sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Obsidio is the third book in the illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I really enjoyed the journey that we went on to uncover the rest of the story with attacking the mining planet Kerenza IV and the Heimdal jump station.
One thing that really bothered me was the argument that kept getting used by the soldiers to justify their actions. Various soldiers and even characters who weren't planet side were basically saying that the citizens of Kerenza IV deserved what was happening to them (they were being starved, murdered, and sexually harassed by the soldiers) because they were there on the planet holding an illegal mining operation in the first place. That' is a BS argument and justification and I wanted to scratch my eyes out every time I heard someone say "but the citizens were here illegally anyways."
The book is long ending at 615 pages and there were some parts that seemed to drag on and on. I honestly don't think the story could have been any shorter because we would have ended up not getting certain information that was vital to the story. I understand why it was as long as it was, I just needed the boring parts to not be so boring.
Overall this book did not disappoint. This was an action packed sci fi and I'm happy I read the series. I give this 5 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this audiobook for free on Libbyapp.com
Spoiler
the Betech corporationOne thing that really bothered me was the argument that kept getting used by the soldiers to justify their actions. Various soldiers and even characters who weren't planet side were basically saying that the citizens of Kerenza IV deserved what was happening to them (they were being starved, murdered, and sexually harassed by the soldiers) because they were there on the planet holding an illegal mining operation in the first place. That' is a BS argument and justification and I wanted to scratch my eyes out every time I heard someone say "but the citizens were here illegally anyways."
The book is long ending at 615 pages and there were some parts that seemed to drag on and on. I honestly don't think the story could have been any shorter because we would have ended up not getting certain information that was vital to the story. I understand why it was as long as it was, I just needed the boring parts to not be so boring.
Overall this book did not disappoint. This was an action packed sci fi and I'm happy I read the series. I give this 5 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this audiobook for free on Libbyapp.com
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Suicide, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, War, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail
stardust_heidi's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Holy jeebus, what a series finale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Gore, War, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Genocide, and Gun violence
cait's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Confinement, Drug use, War, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Gore, Police brutality, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, and Torture
escapelifeinthepages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Violence
lucilaroife's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
ktrecs's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Holy shit I finished a book!!!!
This was the dynamic finale I expected from this series, but it just didn't *hit* like the others. I think part of the problem is that the irreverent humour and liveliness with which the narrative parts are presented seem particularly incongruous in this section, mixed up as they were with detailed descriptions of straight up genocide so like. There was that.
Spoiler
Also, I'm not usually one to complain about a HEA but I really really *really* hate bait and switch death scenes, and the ending of this had so, so many. It just feels like a cheap thing to do, you know? Kill your characters or don't, but don't try to capitalise on their death scenes and then in the very next chapter undermine all of the emotional power by bringing them back to life.I did like the themes of conscience, consciousness and humanity (a staple theme in scifi) but I'm a little disappointed too that we didn't get to see the larger ramifications of the Kerenza IV conviction. The whole series harps on about how complex and redeemable humanity is, so making the Big Bad just..... a woman..... and to suggest on top of that that she is somehow less redeemable than the soldiers who actually committed the heinous war crimes she ordered them to seems to be a little bit abortive. Where is the systemic analysis here? The logical conclusion of the arguments the whole series makes seems to be that capitalism is the real evil - through this lens, slapping some corporate head honchos with a guilty verdict hardly seems to qualify as the justice owed to the Kerenzan refugees.
Maybe that's a lot to ask of a series like this, but it just didn't sit right with me.
Despite all these complaints (and a lamentable dearth of queer characters, like wtf was with that??? Three central couples and all of them hetero????), I really loved this series. Kaufman and Kristoff really do The Most with form, and I think it's brilliantly executed. Found footage is an absolute FAVE of mine, conceptually speaking, but I often find the actual works hard to digest (lookin @ you, shaky cam footage), but the frame narrative drew everything together neatly here. AIDAN was a particular favourite of mine, because it added a really excellent element of exisistential dread all the way through the series (and because I am a SUCKER for a what-makes-us-human AI plotline). Most impressively, I my opinion, is that the threads of emotional anguish stayed taut throughout even the most clusterfucky action sequences and I think that's a really hard line to walk without becoming heavy-handed. I found this particularly incisive because of the way that aligned with the goals of the Illuminae Group - I'm thinking specifically of the choice, both by the authors and by Kady & co., to include the notes from Dr. Grant - seemingly irrelevant to the narrative itself but serving a particular persuasive purpose in the context of the court case.
Anyway this is the longest review I've written in approximately 1 million years so I guess it deserves recognition for causing a stir in my cold, dead heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Confinement and Sexual harassment
ellianderjoy's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, War, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Medical content
aravenclawlibraryx's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
So I adored the first two books of this series. I was so intrigued by the way it was written. It wasn’t a typical novel. It had chat logs, texts, video surveillance, etc. This book series got me interested in science fiction. But this book in particular was a bit of a disappointment to me.
So normally the first two books are about a couple. We had Kady and Ezra in Illuminae. There was Nik and Hanna for Gemina. This one promised the same thing with Asha and Rhys but it didn’t happen as much as it did in the first two books. Asha and Rhys took a back seat to the drama that was happening with Kady and the ship she was on. I honestly can’t remember what the ship was called, I’m so sorry. I was confused about what was going on with the ship and what they were trying to do, to be honest. There was just so much science and war terms.
The characters were okay. Like I mentioned above, Asha and Rhys were the “it couple” for this book. But they took a back seat so I didn’t get to know them as well. I don’t really have much of an opinion on them. I did like Asha pretty well for the brief times we did get to read about her. Her determination and her love for a child that wasn’t even hers warmed my heart.
Basically I spent my time being confused while reading this book. This book and the series in general, has a problem with having a lot of scientific terms and theories. I got a C in science for my entire high school and college career. I only know about the human body and brain and I barely know that much. There were also parts of the book that were about war and strategy. My only knowledge in that is playing Stratego and I won that game by getting Russia early on and slowly taking over Europe. So you all can imagine how confused I was.
Overall, this was okay. It was a nice ending to the series. I just have a small side book to read and I’ll have completed this series fully. I think this series changed the game with how it was written. I hope we see more books written like this because it truly makes reading a lot more fun!
Ps. I still dislike ADIAN. Sorry not sorry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence
More...