REVIEW: "The Life Below" by Alexandra Monir
Though I am neither adventurous nor physically fit — nor, even, brave — I am paradoxically obsessed with action movies. And, more specifically, action movies featuring disasters.
For some reason, I love seeing what people do when the chips are down. How they handle the stress and strain inherent to facing what always seems to be all but certain death.
Despite my penchant for these movies, though, I would never endeavor to be the one doing the saving.
The Bruce Willis, if you will.
The guy using not just his brawn but also his oddly unique understanding of physics to knock helicopters out of the sky with a car.
The guy fearlessly facing down certain death on an asteroid, sacrificing himself not just for his loved ones, but for all of mankind.
The guy who, despite all that he is facing, somehow has time to develop a perfectly irreverent catchphrase.
Obviously, there are lots of reasons why I wouldn’t be the Bruce Willis - many of which I have already mentioned above. But I think the most compelling reason that, despite watching so many disaster movies, I have never imagined myself in the position of the saver is because the ones doing the saving are always so unlike me in pretty much every way.
They are almost exclusively male.
They are pretty much always fit.
They are relatively consistently world-worn and savvy.
They are always undeniably brave.
And perhaps it’s for this reason: because the person — or, more factually, the duo — doing the saving fit hardly any of the above-listed criteria, that I could more effectively imagine myself in the position of the protagonists in The Life Below, the second book in Alexandra Monir’s The Final Six series.
Note - Before you read the upcoming plot summary — and, especially before you read this novel — you must read “The Final Six”. You will absolutely be lost if you try to dive into this series at this point.
So, if you’ve read The Final Six, proceed.
When we left Leo and Naomi — our lovelorn protagonists — at the end of The Final Six, they were each in a position of peril.
Naomi was in a spaceship, on her way to Europa, with 5 other recruits who, while competent in their own rights, were not the one person she would have wanted to be heading there with: Leo.
Not only was she not sharing a ship with Leo, but she was also resigning herself to never seeing him again, as her ticket to Europa is one way.
Little did she know, though, that Leo would soon be heading to Europa as well.
Shortly after her departure, Leo joined forces with Greta Wagner, a scientist who became aware of the misdeeds of those at the helm of the international space organization that had developed the Final Six mission — the ISTC — decided to mount her own mission to save humankind. With Wagner’s help, Leo had the chance to leave behind the no-longer-dependable crust of Earth and head off to Europa in a one-man pod.
As this book opens, we see Naomi and her fellow final six-ers settling into their new life onboard the ship and Leo, preparing for and embarking on his journey.
Unfortunately for both of the protagonists to whom we have grown so close, however, nothing is as it seems — which, really, we should be used to by now because it’s pretty much par for this course in this series.
Though Leo wants to trust Greta, he’s still nursing the figurative burns he acquired when he blindly trusted the ISTC and is uneager to make the same mistake twice. Despite his knowledge that his trust might be misplaced, he isn’t willing to do anything that might sacrifice his opportunity to chase after Naomi — because he (in a very Romeo and Juliet way) cannot fathom living on a planet she isn’t inhabiting.
Like Leo, Naomi knows that the ISTC cannot be trusted. And because she so recently discovered that her trust had been misplaced, she is hesitant to trust her other team members. And this mistrust is only heightened when, one night, someone on this ship detaches and jettisons the communications antenna, eliminating the Final Six’s ability to contact Earth.
This leaves both of our protagonists in an unenviable position: Leo, alone on his way to Europa with no way to contact Naomi. And Naomi, in a ship with 5 other people, none of whom she wholly trusts, proceeding forward with a mission that has appeared ill-fated from the start.
Much as she did in the first book of this series, Monir was surprisingly successful in making what could be a technical, jargon-rich mess into something comprehensible and, more importantly, heart-wrenching.
Having developed an attachment to both Naomi and Leo in the first novel in this series, it was surprisingly easy to dive back into this hopefully-not-prophetic world on the brink of disaster.
But this book was not without its challenges.
Despite Monir’s clear prowess and effective character development, there were small periods of lag in this novel.
However, I’m not sure this was…avoidable.
Just as the tight quarters of the spaceships in which our saviors made their fateful trip to Europa felt confining to them, these tight spaces also seemed to limit the narrative scope of this novel in a way that the first was not.
For portions of the book, the action felt smaller.
Less important.
Less sweeping and epic.
Which I will admit sounds ridiculous considering that our protagonists were traversing the universe, seeking to set up a colony on a far distant moon. But, somehow, the action and the consequences and the direness of their situation just didn’t reach the reader as effective in portions of this novel — specifically, during the logically and factually lengthy space journey.
Despite this area of concern, this novel also had an unexpected strength: The title.
I usually don’t comment on titles in reviews – in fact, I think this might be the inaugural occasion of my doing so. Generally, I think most titles are pretty forgettable – and, often, not too important to the story.
But I feel compelled to comment on this one because it feels… more profound and meaningful than usual
*Spoiler Alert*
In the several days since finishing this novel, I have thought back on this title a number of times. And, the more I do, the more it seems pregnant with meaning.
Initially, I thought The Life Below was referring to the life the Final Six left behind – the life on Earth that, even on a crippled planet, exists below a curtain made up of the stars and planets and sun that comprise our galaxy.
But then, *Really this is a spoiler* I realized that, while my initial read was…true…I suppose, that wasn’t all the title meant.
It also means the life below the icy surface of Europa.
The weird, alien life for which Naomi and Leo and the rest of the team were frustratingly ill-prepared.
And when I thought even more – fueled by a robust mixture of caffeine and vodka – I started to really appreciate how the “life” in the title being interpretable as both human life 👨 and alien life 👽 really ties these two seemingly divergent life-forms together.
Because we are all life – which is a much more philosophical thought than I would generally expect to pull from some YA dystopian fiction.
And since part of what we are left to ponder as this novel draws to a close is which life is most important — ours here on Earth or the life already on Europa that our arrival would necessarily disrupt — selecting a title that induces readers to think about the hierarchy of living things is exceedingly appropriate.
Because maybe the ones doing the saving here are the ones doing the exterminating there. And is that really okay?
*End Spoilers*
All factors considered, this novel was an extremely successful continuation of a series that begs to be read.
It earned 4 out of 5 cocktails.
Having seen how fearless Naomi and Leo were in the face of all the struggles this novel included, I’m feeling extra wimpy. But, if I’m being honest, I have to admit that I really don’t think I would be as brave as I would need to be to do what they do in this novel. How about you? Would you be willing — or, really, able — to risk it all and travel into space to save mankind? Tell me about it in the comments, below.
Want to see what I pick up next? Subscribe to updates in the sidebar to the right and follow me on Goodreads to keep up with my reading and drinking.
* Drink. Read. Repeat. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an associate, we may earn commissions, at no cost to you, from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com
