Eight Days on Planet Earth

by Cat Jordan

A heart-wrenching romance full of twists that are sure to bring tears to readers’ eyes, from Cat Jordan, author of The Leaving Season.

How long does it take to travel twenty light years to Earth?

How long does it take to fall in love?

To the universe, eight days is a mere blip, but to Matty Jones, it may be just enough time to change his life.

On the hot summer day Matty’s dad leaves for good, a strange girl suddenly appears in the empty field next to the Jones farm—the very field in rural Pennsylvania where a spaceship supposedly landed fifty years ago. She is uniquely beautiful, sweet, and smart, and she tells Matty she’s waiting for her spaceship to pick her up and return her to her home planet. Of course she is.

Matty has heard a million impossible UFO stories for each of his seventeen the conspiracy theories, the wild rumors, the crazy belief in life beyond the stars. When he was a kid, he and his dad searched the skies and studied the constellations. But all of that is behind him. Dad’s gone—but now there’s Priya. She must be crazy…right?

As Matty unravels the mystery of the girl in the field, he realizes there is far more to her than he first imagined. And if he can learn to believe in what he can’t the universe, aliens…love…then maybe the impossible is possible, after all.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Ebooks

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2017

Reviews

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

This was a YA contemporary story, about a boy who discovered a girl in a field who claimed to be an alien.

Matty was a good person, and it was nice the way he tried to help Priya. It was also nice that as he got to know her better, he started to believe her more, even when her story lacked credibility.

The storyline in this was about Matty discovering a gorgeous girl in the field by his house. She claimed to be an alien who was waiting for a lift home, and Matty didn’t really believe her. We then had 7 days of Matty and Priya getting to know each other better, and Matty finally started to believe what she had been telling him.

The ending to this was quite sad really.
7 out of 10

[Dani (Dani Reviews Things) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reading the blurb, I thought the book was going to be science fiction, given how Matty meets an alien. But regardless of who or what Priya is, this really was more of a contemporary, mainly delving into Matty's life, particularly his family and how he and his mom feel about his dad leaving them the day the book starts. Priya was more a side story for a lot of it, her curiosity about Matty's world a catalyst for Matty to really examine the world himself.

It was hard for me to read about Matty's dad, especially from Matty's perspective. It hit quite close to home, finding out his dad wasn't the man he'd thought he was as a child. More than anything else in the book, it was this that hurt me the most. But I appreciate how Jordan slowly revealed more and more through quick flashbacks into Matty's childhood. These snapshots did wonders in showing who Matty was as a person, as well as how the relationships with each of his parents developed.

I have some mixed feeling about the pacing. On the one hand, it felt oddly slow given the book only needs to cover eight days. But then it did need to really develop the present-day characters and plot over those eight days. The story was also slowed down by the flashbacks and Matty's internal thoughts, but again, it needed to do that because really, the whole story was more about the past than the present. So despite the short timespan of the present-day, this wasn't a fast-paced story filled with action. It was a slower, deeper exploration into a teenage boy's mind during the summer before his senior year of high school.

Despite the slowness, I felt like I sunk into this story, as if it had its own strange gravity that sucked me in. And at the end, the black hole of the book spit me out feeling heavier than ever. What a journey.
 
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See this review in its natural environment, Dani Reviews Things.
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[chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a review copy of Eight Days on Planet Earth from YA Bound Book Tours through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review :D

Storytime:

I remember signing up for this blog tour back in August? September? I can't remember, lol. The book cover's really pretty and that's the reason why I signed up. Oh my goodness I'm so shallow. (But I'm pretty sure non-book-cover-judgers are an extinct species.)

Then a few days ago I received an email from Edelweiss - my request got approved! I planned to download it when I got home, but I forgot #whoops THEN THE NEXT DAY I GOT ANOTHER EMAIL FROM EDELWEISS, SAYING THAT MY REQUEST HAS BEEN DENIED??? I was super confused. My request got approved the day before, but I couldn't access it.

After that I sent an email to the blog tour organizer. I was so frustrated because I didn't know how to type a professional email. I slammed down on my keyboard, typing "HELP MEEEE". Actually, I was planning to delete the "HELP MEEE" part after I calmed down, but then my classmate pressed the "send" button before I deleted it! I was so angry 😂😂

Moral of the story: Don't let your classmate touch your laptop.

Book thoughts:

That cover is an effing masterpiece. I love the dark purplish starry background and the silhouettes! Also how cute is that curly brush font? 😍😍

Now let's talk about the content of the book, shall we?

Eight Days on Planet Earth is a book about love, stargazing and outer space. Aaaaahh. My Love from the Star feels.

