Laura's Reviews > Illuminae

You know that feeling when you’ve just read a completely original, exciting book that quite literally had you on the edge of your seat the entire time? What about when that book is 600 pages and filled with some of the most gorgeous pages? That’s right. Not only is the story captivating, but the format is phenomenal with pages you’ll stare at in awe. That is what you get when you read Illuminae and you will love every second of it.

This is just the first of a trilogy and you can already tell that this will be one hell of a series. The entire book is made up of a dossier of hacked documents that inevitably tell a story as a whole. There are a variety of document types throughout such as interviews, Unipedia (internet) articles, maps of ships, transcriptions of IMs, medical reports, emails, military files, surveillance footage summaries, etc.

The basic premise of Illuminae is that it is the year 2575 and Kady Grant just broke up with her boyfriend, Ezra Mason. Later that day, the planet is invaded. They manage to escape on an evacuating fleet, but an enemy warship is on their tail. Kady and Ezra aren’t even really speaking. There is a deadly mutating virus on one of the ships in the fleet. The fleet’s AI is acting up. Nobody of authority seems to be giving accurate information forcing Kady to have to reach out to the ex-boyfriend she is not talking to. This is all the information I am willing to give you and that is only because it is available in the synopsis of the book.

This is one of the best YA science fiction books I have ever read. There is action, romance, and even a little bit of horror. I was pleasantly surprised by the horror aspects enjoying every bit of it. I loved the characters, especially the complexity of AIDAN. There was a great deal of world-building and character development. Plus, the cover is incredible.

I highly recommend you go out and read Illuminae if you enjoy young adult science fiction.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review via edelweiss.