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The Aurora Cycle #2
Aurora Burning
Our heroes are back… kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxy’s best hope for survival.
First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.
Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces.
And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.
Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.
Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes—and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.
First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.
Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces.
And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.
Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.
Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes—and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.
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First published May 5, 2020
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About the author
Amie Kaufman
37 books13.3k followersAmie Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of young adult fiction. Her multi-award winning work is slated for publication in over 30 countries, and is in development for film and TV. Raised in Australia and occasionally Ireland, Amie has degrees in history, literature, law and conflict resolution. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughter, their rescue dog, and an extremely large personal library. She is the host of the podcasts Amie Kaufman on Writing, and Pub Dates.
You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/
You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,944 reviews
May 15, 2020
Excuse my French, but what THE FUCK was that
October 7, 2020
Look at that cover!
I love these characters so much!! 😫 And Kal is my sugar baby!
I wish all of these characters were my friends. They care for each other, take care of each other and their banter is wonderful! But that ending... that cliffhanger...
My babies, what’s happened to my babies...
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
I love these characters so much!! 😫 And Kal is my sugar baby!
In a flash almost too quick to track, Kal seizes the man’s wrist, bends it backward with a bright snapping sound. The man screams and Kal twists; I hear another crunch as the guy’s elbow bends in entirely the wrong direction. The other Unbroken step forward, but with a hiss, the young woman called Saidii holds them still. And as I watch, horrified, Kal sweeps the warrior’s feet out from under him and starts slamming his fist into his face. Lips peeled back from his teeth. Eyes burning.
**
Kal catches her as she sags, pulling her up in his arms. Impossibly gentle, where a moment ago he was anything but.
I wish all of these characters were my friends. They care for each other, take care of each other and their banter is wonderful! But that ending... that cliffhanger...
My babies, what’s happened to my babies...
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
BLOG: https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
July 16, 2020
This rating will have one-year-ago me traveling forward in time just to give me a thorough, bloody beating; it'd probably go sth like this...
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝟹.𝟻 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚂? 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝙾𝚁 *𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚗* 𝚠𝚎’𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚢; 𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘, 𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚘’𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *comes back up* LET ME EXPLAIN! I'm you and you don't do anything without having a sometimes-ridiculously-long list of defending arguments do you?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝙷𝙾𝚆 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝚈𝙾𝚄!?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: How about a debate? You're trash for arguments and debates, no? *puts hand on v18's shoulder* we'll settle it the new fashioned way.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I'm taking my hand off
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *nervous laugh* Give me a chance?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜. 𝙶𝚘.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Shoot. Okay.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Everyone's heard the famous quote, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken,” which is said to be by Oscar Wilde (but is it, really?); the 1st book of this series needed to hear it, too—and did, bc we went from “trying so hard to be cool and a poor copy of Guardians of the Galaxy that nothing ends up being developed enough” to “a solid, fun read that's more heart than empty bravado even with too much Star Wars similarity.” By focu—
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎-𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I'll get to the point; Aurora Burning is simply so much better written than Aurora Rising. The writing is still comic—with its moment of occasional beauty—but it manages to come off as less stupid (yes there are times when characters are made to act like idiots for the sake of a laugh, but they're few). The atmosphere building has improved and it FEELS like space. And, there are moments of bonding that finally make the squad feel like a group. It's more genuine, for the lack of a better word. Plus, the science is even paid attention to; remember the two times in book one where inertia was mistaken for gravity? Well, you’re not gonna believe this but in the sequel, inertia and gravity were used in a single sentence together without messing up the definition of either.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I kid you not! What's more, the characters' type of humour is less identical, and they manage to claim their own—to the point where I can point out one of their responses and say “they are reacting in character;” shocking, I know. So is the fact that the chapters' voices are no longer that flat for me to confuse who's POV I'm reading.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚊, 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Okay I concede your point. She is still a trope without flesh and blood; lacks distinction and a solid personality. Though she does take a few steps forward—we get thoughts and inner struggles, even some little passions, but perhaps not as deep or often as her predicament + supposed sensitive personality would call for. Most of the time, it's as if she doesn't even have those feelings, because her actions, reactions and emotions don't reflect said struggles. But, while lacking in the distinction department, Aurora does grow some backbone and changes enough for her existence to not be a torture to me anymore. I do wish someone would just slit her throat though.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: . . . 𝙶𝚘 𝚘𝚗.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Then there's Zilla wh—
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝-𝚊-𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 “𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛” 𝚛𝚎𝚙 𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖—
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: NONO that's exactly what I want to address: the word sociopath is not used in this book even once!
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙷𝚎𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I so am not.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙼𝙴 𝙹𝙰𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙴 𝙳𝚁𝙾𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 “𝚆𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚜” 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚃𝚁𝙰 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈’𝙳 𝙼𝙰𝙳𝙴 𝙰 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴???
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I am.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: She is finally more present and since I wasn't annoyed by the incorrect label the authors had insisted on before, I could enjoy her freely—and man did I do just that! With the help of details that get the proper attention (e.g. the earrings) as well as digging into her past and present struggles and emotions, she ends up standing out, getting her own stage to shine on on multiple occasions. Her intelligence and practicality is captured accurately, and I just love her. The way Fin had affected her, how she grappled with the humour...MY HEART.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: And my boy Finian de Seel. I loved him before, but AR didn't stand out for me in any way other than loving to hate it (as you're aware, since that's you) and now he's one of my fave characters. I love AB for simply giving him his due, his moments to glow. The dive into his vulnerabilities shows precisely why the test said I was him. His relationship with literally every single one of the characters was the most precious thing ever. And Finian + Scarlett = OTP. Reminds me so much of Stydia from Teen Wolf.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: *𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚜* 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝? 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎-𝚖𝚎?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Trust me, even our depthless Bitch Queen becomes an adorable, genuine Bitch Queen, which is, like, the best combination ever.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝙺𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚒𝚜?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: About that...
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: ...He kinda loses his...individuality?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: It's as if he's journey, his beautiful fight with his Enemy Within, his wisdom, it all fades into the background and his sole purpose for existing becomes circling around Aurora who is a poor excuse of an MC (or sidekick, really) and undeserving of this jewel of a boy. I really like the idea of the Pull, but, well, she's bland, so they're bland together, so he becomes bland, and now I'm sad.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: . . .
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *hides behind desk* MARY CALM DOWN.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I know I do just breathe. Instead I have some good news!
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: *𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜* 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: So remember wasted-potential dimples-walking Tyler Jones? There's NO more objectification! He's allowed to become more than Mr. Dimples, and his own character gets to shine through. It's a weak shine at first, but he gets there. Plus, he starts to become an actual leader, not the fake, so-not-an Alpha the authors had defined before. I really, really like him now. And it's all thanks to a new character we meet who you'll just adoooooreeeee.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Meet Saedii, the Ultimate Angry Vengeful Power-And-Dominance-Oriented Bitch Queen who will just speak to your darker side on a primal level. And to tell you a secret, .
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚃𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 . . . 𝚂𝚊𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚒.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *smiles sweetly* Find out in a year.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎���𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚍.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: And this is where we circle back right to the speech I started with, which you, quite impolitely, interrupted. With AB, this trilogy stopped trying so hard to be cool, and started being more itself. And because of that, it succeeded in becoming genuine and real and developed in all the aforementioned ways. Yes, the elements taken from GotG and SW remain, but the plot and scenes are less unoriginal and flat, and more fun. My only complaint of the story is the ending, which is a cliffhanger gone wrong. But I'm content; it certainly made me feel and shed some tears. So, dear past me, did you get your answer?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: . . . 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚁. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Oh please do, I do too. You're me after all. Well, safe travels then, see you in a year...or I guess I won't.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚂𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 🙄
Companions:
Book playlist: Spotify LINK
Books in series:
• Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1) ★★☆☆☆
• Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle, #2) ★★★½☆
• Untitled (The Aurora Cycle, #3) ☆☆☆☆☆
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝟹.𝟻 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚂? 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚃𝙾𝚁 *𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚗* 𝚠𝚎’𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚢; 𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘, 𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚘’𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *comes back up* LET ME EXPLAIN! I'm you and you don't do anything without having a sometimes-ridiculously-long list of defending arguments do you?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝙷𝙾𝚆 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝚈𝙾𝚄!?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: How about a debate? You're trash for arguments and debates, no? *puts hand on v18's shoulder* we'll settle it the new fashioned way.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I'm taking my hand off
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *nervous laugh* Give me a chance?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜. 𝙶𝚘.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Shoot. Okay.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Everyone's heard the famous quote, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken,” which is said to be by Oscar Wilde (but is it, really?); the 1st book of this series needed to hear it, too—and did, bc we went from “trying so hard to be cool and a poor copy of Guardians of the Galaxy that nothing ends up being developed enough” to “a solid, fun read that's more heart than empty bravado even with too much Star Wars similarity.” By focu—
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎-𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I'll get to the point; Aurora Burning is simply so much better written than Aurora Rising. The writing is still comic—with its moment of occasional beauty—but it manages to come off as less stupid (yes there are times when characters are made to act like idiots for the sake of a laugh, but they're few). The atmosphere building has improved and it FEELS like space. And, there are moments of bonding that finally make the squad feel like a group. It's more genuine, for the lack of a better word. Plus, the science is even paid attention to; remember the two times in book one where inertia was mistaken for gravity? Well, you’re not gonna believe this but in the sequel, inertia and gravity were used in a single sentence together without messing up the definition of either.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I kid you not! What's more, the characters' type of humour is less identical, and they manage to claim their own—to the point where I can point out one of their responses and say “they are reacting in character;” shocking, I know. So is the fact that the chapters' voices are no longer that flat for me to confuse who's POV I'm reading.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚊, 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Okay I concede your point. She is still a trope without flesh and blood; lacks distinction and a solid personality. Though she does take a few steps forward—we get thoughts and inner struggles, even some little passions, but perhaps not as deep or often as her predicament + supposed sensitive personality would call for. Most of the time, it's as if she doesn't even have those feelings, because her actions, reactions and emotions don't reflect said struggles. But, while lacking in the distinction department, Aurora does grow some backbone and changes enough for her existence to not be a torture to me anymore. I do wish someone would just slit her throat though.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: . . . 𝙶𝚘 𝚘𝚗.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Then there's Zilla wh—
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝-𝚊-𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 “𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛” 𝚛𝚎𝚙 𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖—
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: NONO that's exactly what I want to address: the word sociopath is not used in this book even once!