(Actually, no. I haven't watched that K-Drama. My sister binge watched it last month and finished it in a few days. But I don't think it's something I would love. Soo yeahhhh I still haven't watched it.)

I found it so cool that Matty lives next to a field. And it's not just a normal field - but a space field! Rumor has it a spaceship crashed there. Matty used to do a lot of stargazing and it's really interesting to read about. I don't know much about telescopes and stargazing (I joined Astronomy Club this year because my friends asked me to) and I learnt a lot reading about it. My school's Astronomy Club will be organizing a stargazing camp soon, and I am really looking forward to going!

I believe in aliens. Surely we're not the only ones living in this great big universe!

She found solace in the knowledge that we are not alone in the Universe.

I love Priya so much. She's so beautiful and pure and aaaahh I love how she writes notes about life on earth in a notebook! She has a very unique style - white wig + tutu and she is so weird in a very nice way! At the end, it wasn't really revealed if she's really an alien or just a patient with terminal illness though, and ughh it left me wanting more! (That's exactly how I felt when reading We Were Liars - I didn't know if Cadence went mad or if she's dead. I hate it when authors don't tell me all the details! I have no idea what to think lol.)

I'm not sure if I like the romance between Matty and Priya. I mean, Priya seems clueless. I don't think she knows what a kiss is for. Okay, Matty's the one who told her what a kiss is, and that it means you love someone, but Priya still seems kind of confused. She kisses Matty because she likes the feeling. I'm not sure if it really means she loves him back. Also it has been eight days only and they've already had sex??? And the biggest problem is - Matty doesn't think that having sex with an alien is 1. weird and 2. can bring potential danger to humankind. They are really sweet and all, but I think the whole thing's kind of rushed (which I totally understand. If you name the book Three Hundred Days on Planet Earth it doesn't really sound that good.)

This is such a great book. I recommend it to fans of contemporary romance and anything space-related. It's magical. It's sad. It's beautiful. You'll love it.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight Days on Planet Earth is a down-to-earth yet otherworldly novel - magical, funny, and a little heartbreaking.

Matty Jones has grown up knowing the field he lives next to is a little different. Matty's father claims that a spaceship landed there on the night he was born. But Matty's father has since run off with his brother's sister, leaving Matty and his mother alone, so Matty isn't all that inclined to listen to what his father believes. When a strange girl suddenly appears in Matty's field claiming to be from another planet, waiting to be collected by a spaceship, Matty knows it can't be true. But there is something so ethereal about Priya that she starts to change Matty's view on life, the universe and, maybe, even love.

It wasn't until I reached the very end of this book that I actually started to understand it. For most of this story I really, truly expected a spaceship to land in Matty's field and collect the celestial Priya. But this book is actually a contemporary novel - real life, real-world issues. It is just like it claims in the synopsis - it's about life, the universe, and love. The ending of this book is beautiful. The surprise twist really took my breath away. I didn't see it coming, and it changed everything about how I viewed this book, the characters, and their actions. The surprise is perhaps the best part, though, so I won't say more.

Eight Days on Planet Earth is a surprisingly touching book. Matty is struggling with his father's sudden departure, yet he feels that it's best that his father has gone, that he and his mother will be better off without him and his crazy ideas. Meeting Priya returns Matty to the dreams of his childhood, time spent stargazing with his father and talking about planets far, far away. Matty is also mourning the lost possibility of a relationship with his long-term crush. Again, meeting Priya changes the way Matty views himself. He certainly doesn't expect to fall in love with the strange and crazy girl who turns up in his field. The book is written from Matty's perspective across eight strange and life-changing days, which enables the reader to burrow into Matty's head and heart.

Eights Days On Planet Earth wasn't what I was expecting, but instead was a delightful and moving surprise. It is perfect for readers who enjoy contemporary novels about romance, family breakdown, self-discovery, tearjerkers and that something special that is just a little otherworldly.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Find more reviews, reading age guides, content advisory, and recommendations on my blog Madison's Library.

[Karlita | Tale Out Loud · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The ones left behind get on with their lives.”

I started reading this book out of curiosity like any teenage girls who love the mystery of the universe, watching National Geographic’s documentaries on UFOs and believing that somewhere out in the far galaxy, the existence of life like what we have on Earth, truly exist. Of course, if you were like some teenager like me, I presume that this was always the case.

But, if you are a boy like Matty who lived with bedtime stories about aliens and spaceship that landed in their rural Pennsylvania, meeting some girl with a flat white hair who use ‘calculations’ to claim her ride home and was specifically ‘instructed’ not to harm anyone, was proving all conspiracy theories his father believes are real. It was something made equally crazy and almost convincing.

