Illuminae (#1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Published by: Knopf Book on October 20th, 2015
Genre: YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 599
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

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Synopsis: 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: I really enjoyed this one! The way the story was told unconventionally through documents, interviews etc. is such a cool reading experience. If you liked the style of writing I recommend House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

Characters – You don’t get much of a description of these characters as its told through others POVs through different types of media. There is also only a few key characters in the novel. Ones that are mentioned the most with a different name thrown around here and there. I liked Ezra. Did not particularly like Kady. She seemed too full of herself. AIDAN was annoying.

World – It took place on multiple space ships. It did start off on a planet but there really wasn’t much of a description of it. I feel like I couldn’t really visualise it nor do I particularly remember and description given.

Plot – Super cool. AI and a virus in space in the future? Also the twists? MAN. Got me good.

Cover/Pages – There was some really beautiful pages within the book. Nebulas with the sentences interspersed it was cool.

I downgraded my rating from a 5 to a 4 as I had a week to fully process the experience.

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