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙷𝚎𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I so am not.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙼𝙴 𝙹𝙰𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙴 𝙳𝚁𝙾𝙿𝙿𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 “𝚆𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚜” 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚃𝚁𝙰 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈’𝙳 𝙼𝙰𝙳𝙴 𝙰 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴???
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I am.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: She is finally more present and since I wasn't annoyed by the incorrect label the authors had insisted on before, I could enjoy her freely—and man did I do just that! With the help of details that get the proper attention (e.g. the earrings) as well as digging into her past and present struggles and emotions, she ends up standing out, getting her own stage to shine on on multiple occasions. Her intelligence and practicality is captured accurately, and I just love her. The way Fin had affected her, how she grappled with the humour...MY HEART.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: And my boy Finian de Seel. I loved him before, but AR didn't stand out for me in any way other than loving to hate it (as you're aware, since that's you) and now he's one of my fave characters. I love AB for simply giving him his due, his moments to glow. The dive into his vulnerabilities shows precisely why the test said I was him. His relationship with literally every single one of the characters was the most precious thing ever. And Finian + Scarlett = OTP. Reminds me so much of Stydia from Teen Wolf.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: *𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚜* 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝? 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎-𝚖𝚎?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Trust me, even our depthless Bitch Queen becomes an adorable, genuine Bitch Queen, which is, like, the best combination ever.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝙺𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚒𝚜?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: About that...
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: ...He kinda loses his...individuality?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: It's as if he's journey, his beautiful fight with his Enemy Within, his wisdom, it all fades into the background and his sole purpose for existing becomes circling around Aurora who is a poor excuse of an MC (or sidekick, really) and undeserving of this jewel of a boy. I really like the idea of the Pull, but, well, she's bland, so they're bland together, so he becomes bland, and now I'm sad.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: . . .
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *hides behind desk* MARY CALM DOWN.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: I know I do just breathe. Instead I have some good news!
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: *𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜* 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: So remember wasted-potential dimples-walking Tyler Jones? There's NO more objectification! He's allowed to become more than Mr. Dimples, and his own character gets to shine through. It's a weak shine at first, but he gets there. Plus, he starts to become an actual leader, not the fake, so-not-an Alpha the authors had defined before. I really, really like him now. And it's all thanks to a new character we meet who you'll just adoooooreeeee.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Meet Saedii, the Ultimate Angry Vengeful Power-And-Dominance-Oriented Bitch Queen who will just speak to your darker side on a primal level. And to tell you a secret, .
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚃𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 . . . 𝚂𝚊𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚒.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: *smiles sweetly* Find out in a year.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠:
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎���𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚍.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: And this is where we circle back right to the speech I started with, which you, quite impolitely, interrupted. With AB, this trilogy stopped trying so hard to be cool, and started being more itself. And because of that, it succeeded in becoming genuine and real and developed in all the aforementioned ways. Yes, the elements taken from GotG and SW remain, but the plot and scenes are less unoriginal and flat, and more fun. My only complaint of the story is the ending, which is a cliffhanger gone wrong. But I'm content; it certainly made me feel and shed some tears. So, dear past me, did you get your answer?
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: . . . 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚁. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟡: Oh please do, I do too. You're me after all. Well, safe travels then, see you in a year...or I guess I won't.
𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝟙𝟠: 𝚂𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 🙄
Companions:
Book playlist: Spotify LINK
Books in series:
• Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1) ★★☆☆☆
• Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle, #2) ★★★½☆
• Untitled (The Aurora Cycle, #3) ☆☆☆☆☆
May 13, 2020
May 13th, 2020
2.75
The first half of this book was 4 stars of solid space fun, and then it derailed real quick.
I don't know what happened during the second half but there was just a disconnect for me with the characters and it felt super rushed.
I'll probably still stick with the series, but I expected a lot more from this.
November 22nd, 2019
THERE'S A COVER. THERE'S A HOT ALIEN BOI. EEEEEEEEEP
2.75
The first half of this book was 4 stars of solid space fun, and then it derailed real quick.
I don't know what happened during the second half but there was just a disconnect for me with the characters and it felt super rushed.
I'll probably still stick with the series, but I expected a lot more from this.
November 22nd, 2019
THERE'S A COVER. THERE'S A HOT ALIEN BOI. EEEEEEEEEP
July 26, 2023
**4.5-stars rounded up**
Aurora Burning is the second book in veteran writing duo, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's, The Aurora Cycle trilogy.
If you have read The Illuminae Files you are well aware that these authors are no strangers to writing hella compelling, action-packed, YA-science fiction stories.
In this installment, Squad 3-1-2 is back, this time on the run from both the authorities and baddies alike.
With an ancient evil force threatening to consume the entire galaxy, it is safe to say that our lovable band of heroes have a lot on their plate. They believe Auri could be the key to solving the problem, but they still need to figure out how.
They get the opportunity to head back to the Hadfield, the ship from Auri's past, to try to figure out some of the mystery surrounding her; there's a lot.
As always, they run into a wee bit of trouble on that mission.
Bigger trouble is on the horizon when Kal's savage long-lost sister makes an appearance with an entire Slydrathi army at her back. Let's just say, she's not there for a heart-warming family reunion.
This entire book is go-go-go, from the very beginning. I enjoyed learning more about all of the characters, as well as being introduced to new ones.
The stakes are getting higher and I seriously have no idea how this trilogy is going to be concluded. I am really glad that I held off on reading this one until Aurora's End released.
I don't know how I would have made it through otherwise. This one finishes on such an incredible cliffhanger, oh my goodness!
I'm hoping to finish up with the trilogy by the end of the year. Wrapping up 2021 in style!
Aurora Burning is the second book in veteran writing duo, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's, The Aurora Cycle trilogy.
If you have read The Illuminae Files you are well aware that these authors are no strangers to writing hella compelling, action-packed, YA-science fiction stories.
In this installment, Squad 3-1-2 is back, this time on the run from both the authorities and baddies alike.
With an ancient evil force threatening to consume the entire galaxy, it is safe to say that our lovable band of heroes have a lot on their plate. They believe Auri could be the key to solving the problem, but they still need to figure out how.
They get the opportunity to head back to the Hadfield, the ship from Auri's past, to try to figure out some of the mystery surrounding her; there's a lot.
As always, they run into a wee bit of trouble on that mission.
Bigger trouble is on the horizon when Kal's savage long-lost sister makes an appearance with an entire Slydrathi army at her back. Let's just say, she's not there for a heart-warming family reunion.
This entire book is go-go-go, from the very beginning. I enjoyed learning more about all of the characters, as well as being introduced to new ones.
The stakes are getting higher and I seriously have no idea how this trilogy is going to be concluded. I am really glad that I held off on reading this one until Aurora's End released.
I don't know how I would have made it through otherwise. This one finishes on such an incredible cliffhanger, oh my goodness!
I'm hoping to finish up with the trilogy by the end of the year. Wrapping up 2021 in style!
May 23, 2020
It's not often that I like the middle book of a trilogy more than I did the first but in this case I did! No time was spent in marking time or building a story - it was action, followed by action, followed by more action. And then, bang, it finished. Just like that. No explanations, no conclusions. It was the most abrupt ending I think I have ever read and I loved it.
My main connection with the series is basically with the characters. Kaufman and Kristoff write young people so well. They have no fear of stereotypes and use them with skill. The banter between the members of the group is smart and funny. The one really close relationship is handled nicely and we do not have to read pages of what happens between them.
There are some amazing reveals along the way and not everyone is who we thought they were. Many questions are raised too and we now have to wait until book 3 to have them answered. It is going to be a long wait.
My main connection with the series is basically with the characters. Kaufman and Kristoff write young people so well. They have no fear of stereotypes and use them with skill. The banter between the members of the group is smart and funny. The one really close relationship is handled nicely and we do not have to read pages of what happens between them.
There are some amazing reveals along the way and not everyone is who we thought they were. Many questions are raised too and we now have to wait until book 3 to have them answered. It is going to be a long wait.
