Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Title: Illuminae

Authors: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Genre: YA, Sci-Fi

Publisher: Knopf Books

Release Date: October 20th, 2015

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Goodreads Summary: 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.

I can’t believe I was still able to finish this book in April, bringing me to a total of 6 books read in April. I haven’t read that many books in one month since August. And I had exams, honestly, who am I?

But with this book, I had no idea I would love it as much as I did. I was very iffy, of course it has an amazing Goodreads average rating (4.23 for the first book in a series? Damn.), but I was unsure how the story would come across since it’s not really narrated, it’s just documents and stuff put together.

And I honestly applaud Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, for writing this truly insane story, making it so amazing, without ever having to narrate anything. I still understood everything that was happening, I could easily imagine it in my head, but the format of this book is so amazing.

This book is amazing, jam-packed with action and suspense, it was impossible for me to put down. I read nearly 500 pages in one day. And it’s not only the formatting, you get a good sense of the characters as well, even though nothing is told from their point of view. I am so in awe of this formatting, I wonder how they came up with such an idea and how they put it all together.

And the characters are just so human. They have to really buck up and be brave in so many situations, but at the same time they are just so human. They aren’t these little tiny beans that all of the sudden become the most heroic people, they feel all of the emotions, they have to live with their decisions, and it’s only motive that makes them so brave.

There were plot twists everywhere, new information constantly heading towards you, it’s impossible to ever think about anything besides the book. Plus, there was so much going on, but I loved how parts weren’t just a big mystery and you knew it was gonna work out in the end and you just had to get to the end already, you are there for every single page of the book. There’s so much going on, but you have no time to think about the future of any of the characters since what’s happening right now is so breathtaking.

I recommend this book to everyone. This is definitely something that you should pick up if you never read Sci-Fi, or if you read a lot of Sci-Fi, because it’s that good. The storytelling is amazing and the formatting will leave you glued to the book from start to finish. I’m so glad I finally picked up this novel and I’m even more glad I waited so long, because now I can pick up the rest of the series whenever I want. I’m super glad Illuminae didn’t end on a huge cliffhanger, because I have no money whatsoever right now to buy the next book. 🤗🤗