I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff Series: The Illuminae Files #1
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on October 20th 2015
Pages: 608
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Amazon||The Book Depository
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.
(photo via thebookblr on tumblr)
illuminae was very strange and very different.
note: all quotes are from an advanced reader’s copy and may differ from the final edition.
in all honesty, i don’t know how to feel about this book. I’M CONFUSED. as in i-don’t-know-what-is-going-on-with-the-plot and i’m-not-sure-how-i-feel-about-this and the-plot-is-so-mind-blowing-what-is-going-on. first off, the writing style is very different and very unique. the story is told in files and IMs and the like. it’s hard to adjust and took me a while (about 50%!! a long time, in my opinion) to get into/understand the main basis of the story, but when i DID get there, i enjoyed it.
“It’s not the bullets that kill you. It’s the moments like these.” (ARC, 34%)
objectively speaking, this book is fantastic. the writing really stood true and made me think i was reading files and codes. in the way it was formatted and written, it transformed me into their world. there was A LOT going on in the plot (sometimes i felt it was a liiiiitle too much?), but it was very interesting and different and little strange.
but the thing is, i couldn’t connect with any of the characters or relationships. i didn’t feel it, nor did i bother to care. yes, the characters were distinct; yes, they had strong personalities and weren’t annoyingly annoying; yes, they were well-written. but i just didn’t FEEEEL them. you know? sure, when someone died i’d be like, “aw, that’s too bad,” but it wasn’t beyond that. i didn’t care for the romantic relationship, and often had more feelings for the friendships. and really, it’s not that i didn’t like it but more that i didn’t care for it. (and sometimes, i feel like that’s worse?? sorry???)
“Your stuff is a series of choices that show who you are.” (ARC, 64%)
overall, the plot was interesting but i wasn’t emotionally invested. i couldn’t connect with anyone (the most i connected with was a machine, and that was like the last 25% of the book) and i couldn’t bother to care. UGH. the writing was really good, though a bit hard to get into. basically, i’m not sure how i feel about this book. the ending was shocking and WOW A+ to the plot, but i don’t know if i actually want to read the next one. (is there going to be a second novel? it sorta ended on a cliffhanger? I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS??) i’m curious to know what’s going to happen, but i really don’t care for the characters. (i guess i could try harder in the next novel? if i get to it?)
SIDE NOTE: there were a lot of pages that included images because they’re well, FILES, and i think i would’ve enjoyed it more if i read a physical copy. SO if you’re thinking about getting this book, buy the physical copy over the ebook!
[rating-report]
I have been seeing a lot of people saying that they didn’t really connect with the characters. It’s kind of interesting, and with the different format I kind of see why. I personally connected, but I think it’s partly because I kind of think in a similar way to how this book was written, if that makes any sense. (it probably doesn’t) There’s probably some grand discovery on how our brains work and how we interact with technology in here somewhere, lol. Also I totally agree with the not buying the ebook thing! I can hardly believe they made an ebook for this book. It doesn’t seem like it would work!
Oh, Xan, thank you for this review. I’ve been seeing The Illuminae EVERYWHERE lately, but I didn’t really know much about it. I probably would have bought it though, and possibly hated it. So you know, thank you for saving me a little bit of money and time – I think your honesty is great!
Beth x
thanks, beth! yeah, i’ve been seeing it everywhere as well (and even preordered a copy before i read this! then returned the preorder.. hah) i feel like you’ll either really enjoy it or not like it :// if you do end up reading this, don’t set your expectations too high! (that’s what i did.. *sigh*)
okay xan you *literally* read my mind!! i pretty much have identical thoughts as you, it’s a little creepy. the only thing i disagree with you on is AIDAN – i thought that was creepy af and didn’t like it/connect with it. and it’s so true, sometimes it IS worse to have 0 feelings toward a character rather than hate the character.
so glad we’re on the same boat with illuminae! i really don’t know if i want to continue, either. we’ll see, i guess!
jen, we are definitely reading twins. i did think AIDAN was creepy but i feel like he? it? was the most complex character which is why i felt for it/he/she. i STILL don’t know how i feel about this book ://
I’ve been seeing this book everywhere! But I also said a lot of people feel confused and unable to connect with the characters. I personally find it hard to like a book if I couldn’t connect with the characters, because I wouldn’t care what happen to them=D Thank you for the heads up!
I loved reading your review ‘aww that’s too bad’ ‘the most I connected with was a machine’ ‘I didn’t sign up for this’ 😂😂😂