July 31, 2024
✅ Gorgeous cover
✅ Characters
✅ Plot and action
✅ Misfit band
✅ Action
✅ Sarcasm/banter
✅ Twists and revelations
❗️❗️Cliffhanger
OH MY GOD THAT ENDING! It killed me. It shouldn’t be legal to leave us on such a cliffhanger. 🤯
First, let's mention how gorgeous this cover is. AND IT’S KAL!!!! 😍
What an intense book! Constant action, many plot twists and the ending is insane! I can't wait for the third book.
Aurora Burning is better than Aurora Rising, probably because we now know the characters and the setting so we can completely focus on the action and insane plans of our misfit crew. There are also chapters from the different members' POVs, which I really enjoyed. I really showed us their different personalities and how they interact with each other, I love their dynamic. We also got to see some poignant flashbacks to Zila's past and it helped me get more attached to her since she was more of a background character in the first book.
In the first book, the crew visited the forbidden planet of Octavia III and discovered that an alien entity called the Ra'haam was trying to assimilate all intelligent life in the galaxy. It is now up to them to try to stop it, and they can't rely on anyone besides themselves because even the Global Intelligence Agency has been infiltrated. The six remaining members of the crew are on the run, trying to evade the GIA trying to recapture Auri, and the local criminals trying to get them because there is a hefty price on their heads. Their life gets even more exciting (or complicated) when Kai's sister tracks him down to ask him to join their violent Syldrathi Warbreed Cabal led by the man they call Starslayer.
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Oh my! They melt my heart so many times.
- When Kal called Ty “Brother”, and when he bonded with the other members of the squad.
- When Fin discovered that he was not so bad at peopling and that these people were his people.
- When Zila realized that she was not feeling nothing when she was with the squad.
- Fin hugging Auri.
- And so many more moments... 🧡
The snark and humor between the members of Squad 312 are just delicious. Fin owns my heart with his sass and sarcasm, and Kal is also my favorite just because he’s Kal. These two stole the show in the first book, and it is still true in Aurora Burning. The book wouldn’t be half as good without them (#TrueStory). I also grew more attached to Ty and Zila in this book, we see more of them, and their characters feel more fleshed out and less stereotypical than in the first book.
The romance part is still mild and just enough to add a little something to the plot, without taking the spotlight away from the squad and their mission. I have to say though that the whole “Aurora training while Kal is waiting for her” got a little long at one point. I get why it’s important for the Auri’s character ARC, for the development of her relationship with Kal, and also for the plot, but I was not totally on board with this whole “training in another weird dimension” thing…
This book is fast-paced and will keep you at the edge of your seat for the whole ride. The humor and snarky comments are still present as Tyler, Scarlett, Auri, Kai, Finian, and Zila are scrambling from one crisis to the next. At the same time, Auri is trying to learn more about her powers, and Kai is desperate to escape his past and his family. The plot also felt more cohesive than in the first book. There are also some revelations and plot twists that made this book a pure delight. The building of the action and the tension is insane and then it just ends. With. A. Freaking. Huge. Cliffhanger.
Get ready to be amazed (and get ready for a killer cliffhanger and a long wait as there is still no release date for the third book)!
1. Aurora Rising ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
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✅ Characters
✅ Plot and action
✅ Misfit band
✅ Action
✅ Sarcasm/banter
✅ Twists and revelations
❗️❗️Cliffhanger
OH MY GOD THAT ENDING! It killed me. It shouldn’t be legal to leave us on such a cliffhanger. 🤯
First, let's mention how gorgeous this cover is. AND IT’S KAL!!!! 😍
What an intense book! Constant action, many plot twists and the ending is insane! I can't wait for the third book.
Aurora Burning is better than Aurora Rising, probably because we now know the characters and the setting so we can completely focus on the action and insane plans of our misfit crew. There are also chapters from the different members' POVs, which I really enjoyed. I really showed us their different personalities and how they interact with each other, I love their dynamic. We also got to see some poignant flashbacks to Zila's past and it helped me get more attached to her since she was more of a background character in the first book.
I need to let go of my past, and focus on my present.
I need to abandon who I was, and embrace who I am.
I just need to burn it all away.
In the first book, the crew visited the forbidden planet of Octavia III and discovered that an alien entity called the Ra'haam was trying to assimilate all intelligent life in the galaxy. It is now up to them to try to stop it, and they can't rely on anyone besides themselves because even the Global Intelligence Agency has been infiltrated. The six remaining members of the crew are on the run, trying to evade the GIA trying to recapture Auri, and the local criminals trying to get them because there is a hefty price on their heads. Their life gets even more exciting (or complicated) when Kai's sister tracks him down to ask him to join their violent Syldrathi Warbreed Cabal led by the man they call Starslayer.
I learn that Auri starts snorting when she giggles too hard. I learn that Kal has a deep, booming laugh you can feel in your chest. I learn that Scarlett cannot be bluffed, no matter how hard you try. And I learn that maybe I don’t suck at Peopling as much as I suspected
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Oh my! They melt my heart so many times.
- When Kal called Ty “Brother”, and when he bonded with the other members of the squad.
- When Fin discovered that he was not so bad at peopling and that these people were his people.
- When Zila realized that she was not feeling nothing when she was with the squad.
- Fin hugging Auri.
- And so many more moments... 🧡
"It's called a mustache," Tyler says.
"It's called disgusting, Goldenboy."
"It appears as if a skenk crawled onto his lip and expired," Kal says.
"Right?" Fin agrees. "Human body hair, ugh""
"Wait," I hear Aurora say. "You mean Syldrathi don't grow facial hair?"
"No, be'shmai."
"... Do you grow it anywhere else?"
"Could we PLEASE," Tyler says slowly. "Keep our minds. On this job?"
The snark and humor between the members of Squad 312 are just delicious. Fin owns my heart with his sass and sarcasm, and Kal is also my favorite just because he’s Kal. These two stole the show in the first book, and it is still true in Aurora Burning. The book wouldn’t be half as good without them (#TrueStory). I also grew more attached to Ty and Zila in this book, we see more of them, and their characters feel more fleshed out and less stereotypical than in the first book.
I see a courage in Finian that other Warbreed would envy. He asks for nothing, this boy. No favor. No quarter. He lives every moment of his life in pain, but still, he lives it. And he stands, where others would have long ago fallen.
The romance part is still mild and just enough to add a little something to the plot, without taking the spotlight away from the squad and their mission. I have to say though that the whole “Aurora training while Kal is waiting for her” got a little long at one point. I get why it’s important for the Auri’s character ARC, for the development of her relationship with Kal, and also for the plot, but I was not totally on board with this whole “training in another weird dimension” thing…
”We have the whole galaxy arrayed against us,” I tell him. “But this is where we are meant to be. We are part of something greater now; I feel it in my bones. You will lead us through this. And I will follow you, Brother.”
Syldrathi do not touch, save in moments of intimacy or ritual. But Tyler Jones and I have brawled in the belly of Terran destroyers, butted heads across the Fold, looked into the eyes of death side by side. Human he might be. Weary and bruised and flawed as the rest of them. But in battle, everyone bleeds the same.
I offer him my hand.
“I know my friends, and they are few. But those few I have, I would die for.”
This book is fast-paced and will keep you at the edge of your seat for the whole ride. The humor and snarky comments are still present as Tyler, Scarlett, Auri, Kai, Finian, and Zila are scrambling from one crisis to the next. At the same time, Auri is trying to learn more about her powers, and Kai is desperate to escape his past and his family. The plot also felt more cohesive than in the first book. There are also some revelations and plot twists that made this book a pure delight. The building of the action and the tension is insane and then it just ends. With. A. Freaking. Huge. Cliffhanger.
Get ready to be amazed (and get ready for a killer cliffhanger and a long wait as there is still no release date for the third book)!
1. Aurora Rising ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
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May 13, 2022
"There is no love in violence."
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4,8 really)
❗❗Spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk.❗❗
I am dead!!! DEAD!! What just happened, dudes??? My mind is blown to bits. My brain has melted. I need Aurora's End NOW!! Right fucking now!!
Where do I begin with this masterpiece? The cover? Once again beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Seriously, whoever made these covers is super talented!! A+ work. The plot? EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE. If that's even possible. It's full of action, and intrigue, and huuuuge revelations. My heart was pounding so hard and I was drowned in adrenaline like I was experiencing everything that went down with Squad 312. (I might need to check my blood pressure, soon.) There wasn't a single dull moment. Not one!! I was so enthralled by this gem of a book that I went to sleep and it was all I could think about. I was soooo pleased with it, especially because second books can often be huge disappointments. But not this one. No sir. This one delivered. More than delivered, actually. Also, that cliffhanger was cruel and unfair, and I will be speaking to the authorities about it. No one should be allowed to torture their readers like this. Kaufman and Kristoff are cold-hearted monsters. Further, there's also the mind-bending plot twists that completely liquified my entire brain!! (too gross??🤔)
Tyler and Scarlet are part-Syldrathi. 🤯
STARSLAYER IS KAL AND SAEDII'S GARBAGE FATHER?!?! 🤯🤯
HE IS ALSO ANOTHER TRIGGER?!?! 🤯🤯🤯
Even the characters became so much better in this one. There's excellent character development EVERYWHERE. Auri's finally controlling her powers. Zila's admitting she feels, and her backstory...*cries for eternity*. I love her sooo much. There's also excellent relationship development. I officially ship my boy Finian, who is still my absolute fave, with Scarlet Jones. They could make an amazing couple. That kiss was money!! Also, the newest ship that took me completely by surprise...Tyler and Saedii. That ship is enemies-to-lovers in its purest form. I looooove it. I loooove them. The constant banter between them was *chef's kiss*. Moreover, it hurt me so badly when the squad abandoned Kal just because his father's the Starslayer. If they were in his position, they would have kept it a secret, too. It stung, even more, when Aurora rejected him. That was really hard to read but at least she realised that his genealogy doesn't matter to her because she still loves him. I just hope it's not too late. Kal's father messing with his brain and Aurora being unable to sense him make me very worried about what'll happen to him.
