The Road to Roswell has been difficult for me to review because while I enjoyed it when I was reading it, I had to remind myself to pick it back up. I expected to love it, and I feel like I’m being unfair to the book when I complain that I only liked it. Connie Willis’s To Say Nothing of the Dog is one of my all time favorite books, and Roswell has some similarities. In both books, people are trying to find something and they aren’t entirely sure it’s findable. Some of the characters are obstacles because they have a very specific world view. And both books have some characters who are trying to do the right thing, even if it means breaking the rules that usually govern their behavior.
Level-headed Francie and quick on his feet Wade are rational problem solvers in an extremely unusual situation. They are helped and hindered by people who see the world through their own distinctive lens. When Francie was trying to bring attention to the fact that she had been KIDNAPPED by an ALIEN, she was either dismissed as a nut, or dismissed because her experience didn’t match the true believers’ preconceptions. Francie spends a lot of the book being frustrated by people who won’t listen, or who won’t communicate honestly. Along the way, the alien they have named Indy pulls in other people (literally).
I think where The Road to Roswell got stuck in “like not love” territory is that one of the secondary characters irritated everyone, including me and the way Indy learned to speak English was more annoying than charming. The things I didn’t like are my personal issues, and not broader issues with the book.
CW: abduction, alien abduction, conspiracy theorists, running from the law, interrogation.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Random House Publishing and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
