Illuminae

Wow! I'm not even sure what to say about this book without ruining it for everyone. I'm not normally much of a sci fi reader, but I loved this book. It took me a little while in the beginning to figure things out. The format is so different and there were a lot of names to learn (people, ships, companies, etc). I really started getting into it after a couple hundred pages and then didn't want to put it down. I had so many different emotions during different parts of the book. And the ending! I will be starting the next book tomorrow and I can't wait to find out what happens.

This book jumps right into the action. Kady and Ezra's home planet; Kerenza is invaded by BeiTech. UTA (United Terran Authority) gets there and helps the WUC, to kick some BeiTech ass. Though one BeiTech dreadnought survives... the Lincoln.

Of the UTA fleet the Alexander, Hypatia, and the Copernicus survive. Kady ends up on the Hypatia and Ezra on the Alexander. The Alexander as taken a lot of damage and can no long create it's own wormhole. So now everyone's worried about the Lincoln catching up and killing them all. Scary stuff.

While all that has been going down, Ezra's been trying to reach Kady. His ex girlfriend, whom had just broken up with him the day on the invasion. The UTA are in dire need of more people and soon Ezra is scripted into being a fight pilot. Kady on the other hand, begins to work with another hacker. See, the UTA isn't giving their passengers all the information they deserve, so our hackers set out to see what that is.

The Alexander AI then decides to kill everyone on the Copernicus because a virus has broken out on board because of BeiTech. It starts slowly and then turns it's victims into zombies. Not to mention during this time that the Lincoln is catching up! So they shut down the AI but when Lincoln comes calling, they have to to turn it back on and everyone goes crazy.

Does our couple survive? Do they get back together? Does Lincoln kill them or or does the AI? Does anyone ever get back at BeiTech for going into their planet? You MUST read to find out!

This book is just so good! I didn't think I'd like it. Not really my kind of thing honestly. But the format... it doesn't read like a normal book and that's what makes it so freaking cool! It reads in a series of chat logs, diary entries, and even a few web pages. I've never seen a book do this before. Don't get me wrong, the story is good too. Though it does start off a little slow, it took me a while to really invest in these characters but when I did.... I found that I couldn't put this book down. I even took it to work with me and read on breaks. It's so amazing!

If you've not read this book already, what are you waiting for? It's worth a read and if you're like me and this isn't usually your kind of read, I'd still give it a chance, so worth it! It's such a great book, had me on the edge of my seat and it's so beautiful!

The story follows exes Kady and Ezra after two rival corporations decide to go to war, resulting in the destruction of their home planet, Kerenza. As refugees, Kady and Ezra are taken in by two separate rescue spaceships, the Alexander and the Hypatia, with the enemy warship the Lincoln in pursuit. That, however, is the least of their problems: A deadly virus breaks out aboard the Alexander, and the ship’s artificial intelligence system, AIDAN, may secretly be trying to kill them all. Kady, a genius-level hacker, takes matters into her own hands, as the people in charge refuse to explain just what the hell is going on. The only person who is able to help her discover the truth is her ex-boyfriend, Ezra.

The most fascinating aspect of this novel is that it is told entirely through hacked classified documentation, emails, interviews, messenger-chats, and transcripts. I spent a long while before reading this book simply flipping through the pages and marvelling over how awesomely cool it looked.

You’d think that written entirely through documents wouldn’t necessarily make you fall in love with the characters, but you would be very, very wrong. Kady is kick ass: she is snarky, sarcastic and has issues with authority, though deep-down she’s a sweetheart. Ezra is an extremely cute dork, and very easy to fall in love with. The moments they talk about their year-long relationship were incredibly sweet, and made me squeal in delight.

The plot. The plot. It’s so intense and well-thought out, I was mad I didn’t come up with something like it. It’s clear the authors did their research on sci-fi, spaceships, and physics. If you’re expecting to read a Twilight-space opera, where nothing happens and everyone survives, you will be disappointed, in a good way. Although not quite on Game of Thrones level, the events and the consequence of those events are realistic. You can’t have two mega-corporations go to war, and no one dies. Kady and Ezra lose friends and loved ones, witness deplorable acts, and suffer through PTSD. It’s hyper-realistic, which is why I loved it.