With Matty’s dad leaving and Priya showing up, his whole summer has turned into a complete watershed. Instead of chasing after his father and the mystery of the universe, Matty will try to unearth the mystery behind Priya who almost made him think that she was actually an alien.

As the characters formed a bond each day, it was clear that both of them were very much alike. Matty wants to believe in someone like how he once believed his father, while Priya wants to believe in something that could give her more reason to live and start a new beginning. In the end, this showed how Matty was the only person who got her when no one really ever did, like how Priya understood him better than himself.

Cat Jordan wrote her characters with great thought and effective foreshadowing. Priya for one, whose character is nuanced, giving the barest hint of what’s truly going on until dropping a bomb later into the story. Have I not went through my Kindle notes and re-read my highlights, will I not realized the implication of Priya’s dialogue with Matty at the beginning of the story.

Was I expecting it? Of course not! That's why the ending was surprisingly heartbreaking and crushed me to bits. Even now as I recall Priya's message to Matty, I couldn't help but choke up into tears. It's one of those scenes that I could vividly remember not only just because it was painful, but also because I believe that it might be anyone's reality.

“My time on Earth. Our brief blip of time. A sliver of incandescence in the vast, dark field of space.”

Everything went like a series of light bulbs. Looking at it, I also realize that even the title of this book has a delicate subtlety that I admit I would not give a care about right after I finished reading a book.

Eight Days on Planet Earth is a story that proves, to be human means believing in all kind of possibilities—to love, to forgive and to let go. Sometimes it only took eight days for someone to be truly happy, and that's more than enough.

Full Review at Tale Out Loud | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

[Shannon Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really cute- and quite unexpected! When I first started it, I think I expected it to be a certain… way. I don’t want to say much, because spoilers. At first, I was a little wary. In fact, I didn’t really like Matty, the main character, at all in the beginning. He treated his mom like she was overreacting about the loss of her marriage, and he was kind of a jerk to his best friend at times. But luckily, Matty undergoes a significant amount of character development during the course of the story, so I needn’t have worried.

I loved the mystery surrounding Priya, and how Matty just couldn’t help but fall for her, even though he was unconvinced of her story of being an alien being. What I really enjoyed the most though was watching Matty evolve and learn a lot of hard lessons about growing up. He grew to realize that his parents were human, and there’s really no turning back from that. He learned empathy, and he learned to walk in other people’s shoes. But more than anything, the ending of this book wholly blew me away. I will say no more than that, but if you’re a person who worries about lackluster endings (I know I am!) I promise that this book will not disappoint.

Bonus points: It is set in small-town Pennsylvania. Of course I was giddy about that.

**Copy provided for review

[Mrs.Heather Lassley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! I would have prefered to not have the talk about "smoking joints" because it did not progress the story at all. But other than that, it was a really good story.

[Jasbr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich gestehe: Das Buch hat mich von der ersten Seite gefesselt. Man lernt gleich zu Beginn Matty kennen, einen ganz normalen Jungen, der Sommerferien hat und in Pennsylvania lebt. Aus seiner Sicht wird auch die Geschichte erzählt. Seine Familiensituation ist nicht so gut, da das Verhältnis zu seinem Papa nicht mehr das Beste ist. Hier hat mir gefallen, dass dem in der Geschichte Raum gegeben wurde, ohne es in den Mittelpunkt zu stellen. Auch wie es sich entwickelt hat war sehr glaubwürdig und deswegen nicht nur äußerst schön, sondern auch richtig passend.

Im Mittelpunkt steht aber natürlich das Mädchen von einem fernen Planeten, dass Matty eines Tages auf dem Feld neben dem Haus entdeckt. Sie wartet eigentlich darauf, von ihrem Mutterschiff abgeholt und nach Hause gebracht zu werden, aber die Zeit bis dahin verbringt sie mit Matty.

Die Beziehung der Beiden entwickelt sich natürlich zu mehr als nur einer normalen Freundschaft. Sie lernen Beide voneinander und zeigen sich die Welt aus den Augen des jeweils anderen. Das war richtig schön. Sehr gut dazu gepasst hat natürlich auch das Setting. Ein Sommer, der danach schreit, seine Zeit mit Freunden am See zu verbringen oder auf dem Feld unter dem Sternenhimmel zu schlafen.