Having noted all the great aspects of the book, I feel like I should note the few things I did not like. There's the most minor aspect: the characters breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader. I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like fourth wall breaks in books. I just don't. There's also that full-page Scar was talking about her breasts. It didn't really seem funny to me. The names she gave them seemed of poor taste to me, too. Although, I will agree that "taking that thing off [bra] at the end of the day is the single greatest feeling in the world." I know from experience that bras suck and women shouldn't have to wear them. Finally, the one thing that annoyed me the most is the series' timeline. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT BARELY TWO WEEKS HAVE PASSED?!?! It just makes no sense to me whatsoever. Way too many things have happened for the period of only two weeks. It could have been a month or two at least. No one can fight for the safety of the galaxy in less than that. It's just too unrealistic, even for Sci-fi.
I should say though that these aspects are incredibly minor compare to the magnificence of the rest of the book, and I would still, definitely recommend it to everyone. It's more than worth reading.
Click here if you haven't read my review of Aurora Rising,yet.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4,8 really)
❗❗Spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk.❗❗
I am dead!!! DEAD!! What just happened, dudes??? My mind is blown to bits. My brain has melted. I need Aurora's End NOW!! Right fucking now!!
Where do I begin with this masterpiece? The cover? Once again beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Seriously, whoever made these covers is super talented!! A+ work. The plot? EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE. If that's even possible. It's full of action, and intrigue, and huuuuge revelations. My heart was pounding so hard and I was drowned in adrenaline like I was experiencing everything that went down with Squad 312. (I might need to check my blood pressure, soon.) There wasn't a single dull moment. Not one!! I was so enthralled by this gem of a book that I went to sleep and it was all I could think about. I was soooo pleased with it, especially because second books can often be huge disappointments. But not this one. No sir. This one delivered. More than delivered, actually. Also, that cliffhanger was cruel and unfair, and I will be speaking to the authorities about it. No one should be allowed to torture their readers like this. Kaufman and Kristoff are cold-hearted monsters. Further, there's also the mind-bending plot twists that completely liquified my entire brain!! (too gross??🤔)
Tyler and Scarlet are part-Syldrathi. 🤯
STARSLAYER IS KAL AND SAEDII'S GARBAGE FATHER?!?! 🤯🤯
HE IS ALSO ANOTHER TRIGGER?!?! 🤯🤯🤯
Even the characters became so much better in this one. There's excellent character development EVERYWHERE. Auri's finally controlling her powers. Zila's admitting she feels, and her backstory...*cries for eternity*. I love her sooo much. There's also excellent relationship development. I officially ship my boy Finian, who is still my absolute fave, with Scarlet Jones. They could make an amazing couple. That kiss was money!! Also, the newest ship that took me completely by surprise...Tyler and Saedii. That ship is enemies-to-lovers in its purest form. I looooove it. I loooove them. The constant banter between them was *chef's kiss*. Moreover, it hurt me so badly when the squad abandoned Kal just because his father's the Starslayer. If they were in his position, they would have kept it a secret, too. It stung, even more, when Aurora rejected him. That was really hard to read but at least she realised that his genealogy doesn't matter to her because she still loves him. I just hope it's not too late. Kal's father messing with his brain and Aurora being unable to sense him make me very worried about what'll happen to him.
Having noted all the great aspects of the book, I feel like I should note the few things I did not like. There's the most minor aspect: the characters breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader. I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like fourth wall breaks in books. I just don't. There's also that full-page Scar was talking about her breasts. It didn't really seem funny to me. The names she gave them seemed of poor taste to me, too. Although, I will agree that "taking that thing off [bra] at the end of the day is the single greatest feeling in the world." I know from experience that bras suck and women shouldn't have to wear them. Finally, the one thing that annoyed me the most is the series' timeline. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT BARELY TWO WEEKS HAVE PASSED?!?! It just makes no sense to me whatsoever. Way too many things have happened for the period of only two weeks. It could have been a month or two at least. No one can fight for the safety of the galaxy in less than that. It's just too unrealistic, even for Sci-fi.
I should say though that these aspects are incredibly minor compare to the magnificence of the rest of the book, and I would still, definitely recommend it to everyone. It's more than worth reading.
Click here if you haven't read my review of Aurora Rising,yet.
June 24, 2020
WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?? I FEEL ROBBED AND BETRAYED. DAMMIT KRISTOFF (because let's be real, Amie doesn't seem to have that same sadistic love of torturing her readers).
4.5/5 stars, and I'll probably elaborate on that with a more thorough review later.
(Original pre-review from November 22, 2019...)
Look, Kal is cool and all, and I know everyone thinks he's gorgeous, but tbh I'm just holding out for a book in this series to have Finian on the cover because he is a precious soul (even if he is a sassy shithead) and deserves everything good in this world.
4.5/5 stars, and I'll probably elaborate on that with a more thorough review later.
(Original pre-review from November 22, 2019...)
Look, Kal is cool and all, and I know everyone thinks he's gorgeous, but tbh I'm just holding out for a book in this series to have Finian on the cover because he is a precious soul (even if he is a sassy shithead) and deserves everything good in this world.
Want to read
November 22, 2019#1 Aurora Rising ★★★★★
#2 Aurora Burning ???
#3 untitled ???
update: nov 22, 2019
This cover has killed me, brought me back to life, and killed me again. 😭 My precious grumpy space elf looks so good!
———
Don't mind me, I'm just over here drooling over an untitled book with no release date, cover, or synopsis... 😬
March 25, 2023
Seeing Kal on the cover:
Thinking of the 312 Squad babies:
Realising where Aurora Rising ended and that this book is going to be chaos:
Thinking of the 312 Squad babies:
Realising where Aurora Rising ended and that this book is going to be chaos:
May 26, 2020
Really fun YA SF series - but watch out for the killer cliffhanger at the end of this book. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Aurora Burning, the second book in Amie Kaufman’s and Jay Kristoff’s young adult SF AURORA CYCLE series, follows the tension-filled, nonstop space adventures of the teenage crew of Squad 312, recent graduates of the Aurora Academy. In the first book, Aurora Rising, the crew visited the forbidden planet of Octavia III and discovered, to their horror, that an alien hivemind, called the Ra’haam, has taken over the planet and is bent, Borg-like, on assimilating all intelligent life in the galaxy (or, perhaps, more like the group consciousness alien in Isaac Asimov’s “Misbegotten Missionary” aka “Green Patches”). In fact, the Ra’haam have already infiltrated the command of the Global Intelligence Agency.
Now the six remaining members of the Longbow’s crew are regrouping after losing one of their members to the Ra’haam and barely escaping Octavia III. As Tyler and Scarlett Jones try to sell their Longbow in a lawless space station, they see a media broadcast blaming their crew for a massacre of thousands of people. Instantly the crew is on the run again, trying to evade both the local crime gangs and the infected GIA agents who are trying to recapture Auri, their crewmate who has been gifted with some supernatural powers by another race of aliens who fought the Ra’haam long ago … powers that she hasn’t learned to control at all yet.
Life for Tyler and his crew only gets more exciting — in a not-so-stupendous way — when the sister of Kai (another crew member) tracks him down to insist that Kai rejoin their ultra-violent Syldrathi Warbreed Cabal. You know, the group responsible for blowing up the Syldrathi planet’s sun and killing ten billion of their people, led by the man called Starslayer. But the members of Squad 312 are determined to save the galaxy from the Ra’haam threat, even if the galaxy is being uncooperative.
Aurora Burning is a jet-propelled space adventure for young adult readers, as Tyler, Scarlett, Auri, Kai, Finian and Zila scramble from one crisis to the next. In the process, Auri finds out more about her powers as the Trigger who has the ability to stop the Ra’haam threat, her boyfriend Kai finds that it’s not so easy to escape his past as part of a Syldrathi Warbreed family, and Tyler gets up close and personal with Kai’s hardcore sister Saedii and her monstrous drakkan, a dragon-like beast that has all the odds in its favor when Tyler is forced into a death match with it. There are also some unexpectedly poignant flashbacks to Zila’s past, clarifying why she works so hard to suppress all her feelings.
