The Very Real World of Emily Adams is an intriguing, unique science fiction book with romance and important lessons thrown in. Emily Adam is a young woman in her early twenties who’s seen a lot of difficulties in her life, including suffering from anxiety and depression. After her boyfriend breaks her arm, she leaves him but feels like she isn’t worth anything. This brings her to thoughts of suicide, and the reader gets many insight into the mind of someone suffering. Thankfully, Emily is saved by a loveable character, Lipstick Rick.

As the story progresses, Emily learns her own self-worth, and that one must never judge a person by looks alone. I love this positive message in the book, but I felt like too much time was spent inside the head of Emily as she worked through all of her challenges. I appreciated the insights, but at times these internal conversations got to be a bit much and I found myself wanting to skip ahead to the action. Because of the long internal commentary, the beginning of the book was a slow start, but once you got further into it, I found the story to be exciting and fast-paced.

The author did a wonderful job building the science fiction world, making you love the “good guys” and hate the villains. I also thoroughly enjoyed the surprises from characters as their life and purpose became fully exposed. By the last third of the book, I had to stay up late into the night to finish it because I could not stop until I knew what would happen. And while the action was thrilling, Emily Adams still carried a message of hope for anyone that’s ever doubted themselves and their worth.

There were some editing issues in the book that were at times distracting, but overall, The Very Real World of Emily Adam was a fascinating and fun read, with characters that will stick with you long after the final page is read.