A review by chrysoula_amv
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THIS FUCKING BOOK. THE EMOTIONS, THE FORMAT, THE ACTION, THE SCIENCE, THE CHARACTERS, THE PLOT TWISTS, THE FUCKING AI. It is simply brilliant. I got the chills multiple times. The emotional exploration of everything was done so damn well. I care so deeply for these characters. And the writing style... It changed from human oral speech to formal documentation, to silly friends chatting, to existential sci-fi themed poetry. I didn't know there could be such a thing. Everything felt so real, so human. Everyone in this could exist irl. Ughh I just want everyone to read this. I want to rave about it for longer but honestly you just have to start it. Don't be intimidated by the format.

*spoilers* *spoilers* *spoilers*
The only thing that I didn't 100% like was that in the end Ezra's mom was with Bei Tech. The seed about her had been planted but it just seemed a bit too much of a coincidence. Like everything revolved around the two protagonists when the war was of this magnitude. Lastly, although I am so happy for the characters I grew to love, the ending seemed a bit too perfect for me. I loved it, don't get me wrong, it was super satisfying. However, it felt a bit too good for this book's standards lol.