In most ways, I liked Aurora Burning even better than Aurora Rising. The snarky humor is still present, but balanced by deeper emotions and insights into the pasts and the motivations of the crew. The plot felt a lot more cohesive and original, and there are a few fantastic twists of the kind I like: unexpected but consistent with the overall plot. And I was completely enthralled by some mysterious gifts that the crew receives from some secret helpers — bizarre but helpful gifts that seem to indicate that someone, somewhere, is either time-traveling or foreseeing their future. It’s a fascinating plot element and I can’t wait to get the full explanation for it.
On the flip side, I was never all that convinced by Auri’s and Kai’s romance, though it plays a central role in the plot, or by the crew’s overreaction (in my opinion) to a surprising and highly negative fact that surfaces very late in the story. I simply couldn’t believe that they would all react the way they did. And son of a biscuit (Auri’s favorite expression), Aurora Burning might just have the worst cliffhanger in the entire history of the universe. Kaufman and Kristoff must have worked really hard to come up with a cliffhanger of that scope and magnitude. It’s almost impressive, if I didn’t find it so vexing.
With or without maddening cliffhangers, I’m still definitely on board for book three of the AURORA CYCLE. It’s a fun, action-packed series and the books are quick reads that are hard to put down.
Thanks to the publisher for the NetGalley ARC!
Aurora Burning, the second book in Amie Kaufman’s and Jay Kristoff’s young adult SF AURORA CYCLE series, follows the tension-filled, nonstop space adventures of the teenage crew of Squad 312, recent graduates of the Aurora Academy. In the first book, Aurora Rising, the crew visited the forbidden planet of Octavia III and discovered, to their horror, that an alien hivemind, called the Ra’haam, has taken over the planet and is bent, Borg-like, on assimilating all intelligent life in the galaxy (or, perhaps, more like the group consciousness alien in Isaac Asimov’s “Misbegotten Missionary” aka “Green Patches”). In fact, the Ra’haam have already infiltrated the command of the Global Intelligence Agency.
Now the six remaining members of the Longbow’s crew are regrouping after losing one of their members to the Ra’haam and barely escaping Octavia III. As Tyler and Scarlett Jones try to sell their Longbow in a lawless space station, they see a media broadcast blaming their crew for a massacre of thousands of people. Instantly the crew is on the run again, trying to evade both the local crime gangs and the infected GIA agents who are trying to recapture Auri, their crewmate who has been gifted with some supernatural powers by another race of aliens who fought the Ra’haam long ago … powers that she hasn’t learned to control at all yet.
Life for Tyler and his crew only gets more exciting — in a not-so-stupendous way — when the sister of Kai (another crew member) tracks him down to insist that Kai rejoin their ultra-violent Syldrathi Warbreed Cabal. You know, the group responsible for blowing up the Syldrathi planet’s sun and killing ten billion of their people, led by the man called Starslayer. But the members of Squad 312 are determined to save the galaxy from the Ra’haam threat, even if the galaxy is being uncooperative.
Aurora Burning is a jet-propelled space adventure for young adult readers, as Tyler, Scarlett, Auri, Kai, Finian and Zila scramble from one crisis to the next. In the process, Auri finds out more about her powers as the Trigger who has the ability to stop the Ra’haam threat, her boyfriend Kai finds that it’s not so easy to escape his past as part of a Syldrathi Warbreed family, and Tyler gets up close and personal with Kai’s hardcore sister Saedii and her monstrous drakkan, a dragon-like beast that has all the odds in its favor when Tyler is forced into a death match with it. There are also some unexpectedly poignant flashbacks to Zila’s past, clarifying why she works so hard to suppress all her feelings.
In most ways, I liked Aurora Burning even better than Aurora Rising. The snarky humor is still present, but balanced by deeper emotions and insights into the pasts and the motivations of the crew. The plot felt a lot more cohesive and original, and there are a few fantastic twists of the kind I like: unexpected but consistent with the overall plot. And I was completely enthralled by some mysterious gifts that the crew receives from some secret helpers — bizarre but helpful gifts that seem to indicate that someone, somewhere, is either time-traveling or foreseeing their future. It’s a fascinating plot element and I can’t wait to get the full explanation for it.
On the flip side, I was never all that convinced by Auri’s and Kai’s romance, though it plays a central role in the plot, or by the crew’s overreaction (in my opinion) to a surprising and highly negative fact that surfaces very late in the story. I simply couldn’t believe that they would all react the way they did. And son of a biscuit (Auri’s favorite expression), Aurora Burning might just have the worst cliffhanger in the entire history of the universe. Kaufman and Kristoff must have worked really hard to come up with a cliffhanger of that scope and magnitude. It’s almost impressive, if I didn’t find it so vexing.
With or without maddening cliffhangers, I’m still definitely on board for book three of the AURORA CYCLE. It’s a fun, action-packed series and the books are quick reads that are hard to put down.
Thanks to the publisher for the NetGalley ARC!
February 27, 2024
Jest tylko jeden sposób, aby uratować tę serię. Mianowicie ostatni tom musiałby być 500 stronicowym opisem tego, jak nasi bohaterowie są:
ćwiartowani, bici, obdzierani ze skóry, podpalani, podtapiani, łamani kołem, duszeni, zgniatani, biczowani, wrzucani do lawy, wrzucani do kwasu, wrzucani w przestrzeń kosmiczną bez skafandrów i
zmuszani do słuchania całej dyskografii Taylor Swift. Wtedy git.
Wkładanie parówek do uszu jest przyjemniejsze, niż czytanie tego.
Tu film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jYLy...
ćwiartowani, bici, obdzierani ze skóry, podpalani, podtapiani, łamani kołem, duszeni, zgniatani, biczowani, wrzucani do lawy, wrzucani do kwasu, wrzucani w przestrzeń kosmiczną bez skafandrów i
zmuszani do słuchania całej dyskografii Taylor Swift. Wtedy git.
Wkładanie parówek do uszu jest przyjemniejsze, niż czytanie tego.
Tu film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jYLy...
December 8, 2023
4,5/5
Ale jestem na siebie wściekła, że zaczęłam czytać przed premierą tłumaczenia trzeciego tomu.
Ale jestem na siebie wściekła, że zaczęłam czytać przed premierą tłumaczenia trzeciego tomu.
April 25, 2020
For fans of Space Opera & Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The thing I love the most about The Aurora Cycle, and Aurora Burning especially, is just how extra everything is. From high-action space chases to outlandish costumes and make-out scenes directly following high speed jet pack flights through open space, Aurora Burning definitely delivers if you love campy, over the top characters and epic plots to save the universe.
As usual, my favourite aspect of Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman's stories are the characters and Squad 312 really put me through the wringer in this one with more emotional and dramatic plot threads and reveals keeping my on the edge of my seat and my heart in my throat. I love how the characters really lean into stereotypes in this series, from the blonde haired, blue eyed hero, Tyler Jones to the muscular, stoic, hot space elf, Kaliis, there is a strong emphasis on the character archetypes that each member of Squad 312 represent. This is normally something that I would hate and deem unoriginal, but for some reason in this series it just works for me and adds an extra level of comedy to what is otherwise a pretty bleak story.
The only criticism I could really give this book is that the entirety of the plot rests on a reveal that has been glaringly obvious to me since the beginning of book one. I'm not sure if it's just me as I do have an uncanny ability to spot foreshadowing but when I discovered that the big reveal was something I'd spotted from the get-go, I was a tad underwhelmed.
Overall though, Aurora Burning was a fast-paced, high-action page turner full of twists and turns and characters that I absolutely love.
The thing I love the most about The Aurora Cycle, and Aurora Burning especially, is just how extra everything is. From high-action space chases to outlandish costumes and make-out scenes directly following high speed jet pack flights through open space, Aurora Burning definitely delivers if you love campy, over the top characters and epic plots to save the universe.
As usual, my favourite aspect of Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman's stories are the characters and Squad 312 really put me through the wringer in this one with more emotional and dramatic plot threads and reveals keeping my on the edge of my seat and my heart in my throat. I love how the characters really lean into stereotypes in this series, from the blonde haired, blue eyed hero, Tyler Jones to the muscular, stoic, hot space elf, Kaliis, there is a strong emphasis on the character archetypes that each member of Squad 312 represent. This is normally something that I would hate and deem unoriginal, but for some reason in this series it just works for me and adds an extra level of comedy to what is otherwise a pretty bleak story.
The only criticism I could really give this book is that the entirety of the plot rests on a reveal that has been glaringly obvious to me since the beginning of book one. I'm not sure if it's just me as I do have an uncanny ability to spot foreshadowing but when I discovered that the big reveal was something I'd spotted from the get-go, I was a tad underwhelmed.
Overall though, Aurora Burning was a fast-paced, high-action page turner full of twists and turns and characters that I absolutely love.
June 21, 2020
1.) Aurora Rising ★★★★.5
2.) Aurora Burning ★★★
-----------------------------------------------
"There is nothing as painful, or as simple, as doing what is right."
representation: Chinese-Irish character, disabled character, Black character, queer characters (bisexual characters, unlabelled queer characters).