My favourite character, after our protagonists, would have to be the artificial intelligence system AIDAN (can you even call an AI a character?). Sci-fi consists of a thousand different versions of AI, but I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered one as complex as AIDAN, who feels almost as much as a human does. AIDAN goes to great lengths to protect the fleet, even if it doesn’t seem like it is.

This book had me on the edge of my seat. Despite being 599 pages long, I demolished it in two days. The design team over at Knopf Books deserve an award or something for what they created here. The battle scenes and the moments in AIDAN’S data core were pure art. Everything was incredibly detailed, from the subheadings on each page, down to the tabbed info provided by Illuminae.

Oh, Illuminae. That final private message scene at the very end of the novel, I did not see coming. Be prepared for a twist. An awesome one.

I cannot wait for the next book in this series. Illuminae just came out a few months ago, so undoubtedly there is still a long way to go for Illuminae #2.

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.

Girl breaks up with her boyfriend, planet gets destroyed, and then there’s the viral outbreak…

If you aren’t curious yet, then maybe the format will grab your attention. Hacked e-mails, video transcriptions, ship records… You get the idea.

Kady and Ezra end up on separate evacuation ships after their mining colony is destroyed by a ruthless enemy. Despite tragic losses, they start to make new lives for themselves on board, moving on without their home and without each other. Things are bad, but there’s hope. Then things get worse. A plague has appeared and starts to turn shipmates into vicious beasts, who brutally savage anyone who get in their path. Oh, and the AI on one of the ships is taking matters into its own hands.

I adore the unconventional formatting, but all of that would be wasted if there wasn’t a compelling story behind it. Action, adventure, romance, science, horror… there’s an excellent mix of all these things. Kady is my favorite, with her ambition, tech skills, and grit. I’m thrilled that there are two more books to come. I don’t buy many hardcovers, but I have zero regrets with this one.

I thought this book would be difficult to read given the layout but once I started it I realized that it was actually quite easy. I loved the plot and needed to know what was going to happen immediately. I was gripped by the characters from the very beginning and by the end I was left with wanting more and more. I'm so happy this is being adapted to a movie.

MY THOUGHTS
I was so excited to read this book!! I love both of the authors' other book series and add the fact that the book sounds fantastic, this book needed to be in my hands! I am glad to say that this book is the ultimate sci-fi! It tells a new story in an entirely unique way!

This book takes place in the far future. Kady and Ezra just broke up this morning and that means like the worst that can happen, until their small planet is attack. Their small planet ends up in the middle a war and ultimately destroys the planet. Three ships are able to rescue a few thousand people, Kady and Ezra included, but their problems are not over. The ships must travel through space towards help while an enemy ship is on their tail. That's not all. There's something deadly afoot in these ships...

What is very interesting about this book is how the story is told. It's told completely by various documents. Interviews, emails, IMs, camera footage transcripts, etc. It was a bit odd and confusing at first, but after awhile I got so used to it! And, really, it's such a unique way to tell the story and I became completely absorbed! First of all, you would like it would be hard to connect to the characters or really anything with this type of format, but no, it really wasn't. The characters were spectacular and while it took me awhile to understand the world, it didn't take that long. Really, the whole futuristic world was done very well. I know I'm raving here, but everything worked!

I really just want to mention the emotions that this book caused. I kind of knew that this would happen as both these authors have a history of it. I think this is something that I just loved, even if it may have ruined me. I just think it's amazing when authors can get me to connect with the book and the characters so well. Also, SO MUCH HAPPENS! That's part of why I'm being so vague in my review. Yeah, the synopsis gives a whole lot away, but I think it's for the best that you guys find things out through the documents.

Lastly, there are plot twists. Round of applause for plot twists!

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, my review is a mess, but just read this book! I was expecting awesome, but I was still blown away! This is going to be an entire series, so I am very excited to read more!