team from the greedy corporation comes to steal their finds, things get even more dangerous...

This story is very exposition heavy, and the world building suffers a bit because of the emphasis on getting from point A to point B. You don't get a strong sense of the exploration since the details are skipped over, but the book is still very engrossing. In fact, I actually got pretty emotional reading about Blyreena and Ovlan, and the scene with Pumpkin at the end had me in tears.

The major themes are the commonalities, shared experience, and connections linking all living things. There are so many great quotes and passages that delve into this philosophy, but I felt the book was more interested in these abstract ideas than the plot itself. This is especially clear at the end, which isn't an end.

There is no real resolution, and that's why I was baffled by this book. If it were setting up a duology or longer series, I'd forgive some of this lack of detail, but as is, I was left a little disappointed. It's a lovely book, but it feels incomplete. Is it worth a read? Definitely. Pumpkin in particular deserves the love! But don't go in expecting any of the big picture conflicts to be addressed.

This is the closest I’ve come to cosy sci-fi, the stakes aren’t exactly low but the focus is very much on relationships and humanity.
It’s full of so much positive energy, but at a hum not a shout and is quite subtle at times. There are quite a few layers to unpack and I’m so excited to find out what happens next.
Especially more details about the big bad and how they can be defeated, if at all.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

Well, this was a fun little romp through space! I was immediately attracted to this book because CAT! And boy, did this book cat.

Pumpkin was my favourite character - he was the best cat, and I kept thinking to myself 'my cats would NEVER' lol. The best boy.

Our other two main characters are Scout and Kieran, a sibling duo who scour the galaxy for memory caches from long-dead civilisations to find out what happened to them for their employer, the Archivists. There's also another group trying to get these caches, but they're wanting them for a purely capitalistic perspective - even in space, you can't escape capitalism!

The trio find a cache on a planet that suggests they might be able to find out about this mysterious reason as to why all these planets are dead - not just without sentient life, but fully dead. Not even oceans. Scout is immediately intrigued and wants to find out more - we're introduced to Blyreen, an alien who's perspective is from thousands of years ago and long dead. We only see her through holograms that they find, but she weaves a story of love and joy with her other half that we slowly learn as time goes on.

This is very much cosy sci-fi, as the stakes are pretty low in terms of the plot of this book - which sounds weird, because when you read it there are some pretty non-low risk stuff happening. But nothing ever feels like it's true terror, I always had a sense things would be okay. It's pretty short in terms of books at under 300 pages, but was enjoyable to read.

There's an underlying theme of grief and how people manage it, alongside sibling dynamics and commentary on the predatory nature of capitalism.

Overall, I enjoyed it and like I said, Pumpkin was my favourite.

My main critique was that I was very invested in the mysterious 'Bad', and the ending left me feeling like I wanted more. I don't know if there will be a sequel, but I'm hoping for one!

I loved this. A short book and a quick read, but thought provoking and nearly moved me to tears in several places. And any book with a cat in, particularly one like Pumpkin, has to be read. Highly recommended.

This book was a bit different from the books I usually read. But I'd heard some great things about it so wanted to give it a go!
I was not disappointed.
For me this was a very emotional and thought provoking read. (and can't go wrong with a book that features a cat!)
If you're looking for something a little different, then pick this up. It's a short read as well so a great way to try something new!