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★
I don't remember the first book being as cringe as this one. Also who's gonna bet that chapter 3 was written by Jay where he goes on about boobs for two whole pages..... yeah, that was a thing that happened. I also didn't feel the romantic chemistry between two of the characters AT ALL and their 'love' scenes made me want to puke. The story did pick up in the last third though, and that ending???? how dare they leave us hanging like that!! I have so many questions that I want answers to, so I'll definitely be reading the last book when it comes out.
trigger warnings: death of loved ones (in the past), mention of genocide against refugees, grief, violence, slurs against character with a disability (cr*pple), stereotyping against a gay person, slavery.
2.) Aurora Burning ★★★
-----------------------------------------------
"There is nothing as painful, or as simple, as doing what is right."
representation: Chinese-Irish character, disabled character, Black character, queer characters (bisexual characters, unlabelled queer characters).
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★
I don't remember the first book being as cringe as this one. Also who's gonna bet that chapter 3 was written by Jay where he goes on about boobs for two whole pages..... yeah, that was a thing that happened. I also didn't feel the romantic chemistry between two of the characters AT ALL and their 'love' scenes made me want to puke. The story did pick up in the last third though, and that ending???? how dare they leave us hanging like that!! I have so many questions that I want answers to, so I'll definitely be reading the last book when it comes out.
trigger warnings: death of loved ones (in the past), mention of genocide against refugees, grief, violence, slurs against character with a disability (cr*pple), stereotyping against a gay person, slavery.
August 26, 2020
The only way out is thorough.
Holy Flop, Batman.
The Sequel Curse strikes again.
RIP, Aurora Burning. You won't be missed.
When I started this book, two weeks ago, I would have thought anything possible, except me giving this less 5 stars.
But I was obviously wrong because, guess what? This book was a big disappointment.
I found the plot to be incredibly dull, especially considering this book takes place in the action-packed heart of a chain of events that started in book one.
I think it maybe was too long, but I also think that wasn't the main issue.
The biggest problem, in my opinion, are the characters.
In Aurora Rising I would have given a kidney and a whole hand for Squad 312 without blinking once. Aurora Burning, however, turned them all into a bunch of incoherent, shallow individuals who have all but detached themselves from the characters I met and started to adore in book 1.
Aurora in particular. I'm sorry they did you so dirty in this one, love.
And, speaking of love. Puh-lease. What was that bad excuse of a romance and friendship?? Should we take it for real or just collectively decide to turn a blind eye on it and pretend it was just a pipe dream gone bad?
I mean, it would have been okay if only it didn't crumble like a cracker in a mixer at the first adversity for the sake of spicing the plot up like apparently every sequel needs to do by some questionable, unspoken rule.
It pains me deeply to say this, but I'd gladly pretend this book never happened if it means book 3 will fix everything this one ruined.
May 30, 2020
I just finished reading this and I need a minute to process it all.
.
.
OH MY GAAAAWD, THIS BOOK 🙀🙀🙀
.
.
OH MY GAAAAWD, THIS BOOK 🙀🙀🙀
March 4, 2022
4.5 stars
July 13th 2020
This series owns me, and I’m okay with that.
———————————————————————
June 12th 2020
Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just sitting here patiently waiting for my preorder copy to arrive and praying I don’t see spoilers until it gets here. I don’t mind waiting in the midst of the pandemic, I’m just hoping I don’t see spoilers until I read it.
——————————————————————
January 27th 2020
*sliding a twenty to Kaufman and Kristoff* so... how about an early release on this one...? Or an ARC? A single page? I’ll take whatever I can get.
July 13th 2020
This series owns me, and I’m okay with that.
———————————————————————
June 12th 2020
Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just sitting here patiently waiting for my preorder copy to arrive and praying I don’t see spoilers until it gets here. I don’t mind waiting in the midst of the pandemic, I’m just hoping I don’t see spoilers until I read it.
——————————————————————
January 27th 2020
*sliding a twenty to Kaufman and Kristoff* so... how about an early release on this one...? Or an ARC? A single page? I’ll take whatever I can get.
February 23, 2021
“I am not feeling nothing.”
Sobbing right now. Grabbing my computer so I can actually write a coherent review.
____________________________________
“I am not feeling nothing.” What a quote to sum up this book.
Guys, I am an absolute WRECK over this book. I’ve told a few people that this series, these characters, the world, everything just speaks to me in a way that doesn’t happen very often. I mean, I LOVE so many books, but I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so connected to an entire cast of characters like I have with this series.
I put off the last 150 pages of this book for a few days because I just knew, I KNEW it would kill me. I was right. That last 50 pages was the most heart-wrenching experience ever. I don’t know how I’m going to move past this book right now, I have a feeling this is going to be a MASSIVE book hangover.
Kaufman and Kristoff have done it yet again. They’ve destroyed me. And I couldn’t be more thrilled. Masochistic a bit? Sure, but these books just really hit me on such an emotional level. I’m going to be crying about this randomly for a while.
I don’t want to give away anything about the plot, because I really don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. But, this was such an amazing book. I love the way these two write together and I couldn’t be more happy with this series. I cannot wait for book 3. Cannot. Freaking. Wait.
Sobbing right now. Grabbing my computer so I can actually write a coherent review.
____________________________________
“I am not feeling nothing.” What a quote to sum up this book.
Guys, I am an absolute WRECK over this book. I’ve told a few people that this series, these characters, the world, everything just speaks to me in a way that doesn’t happen very often. I mean, I LOVE so many books, but I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so connected to an entire cast of characters like I have with this series.
I put off the last 150 pages of this book for a few days because I just knew, I KNEW it would kill me. I was right. That last 50 pages was the most heart-wrenching experience ever. I don’t know how I’m going to move past this book right now, I have a feeling this is going to be a MASSIVE book hangover.
Kaufman and Kristoff have done it yet again. They’ve destroyed me. And I couldn’t be more thrilled. Masochistic a bit? Sure, but these books just really hit me on such an emotional level. I’m going to be crying about this randomly for a while.
I don’t want to give away anything about the plot, because I really don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. But, this was such an amazing book. I love the way these two write together and I couldn’t be more happy with this series. I cannot wait for book 3. Cannot. Freaking. Wait.
June 11, 2021
I. AM. NOT. OKAY
Re-read and I'm still struggling to put together coherent thoughts about this book....I love it but I hate Kristoff for that ending.
All I'm going to say is, Squad 312 are precious babies and need to be protected.
Re-read and I'm still struggling to put together coherent thoughts about this book....I love it but I hate Kristoff for that ending.
All I'm going to say is, Squad 312 are precious babies and need to be protected.
May 18, 2020
I have so many mixed feelings about the ending of this book, but since I loved the rest of it, I won’t go any lower than 4 stars because a book that has Kaliis Idraban Gilwraeth cannot go below 4 stars ever.
Ever.
Like the last book I’ll talk about this review in terms of characters, with a mini spoilery rant at the bottom (which I’ll mark as spoilers so nobody accidentally sees it because I’m a literal angel, you’re all welcome).
Characters woo
Aurora:
The love I felt for this girl in the first half of the book basically evaporated after a certain scene near the end of the story, but since that happened with almost the entire squad, I’ll just ignore it for now and talk about the REAL Aurora. She’s still a cutie and adapting very well into her new life as space pirate with a hot elf boyfriend. I love her relationship with Kal and everyone on the squad, all of whom worked so well together in this book (except at the end. We do not speak of the end.)
Tyler:
A VAST IMPROVEMENT OVER BOOK 1 TYLER. Man actually had emotions in this book. Insane. Highly commended. He was torn over grief at the loss of [REDACTED], but by far the best part of his character is his burgeoning friendship with a certain hot space elf lady. Honestly, I ship it. He’s getting better, folks, and I’m sure he’ll do some cool shit in book 3.
Scarlett:
My love for Scarlett, while once profound, died quickly. Stay in your lane. There is a reason [REDACTED] did not tell you a certain bit of info about himself and your reaction was proof enough that he was right not to tell you. Chill the fk out. Please and thank u. Also her relationship with Finian is still boring.
Finian:
Actually managed to be sidelined in this book. While he carried the last book with his sense of humour and sarcasm, he was honestly just kinda there in this book. I still think he’ll be on the cover of book 3, with a glorious green background.
Zila:
Such a great character!! I knew after reading book 1 that she would soar once she actually gained some bit of personality, and learning her backstory and her inner thoughts in this book really made me like her. She was no-nonsense and, the best part about her, minds her own damn business.
Kal:
My sweet child. My love. My favourite. He does not deserve this hatred, this scorn, this tomfoolery directed at him. It is misguided, and he is by far the best character in this book. If anything happens to him, I will give the third book 1 star so fast. Actually, screw Finian, can we have Kal on the cover of the 3rd book as well? It’s what he deserves tbh.
OKAY SPOILER RANT BELOW <3
4/5 stars, which so easily was going to be 5 stars before the squad decided they wanted to be stupid and now deserve to get nuked (except for Kal, of course). Give me book 3 so that I may rest in peace.
Ever.
Like the last book I’ll talk about this review in terms of characters, with a mini spoilery rant at the bottom (which I’ll mark as spoilers so nobody accidentally sees it because I’m a literal angel, you’re all welcome).
