GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • A young, ambitious female astronaut’s life is upended by a love affair that threatens the rescue of a lost crew in this brilliantly imagined novel “with echoes of Station Eleven, The Martian, and, yes, Jane Eyre” (Observer).NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY VULTURE AND SHE READS • “The female astronaut novel we never knew we needed.”—Entertainment Weekly… astronaut novel we never knew we needed.”—Entertainment Weekly
June is a brilliant but difficult girl with a gift for mechanical invention who leaves home to begin grueling astronaut training at the National Space Program. Younger by two years than her classmates at Peter Reed, the school on campus named for her uncle, she flourishes in her classes but struggles to make friends and find true intellectual peers. Six years later, she has gained a coveted post as an engineer on a space station—and a hard-won sense of belonging—but is haunted by the mystery of Inquiry, a revolutionary spacecraft powered by her beloved late uncle’s fuel cells. The spacecraft went missing when June was twelve years old, and while the rest of the world seems to have forgotten the crew, June alone has evidence that makes her believe they are still alive.
She seeks out James, her uncle’s former protégé, also brilliant, also difficult, who has been trying to discover why Inquiry’s fuel cells failed. James and June forge an intense intellectual bond that becomes an electric attraction. But the relationship that develops between them as they work to solve the fuel cell’s fatal flaw threatens to destroy everything they’ve worked so hard to create—and any chance of bringing the Inquiry crew home alive.
A propulsive narrative of one woman’s persistence and journey to self-discovery, In the Quick is an exploration of the strengths and limits of human ability in the face of hardship, and the costs of human ingenuity.
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I really enjoyed this book. Maybe because I’m a bit of a nerdy girl like the main character. Maybe because she is determined, brilliant, and for the way she maneuvers around life. If there were a second book I would gladly read. I highly recommend this imaginative book to anyone who enjoys a strong female protagonist.
Absolutely loved this book about a young woman with close family ties to space travel and her development, education, and challenges. One of the best books I’ve read in recent memory at rendering intense physical action, as well as complex intellectual interactions on topics most of us don’t know much about. To say too much would spoil the surprise of where the story goes, but while you may guess what direction things are going in, I found the last quarter or so of the book wonderfully unpredictable, and enjoyed every page.
If you liked The Martian, you will like this!
Thank you Random House for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
In The Quick
By: Kate Hope Day
REVIEW
Synopsis
A young, ambitious female astronaut’s life is upended by a love affair that threatens the rescue of a lost crew in this brilliantly imagined novel, in the tradition of Station Eleven and The Martian.
*****
I loved Kate Hope Day’s previous novel, If, Then, so my expectations for In The Quick were high indeed.
First of all, I seriously love the cover. I mean, it’s all about space, and it’s pink. What’s not to love?
As for the story, you should know the synopsis doesn’t really match what the book is because it is neither a romance nor a rescue mission.
The heroine, June, possesses a brilliant mind for mechanics, etc., but she is sorely lacking in people skills. Misunderstood by everyone except her intellectually gifted uncle, he alone encourages June, and she, in his shadow, often, covertly, learns about spacecraft engineering. Specifically, the Inquiry, a spacecraft powered by fuel cells designed by her uncle that, regrettably, goes missing when June is twelve. The first part of the book addresses June’s childhood. You get a sense of her thought process, personality and the origin of her desire to work in outer space.
June begins astronaut training. This is a difficult program, made more so by being two years younger than her peers. Intellectually, however, June is already beyond them. Six years on, June is finally, as she always dreamed, a space station engineer. Here, after years of hard work, June finds true commonality and belonging. Imagine always feeling outcast, then, finally, finding your people. June does well at her job, but the missing Inquiry lingers at the back of her mind. After years gone, everyone has forgotten it, except June. While working, June makes a discovery, reaffirming her belief that the Inquiry crew are, in fact, alive. June’s time on the space station is the most engaging fast paced part of the book. With witty dialogue, meaningful interactions and complex problems, the story progresses quickly.
Circumstances lead June to James, a guy who studied under her uncle. James has been trying to understand why the Inquiry’s fuel cells, designed by June’s uncle, failed. He and June are well matched intellectually and might be able to solve this mystery together. June cannot ignore her gut feeling about the missing spacecraft. She intuitively knows her life’s direction, and with every turn of a new corner, June’s resolve further hardens into a quickly approaching reality.
June and James are odd ones with an equally strange and evolving relationship. Additionally, the environment surrounding June and James is eerily weird. Everything here feels dark, bleak, harsh and lonely. Atmospherically speaking, the set up is perfect with slower pacing that subsequently matches both mood and tone.
I won’t disclose the various twists giving chase to the last page. My biggest issue is the abrupt inconclusive end. The story is going in this direction, and now, it is going in that direction. In the meantime, I am aimlessly floating away into deep space….
Overall, I found In The Quick quintessentially inspiring, defiantely feminist and quietly terrifying. It was also reminiscent of The Martian in some ways. Both project a vast sense of nothingness, yet encompass everything at once. The feelings of utter despair and fledgling hope continually battle for dominance of an abstraction that neither can ever claim-the human mind scape. As long as horizons exist, despair will not triumph over the human spirit of ingenuity and progress. Hope will ignite, given even the tiniest pinprick of light, from a fragile spark into an unextinguishable flame.
In the Quick by Kate Hope Day is a brilliant novel that has multiple elements: space/aeronautical components, romance/relationships, mystery, suspense, and almost a science fiction component. This novel kept me coming back for more, again and again. I went in expecting one thing, and finished with something completely unexpected and surprising.
June is a very interesting character. Part child/part adult. Part bold and brave, part difficult and simplistic. It was fascinating to follow her into her world. I loved the mystery aspect on trying to find Inquiry. It was also totally enthralling to be a part of this different world and society, and I loved sifting through the unraveling plot piece by piece.
I definitely took a chance and went out of the normal genres that I usually delve into to experience this book. I am most certainly glad I did. An unexpected pleasure.
5/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.