Olivia \u0026 the Gentleman from Outer Space by Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev

Olivia \u0026 the Gentleman from Outer Space Reviews

• 
  Ankit Saxena

  This is an amazing work of imagination in Sci-fic genre. It is a story of a 6 year old girl who fantasizes over the treasure maps and always wanted to know what it means as she couldn't resolve the mystery by then. After some years, one night, she saw a space ship landed in her farm ruining her crop. Came out one boy named Galax who came from a "million billion trillion” miles away into space.
  Galax need someone to find Black Ruby, the reason of his survival and Olivia wanted it for the purpose of healing her father from diseases. They went on to different planets and the hometown of Galax too and then in the search of deep sea where they will find black ruby by reading the map that only Olivia can, but also saving themselves from the threat of Black priests.
  
  Overall, this is a very gripping and engaging work by Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev.
  
  
  My NetGalley review
• 
  Renae | Renae Vs Books

  Thank you NetGalley for sending the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
  
  "Olivia and the Gentleman from Outer Space," follows a young 13-year old girl named Olivia who lives in Kansas with her dying father. One fateful evening, a spaceship lands in the wheat field behind Olivia's house and she meets a time traveler named Galex. Through Galex and her father, Olivia learns that she is not a random girl from Kansas but the Princess of Blue Earth. Olivia also learns that it is her destiny to find the Black Ruby and save her father, however, she will have to face terrifying foes known as the Black Priests, who also want to use the Black Ruby not to heal but to corrupt.
  
  There are some positive themes in this story. It is ultimately a story of courage, friendship, and love. Olivia has to face some scary moments: time travel, space exploration, evil priests. She also has to face these foes with the knowledge that if she fails, her father will die of cancer. It takes a lot of courage to face such high stakes with no guarantees.
  
  I have some mixed feelings about this story. I have two children in the target audience for this work and neither of them cared for the story. It was too on the nose. Death in children's stories have some nuance as a rule, but in this story it is jarring. This is a high stakes story but the moment a problem occurs, the next sentence is the solution. There is no buildup, no feeling that all hope is lost. Even the bad guys closing in moment where Black Priest surrounded them from all sides fell flat.
  
  "Olivia and the Gentleman from Outer Space," is too long to be a picture book, but the characters and plot are not developed enough to be a compelling middle grade.
• 
  Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev

  My sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism children’s book comes out April 11th, 2023! To my mind it has always been “The Little Prince meets A Wrinkle In Time.” But with my own flair! I was reading a lot of physics, astrophysics, astronomy-space books during the time I worked on it. My desire was to share my love for space and physics WITH CHILDREN! Time travel too! My hope is kids would be inspired by it and not give up their dreams of being astronauts, scientists, engineers, time-travelers, etc.! While writing, I had to go back and re-read children’s books as well just to make sure the inner child in me hadn’t died! In any case, I’m very happy to say I loved working on something so hopeful, magical, and whimsical as Olivia & the Gentleman from Outer Space. Hope you all get a chance to read it with your kids in the spring! (Middle Grade Children’s Book, for ages 8-12.) **ARCs will be available soon on NetGalley and BookSirens!**
• 
  livquebooks

  [Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC for an honest review]
  
  2.5 ⭐
  
  My general thoughts:
  
  The book is very cute and has a nice moral. It is supposed to teach children about the importance of friendship and make them curious about our Galaxy. I think a younger audience (7-11 years old) would be interested in reading this book alone or maybe together with their parents.
  
  I also really liked the friendship between Olivia and Galax. Definitely a good example for all children as their friendship was full of mutual respect and warm feelings.
  
  Personally, I expected it to be a novel for older children (12-14 years old) and because of that I was disappointed with the number of descriptions and lack of plot development. It all felt just a bit too quick.
• 
  Ekta

  A young girl meets a space traveler who can help her father with his terminal illness. In order to get the remedy, the girl must go with the traveler deep into the universe to help him bring it back to Earth before it’s too late. Author Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev gives readers a sweet but ultimately unsatisfying book that follows a series of incidents instead of forming a cohesive plot in Olivia and the Gentleman from Outer Space.
  