Characters woo
Aurora:
The love I felt for this girl in the first half of the book basically evaporated after a certain scene near the end of the story, but since that happened with almost the entire squad, I’ll just ignore it for now and talk about the REAL Aurora. She’s still a cutie and adapting very well into her new life as space pirate with a hot elf boyfriend. I love her relationship with Kal and everyone on the squad, all of whom worked so well together in this book (except at the end. We do not speak of the end.)
Tyler:
A VAST IMPROVEMENT OVER BOOK 1 TYLER. Man actually had emotions in this book. Insane. Highly commended. He was torn over grief at the loss of [REDACTED], but by far the best part of his character is his burgeoning friendship with a certain hot space elf lady. Honestly, I ship it. He’s getting better, folks, and I’m sure he’ll do some cool shit in book 3.
Scarlett:
My love for Scarlett, while once profound, died quickly. Stay in your lane. There is a reason [REDACTED] did not tell you a certain bit of info about himself and your reaction was proof enough that he was right not to tell you. Chill the fk out. Please and thank u. Also her relationship with Finian is still boring.
Finian:
Actually managed to be sidelined in this book. While he carried the last book with his sense of humour and sarcasm, he was honestly just kinda there in this book. I still think he’ll be on the cover of book 3, with a glorious green background.
Zila:
Such a great character!! I knew after reading book 1 that she would soar once she actually gained some bit of personality, and learning her backstory and her inner thoughts in this book really made me like her. She was no-nonsense and, the best part about her, minds her own damn business.
Kal:
My sweet child. My love. My favourite. He does not deserve this hatred, this scorn, this tomfoolery directed at him. It is misguided, and he is by far the best character in this book. If anything happens to him, I will give the third book 1 star so fast. Actually, screw Finian, can we have Kal on the cover of the 3rd book as well? It’s what he deserves tbh.
OKAY SPOILER RANT BELOW <3
4/5 stars, which so easily was going to be 5 stars before the squad decided they wanted to be stupid and now deserve to get nuked (except for Kal, of course). Give me book 3 so that I may rest in peace.
July 10, 2020
Ahhhh CRAP. So the wait begins.
THIS IS SOME HECTIC SPACE SHENANIGANS.
You know that blank, empty sound of space? That is my mind right now trying to put my feelings into words.
I fail.
WARNING: This review will definitely contain untagged spoilers for the first book in the series.
CHARACTERS!
Tyler
I think that if we weren't given chapters from his POV, I'd probably find him unbearable. Because he's such a soldier! But I really enjoy hearing the way he thinks, about strategy, and leadership, but mostly about himself. He's genuine in his altruism which, like Scar says, makes it impossible to hate him. He's a Good Guy. Plus, who wouldn't fall for ovary-exploding dimples, right?
Scarlett
This sass queen is a Boss B*tch. She is completely unapologetic about who she is, and while she's sass and seductiveness on the surface, this is a woman who cares deeply about her friends. I really enjoy reading about the way her relationship with everyone develops - she makes everyone feel comfortable and it allows us to see them a little bit clearer, too. Total QUEEN.
Auri
Poor Auri is such a weapon that she doesn't get much personal time. She's shy and quiet and lost but now she's being asked to step up and be something more. Thankfully we have the blossoming relationship with Kal to show us a little bit of who Auri is, and what drives her, and give us hints at who she might have been 200+ years ago. I find myself feeling really sorry for her, but at the same time admiring her determination to do the right thing.
Kal
Naturally I love Kal because he's the closest thing to a Bad Boy that this squad gets. He's definitely the Strong and Silent type, but his relationship with Auri shows us his loyalty as well. He throws himself wholeheartedly into taking care of her, but he understands she has her own power, too. His presence is a comfort to Auri, and to me, too. It's just nice to know that he's around, ready to go psycho-savage warrior the instant our squad is threatened.
Zila
I really liked getting to know Zila a little better here. Finally we're learning why she's so closed off, and why she thinks the way she does. I loved being let into her heart a little bit, and seeing her soften. Plus she's one heck of a driver, am I right?
Finian
I have a surprising amount of love for this snarky lil dude, who was close to grating in the first book. Again, having his POV allows us past the outer shell to see why he says and does things, and this is a helpful tool in making me love people. He's the comic relief, and it's a job he takes seriously.
Kat
... I CAN'T EVEN.
Saedii
Let's face it. Without the actual murdering of people, this is EXACTLY the kind of don't-take-crap-from-anyone, I-will-murder-you-if-you-touch-me, totally BADASS woman I aspire to be.
THIS IS MY MOTLEY CREW AND I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY HEART.
They do cool space stuff that involves stealing things (again), being chased, clever plans, daring deeds, heroic moments, alien encounters, training montages, and just a whole lot of having no freaking clue what is going on but struggling along the best they can anyway. This is why I love them.
No complaints from me. Oh except maybe one tiiiiiny spoiler complaint:
Ok that's it! I think I did better reviewing this one, yes? More sense? More logic? Maybe? :)
***
Review for Aurora Rising HERE
THIS IS SOME HECTIC SPACE SHENANIGANS.
You know that blank, empty sound of space? That is my mind right now trying to put my feelings into words.
I fail.
WARNING: This review will definitely contain untagged spoilers for the first book in the series.
CHARACTERS!
Tyler
I think that if we weren't given chapters from his POV, I'd probably find him unbearable. Because he's such a soldier! But I really enjoy hearing the way he thinks, about strategy, and leadership, but mostly about himself. He's genuine in his altruism which, like Scar says, makes it impossible to hate him. He's a Good Guy. Plus, who wouldn't fall for ovary-exploding dimples, right?
Scarlett
This sass queen is a Boss B*tch. She is completely unapologetic about who she is, and while she's sass and seductiveness on the surface, this is a woman who cares deeply about her friends. I really enjoy reading about the way her relationship with everyone develops - she makes everyone feel comfortable and it allows us to see them a little bit clearer, too. Total QUEEN.
Auri
Poor Auri is such a weapon that she doesn't get much personal time. She's shy and quiet and lost but now she's being asked to step up and be something more. Thankfully we have the blossoming relationship with Kal to show us a little bit of who Auri is, and what drives her, and give us hints at who she might have been 200+ years ago. I find myself feeling really sorry for her, but at the same time admiring her determination to do the right thing.
Kal
Naturally I love Kal because he's the closest thing to a Bad Boy that this squad gets. He's definitely the Strong and Silent type, but his relationship with Auri shows us his loyalty as well. He throws himself wholeheartedly into taking care of her, but he understands she has her own power, too. His presence is a comfort to Auri, and to me, too. It's just nice to know that he's around, ready to go psycho-savage warrior the instant our squad is threatened.
Zila
I really liked getting to know Zila a little better here. Finally we're learning why she's so closed off, and why she thinks the way she does. I loved being let into her heart a little bit, and seeing her soften. Plus she's one heck of a driver, am I right?
Finian
I have a surprising amount of love for this snarky lil dude, who was close to grating in the first book. Again, having his POV allows us past the outer shell to see why he says and does things, and this is a helpful tool in making me love people. He's the comic relief, and it's a job he takes seriously.
Kat
... I CAN'T EVEN.
Saedii
Let's face it. Without the actual murdering of people, this is EXACTLY the kind of don't-take-crap-from-anyone, I-will-murder-you-if-you-touch-me, totally BADASS woman I aspire to be.
THIS IS MY MOTLEY CREW AND I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY HEART.
They do cool space stuff that involves stealing things (again), being chased, clever plans, daring deeds, heroic moments, alien encounters, training montages, and just a whole lot of having no freaking clue what is going on but struggling along the best they can anyway. This is why I love them.
No complaints from me. Oh except maybe one tiiiiiny spoiler complaint:
Ok that's it! I think I did better reviewing this one, yes? More sense? More logic? Maybe? :)
***
Review for Aurora Rising HERE
May 16, 2020
*sigh* i think i read this book NOT in the right time, i just finished a very good Adult fantasy book with so many smart characters and plot and reading this book felt really not make sense at all 😂 like how the heck all these teenagers versus the whole galaxy survived with simple plans and sheer luck and ofc everyone is secretly so special?
I still love all the characters on this book (characterization is the strongest element on this book i guess) and love to learn more about them on here, i love there was more romance story compares to the first book and i enjoyed some of the humors too..... BUT the plot was just .. idk.. so little plot! it was basically just a travelling story (one of the trope that i don't like on book) and then finally getting GOOD on the last 80 pages... it felt suffer a middle book syndrom, the traveling and the battles in the middle of the book were there just to make the story longer in my opinion.
I still enjoy my reading experience, it was a very fast read but i didn't love this one as much as the 1st book
One of the twist was so predictable and no matter how many times Kristoff killed his prominent characters, based on my reading experience from him, i know they will back to life on the next installment 🙈
Hoping the final book will blow me away.. but after the fiasco at Darkdawn... maybe i will just keep my expectation low
I still love all the characters on this book (characterization is the strongest element on this book i guess) and love to learn more about them on here, i love there was more romance story compares to the first book and i enjoyed some of the humors too..... BUT the plot was just .. idk.. so little plot! it was basically just a travelling story (one of the trope that i don't like on book) and then finally getting GOOD on the last 80 pages... it felt suffer a middle book syndrom, the traveling and the battles in the middle of the book were there just to make the story longer in my opinion.
