*Spoiler Free*
Wow… just wow!
Illuminae follows the story of Kady and Emery who live on a tiny planet made of ice on a colony called Kerenza at the edge of the universe that was being mined by a megacorporation. On the day that Kady and Emery decide to break up the planet is invaded and attacked by a rival megacorporation called BeiTech. Somehow they both make it off the planet on separate spaceships, Kady on a science vessel called the Hypatia and Erza on a battle carrier called the Alexander with one more ship called the Coepernicus. The main ship that BeiTech used in their assault is the Lincoln and it has been chasing the three vessels for the last six months as they try to make it to a far off jump station called the Heimdall.
Ok, I will admit for the first hundred pages or so I was completely lost. There was a lot of information thrown at me in a short period of time and it took me a minute to adjust to the unique structure of Illuminae. I without a doubt have never read anything like this book before and it had me a little frazzled to begin with. However, after the plot really picked up and I had become more accustomed to the storyline I was completely engrossed! The characters are diverse and you really get a feel of everyone through the intimate form of communication that they use. The language throughout the novel jumped a lot from informal to formal and I loved the juxtaposition between the two, it really helped you to relate to a majority of the characters.
Kady is just fantastic; I absolutely loved her tenacity and determination and the staunchness that she radiates as she faces repeated horrors and grief. Ezra was such a relatable character. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he has such great relationships with those around him. I love the camaraderie he shares with his fellow pilots and the emotions he displays over the course of the novel was touching to read. Aidan was a little bit of an enigma for me. I don’t really want to get too into details and spoil the storyline but I really didn’t trust or believe anything he said after the Copernicus. I thought Kady was a little naïve for believing him at first but as the story progressed you really get a sense of the depth of the character and it explored a whole different avenue that I really wasn’t expecting.
This kind of composition is really engaging and it keeps you highly entertained. The plot is so fast paced and with the stakes being so high you are on the edge of your seat throughout the whole storyline. I loved it, it was honestly a breathe of fresh air and I cannot wait to jump into Gemina and Obsidio in the very near future!
⭐️4/5 stars didn’t know what to expect but loved it!
I am so pleased!
The first 3/5 star rating was the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan. I felt that Magnus was a little bit too juvenile for me at the start of this series; I didn’t quite gel with him as a character in the first book and most of the second. I took me like 2 weeks to finish the Sword of Summer as I couldn’t get into the plot and Magnus just felt like a second rate version of Percy to me. That being said he did redeem himself in the Hammer of Thor and the plot definitely picked up and was more action packed and that was more entertaining as the series continued.
The next book I gave a 3/5 rating was Everless by Sarah Holland. There wasn’t anything inherently bad about this book. I thought the premise was definitely interesting; the thought of time being a currency that you could trade and ingest was highly original. It had a lot of twists and turns and the magic system was nicely detailed and described. It really only got a 3/5 from me because I wasn’t blown away at the end of the book.
The 3rd book on my list is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. The Night Circus was just kind of ok for me. The plot wasn’t action packed enough, it was very slow paced. The setting was beautiful and the prose was lyrical and detailed, it wasn’t capturing my attention whilst I was reading it. The ending as well was a bit underwhelming for me and that really influenced my decision to give it a 3/5 stars.
The next book on my list is The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. The plot was entertaining and fast paced and it was a quick easy read, the only reason I gave it a 3/5 was because I thought Monty to be a bit pretentious. I found him to not be too likeable for me, however, I thought Felicity was quite quirky and enjoyable, Percy also didn’t really leave an impression on me. Although I did enjoy the representation of diversity of characters.
The last series I will be speaking about on my list that I gave all books a 3/5 stars was The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E Pearson. This series includes The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal and The Beauty of Darkness. I think at the time I read these books I wasn’t in the mood to read them. I’m the kind of reader where if I start a series and I have all the books in the series in my possession I like to marathon them and get through it as soon as I can. I don’t like to leave them too long because I either end up forgetting half the series or I never get around to finishing. I started the Kiss of Deception and I was like alright not too bad and I pushed through and read the next two books and at the end of them I just didn’t really have any overwhelming feelings. I didn’t really love them, I didn’t really hate them so I averaged my rating out and gave them all a 3/5.
This book was super fast paced, very action packed and it was a great continuation of the storyline.
Amy Leigh Reads 