  Twelve-year-old Olivia Fierce lives on a farm in Kansas with her father who is dying from cancer. Even though Olivia hopes for the best for her father’s health, she can see him struggling every day. When a spaceship lands in the fields behind their home, though, Olivia learns the unusual occurrence could bring back the cure.
  
  The pilot of the spaceship, Galax, needs Olivia’s help to retrieve the Black Ruby, a legendary jewel that has healing powers. Galax says the Black Ruby has the potential to cure Olivia’s dad’s cancer, which decides the matter for her. Even though she’ll have to travel “a million billion trillion” miles into space, according to Galax, the bending of physics will allow her to come back in time to help her father. To see him healthy again, Olivia will do anything.
  
  She climbs into Galax’s spaceship, and the two are off through wormholes and into invisible oceans. The pair meet kindhearted souls on a planet where time stands still, and they keep an eye out for the evil Black Priests who also want the gem. Along the way, Olivia learns she is the princess of Blue Earth—the name given this planet by other-worldly travelers—and she alone can read the treasure map that will take her and Galax straight to the ruby. They just have to make sure the Black Priests don’t beat them to it.
  
  Author Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev builds a narrative that includes a sweet, almost deferential relationship between Olivia and Galax. The two travel side by side and support one another through all their ups and downs. Mikheyev offers several evergreen life lessons in the book, such as the necessity of close friends and how family members always believe in one another.
  
  As an adventure story, however, the book doesn’t work. Olivia and Galax never find themselves in grave danger. They also never run into any serious obstacles keeping them from their goal. Their travels take them to interesting locations, but at times these scenes feel more like an itinerary rather than a well-plotted novel. Random facts about animals and the world thrown into the book feel more like it’s being used as a textbook in those moments, and the promise of the treasure map that Olivia finds or the threat of the Black Priests is severely underwhelming.
  
  Galax’s respectful behavior toward Olivia is refreshing, but their relationship overall is somewhat confusing. Readers may not be sure whether Galax is Olivia’s tour guide, bodyguard, chauffeur, or something else. Publicity materials tout this novel as perfect for fans of A Wrinkle in Time or The Little Prince, but the book doesn’t have the same sense of urgency as other adventure stories.
• 
  Jennifer

  When six-year-old Olivia finds a glowing treasure map that only she can see, she has no idea what it means. But seven years later, when a spaceship lands in the wheatfields behind the farmhouse where she lives with her dad, she discovers she has an important destiny to fulfill. According to Galax, the boy in the ship, she is the Princess of Blue Earth. Only she can lead the pair to the Black Ruby, which has the power to heal anything—including her father’s cancer. The pair set out into space where they explore magical and ethereal beauty. But on their quest, they face threats from six Black Priests who could take everything away. Only friendship has the power to transcend time and space.
  I really enjoyed reading this short book! Of course, it's sci-fi, and the concept is far-fetched. But it prompted me to dream. I found myself imagining what it would be like to travel to those far-away places with Olivia and Galax.
  In places, the book feels a little preachy. And I noticed a few plot holes where a destination was mentioned once and then skipped over. However, I really enjoyed the message of this book. The themes of friendship, hope, teamwork, courage, self-worth, and love touched my emotions. I would definitely read more novels by the author.
  Some of my favorite quotes:
  “We all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible. Told to act our age. Told to grow up, for God’s sake. And you know why we were told that? Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they’d allowed to whither in themselves”— Robert McCammon
  I suppose that’s why children grow up— to discover new things and to teach adults new ways.
  It’s a home because there’s love in it.
  “I am famous.”“But how?” I asked. “I’m famous to me.”
  “But what if your life isn’t a good story?” He thought for a moment. “Well, then—” he began. “It is why it’s important to not only tell good stories, but to lead a life worth telling stories about.”
  There’s no point in doubting yourself. You are what you’ll become. You’ll be what you always were: a majestic princess.
• 
  Rebecca Reeder

