Illuminae - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Review)

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files #1
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction
Publication date: October 20th 2015
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format: hardcover,  599 pages
How I got it: My Public Library 
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 
My rating: 5/5 
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.

BRIEFING NOTE: 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.

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My thoughts:

So, I originally tried to listen to this book from my library and I just couldn’t get into it, way too much was happening and I found it super hard to follow along.  Randomly while at the library a few weeks ago I found it on the shelf and figured I would give the book a second chance since I heard so many great things about this book.  This in turn became one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I enjoyed reading this book and the hardcover copy is AMAZING.

The book follows Kady and Ezra as they are going through a break-up and then their home is attacked.  They both must lean on each other to escape and eventually get split up but end up both being rescued on separate ships.    The ships are essentially traveling together with other people who were rescued from the destroyed colony. The book is told through a bunch of different documents that are part of a surveillance that the ships had.  The documents are all illustrated as well as other portions of the book are illustrated.   This is a must-read book I don’t think the audio gives off the same spirit that this book possesses. 

Kady is the main female character in the book and is very strong independent girl.   Kady has broken up with Ezra and we don’t get much details about the breakup until later in the book, but she still has great feelings towards him and just wants him to be safe.  Kady is very tech savvy and can work on what is going on with the one ship that seems to be having issues with its AI system.   All the meantime another war ship is chasing the ship from another group the originally attacked Kady’s home.   Kady uses all her skills possible to save Ezra.   

Ezra is the male lead in this book and while I did enjoy reading his parts, I felt like Kady was more of the star of the pair.  Ezra had great moments in which he had to show a lot of strength and endurance, but we see a lot more of that from Kady.  Ezra also has a big heart and that comes through during the book.  Ezra’s main skill becomes he joins the pilots once he has been vetted and sort of joined the new ship that he is on.

The story moves very quickly once you start reading it and I couldn’t put this book down once I started.   The action in the book comes fast and stays during a good portion of the book.  It is part mystery since we don’t know fully what is going on and parts of the plan start to unravel as you read.   The ending also leaves a lot of questions and leaves it open for a sequel.

The authors did a great job creating this entire world where Kady and Ezra are.   From all the descriptions, it felt like I was almost on the ship with them.  I felt like the characters’ emotions also came through very loud and clear while reading.   The pictures also helped while reading to see exactly what is going on.

I would suggest this as a weekend read it was very hard to put down and I got totally sucked into the book.    The book flies by when you are reading it too!! 

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About the Author

Amie Kaufman is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Illuminae (with Jay Kristoff) and These Broken Stars, This Shattered World, and Their Fractured Light (with Meagan Spooner.) She writes science fiction and fantasy for teens, and her favourite procrastination techniques involve chocolate, baking, sailing, excellent books and TV, plotting and executing overseas travel, and napping. 

She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband, their rescue dog, and her considerable library. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.

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Jay Kristoff is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of THE LOTUS WAR, THE ILLUMINAE FILES and THE NEVERNIGHT CHRONICLE. He is the winner of two Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, nominee for the David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards, named multiple times in the Kirkus and Amazon Best Teen Books list and published in over twenty-five countries, most of which he has never visited. He is as surprised about all of this as you are. He is 6’7 and has approximately 13030 days to live. He abides in Melbourne with his secret agent kung-fu assassin wife, and the world’s laziest Jack Russell.

He does not believe in happy endings.

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