[Review] Illuminae, by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

The Illuminae Files #1

ILLUMINAE

by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Release Date: October 20th, 2015
Read Date: May 14th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, First Edition
Pages: 599

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.

MY RATE

Oh god. How can I explain how good this book is without giving much away? First things, first. This book is way beyond our years, 2575. Like, holy star wars time. Also, this is not a "normal" book. Treat this book like is a file of a shit-ton of papers that were photocopied, emails, recordings, even AI codes. This book will tell you a story of a couple, a story of a spaceship crew, and a story of people that were rescued after an invasion. This book is full of secrets that the greatest evil doesn't want to uncover. BUT overall, this story is full of brave people doing what they can to survive and for the truth to come out. Over.

It was hard to adapt, I admit. At times I was more lost than someone swimming in space. Sometimes I couldn't know the difference between the truth and the lies. I had hope the whole book, then my hope disappeared and at the end, it came all over me like a good pail of cold water in summer. Sometimes I got really frustrated because I wanted to know more about something in specific, but the files jumped to other things and then came back. Everything is in the right place, do not get me wrong, but that is the nature of a reader, right? Over.

All characters in this book have a piece of me, even the ones that only made it inside in only a few articles. I could feel their thoughts of being afraid, their wants of being with who they loved, but they didn't know if they were alive. I could feel the love of people talking via comms. I could feel the anger of those that wanted the truth but were fed with lies. This book was magic itself. Over.

To anyone in general. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Pick it up, you'll love it. Over and out.