Book Review: I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
Genre: Post Apocalyptic
Release Date: 22nd October 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:

Seven days. Seven days. The Earth might end in seven days.

When news stations start reporting that Earth has been contacted by a planet named Alma, the world is abuzz with rumors that the alien entity is giving mankind only few days to live before they hit the kill switch on civilization.

For high school truant Jesse Hewitt, though, nothing has ever felt permanent. Not the guys he hooks up with. Not the jobs his underpaid mom works so hard to hold down. Life has dealt him one bad blow after another — so what does it matter if it all ends now? Cate Collins, on the other hand, is desperate to use this time to find the father she’s never met, the man she grew up hearing wild stories about, most of which she didn’t believe. And then there’s Adeem Khan. While coding and computer programming have always come easily to him, forgiveness doesn’t. He can’t seem to forgive his sister for leaving, even though it’s his last chance.

With only seven days to face their truths and right their wrongs, Jesse, Cate, and Adeem’s paths collide even as their worlds are pulled apart.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from I Hope You Get This Message, but it was probably something different to what I got. I think what I wanted from this book was something heart warming that takes place during the end of the world, and instead the characters all leave their families once they learn what is happening.

I Hope You Get This Message jumps around three points of view, and I only really found one of them interesting. I think two of the POVs could have been combined to make the book drag less. It’s a big book, and there wasn’t enough going on to justify that high of a page count.

I really enjoyed the point of view of the third character, who didn’t leave his mother when she needed him. He’s also gay, and went on a couple of dates with another guy, so I appreciated that representation! He was honestly the only interesting part of the whole book, as I feel like his story was the most fleshed out and I actually cared about what he was going through.

I really feel like this book should have either been more action-packed or more heartfelt (or both!) considering it’s covering the run up to the apocalypse and the planet potentially being wiped out. I wouldn’t recommend picking this one up if you’re looking for an interesting sci-fi novel, unfortunately!