Das Buch ist in die einzelnen Tage eingeteilt, die die Matty und Priya miteinander verbringen. Leider sind es nur acht - für mich hätten es noch einige mehr sein können. Die einzelnen Tage wiederum sind nochmals in Kapitel eingeteilt, die mit Uhrzeiten überschrieben sind. Das ist für die Orientierung ganz gut, aber auf der anderen Seite hat es mich auch verwirrt. Der erste Tag beginnt zum Beispiel um kurz nach 6, dann kommt eine Episode um 12 Uhr und dann ist es auf einmal 9:28 Uhr. Aber grundsätzlich hat mich das nicht gestört.

Eigentlich war die Geschichte in sich richtig schön und rund. Allerdings war es für mich etwas durchschaubar. Schon ab ca. der Hälfte des Buches habe ich geahnt, wie es ausgehen wird. Das Ende hat mir gefallen, war aber auch ein bisschen schmerzhaft. Ich glaube, es wäre schlimmer gewesen, wenn ich mich nicht innerlich schon lange darauf vorbereitet hätte.

Insgesamt hat mir das Buch sehr gut gefallen - von mir gibt es 4 Sterne!

[Vicky Again · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This book is so cool you guys (as well as tragically heartbreaking)! For you science fiction & contemporary romance lovers out there, I'm sure you're going to love this as much as I did.

Aliens? Check!
Romance? Check!
Internal teenage struggles? Check, check, check!



Eight Days on Planet Earth revolves around teenage boy, Matty, whose dad, a UFO and space conspiracy blogger, has left Matty and his mom for his brother's considerably younger wife.

Matty's life just took a huge turn, but with the addition of a strange, white haired girl claiming to be from a foreign planet waiting for her spaceship to pick her up in the field behind his house, Matty isn't sure what he should do.

Matty doesn't believe her, but he starts to believe Priya's claims aren't complete lunacy. With this, he'll change not only his feelings, but his belief, his values, and the way he looks at life.

Cat Jordan's novel is a heart-wrenching story of Matty's journey as he learns more about himself and what it means to believe.

This novel was so moving.

At first I had a few reservations, there were bits and pieces in the beginning that I was iffy about and wasn't sure how they were going to work with the grand scheme of the novel.

I found the exposition and the first third to be kind of slow, plot and pacing wise. But I absolutely sped through the rest of the eBook.

But the ending completely tore me apart. I can't spoil anything, but the way the foreshadowing built up to that ending was executed so well.

I didn't see it coming until near the actual reveal, but all of the hints Jordan left us just accumulated into one big bang at the end where my heart was ripped from my chest and crushed.



Jordan's foreshadowing was done in such a skillful manner. It not only helped the buildup, but also just made it a much better experience for the reader instead of just show-and-tell.

I absolutely adored the ending and how much the novel made us think and feel. Matty changes a lot as a character--in the beginning you see him smoking pot and being a regular, listless teenage boy in another Podunk town. But he changes so much over the course of the novel and seeing it parallel Priya's arrival was extremely satisfying.

Matty's character was created and developed really well--he seemed like a realistic teenage boy (I'm not a teenage boy so I wouldn't know for certain, but he's what I imagine a teenage boy would be). Although he wants to act tough on the outside, his father's leaving is still going to hurt anyone, no matter how much they don't want to admit it.

Besides the pacing, part of what contributed to be taking off a half star was Matty's thoughts and feelings at the beginning. They seemed almost too cookie cutter to me, and I feel like Matty as a character in the beginning of the novel was not as genuine as a person, or Jordan didn't reveal enough of his multiple dimensionality.

He definitely rounded out as the plot progressed, but I found him to be a little too flat in the start.

The plot was a little unrealistic in a few places, but I found it endearing as it was mostly used as a device to fuel Matty's character development.

As I'm not too keen on teenage romances, I was pretty apathetic to the romance aspect. I did find it a tad insta-lovey, but I also look at romance in YA novels to be character & plot devices rather than actual romances. But I do think it was executed better than many other YA romances.

One of my favorite parts of this novel was all the messages in it. I liked how Jordan portrayed Matty's relationship with his dad. It was done in a mature way that wasn't like what some teens would have reacted with (overreacting and jumping to conclusions) but also wasn't overly adult that it'd be silly to think most teenagers would act so rationally. Jordan found a really nice balance when approaching the topic of parents and reconciling.

Besides the more tangible messages, the ones about life and death and love were so profound and left me thinking about it for nights. I don't want to go too into depth about this and risk spoiling the ending, but the messages in this novel were delightfully profound.

Cat Jordan's Eight Days on Planet Earth was a surprisingly moving novel which I cannot wait to see in bookstores on November 7th. You can preorder it now or find it in any major bookseller on November 7th!



