Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff


Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay kristoff

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Date of Publication: October 20th 2015

Genres: Young Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Pages: 599

Format: Hardcover (I own)

Rating: ★★★★★

 So I just realized how descriptive the Goodreads synopsis really is LOL. I never read it until now but it pretty much sums it up all right, so instead I’ll talk about some of the things I loved about Illuminae (GR Synopsis @ the end of review).

* The fact that this book starts off with a break up scene. Could you honestly picture yourself breaking up with your boo one second & the next being caught up in a war between 2 major corporations over your small (yet oh so resourceful) planet? Usually, well at least in my experience, when you break up with someone it’s definitely to put some space & distance between you and said individual. Kady & Ezra however, found themselves running for their lives… Perspective plays a major role in how these two carry on afterwards.

* The fact that Kady is neither a damsel in distress nor a fighter experienced in hand-to-hand combat or even swordplay lol. No, Kady is a computer whiz who is in her element when handling 0’s & 1’s. After the attack on Kerenza (their planet) the people of Kerenza were shuttled to 3 different aircrafts (spaceships): The Alexander, Copernicus, or the Hypathia. Each ship has its strengths, with Alexander basically being their leader. Depending on your skillset, you would be assigned jobs on your designated spaceship. Kady had access to computer systems & she used this to set forth and uncover the truth behind the attack on Kerenza.

* The dialogue. The entire book is formatted in a series of e-mails, Briefs, and chats. Through these quick bursts in communication you get to familiarize yourself with the characters aboard these ships. In a time where nothing is certain, people are being fed lies, and a virus has broken loose, our characters are much in touch with their sense of humor. I had many laugh out loud moments at some of the crudest jokes between Ezra & his boys which we can safely compare to military boys lol. Kady is sarcastic & just an overall kickass female protagonist. The Lisbeth Salander (who I loved, so yay!) Of YA without the whole Emo thing Lisbeth had going on lol.

*AIDAN aka the Artificial Intelligence. I think I hated him for half of the book but then came to like him during the second half. It was definitely interesting reading his thought process, which sometimes came off as ramblings.

*Zhang. I really liked Zhang & his chats (the equivalent of IM’s) with Kady & how well they worked together. Their conversations were very entertaining even when it was strictly hacking that they were doing.

* The representation of different ethnic backgrounds & LGBTQ. I loved the diversity in this book & was thankful because it was a realistic depiction of a ship carrying thousands of human beings.

* Last but never least, the women in command positions. There were a few actually, and I appreciated the presence of women in a military style environment, not being pushed into lesser roles.

I could seriously talk about this book for hours but It turns out I’m not the last human being on this planet to not have read this book lol. I tried to keep all spoilers out for those who plan on reading Illuminae before this fall’s release of Gemina. Now that day, I will make sure to use a sick day on *coughs into the future*

Goodreads Synopsis:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

 

 

 

Author: LairOfBooks

"I didn't choose the Book Life, the Book Life chose me"

25 thoughts on “Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff”

  3. I’ve heard so many good things about this series. Nice review! I better push this up further on my TBR. I’m dying to get my hands on Nevernight. I already pre-ordered it. The concept of this book and how the story is told sounds so good. Jay Kristoff is hilarious on Twitter. I wanted to read all of his books after following him. And I love that he interacts with his readers and responds to tweets.

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  6. YAY YOUR REVIEW! I can’t believe I didn’t see this yesterday haha. I defiently need to pick this up ASAP. It sounds so complex plot wise and so interesting. I’m going to have to make a trip to the bookstore soon. Great review, by the way! 😊

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    1. Aww thanks Melissa! I seriously didn’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t had the chance to read it. I have afew bloggers that I follow who have said they haven’t because of the format. I had the same reservations about it but I could have read this book in 2 days given the time lol. I’ll keep an eye out for when u do pick it up/blog about it 😉

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      1. That was my biggest reservation too, the format. I’ve never read anything in that kind of format before. I probably won’t get around to it until after I read It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover though since it’s my top TBR at the moment 🙈. But after that I’m so binge reading it! 😊

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      3. She is amazing 😊! If you ever get the chance or have the time you should so read Maybe Someday, that one is my favorite of hers 😄. It’s the first one I ever read by her and led to me reading everything she publishes lol.

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  7. I really loved this book as well and I am so so excited for Gemina to be released soon! I really loved the format of this book, and the fact that the whole story was told through emails and IMs and video footages and everything. I wasn’t too sure how it would work at first, worried it would end up distracting me from the story, but if anything the opposite was true. I couldn’t put this book down and it was so so beautiful!
    I actually ended up really loving AIDEN. I wasn’t too keen on him to begin with but the more we ‘heard’ from him the more I loved his character. 🙂 Great review!

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    1. Thank you! I def also thought the format would distract me especially since I ride the NYC trains to work. Sometimes (a lot of the times lol) they are crowded & I was worried it wouldn’t work out lol. It did, it’s also the first book that I’ve read on the train to cause soooo many states & twisted necks & a few “whatcha got there’s?” 😂😂😂 it was very easy to read & AIDAN had me fooled there til the very end lol. I came to love him too 💕

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      1. Oh I was exactly the same, I do most of my reading on the train to work so I have to deal with the same problems; mainly really crowded and loud trains!
        Oh I got through Illuminae so quickly, and yeah AIDEN was just brilliant the whole way through! 😀

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