Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1) in Aussie Readers

Oct 27, 2019 Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, read-in-2019, bought-by-me

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Find this review and more on my blog The Rest Is Still Unwritten!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is the first instalment in The Illuminae Files and is a uniquely told and entrancing sci-fi adventure brimming with danger, romance and excitement.

The year is 2575 and seventeen year old Kady Grant thought the hardest thing she'd have to do would be break up with her boyfriend Ezra Grant. Then their planet is invaded. With two megacorporations at war, the battle reaches the small mining pl Find this review and more on my blog The Rest Is Still Unwritten!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is the first instalment in The Illuminae Files and is a uniquely told and entrancing sci-fi adventure brimming with danger, romance and excitement.

The year is 2575 and seventeen year old Kady Grant thought the hardest thing she'd have to do would be break up with her boyfriend Ezra Grant. Then their planet is invaded. With two megacorporations at war, the battle reaches the small mining planet of Kerenza and Kady and Ezra must race to evacuate with an enemy warcraft in hot pursuit. Forced into separate spaceships, the trouble for Kady and Ezra's is just getting started. A deadly virus has broken out and the artificial intelligence responsible for protecting them may actually be another enemy. As those in charge scramble to save the fleet, Kady hacks into the systems to uncover the truth. As it soon becomes clear the only person she can rely on is the ex-boyfriend she never wanted to speak to again, Kady will need to rely on Ezra if she wants to survive and live to tell about it.

In this exciting reading experience, authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff join forces to draw readers into an unparralled adventure with Illuminae, a YA sci-fi story that is told through a fascinating series of emails, reports, schematics, military files, security footage and more. It's taken me a little while to find the time to read this book but I must say; I've personally never read anything quite like Illuminae.

Kaufman and Kristoff dare to write something different with this novel and subsequent series and while it was disconcerting at first, the uncommon narrative proves to be highly intriguing reading. The story was one I found easy to get lost as the sharp, witty dialogue and established characters fight to survive.

The main characters are Kady Grant and her [ex] boyfriend Ezra Mason who find themselves caught up in a war they were unprepared for when an invasion sees them take refuge on different space carriers. What happens next is a viral outbreak that threatens the fleet and Kady's determination to learn the truth about what is happening that sees her hack, search and delve into military records.

I quite liked Kady and Ezra. Kady was was intelligent, determined and sarcastically witty while Ezra was your all-star boyfriend who was lighthearted and down to earth but who also fought the good fight. I found it interesting that Kady and Ezra were in an established relationship at the start of the novel. I'm so used to seeing characters start out as strangers and fall in love that it was refreshing to see a couple who had a history and rapor with each already.

Illuminae is very fast paced and intricately plotted. There are some developments and twists readers will simply not see coming and I can't wait to start the next novel asap and see what Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have planned for the rest of the trilogy! ...more

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May 24, 2015 Joy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, recommended, adventure, 2015-goodreads-challenge

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Illuminae is one of the most hyped up books of the year, and yes it does live up to its hype. It's a story told through a blend of multimedia pieces — and if you've read my review for Night Film by Marisha Pessl, then you'll remember how much I love this story telling format.

Illuminae is a science-fiction adventure/action story set in space, full of twists, turns and heart-wrenching moments where you have no idea whether the characters would survive. Following the invasion of their pla

- - -

Illuminae is one of the most hyped up books of the year, and yes it does live up to its hype. It's a story told through a blend of multimedia pieces — and if you've read my review for Night Film by Marisha Pessl, then you'll remember how much I love this story telling format.

Illuminae is a science-fiction adventure/action story set in space, full of twists, turns and heart-wrenching moments where you have no idea whether the characters would survive. Following the invasion of their planet by a large corporation called BeiTech, who's after the minerals that are being mined there, Kady and her recent ex-boyfriend Ezra have managed to escape with their lives, saved by three spaceships that heard their planet's distress call.

Unfortunately, due to their narrow escape, the survivor's main military spaceship, The Alexander, was damaged — and its AI (called AIDAN) begins to start making decisions on its own. What's interesting is that while its decisions are viewed by the crew as an act of treason, the reader gets to glimpse inside the framework of AIDAN's decision making, and logically, its actions make sense, as horrible as it sounds. What it did to save the fleet was its own sick way of saving them.

I loved the concept of AIDAN — I'd go far enough as to say that it was my favourite 'character' in Illuminae. The fact that an AI can elicit such feelings of doom, yet hope for a little bit, is a testament to Amie and Jay's great writing style.

And can we just take a moment to appreciate all the effort that went into creating this book? At the Sydney launch event, Jay and Amie mentioned that they consulted with designers and experts when it came to having the blueprints of their spaceships drawn up. The level of detail that went into this book is amazing. And the art/story telling style! Words cannot express what a joy it was to read this book — because every new page was like a little surprise, you just didn't know what to expect.

And then there was the suspense. Oh, my heart. It felt like nothing was going right for Kady and Ezra, and their deaths were pretty much inevitable. I'll be honest — not sure how they really survived haha.

One problem I did have with the book (despite everything else being amazing), was the fact that I felt quite detached to both Kady and Ezra. Being the two main characters, I thought I would be more invested in them and their relationship — but I felt like I still don't know them that well by the end of it.

I guess this can possibly be attributed to the story telling style here — the readers do not get to really know them or their backgrounds, considering all the other things that are happening at the same time. I also didn't buy their love story ... sorry, but I just didn't feel the spark there.

Other than that small quip, Illuminae is definitely worth your time. Pick up a copy, I'm sure you won't regret it! ...more

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May 27, 2018 Jaime West rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, favourites, sci-fi

Wow. This was a ride. These books are intimidating and being 600+ pages, argh! But with the final book just released, I was like - DO IT!
It took me a while to get on board with the format, but once I did, I loved it. So different and exciting, I liked the characters and the ending was GREAT! Kady is a kick ass woman! I felt tired for her, poor girl never sleeps!
On to book two - god the hardbacks are so pretty!

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Sep 08, 2015 Lauredhel added it

Shelves: science-fiction

I am nowhere near as excited about this book as others seem to be. Cookie cutter personality-free pink-haired protagonist. Unappealing sexist love interest. "Psychotic" constantly used to mean "murderous". Physically very difficult to read: tiny fonts, dark grey on black all caps.

This book should be my jam: YA, SF, plague! But all I am left with is "meh".

My hands and wrists hurt, a lot. It wasn't worth it. But maybe it will be for you.

Warning: major horror elements, including murders of childr ...more

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Oct 16, 2016 Shannon rated it it was amazing

Reading this was a totally unique experience - I love when books employ unconventional methods of telling a story. And the story was engaging, I couldn't put it down. I am very much anticipating reading the next instalment. ...more

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