Thank you to HarperTeen, YA Bound Book Tours, and Edelweiss for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review!

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[StarMan · Rating 3 out of 5]

[YA book, Adult Reviewer]

YA VERDICT: 3+ stars (above average, pretty good).
ADULT VERDICT: N/A

IN SHORT: Priya--a strange girl who possibly is not human*--was by far the most realistic character here. Fortunately, she was interesting enough that I wanted to finish the book.

*Not a spoiler, if you've read the back cover blurb.

The first couple of chapters nearly put me into a coma, but things improved once Priya showed up. This is one of those rarer YA books that actually gets better (for the most part) in the middle--and may even surprise you at the end.

Q: Why the title "Eight Days on Planet Earth"?
A: The story takes place over 8 days, and the title "Stargirl" was already taken.

YAYS:
+ A mysterious character.
+ Some mild humor (no actual LOLs for me).
+ You may get a mild to moderate dose of "the feels," eventually.

NAYS:
- Clueless, useless, and/or absent parent(s). [Par for the YA genere, sadly].
- Lots of inauthentic teen dialogue/thoughts (mainly Matthew, our narrator).
Had he been more believable, I'd have given the book 4 stars.

PARENTS/PRUDES: A few curse words (s**t, f**k). Drug and alcohol use (mostly marijuana, and no consequences). Casual teen sex (not graphic), or mentions thereof

[Seyma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babam elini sırtıma koyup kulağıma eğilerek,"Doğduğumuz andan itibaren ölmeye de başlarız Matty. Biz de yıldızlar gibiyiz. Bir patlamayla hayata gelir,sonra yavaş yavaş söneriz. Bu ışığın ne kadar uzun ve parlak olacağı ise tamamen sana bağlı" diyor.

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Such a great ending. A lot of surprising twists, but I felt all of the scenes were loyal to the plot. There wasn't a single thing I didn't love about it, which is rare for me. So great!

[Karla Mae (Reads and Thoughts) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly quick, fun and heart-warming read. The plot twist is amazing and very unexpected!!

[Veronica of V's Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matty Jones is a high school junior on summer break when two things happen on the same day: his unemployed UFO conspiracy-theorist father walks out, and a strange girl claiming to be an alien appears in the fallow field on his family's defunct farm. Matty's furious with his dad, a man who'd been slipping away from his responsibilities for years. His mother is devastated, but Matty had seen this coming.

Matty had grown up knowing that his dad was big into space and UFOs. It was local legend that an alien aircraft landed in their field on the night his father was born--but the government washed away the evidence. Still, Matty and his dad spent ages outside on the their twin telescopes searching the night skies for something out there. His dad blogged, and over the past few years the tenor of the blog had shifted from informative to conspiracy-oriented. Along with this, his dad pulled away from Matty and his mom--even going so far as to have affairs with some of his ardent blog followers. Matty thinks good riddance to his slacker dad, and is frustrated that his mom even harbors any hope he'll return.

Meanwhile Priya, the "alien" in his field, is busy collecting data about Earth. Her home planet, she reveals, is deep in the Libra constellation, and Matty's too lonely and downhearted to simply brush her off. He wants to believe that Priya is a confused girl who'll move on soon--like all the other UFO lunatics his father had ginned up over the years. But, there's clearly something wrong with Priya--she is dressed bizarrely--in a tutu and wearing a platinum wig over her dark hair--and has trouble with balance that she ascribes to differences in Earth's gravity. She can read Matty's thoughts, and it unsettles him. She also struggles with language, and he thinks maybe she's from a different country, completely discounting the notion that she's possibly an alien.

She's still in his field the next day, and the next, and the more time Matty spends with her, the more he wants to be near her, even as she resurrects good memories of time spent with his dad. The conflict is real for Matty, but so is the compassion. He and Priya share some intimacy over this time, each night watching the skies for her ship to arrive and whisk her back through the wormhole to her planet.

Matty's friends draw attention to Priya's weirdness, and it leads to the big crisis and reveal of Priya for exactly who she is. It's a good and honest twist, that breaks Matty' s heart while at the same time restoring the abandoned bond between himself and his father. Though that makes it sound a lot more complicated than it is. At it's core, this is a story about a boy falling for people who leave him behind, and learning how to deal with that. Matty is a strong character, a good guy who felt real. He's not perfect; he's a slacker like his dad, and plans to spend his summer riding dirt bikes, visiting the beach and getting high with his best friend. His encounters with Priya open his eyes to the wonder of his mundane life, and foster a new sense of purpose that he may, or may not, pursue.

