Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Published: October 20th 2015 By: Knopf BYR

Series: The Illuminae Files #1 

Genres: Young-Adult, Science-Fiction

Format: Hardcover 

Source: Purchased 

My Rating: 

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This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend sheswore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

My Thoughts

I’m not exactly sure what I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said. Is it a great read? Yes. Is it confusing? Yes. I was excited and apprehensive about reading this. There were reviews that stated how much the format sucks, or how there was no plot. I beg to differ. If you get distracted by all the prettiness, you won’t get anything from this book. I had to read this a certain way, to actually get the story. I did go back and admire all the prettiness when I finished. This won’t take long…

First, I had to figure out what was relevant to the story.

Not everything seemed to be of use to me. For instance, the diagrams of AIDAN did me no good to stop and stare. For those of you who don’t know, AIDAN is some messed up Artificial Intelligence. We all know what happens when AI is involved; it takes over.

Of course, badass Kady figured all this out. The girl is smart as hell, and there was no stopping her mad hacking skills. Creators don’t want everyone to know that the thing they built has a mind of it’s own. Giving out commands to take down ships and kill thousands, is not what the plan was. You just know that BeiTech is full of secrets. I figured something was amiss the moment I read the Assault Report. Long story short, too much BS going on between different fleets and not enough smart people like Kady to figure it out.

But…. I really wish that I had listened to this instead. Those freaking comm chats are hilarious. Chum!

Ezra…poor guy. I don’t know what life was like before this attack. Ezra and Kady seem almost desperate to get the love back, but for most of the book, Kady is so contradictory that I never really got a hold on the “romance” aspect. They broke up before everything went to hell. They got separated, but Kady spent lots of hours hacking into Alexander’s system trying to find Ezra. She loves him, okay. It just felt so.. I don’t know. Ezra is all for the “I love you’s”. How can you not swoon when he sends Kady that flower during their comm chat?

I love all the banter between the characters. I’d give anything to listen to this, because Ezra and James cracked me the hell up. Nothing works a guy up more, than telling him you want to bang his sister. They joked during a trying time. War is spread far and wide, and those two were cracking jokes like everything was normal.

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder….

So, yeah, that was crazy. Imagine a virus aboard a cramped ship. Esther is a sweet girl. Or so they thought…. 

I love this book, and I think that I will opt for the audio with book 2. Not sure yet. I would miss all the illustrations and diagrams, so I may just buy both. 

If you are looking to try some science-fiction, this book would be a great start. If you want a complex book to read, this is that book. 

So glad that I didn’t get a migraine…