Illuminae Review

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman (599 pages)
My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: 18 December 2015

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.

My Review:

This book has an interesting way it was written in the way that it is more like documents compiled together rather than being all prose. I enjoyed seeing this different style of writing, plus it made for a very quick read.

Even though we were never truly in Kady or Ezra's complete point of view, we still get their feelings in the way the characters are inhabited. They jump off the page at the readers.

The plot moved at a great pace, neither too fast or too slow. I read this book very quickly (we're talking a couple of hours here) but I felt very immersed in the story.

The way each character was introduced was very interesting as well. A lot of it was similar to an investigation log or script from an interrogation room. Even though we don't get much in the way of physical description, we still get the big picture of the characters.

The AI (AIDAN) was quite interesting itself. Even thought it was not a human, there were so many intricate parts to it that I thought it was at some point.

I don't normally enjoy or read space operas or science fiction novels much, but this book made me want to read more.

There is an awesome set up for the rest of the books, as well.