Review: Illuminae by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

GoodReads: 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.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

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 Expected publication date: 22/10/15

"Am I not merciful?"

There has only been a small handful of books that have given me that -oh my god I can't put this book down- feeling this year, and Illuminae is one of them. This is the YA sci-fi book I've been waiting for! I loved the action, humour, and general style and layout of the book.

Illuminae is told through interviews, IMs, military files, dairy entries and more - which all make for an interesting read. The format won't work for everyone, imo, but it really worked for me. It had me sucked in from beginning to end. Apart from the fact that they are no longer speaking to one another, for Kady and Ezra it's a typical school day. Things start to go cray, however, when an enemy fleet begins firing down on them. The two are forced to evacuate onto a fleet with the enemy hot on their pursuit. There troubles don't end there though, once on board there are a whole new host of problems. A deadly plague breaks out, the fleets AI (the bits from its perspective were so fascinating!) seems to have taken on a personality of its own, and those in power may be hiding something. So, Kady, not one to sit around and take orders takes matters into her own hands and tries to uncover the truth...

I loved the banter between Kady and Ezra, but I didn't really care for the romance. I honestly would have been happy if they had just been friends, because, hey, we need more platonic relationships. Also, something that made me roll my eyes was the way Kady and Ezra were described. Kady was basically described as being a strong, small, underestimated girl and Ezra as a big jock. I don't know, it just seemed so cliché. Having said that, however, I did like both characters. Although sometimes I was kind of torn with Kady - I loved her need to seek out the truth and do so by any means possible, but at the same time it felt like there was too much effort being put into creating this persona of a snarky and aloof heroine, so much so that she felt a bit like a cardboard cutout.

The writing style really worked for me, I loved the dry humour and thought that the teen voices felt authentic and natural - like the text talk and such didn't feel at all forced.  Overall, the fun layout and interesting plot had me hooked and flying through the pages!

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