The truth of it is, there are mysteries in this world that can't be explained completely, and must be taken on faith. Gravity, Priya asserted, was one of those. Love, as Matty learned, was another. It's a sweet book, with a heart-tugging resolution that fans of YA will really enjoy.

[Lynndell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight Days on Planet Earth by Cat Jordan opens with Matthew relaxed and enjoying the summer break. Matthew is a normal, laid back teenager with a crush on his best friend’s older sister and a broken relationship with his own father. He sees a girl alone in the field by his house and wonders why she’s alone. He talks to her and she claims to be an alien from another planet, waiting for her ride home. They become friends and a large part of each other’s lives in a short amount of time. The twist in the story surprised me but brought great depth to this book and brought the realization of true faith to the forefront. 4 stars for this young adult book!

[Sarah Fairbairn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review, Thank You Cat Jordan, Edelweiss & Harper Teen.

The story is set over the course of eight days, but you probably guessed that from the title. It focuses around 17-year-old Matty, with the back drop his small rural home town. At the start of the story Matty’s dad runs off, leaving Matty and his mum to pick up the pieces.

Matty feels lost and unsatisfied with his life. We see him drag his feet all through day one, perking up when he spots a strange girl in the field next to his house late that night. The same field that a space ship supposedly crashed in back in the 60’s.

The girl says she’s an alien. Matty thinks she’s nuts, but humours her, worried about her welfare. Matty feels an intense connection to her early on. And takes it upon himself to keep an eye on her, as she is determined to stay in the field all night by herself, waiting for a spaceship to pick her up.
It is summer holidays and with nothing much to do Matty keeps finding himself drawn back to the field and the strange girl. They spend the next five days together hanging out in the field and around town, the whole while Matty is trying to figure out what the strange girl’s deal really is, where she really comes from and why she was really camping out in the field next to his house – this takes up most of the book.

Matty notices that the girl’s health is deteriorating and presses her to tell him the truth about who she is, she of course does a runner. AND I can’t say much more without giving everything away. I will just say that “somehow” Matty manages to track her down and that the book’s ending is both heart-warming and heart-breaking.

At first, I was torn as to whether the girl (Priya) was an alien or not. I want to believe. I always want to believe. At one point I almost expected a spaceship to come and pick Priya up. I even went and checked if the book was actually listed as YA contemporary and not YA sci-fi. Either way, alien or not, I enjoyed the story. The writing was easy to read, and the story followed well. The chapter headings were split into days and times which helped propelled the story and add tension. All in all, it was a Quick and enjoyable read.

[Kim at Divergent Gryffindor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eight Days on Planet Earth intrigued me not because I'm interested in aliens, but because of how well-written the synopsis is. This particular line got me - "And if he can learn to believe in what he can’t see: the universe, aliens…love…then maybe the impossible is possible, after all." And despite not liking alien stories, I felt the need to read it. However, I must say that completely was not what I was expecting at all.

On the day his father left, Matty finds a strange girl in the field in their farm, claiming to be an alien. Matty doesn't know what to believe, but for some reason this strange and beautiful girl draws him. Matty and Priya spend days together, waiting for her supposed spaceship to pick her up. As days pass, Priya grows more and more frail, and Matty dreads the day when he has to say goodbye to her.

Eight Days on Planet Earth was intriguing at first, but for the most part of the story it was bland. For a story that supposedly took place only within eight days, it sure did drag on for what felt like more than that. I'm a pretty fast reader compared to others and I can usually finish books in 1-2 days if I want to. But with this book? I read it for two weeks. For some reason it just couldn't hold my attention, and I became easily distracted.

It was only when it came to the last 20% or so of the book that I came to appreciate this book. This was where Matty came to terms with his feelings towards the leaving of his father, thereby being more honest with himself. This was also where the twist happened, if we can actually call it that. It was predictable, but I believe that the author may have done that intentionally. I really liked how everything connected and solidified towards the end. It was a sad ending, but I felt like it was an appropriate one.

Overall, this book was dragging and bland save for the last 20% or so of the book, where everything came together and made more sense.

[Lynda Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book recounts the events that transpire over the course of an eight day period. Matty is on summer break before his final year of high school, and he plans to just hang around the lake with his friends. However, he wakes up to find that his father, a conspiracy theorist and UFO blogger, has left his family. Also on that day, Matty meets Priya, a strange girl who claims to be waiting for a ride back to her planet, which is 20 light years away. She sets up camp in the field near Matty's house, where a spaceship is said to have landed at the same moment that his father was born. Because of his father's interest in astronomy and aliens, Matty has developed a healthy skepticism about all things alien. But, over the course of the next few days, he finds himself slowly believing. And as he learns to see his world the way Priya sees it, he learns to appreciate what he has. But is Priya really an alien or is just plain crazy? Or is the truth something else entirely?

