Illuminae
Books | Young Adult Fiction / Science Fiction / Space Opera
4.2
(6.2K)
Amie Kaufman
Jay Kristoff
For fans of Marie Lu comes the first book in an epic series that bends the sci-fi genre into a new dimension. “A truly beautiful novel that redefines the form." —Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of Red Queen 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 a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit. But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again. Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes. “Prepare yourselves for Illuminae.” —EW.com “[Y]ou’re not in for an ordinary novel experience. . . .” —Bustle.com “A truly interactive experience. . . . A fantastically fun ride.” —MTV.com ★ “[O]ut-of-this-world awesome.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred ★ “…stylistically mesmerizing.” —Publishers Weekly, starred ★ “[A]n arresting visual experience.”—Booklist, starred ★ “[A] game-changer.” —Shelf Awareness, starred“Brace yourself. You're about to be immersed in a mindscape that you'll never want to leave.” —Marie Lu, bestselling author of the Legend trilogy "Genre: Undefinable. Novel: Unforgettable." —Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of Unbreakable “An exuberant mix of space opera, romance, zombies, hackers, and political thrills.” —Scott Westerfeld, bestselling author of Zeroes and Uglies “Stunningly creative. Smart, funny, and romantic.” —Veronica Rossi, bestselling author of Under the Never Sky “This is one of those rare books that will truly keep your heart pounding.” —Beth Revis, bestselling author of Across the Universe “This book is xxxxing awesome.” —Laini Taylor, bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Science Fiction
Fantasy
Romance
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More Details:
Author
Amie Kaufman
Pages
608
Publisher
Random House Children's Books
Published Date
2015-10-20
ISBN
0553499130 9780553499131
Ratings
Google: 3.5
Community ReviewsSee all
"DNF @ 2% -<br/><br/>I’m gonna tell y’all a short story. Bear with me. <br/><br/>My brother walks into the room and looks at my face. I’m slumped over, this book open on my lap. <br/>“I can’t read this!” I cry out.<br/>“Is it harder to read than audiobooks?” He asks, vaguely interested. <br/><br/>You see, the two types of books I can’t read are dialogue only books — which this one seems to be — and audiobooks. With this format of book, I find it easy to lose focus and skip around. <br/><br/>Another (less significant) reason that I DNFed it was the literal blacking out of swearing. It did nothing for the story and for me. I still read it as a swear word. It sort of hindered the story a bit. <br/><br/><br/>I’m so frustrated that I had to DNF this! I had heard so many good things about it!!"
haven
"Unbelievable. Definitely recommend the audio book for the full experience. I understand people saying it was hard to follow if they read the hard copy. Story was incredible. Great sci-if plot, twists, character development, suspense. Best book I’ve come across in a while. "
Veronica Em
"3.75 star<br/><br/>I've been sitting on this review for a little while. Possibly because the story felt like a 3 star while the book aesthetic was 5+ stars. The ship diagrams, briefing notes, confidential files, personal messages, posters, pictures, and video briefings made up everything. So even though there wasn't much world building somehow it was still easy to picture in my head. Very immersive too the author even put in random Grammer errors that made it feel more genuine.<br/><br/>The main characters where just ok. Kady's snark was forced instead of organic. She often seemed like a real badass as well until she had to put her money were her mouth is. The romance also felt a little cheap being as how it was mostly out of circumstance. Of course the flow of the story cut off and on due to the compiled documents but I think in this instance it was well woth it. The twist was very nice as well, I had to do a double take on that one. <br/><br/>There just isn't much to say about the plot itself. I'm literally sitting here staring at my screen trying to think of something good or bad to say and I'm drawing blanks........ Thirty minutes later........... The two evils seemed one too many. I did enjoy the character arc of the AI. They are always interesting to me. How far can you take an AI until it is sentient? Even when they are not it is human nature to treat them as thus.<br/><br/>Sense describing the plot is impossible for me how about I move on. The pages were above and beyond unique. Even if the plot didn't spur me on wanting to know what was on the next page did. The posters and ship diagrams where the best and made me feel apart of the story. Even the Pilot comms during battle was cool. The conversations flowing with their flight patterns. Also I did enjoy some side characters but that got shot down pretty quick *haha*. I just don't have that urge to keep going with the seires or this review. Well worth the unique read but didn't hook me.<br/><br/>"Nothing ceases to exist. Energy does not perish, it merely changes forms. The one's you love, the ones you lose, they still exist as long as the cosmos does.""
Ashley
"This book started off really slow and with a bunch of information that I didn't feel was necessary. By the end of it, I was totally into the story and dying to know how it would end. I wish parts of it would have been done differently, but I liked it overall. I'll be reading the second one when it comes out."
Emily
"I feel like I have to revisit this one (again). I’ve tried to read it twice already and I just can’t get through it. "
WitcherSchooloftheFox
"I actually avoided this book at first when it was expected to be released. I didn't grasp what it was about and thought it was just another teen sci-fi book about love and loss... Boy, was I wrong. I finally chose to read this book, after a recommendation I saw on Goodreads. Within the first couple of pages, I was lost in the war with Biotech and the race to save the evacuee's from the Lincoln.<br/><br/>With the setting in 2575 we see the world through futuristic eyes. A war breaks out over a small planet that is on the outskirts of the traveled universe. The people residing on this planet find themselves in the middle of a crossfire and their home is left destroyed. There are fighter ships, fighter pilots, government secrets, biochemical warfare, and artificial intelligence. (I won't lie, I felt reminded of Star Wars often)<br/><br/>The format of this novel is written using confidential documents, emails, instant messages, interviews, and more. It emerges the reader and brings them aboard the ships with the unknown at every corner. They are fighting many enemies, Lincoln Biotech's ship chasing after them, an unknown pathogen spreading in the air infecting thousands, and secrets no one will tell.<br/><br/>Kady and Ezra are a recently broken up couple who find that they are pivotal points in this novel. With Kady's hacking skills, she is able to unearth some of the hidden secrets that are not being told to the crew on board. Ezra finds himself in the middle of the fight as a fighter pilot, helping in any way he can, while attempting to salvage his relationship with Kady."
Kass W
"I loved this book!! Read it all the way through in one sitting! "
L
Lily
"I think this is a pretty good book. The whole book is told by emails, files, interviews, texts etc. There's no direct narrative which is a cool change for a book. It's about a civilization of survivors trying to survive from diseases and another corporation that's trying to kill them. The main characters are kady and Ezra. I didn't like it as much because it was a really slow start. But in the end it got more interesting. There also was a plot twist i wasn't expecting."
Vi
"The format of the book took some getting used to but I enjoyed the book once that was done. "
V M
Veronica Mitchell
"The fake-out death and the gory-horror stuff just didn't do it for me. The AI poetry, on the other hand--now there's a reason to pick up this book a second time."
Phoebe Jones