Today it is my pleasure to bring you my review of Space Academy by Hannah Hopkins.

It’s the year 2100. Earth is dying. A young woman, Elsie, has risked everything to get her newborn son, Will, aboard ‘The Mayflower’ – a spaceship that will transport a select number of people to a new planet they can call home. Elsie’s luck takes a turn when she discovers the captain of ‘The Mayflower’ is an old friend. He allows her to board with her son, giving them a place on the luxurious Floor One, where they live amongst the most honoured of ‘The Mayflower’s’ passengers. 
Thirteen years later, and Will is ready to start school at Space Academy, an institute specialising in subjects such as Alien Studies, Technology, and Rocket Control. While a pupil there, Will starts to uncover secrets about his father’s death, becoming wrapped in a mystery that he and his friends must solve if they are to have any hope of saving humanity from the threat that lies in wait. 
Lose yourself in this brilliantly addictive novel as it takes you on a journey through the stars. But be warned – you might be surprised by what you find.

After reading Temi Oh’s Do You Dream of Terra-Two? and really enjoying it, I was keen to read another novel with a sci-fi edge to it. Space Academy ticked all of the boxes!

Space Academy follows the story of Will, Emily, Finley and Lois, four students at the Space Academy, a school set up specifically to educate the younger generation in preparation for settling on a new planet.

Earth was ravaged by wars and pollution, and in 2100 the Split occurred. The Mayflower, a large, technologically advanced space ship leaves Earth with the most intelligent (and wealthy) people onboard in search of a new world for them to settle on. Those left behind were known as the Forgottens, and it was no longer allowed to talk about them on The Mayflower 13 years later.

Wills life on The Mayflower is one of privilege, something that his mother would never have expected when she frantically tried to get them onboard The Mayflower with no ticket 13 years previously. It is expected that he will attend the Space Academy, and when he finds out he has a place he looks forward to starting afresh. He knows he’s different from the other kids on the first floor, and he’s looking forward to making new friends. He meets Emily and Finley on the transporter, and they quickly become friends. All three of them live on different floors, with Finley coming from the seventh floor. He is the first child from the lower floors to be admitted to the Space Academy and he feels out of place from the moment he arrives. Will and Emily, and later Lois, finally give him a sense of belonging that he so desires whilst he gains an education he never thought possible.

Of course, what is a school without a mystery! Space Academy is full of mystery, something that the four teenagers must solve if humanity is to survive.

Space Academy is great YA novel. It’s got some great characters, I loved the space setting and the premise of The Mayflower, and I wasn’t completely sure how the mystery was going to play out. If I was to have any criticism it would be that there maybe wasn’t enough information provided about certain parts of the story. However this would be easily rectified as I actually think this would be great as part of series – I would definitely be happy to read more about these characters, more about The Mayflower and its journey, and I would be fascinated to discover what happened to the Forgottens. Fingers crossed that Hannah Hopkins will indulge us all in the future!

Thank you to Hannah Hopkins and Rachel at Rachels Random Resources for asking me to be a part of this blog tour, and for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Purchase Links 

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Academy-Hannah-Hopkins-ebook/dp/B0883G654X

US – https://www.amazon.com/Space-Academy-Hannah-Hopkins-ebook/dp/B0883G654X

Author Bio

In 2017, Hannah Hopkins released a self-published novel entitled ‘The Split’; the story of four teenagers navigating life after Earth as they journey through space to a new planet. Two years later, the book was picked up by ‘The Conrad Press’ and re-vamped as ‘Space Academy,’ with a new cover, new title and new additions to the story. ‘Space Academy’ was released in 2020, kickstarting Hannah’s career as a writer. 

 Hannah is currently busy writing a historical fiction novel with a feminist twist. She spends the rest of her time working at a University and caring for her two young children in the UK.

Social Media Links

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