4. Traitors in Space

4. Traitors in Space. Tim Collins. 2025. 192 pages. [Source: Review copy] [3 stars, pick your own path, choose your own adventure, science fiction, space, aliens]

First sentence: The door to your ship closes, and you take your helmet off.

Premise/plot: YOU are in control of your destiny in this 'pick your own path' sci-fi space adventure. YOU are a scientist returning from space--bound for earth--but there's danger on the ship. An alien life form has been detected. It is presumably parasitic. ONE of your fellow crew COULD be the alien. But how do you KNOW who to trust and who to thrust out into space?!

My thoughts: I wanted to enjoy this one. I do think it's perhaps possible to read and enjoy this one. It depends on how YOU read choose your own adventure books. I am methodical. As in with paper and pen in hand, I write down ALL the page number opportunities, I track each one to the end. Go back start again. Cross page numbers off, etc. I don't immerse myself in the story--if there is in fact a story. It's just too mechanical or methodical for me. I don't reread the story heading into new endings.

It didn't work for me because I wanted more from the characters and the story. There are eight characters for YOU to "get to know" to figure out who is trustworthy and who is alien. Are eight characters developed? Nope. Are any of the eight characters developed? Nope. Is that too much to hope for?! Probably. I didn't really expect continuity between all the choices in terms of characters and story. BUT it would have added a level of awesomeness IF there had been a true mystery to solve. IF there were objective facts, truths that stayed true, between ALL the possibilities, then it would have been more like a mystery-mystery. There would have been clues that you could slowly but surely gather as you kept reading. Layers to the story. There's none of that. And that is okay. That's not the book in hand. And that's fine. Expect bare minimum of story and characters. Do expect a gimmicky, fun read with plenty of possibilities.

Despite the description saying TWENTY possible endings, I counted forty-two. At least ten of those were repeat endings using the exact same pages. Again, I think if there had been FEWER characters MORE time could have been spent with those we had AND the endings would have had to have been better.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Young Readers