172 Hours on the Moon

172 Hours on the Moon was an interesting novel. It was full of suspense, thrills, and horror.
The author crafted a well written plot and an incredibly thrilling novel.
The book starts of on earth as we are introduced to the characters and then moves to the moon were things get really creepy.
There were twist and turns that were not predictble and surprises all the way until the end of the novel. I would recommend this novel to fans of horror and suspense.

What a ride this book was. I spent most of the time reading with my heart racing and a great sense of unease. I ended up finishing at 2 in the morning and had to keep my bedside lamp on in order to sleep. I didn't find the ending particularly satisfying, but I suppose it's a risk you run with horror/thrillers.

I find space terrifying in general anyway, but 172 Hours really brings it to another level. There's just something about the soundless, motionless void of space that chills me to the core. Harstad harnesses the natural creepy feeling of space, the moon especially, and multiplies it by about 100 with the addition of some unknown malicious entity. I like that little hints as to what's on the moon are sprinkled throughout, but it's still unknown enough that it packs a punch with its anonymity right up until Harstad wants you to know. Although, other people may figure it out before the reveal, I think the idea isn't something overused so it's still creepy whether you know or not.

172 Hours is definitely something I'll pass along to others. I loved the thrill of the read, even if I didn't like the ending. I'll concede that it was probably the more exciting ending, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
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This book simply blew my mind! Before I get into my review, I would just like to thank the author, Johan Harstad, for developing such an amazing story line. The plot is absolutely, as stated before, mind-blowing! The imagery, the settings, the characters: OMG! Alright, I really need to stop fangirling over this book. It was SO good, you guys! We follow 3 teenagers who've won NASA's international lottery for a week long trip to the moon in the year 2019. They all have different reasons for going, but when they get there, they realize that they shouldn't have come at all. They're not alone. Something absolutely sinister is wondering the surface of the moon and they can't exactly explain it. Some things I love about this book: 1) The fact that, for the most part, it's realistic (aside from the creepiness on the moon). 2) The characters are very easily like-able. 3) You will most likely NEVER predict the ending. No matter how good you think you are at predicting books, try again sweetheart. This novel will blow you away. I can't really say much more without fangirling about this book. Nobody has truly lived until they have read this book. It's an absolute MUST-READ!

I somehow missed the memo that this book is, you know, horror—and it’s not that I would have refused to read it had I known, but that lack of research on my part made 172 Hours on the Moon a complete surprise for me. And everyone: this book is downright creepy. It messes with your mind and makes an “alien invasion” look like a fun time. Mad applause to Johan Harstad for his storytelling.

So, backing up a bit: NASA decides to send 3 kids the moon for a week. The three kids (plus NASA trained astronauts) arrive at the moon. And then craziness starts happening. Like, omg. If you’re thinking green alien dudes or whatever, think again. 172 Hours on the Moon is pure psychological horror, and it works very well in that capacity.

Of course, totally awesome horror elements aside, this book sometimes fails to make sense. For instance, say you send NASA people up to the moon. And then the power at the moon station goes out. And the NASA people don’t know the proper procedures for fixing it. That’s not likely at all. Not if the mission has civilians accompanying it and the entire world is watching via live feed. NASA isn’t stupid.

Okay, but you’re not exactly reading this book for intelligent portrayals of astronauts and stuff. So it’s easy to brush that off and just focus on the truly excellent job Harstad is doing of scaring you silly.

But, you know. Sometimes it’s easier to be scared witless if you feel like you have a connection the characters who are stuck on the moon with some kind of…thing. Unfortunately, in spite of 100 pages of exposition and boring back-and-forth in the beginning, I didn’t get to know the three main characters very well at all. I knew Mia, a girl from Norway, the most of them, but even with then she didn’t have a very defined personality. 172 Hours on the Moonis very much story-focused, and Harstad spends most of his time working on suspense, anticipation, and, oh yeah, scaring the reader to death.

So, basically, this book is very excellent if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief and let the author take you on a very thought-provoking ride with the creepy factor turned way up. Because in that sense, this book is great. Like, really great. Just keep in mind that whatever you’re expecting to be up there on the moon with these people? It’s probably not what you expect.