  This middle-grade book is a clean story of adventure that achieves more of an elementary school interest level despite the serious basis of the plot. Six-year-old Olivia must find a mystical black ruby to cure her father’s cancer. Fortunately, Olivia has the assistance of her new friend Galax who arrived in Kansas on a spaceship. Although Galax has magical powers, he can not transmit them to or do the saving work for Olivia.. He can, however, assist her in her quest.. This reinforces the value of friendship with others who are different.. Olivia also seems to represent the wonder that children feel in every day life and their vivid imaginations. For example, when Olivia discovers a mystical map in an indecipherable language, her father sees only a blank piece of paper that blew into her hands like trash from a school yard. The cover design reminded me of vintage movie posters for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and this book does have that space travel/ space alien element. The author, however, compares his book to The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a famous novella known for its space travel with themes of death, friendship, and love. For me, that seems like a very ambitious comp title. As for a rating, it was a 3.75 for me since problems were resolved so immediately that the book lacked the suspense or sustained conflict to hold the attention of older children who read this on their own; my rating is rounded to a 4 to fit the star system. Parents who read this book to younger children will not have to worry about violence or bad language. Thank you NetGalley and the author for the e-book in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Naomi Dumitru

  At a spa surrounded by luxurious waterfalls and decided to read this on my kindle. I found myself the nap room that had a water bed, and off to town I went. It’s a fun light hearted warming story about friendship. The friendship between Olivia & Galax. Though they are from completely different worlds, they understand each other on a deep cosmic level. The quest to help one other is beautiful. I especially loved the descriptive details when it came to space, color and nature.
  
  “We passed through every color of the rainbow, burst from the clouds, and blasted our way straight toward the looming planet.”
  
  “A vast desert, full of rolling mounds of sand, with palm trees and various other shrubs growing in patches of green here and there. In the sky, there were rainbow rings. They were casting colorful shadows onto the planet, making the white sand appear rainbow-like at certain angles. And floating in the midst of that sky, shining brighter than Earth’s sun, was a white sun, ten times the size of ours.”
  
  “I think that sometimes it’s not just the Black Ruby that gives me life, but kindness. Maybe in some secret way, you have a treasure hidden in you that you don’t know about. Who knows? Maybe you’re entirely composed of ruby dust.”
  
  Reminded me of a futuristic story of Peter Pan and Wendy.
• 
  Laura

  This is the story of a journey to find a cure for Olivia's father, who is dying of cancer.
  
  Or rather, that is what it appears to be about.
  
  The book is every heavy handed, making sure that you understand that friendship and working together are very important.
  
  I only managed to finish reading this book because I wanted to see what would finally happen in the end.
  
  Olivia and Galax or supposed to be racing to find this cure, they stop, along the way to jump around on the moon. (Galax is an alien who meet Olivia and needs her to help him find this cure).
  
  I almost felt like shouting at them to hurry up.
  
  Since it is self-published, I think that perhaps a good editor could have helped tighten it up.
  
  The concept is good. It is just the execution that falls flat. And Galax saying the same thing over and over, and not disclosing information, and stuff that is important, and might have made the story flow better.
  
  Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
  
  Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest reivew.
• 
  Sirah

  Olivia's dad is dying of lung cancer, so when a mysterious being from outer space arrives, Olivia takes the chance to hunt for the black ruby that can save her father's life. Olivia and Galax travel through darkness and light, danger and friendship to find the ruby, but it turns out to be quite different from what they were expecting.
  
  In some ways, this book reminded me of Le Petit Prince; there's the jetting through the universe in the pursuit of love as well as the creative imagery and poetic wording. This is a rather atmospheric book that takes pains to create fluffy pictures out of dreamy language for a solid mood. It still has some amateur mistakes, however, that distracted me, and there are a lot of things that simply aren't explained. Why is Olivia's hair so long? Who are these black priests anyway? What are the mermaids about? What happened to Galax's family? Overall, this was a cozy read that inspired lovely dreams when read at bedtime, but I'd love to see it developed just a bit more.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
• 
  Nanuska_153

  Olivia meets Galax an alien that has healing powers and takes her on an adventure to find the source of his power to help save him and her father. I liked the premise of the book but the relationship between the two main characters made me feel uncomfortable, hinted more towards romance than friendship and it's not clear how old Galax is, sometimes he feels like an adult, sometimes like a not very clever child. Even if they are the same age it felt to me somehow more sexualised than it should be, even if nothing explicit happens. In fairness to the author I noted that I'm the first reviewer to have this problem, so it might be a problem with my perception of the relationship. It's obvious that the author is a fan of The Little Prince, but not everyone can be Saint-Exupéry and it just feels full of forced quotable moments.
  
  Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC
• 
  Sophie

  This was a quick middle-grade read. The blurb described it as a mix of "A Wrinkle in Time" and "The Little Prince". Having never read the latter, I can't comment on it, but this story did remind me in some ways of "A Wrinkle in Time". It was written more simply, however, and felt like it was more fantastical. Not that "A Wrinkle in Time" didn't have any fantasy elements, but you'll understand what I mean if you've read "A Wrinkle in Time" and then you read this book. Overall, I didn't connect with the characters much, but it was a fun little story.
  
  I received an e-ARC from BookSirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
• 
  Marlene

  A cute fun scifi/fantasy for young readers. It's about adventure, friendship, and not being afraid to do things. Although the flow of the story was a bit lacking for older readers, it was still fun.
  I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
• 
  Annarella

  An enchanting and well written novel. Great characters and good storytelling.
  Recommended.
  Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
• 
  Gloria

  Olivia teams up with an alien to find the Ruby stone a save her father. Cute story. Geared for young adults.
• 
  OpenedBooks

  Set up with an exciting plot idea this book had every chance to be grand. Unfortunately, everything was just mediocre. The character development could have been more exciting. And because friendship was so important to the plot, it should have been more in-depth. The climax of the story, fighting the Black Priests, was non-existent and anticlimactic. Simply running away and still ending up with the grand prize just seemed too easy. Overall, I was expecting more.
• 
  Kristi Drillien

  This book has an interesting premise (and a pretty cover), but I’m afraid it falls apart in execution. A lot of the story is kind of muddled, especially in the details. Olivia is called the Princess of Blue Earth, but I never did understand what makes her a princess exactly. Her dad doesn’t seem to be a king of anything, and maybe her rare ability to read the treasure map to the black ruby is what makes her a princess, but it wasn’t really explained. The gentleman from outer space, who might have been about Olivia’s age, but it’s hard to say, tends to glow in different ways depending on mood, physical status, etc. (like the alien in the movie Home), which was an interesting addition to the story. However, somehow his glowing didn’t attract the attention of the bad guys, though Olivia could often see his face, hands, and even chest glowing through/inside his space suit. And they’re in a hurry to bring the black ruby back before Olivia’s dad dies, but somehow they have time to stop on the moon for sightseeing, not once, but twice.
  
  I didn’t realize until after I’d started reading it that it is self-published, though I’m not against self-published books by any means and am a self-published author myself. I think the book needed more editing, someone to ask important questions (like why does the author write as if Olivia would literally float away on the moon? There is some gravity) and notice some of the more nonsensical dialog and narration moments. The author seemed to put a lot more effort into the settings, and while his imagination does come through, and I appreciate the brilliant visuals in some of the locations, I would have preferred a more cohesive plot and more developed characters.
  
  Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to review.
• 
  ywanderingreads

  We follow 13 year old Olivia who is living in Kansas with her father. She met a time traveler, Galex, when his spaceship landed behind her home. Olivia soon learned that she was no ordinary girl and has to fulfil a destiny set out for her.
  
  The whole story is very cute and engaging. I can see alot of curious questions being raised by kids who read this. I feel that the story focuses on teaching children about friendship and love. Olivia and Galex’s bond is definitely very heartwarming despite their obvious differences.
  
  This is quite a short story catered for kids so don’t expect there to be complicated plot developments. It may be a quick read for adults and you might think that there is a lack of plot but I find the pacing perfect for kids to read.
  
  Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the arc.
• 
  Anne Kavcic

  What a sweet story! Definitely for younger readers but full of imaginative details about space travel, and having a gentle theme of kindness and friendship. Nice, too, to have a 13-year-old girl fascinated by science and geography. I received an advance copy and freely leave this honest review.