The author does a great job getting inside the head of Matty, the seventeen-year-old male narrator. I love Matty's relationship with his mother and his interactions with Priya. I also love Priya's description of the sensation of eating pizza. This book is cute, funny, and sad, all at the same time.

Compulsively readable.

Warnings: coarse language, sexual references, sex scenes (not graphic), alcohol abuse (by adults), infidelity.

I received this book in return for an honest review.

Full blog post(30 October): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me way more emotional than I thought it would.  Eight Days takes place over the span of eight days, and it does not make you wait for the emotions to hit.  And they hit hard.  Matty's life just got significantly tougher (though he wouldn't care to admit it) after his father just up and left with his uncle's wife.  His mother is having a hard time coping, but Matty is on summer vacation, so he has lots of time to think.  Until he meets Priya, an alien from a far off planet.  Now, his father was hardcore into alien conspiracies, which Matty thought was fun until it took over his life and prevented him from getting work.  And now that there's a real life alien in front of him...well, unlike Fox Mulder, he isn't sure if he wants to believe.  

While she's waiting for her kind to reclaim her, she's busy gathering data--which leads into great hilarity.  And Matty finds it kindof cute, too.  

At first, I must admit I was afraid of this falling into the "Born Sexy Yesterday" trope, but as Priya's story begins to unravel, so does the trope, though not in entirely uncomplicated ways.  And Matty recognizes this, too, in what I think is one of the most beautiful closing chapters I've read in a good long while.  

Overall, this story is a great read that you will power through.  It's moving, it's emotional, and it's powerful.  It gave me a lot to think about on the topic of family, relationships, and endings without closure.  This is definitely worth the read.

Review cross-listed here!

[Isidora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not gonna write a lot about this book because I think it's best if you go blind with this book,but this book BLEW MY MIND! It's so good! It talks about important things,but ordinary ones. This books shows us that sometimes all that matters is to feel wind on your face or to just stop and look up to the sky. This book broke my heart. It's written so good. I liked the style very much,it just sucked me in. Matty and Priya were amazing characters. I liked their relationship and it felt so real. They were together for only eight days,but they lived a lifetime together. This book has a really important message that we shouldn't take anything for granted because maybe it's their last day on Earth.
Overall,I adore this book. It has everything I love. Space,love,quirky charaters and an important message. If you love books that will leave you without breath and that will stay in your heart forever then this is the perfect book for you. Because this book will hurt you. It will crush your heart and you will be crushed for days,but in the end I'm sure this book will become your favorite one. This book will teach you about what's really important in your life and that sometimes we should live like we have only eight days on planet Earth.

To read the whole review go to pobesnelabubamara.blogspot.rs :)

[Giteeka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like a part of me died when I read this book. (In the best way possible of course) The plot twist was just, something else. When the thing that happened happened, I could not read the words on the next page because I was crying too much. There are many times when I feel like books deserve a sequel but in my opinion, if the author wrote another book to add to this one, the magic in the story would just vanish. I give five stars to a lot of books, but there are only a few books or series that make it into my V.I.B list. (Very important book) This book was one of them.

[Sultan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daha yaxşı, daha safca yazıla bilərdi.

[Lelia Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, Eight Days on Planet Earth is a look at how a teenaged boy copes with the downturns in his life, including his father's abandonment of the family, and finds hope in the most unlikely of places. When his dad runs off with his own brother's wife, Matty reacts with a bit of a stiff upper lip and some disdain for his mom's apparent inability to accept the situation. As far as Matty can tell, his dad has been less than a great family man for a long time but he's not about to show his deep hurt. On top of that, he has pretty much zero chance of developing anything with his secret crush and he and his mom are having a rough road financially. What should be that wonderful last summer before senior year is turning out to be anything but.

Then he finds an almost otherworldly girl in the field next to the farm, the field where a UFO landed years before, and Priya is a puzzle on many levels beginning with why she's in the field in the first place. When Priya tells him she's waiting for the spaceship to come back for her, he certainly doesn't know what to think but he's drawn to her. Priya appears to need looking after and she's the perfect distraction from his woes but she becomes much more to him. Matty does feel a need to protect this strange and wonderful girl but, to his surprise, a deep emotional connection begins to develop.

