Review - Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Published 22nd October 2015 by Oneworld Publications

Star Rating - *****

Goodreads Challenge - 33/50

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.

My Thoughts

I love, love, loved this book! It's been sitting on my shelf for a while now and when looking for a book to match the Mythothon prompt, a book over 400 pages, I thought this would be a great one as I had heard the format makes for a quick read and that was absolutely correct. I sped through this one, despite its size. It was the first book in a while I found I couldn't put down. Here are my thoughts...

What I liked
• Everything! No seriously I loved everything about this book I thought it was fantastic. It was compelling and fast paced. I didn't want to put it down. This novel is actually written in a very interesting format. The story is told through IMs, reports and transcripts from the characters time aboard their space vessels and I found this very intriguing to read. You were given short snippets of the story through each IM or report and this made me want to read on to know what was going to happen next. 
• There were a few unexpected twists and turns throughout this story. Things that I didn't see coming. There was one particularly interesting twist that came about in the last few pages and this has made be very keen to dive into the next book sooner rather than later. 
• I really enjoyed the characters. I loved the relationship between Kady and Ezra, there was no instalove or unrealistic scenes. To me it was a great portrayal of a teenage relationship, full of angst, love and humour. I enjoyed reading the scenes between these two characters. The character development was also really good. Kady definitely seemed to go from an angsty teenager to a strong willed woman which the want to fight back. I also enjoyed the way the authors depicted AIDAN. His conflicting feelings were written really well and, although he was an AI, he was written, in some parts, like a human and I liked this concept. 

What I didn't like
Nothing! There's nothing I can really pinpoint that I didn't like about this novel. I liked the writing style, the plot and the characters and that's why I've given it 5 stars. 

Overall I loved this book. I would recommend it to everyone and even if your only remotely interested in it I would urge you to pick it up. You won't regret it! I can't wait to get to the next one.

Overall Rating