I still enjoy my reading experience, it was a very fast read but i didn't love this one as much as the 1st book
One of the twist was so predictable and no matter how many times Kristoff killed his prominent characters, based on my reading experience from him, i know they will back to life on the next installment 🙈
Hoping the final book will blow me away.. but after the fiasco at Darkdawn... maybe i will just keep my expectation low
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2020
WHAT. WHAAAAAAAT?!!!!!!
I....I..............WHAT.
SON
OF
A
BITCH.
Just finished. My heart is racing. I need wine. Or Xanax. Maybe both. Definitely need a box of kittens.
How will I survive waiting for the next one? Need more kittens.
I....I..............WHAT.
SON
OF
A
BITCH.
Just finished. My heart is racing. I need wine. Or Xanax. Maybe both. Definitely need a box of kittens.
How will I survive waiting for the next one? Need more kittens.
February 24, 2024
original rating: 5 stars
rating after 2nd read: 3.5 stars
man, this wasn't as good as i remembered. i still enjoyed it, but i had so many issues with it in the end?
i hate how it's multi pov in 1st person and how there isn't really anything that makes the povs distinguishable. most of them genuinely sound the same. there were a couple of chapters where the characters' personalities peaked through, but for the most part? fuck no.
there were also a lot of things that didn't really make sense to me and one of them is the sudden change when that reveal about kal happened. like everyone's reaction was so out of character and dramatic. this conflict in my opinion was not indeed and defied literally all the relationships kal built with the crew.
rating after 2nd read: 3.5 stars
man, this wasn't as good as i remembered. i still enjoyed it, but i had so many issues with it in the end?
i hate how it's multi pov in 1st person and how there isn't really anything that makes the povs distinguishable. most of them genuinely sound the same. there were a couple of chapters where the characters' personalities peaked through, but for the most part? fuck no.
there were also a lot of things that didn't really make sense to me and one of them is the sudden change when that reveal about kal happened. like everyone's reaction was so out of character and dramatic. this conflict in my opinion was not indeed and defied literally all the relationships kal built with the crew.
September 20, 2021
what. the. hell. was. that. cliffhanger.
in between the crying, laughing, screaming, mentally murdering and 'oh shit!' moments i experienced throughout this book, i reached the conclusion that these two wonderful (aussie ;)) authors want me dead. because why? why else would they do this to me? surely they know the pain that i - and many other esteemed readers - are feeling right now?
i had so many ups and downs whilst reading this that i ended up crying in my bed, and i don't even know why. well i do - it was this book. it dragged me in with it's gorgeous cover with my beautiful Kal on the front, only to drop me into a universe where . it gave me romance and happiness between my ult ship, only to leave my head spinning so fast i got whip-lash when i was still trying to process the plot twist the rest of the gang was yelling about. it gave me more insight into our beautiful, three-dimensional characters, more humour to make me cackle, more touching moments showing the bonding between our adorable crew, only to break my heart apart even more when these characters were separated.
i finished this and spent the rest of the morning watching happy BTS videos to make myself stop crying and stressing while i tried to invent a way in my head that this could all work out. which i did anyway. if the authors need any help, i've practically planned the entire third book out. and the authors clearly do need (mental) help, because they left me with that goddamn cliffhanger!!!
basically, i loved this, and Zila most of all.
oh, and Kalora (i'm working on the ship name ok, leave me alone).
in between the crying, laughing, screaming, mentally murdering and 'oh shit!' moments i experienced throughout this book, i reached the conclusion that these two wonderful (aussie ;)) authors want me dead. because why? why else would they do this to me? surely they know the pain that i - and many other esteemed readers - are feeling right now?
i had so many ups and downs whilst reading this that i ended up crying in my bed, and i don't even know why. well i do - it was this book. it dragged me in with it's gorgeous cover with my beautiful Kal on the front, only to drop me into a universe where . it gave me romance and happiness between my ult ship, only to leave my head spinning so fast i got whip-lash when i was still trying to process the plot twist the rest of the gang was yelling about. it gave me more insight into our beautiful, three-dimensional characters, more humour to make me cackle, more touching moments showing the bonding between our adorable crew, only to break my heart apart even more when these characters were separated.
i finished this and spent the rest of the morning watching happy BTS videos to make myself stop crying and stressing while i tried to invent a way in my head that this could all work out. which i did anyway. if the authors need any help, i've practically planned the entire third book out. and the authors clearly do need (mental) help, because they left me with that goddamn cliffhanger!!!
basically, i loved this, and Zila most of all.
oh, and Kalora (i'm working on the ship name ok, leave me alone).
January 15, 2024
moja emocjonalna kolejka górska właśnie się wykoleiła…
May 5, 2020
OUT TODAY, I REPEAT, IT IS OUT TODAY!!!
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HAHAHAHA I HAVEN'T READ A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT IN YEARS. IM 38 WEEKS PREGNANT I CANT HANDLE THIS SHIT.
Really though if I wasn't on my phone all I would have put for now is the "No! No! Nooooooooo!" Michael Scott GIF.
RTC.
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I…..honestly don’t even know where to begin with this review. I have been SO excited for Squad 312’s journey to pick back up since I read Aurora Rising as an ARC back last March. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again—being able to be one of those people who are lucky enough to read ARCs is AWESOME. Who doesn’t want to get these books as early as humanly possible, am I right?! However. There are also TWO main downsides to this. 1) You are VERY limited to the number of people you can fangirl to about the book you just devoured and 2) you are now forced to wait EVEN LONGER until the next book comes out. In the case of Aurora Burning….I might die. This GD book ends on THE CLIFFHANGAR OF ALL CLIFFHANGERS, PEOPLE. I honestly couldn’t even tell you the last time I read a book that ended with me furiously trying to swipe left on my Kindle over and over and over to no avail, praying that my Kindle was just frozen and that I didn’t just read the end of the book and am stuck wondering, WAITING to see what happens for over a year. Sigh.
I’ve seen a few reviews already that have said they loved this one even more than the first. While I’m not sure I can quite agree with that, they were at least on an equal level. Getting to know everyone just that little bit more (especially more on Zila’s past) was great. There were a LOT of twisty parts, especially towards the end that just left me reeling. There are things that we end the book not knowing that will drive you BONKERS. Basically a good word to describe this book is ~frantic~. They’re all in a rush to not get killed, to learn more about Auri’s powers, to find the Weapon, to save the galaxy—you know, real important things.
Aside from ALL THAT though, even just seeing them grow is a family unit made my heart swell. They are all affected from the situation with Cat, understandably, and none of them really want to take this connection they all have for granted in any way. We see certain romantic relationships grow which made me so happy and I’m hoping that we’ll see more…cries…of that..sniffles…in the next book. I really don’t want to give ANYTHING away, just know that this was the sequel that I had been looking for and I will be counting down the mother-biscuit-ing days until that last book is out.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the chance to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.♥
For more of my reviews, please visit:
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HAHAHAHA I HAVEN'T READ A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT IN YEARS. IM 38 WEEKS PREGNANT I CANT HANDLE THIS SHIT.
Really though if I wasn't on my phone all I would have put for now is the "No! No! Nooooooooo!" Michael Scott GIF.
RTC.
---
I…..honestly don’t even know where to begin with this review. I have been SO excited for Squad 312’s journey to pick back up since I read Aurora Rising as an ARC back last March. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again—being able to be one of those people who are lucky enough to read ARCs is AWESOME. Who doesn’t want to get these books as early as humanly possible, am I right?! However. There are also TWO main downsides to this. 1) You are VERY limited to the number of people you can fangirl to about the book you just devoured and 2) you are now forced to wait EVEN LONGER until the next book comes out. In the case of Aurora Burning….I might die. This GD book ends on THE CLIFFHANGAR OF ALL CLIFFHANGERS, PEOPLE. I honestly couldn’t even tell you the last time I read a book that ended with me furiously trying to swipe left on my Kindle over and over and over to no avail, praying that my Kindle was just frozen and that I didn’t just read the end of the book and am stuck wondering, WAITING to see what happens for over a year. Sigh.
I’ve seen a few reviews already that have said they loved this one even more than the first. While I’m not sure I can quite agree with that, they were at least on an equal level. Getting to know everyone just that little bit more (especially more on Zila’s past) was great. There were a LOT of twisty parts, especially towards the end that just left me reeling. There are things that we end the book not knowing that will drive you BONKERS. Basically a good word to describe this book is ~frantic~. They’re all in a rush to not get killed, to learn more about Auri’s powers, to find the Weapon, to save the galaxy—you know, real important things.
Aside from ALL THAT though, even just seeing them grow is a family unit made my heart swell. They are all affected from the situation with Cat, understandably, and none of them really want to take this connection they all have for granted in any way. We see certain romantic relationships grow which made me so happy and I’m hoping that we’ll see more…cries…of that..sniffles…in the next book. I really don’t want to give ANYTHING away, just know that this was the sequel that I had been looking for and I will be counting down the mother-biscuit-ing days until that last book is out.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the chance to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.♥
For more of my reviews, please visit:
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