Those eight days are slowmoving but they also pass in a flash and the ending tore my heart out while, at the same time, it gave me a glimpse of the fine young man Matty is destined to become. This is a story of hurt and hope and love of all kinds and I'm very glad to have made Matty's acquaintance.

[Zili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Eight Days on Planet Earth is extremely poignant and thought provoking. It's one of those stories that will stay with you.

I honestly thought I had an idea where the book was heading but it turns out I was completely wrong. The plot was totally unexpected and so emotional. I was expecting an alien YA romance but what we get is so much more.

Eight Days on Planet Earth is a dramatic coming of age story with a twist. Matty is at a crossroad. That turning point where he's not quite and adult but is faced with some very adult situations. His life has taken a dramatic turn as his parents marriage falls apart. So when he meets mystery girl Priya he's immediately intrigued by her.

I really don't want spoil any of this quirky story so I can't say too much about Priya. Matty is instantly drawn to her but worries that she's another UFO chaser like his father - he really doesn't want to be anything like his father!

The concept is unique and full of drama. I'm often irritated by stories where everything has a hidden meaning, or when you have to spend too much time trying to delve through too many metaphors. BUT I really enjoyed analysing everything here and loved the combination of YA romance and bigger drama. There are some unsettling elements with rather traumatic issues but Cat Jordan does a wonderful job explaining things in an approachable manner whilst making me ugly cry.

4 Stars in my Sky!

[emma (thehapabookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still reeling from the sudden disappearance of his father, Matty discovers a mysterious girl in a field where alien's have said to have landed fifty years ago. Priya is beautiful and sweet, and claims she's waiting in the field for a spaceship to take her back home.

When I started Eight Days on Planet Earth I was expecting a cliché, for Priya to be a Manic Pixie Dream Girl or to embody the Sexy Born Yesterday trope, especially since she isn't even named on the back summary and only referred to there as “the mysterious girl in the field”. I didn't have high hopes, but the book definitely wasn't bad. The first half felt lukewarm, with the magic alien sex scene being a cringe worthy moment due to Priya's naivety. As the book progressed into the last third, however, it gained an emotional edge the caught me by surprise. It didn't fully redeem itself, but Cat Jordan left an ending that I won't soon forget.

[USOM · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I have such mixed feelings here on this one. For one there is a ton of ableist language, even in the Goodreads summary. Secondly, the whole dealing with mental health was muddy for me. First off, you can tell from the get go that Matty thinks this girl is 'unhinged' and because of that, I think it just feels a little decisive about her condition - which doesn't become clear till later. So for a while we are really not sure what her story is. Did I like some things? Yes. I liked how Jordan explores the topic of belief and disbelief, as well as faith. I also liked the way Jordan looks at family and how we heal. But overall, it just left a weird feeling in my stomach.

Disclaimer: I was given an arc of this book from a friend.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very different book from talented YA author Cat Jordan, this one takes the perspective of a teenage boy as he experiences the most significant week (eight days, to be precise) of his life. The structure - each day a separate section, divided further by specific times - really works. It feels like a countdown because you know that there's only eight days, so the ticking clock builds suspense.

The story is wholly original, yet coincidentally well-timed with the blockbuster Netflix show "Stranger Things." Like Mike, Matty finds and becomes enthralled with a bizarre girl who shows up in his life and rapidly becomes the center of his days. I turned the pages just as rapidly to find out what happens! I have no idea what it's like to be a teenager these days, but I think this book is a great read that many young people would enjoy.

[Laura's Book Addiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Priya taught me in just a few days that even if you can't see something, you can believe in it. Whether that's life on another planet, faith in a god we can't see, or simply love, it doesn't need to be proved to exist in order for your heart to know that it does!!

Having read Cat's previous novel and loving it I was excited to start this one. I can say without a doubt that Eight Days On Planet Earth definitely didn't go as I was expecting it to BUT I ended up completely adoring it!!

The story is told in eight parts over eight days. With Matty narrating, it's rare that I enjoy books solely with a male PoV but I was completely pulled in to his & Priya's story. My heart felt full reading this magical universe that Cat created and my heart broke at the ending. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried!! #ibelieve

[Gabby]

22/02/17 — I know you shouldn't judge it too bad without reading this, but this smells of the "manic pixie dream girl" trope. Or is this just some sort of magic realism?? I don't know, I'm confused...so I guess it's got me in getting me to read to find out.

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. Goodness.

I freaking loved this book. It was YA, yet it was not annoying. It was beautifully written. So moving. This book really got to me.

And please don’t worry, it’s not Science Fiction if that’s not your thing. There was some SciFi talk but you will be ok.

Really a fabulous book.