Eight Days on Planet Earth by Cat Jordan (review)

Matty and his father used to share an obsession with astronomy, boosted by living next to a field where, on the night of his father's birth, something landed in a fiery crash and was taken away by the government the following morning. However, when his father becomes increasingly addicted to the online fame he garners through a website dedicated to conspiracy theories and UFO sightings, even to the point of hooking up with some of his fans, Matty turns away from both his father and his former passion. Then, on the day his father finally leaves Matty and his mom, a girl named Priya appears in the field, claiming to be from another planet and waiting for a spaceship to take her home. Matty is at first skeptical but soon enough smitten; even if she's crazy, she's vulnerable and sexy, and his own emotional and hormonal vulnerabilities tangle him up enough to want to believe her story and overlook the clear signs of Priya's illness. While the details of Priya's escape from the hospital and six-day stay in an open field require a significant suspension of disbelief, Matty's emotional arc is much more credible. His petulant, irresponsible and perhaps even exploitative denial of her symptoms replays his desire to believe in his father even against evidence, and he is caring enough to want to please Priya by showing her some of the best experiences he knows on planet Earth. For this, and because her illness is terminal, all is forgiven, and readers willing to go 30,000 miles up will share Matty's takeaway that perhaps it is belief in what we can't see that makes our time on Earth bearable. KC