“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” (Goodreads synopsis).
“So here’s the file that almost killed me, Director.” (Illuminae, Sentence 1).
Krystal’s Review:
I eyed this book for months, picked it up, put it back down, did a little “don’t want to” dance, and then finally read it because my book club made me–and I’m so glad it did. Despite my hating the format (the entire book is comprised of documents that the narrator has composed) AND this being a space story (sorry, just not a huge fan of ’em), I LOVED this book. This book made me snort with laughter, cringe in girlish disgust (ewww…did he REALLY just say that???), gasp in horror, and BAWL my eyes out (seriously, have a box of tissues ready).
Kady is a strong heroine who’s grasp of sarcasm could be labeled an art form, and Ezra is the romantic “ex” boyfriend that every girl wishes she had. My favorite part of this entire book were the narrations about Kady and Ezra from the security footage. Find these parts and I swear you’ll laugh-out-loud. Aidan, the AI, is philosophical (think I, Robot) about existence, love, and everything in-between; you will be guessing until the very end about whether he’s villain or hero.
The book is BIG, but most of the pages are in instant message format, so don’t let the size of the book scare you. This book is action packed from beginning to end–once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down.
Read this book if you are a fan of: strong female leads, AI stories (like I, Robot), space stories (like Ender’s Game), or horrific zombie stories like Resident Evil/The Walking Dead.
After you read it, find me to discuss!
Krystal
