ARC Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Expected publication: October 20th 2015

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

There was so much hype around this book and even though I really wanted to read it, I was very hesitant to have any expectations. I’m still not sure if this book is better than I thought it would be or if I’m a little disappointed.

This book is told entirely through emails, files, texts and other documents. I was not expecting that at all so it was interesting. I liked how original that was but it also made it a little difficult to follow the story. About half way into the book, I wish it was written normally mostly because it felt a little like the story never really started. But that’s completely a personal opinion.

I really liked the characters but I never really connected with them because of the format of the book. I felt like there could have been more character development but again, the format made that difficult.

What I loved most about this book is the plot. It was such an epic, mind blowing sci-fi! I have never read anything like this book. It was just so insane and I loved it.

Overall, I loved this book and I will be racing to buy a hardcover as soon as it’s released. I didn’t really like the format but I think it was more because I wasn’t expecting it. Regardless of how I feel about the writing format, I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

ARC received from Net Galley