Book Rwarview (ARC Edition): Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Stars: 5/5

---

Synopsis from Goodreads: 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.

---

Review: Hey guys! So as I said I went to BEA and BookCon and Illiminae was one of the books I picked up while over there! Yes yes I know, a book haul will be up soon, give me some time will ya?

Anyway, back to the review. This was actually my very first sic-fi novel. I never could get into them because of how slow they seemed to me and I just couldn’t connect with the world or the characters in most other novels. This was not that kind of story at all. The plot is told through various files. From chatrooms to video survailance and even the point of view of artificial intelligence. The book is so unique in its own right. You follow the story of Kady, and Ezra the afternoon after their breakup as their home was being invaded and destroyed by rival oil mega corporation. They escapes as refugees on the Hypatia, and the Alexander and the story takes off from there.

From the beginning of the book you felt as if you were one of the characters themselves, as if you had something to do with the attack and everything that happened afterwards. The characters were so easy to connect with; even with the side characters you felt some type of humanity and connection with them. The files really brought the characters to life, like seeing an official email of theirs being sent to their boss and the next page being a private email expressing their real concerns. When it came to Kady and Ezra, you saw that their break-up wasn’t about not loving each other anymore, and you actually got to see their relationship with one another mature and grow.

There were  people around social media saying the book was difficult to follow, but I actually didn’t feel that way. Granted it did jump a few months and some point, but again these are files that show major developments in the events that are happening. I personally found that the story flowed very well from one event to the next, and the twists and mystery were so amazing. Just be prepared to be heart-broken. Multiple times. Like no joke, tears will fall.

The writing and attention to detail was fantastic. It felt so human and real in every single file, even in the chat room sections. Personally, Ezra’s poor grammar and spelling skills slowly ate at me. And I loved every second of it.

This book was fantastic in every possible aspect and the fact it’s the first in a trilogy kills me because I need to know what happens next!

Illuminae is set to come out on October 20, 2015. Let me know in the comments how you like it!

Till next time guys xo