Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Illuminae

The writing in this book feels like a rough draft. The authors don't know how to handle serious situations, and the banter and humor were poorly timely and off-putting.

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nannahnannah's review against another edition

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1.0

I'm actually pretty amazed this book doesn't have more negative reviews ... the ableism and fatphobia here are SO rampant it made me go from enjoying this book to me wondering how the manuscript as it is got published at all.
Lots of fatphobic and ableist publishers and agents/editors, I guess ...

So the plot basically opens on a tiny, icy planet "owned" by one Megacorporation--illegally--so it can mine some needed thing for free. Unfortunately for them, another Megacorporation wants the planet for themselves, and since Megacorporation A has it illegally, they figure they can just, you know, massacre everyone there! Thereby getting the planet and getting rid of anyone who could tell on them for genocide ("genocide" in quotes here because culture really didn't evolve on this planet enough).

But the lives here won't go down without a fight. There are three ships that escape, though Megacorporation B takes quick chase.

The book follows Kady Grant and Ezra Mason (who broke up just before their planet was attacked), Byron Zhang (a "chiphead", aka someone good with computers and/or AI), and the AI of the ship that comes to the planet's SOS signal, AIDAN (of the Alexander).

The book is also told as a report filed to sum up everything that happened after Megacorporation B attacked. So ... is it a creative way to tell a story? Maybe. Is it a platform to show good writing?/Is it fun to read? NO. Reports and transcripts and emails are incredibly BORING. In writing and to read! Obviously many people here think differently, but when there are no dialogue tags or ANY prose whatsoever in between the next chat line ... it's so monotonous. Especially when so many of the dialogue lines are single-line swears (oh wait, never mind, because they're bleeped out). Because it's YA, lmao.

Along the same vein, (of "I want my characters to swear, but I can't let them because it's YA, so let's bleep them out), that ABLEISM!

I think the authors wanted a zombie-like atmosphere and crisis on the closed-in environment of the ship, but it was sci-fi so they had to think of something else.

An enviro-weapon!

Which isn't a bad idea, to be honest. But what comes next? IS.

Stop using mentally ill people as your fictional monsters!!!
I literally don't care if it's """technically""" not the same because it gets passed to each other in a virus-like format and blah blah blah, if you're saying it's like extreme PTSD (which I have, thanks guys) and that these people aren't even human anymore, it's ableist as (BLEEP). Not to mention it really seems like neither author has ever even known a genuinely mentally ill person before; everything is SCREAMING and MOANING and MOANING and SCREAMING (and killing each other, of course).

It's like 1960's asylum movies all over again!! Only worse because these authors should know better!

So yeah, I wanted to set this book on fire. But it's a library copy.
Also, the authors just loved making fatphobic comparisons--what the hell is that about?

I can't wait to get rid of this book soon enough. Unlikable characters, unlikable prose (when there was a sort of prose, and just ... a book that went on an on -- plus over 200 pages covered completely with black ink?? And only like 5 words in white ink? Are you serious (200 PAGES)?

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mitacaparos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

2018: 4🌟
2023: 2.5 🌟

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katsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me."

"...like roses in his hands, death blooms."

"She is catalyst. She is chaos."

"Am I not merciful?"

"Perhaps bravery is simply the face humanity wraps around its collective madness."

This book was so freaking intense. If you like thrillers that'll keep you guessing, this is probably up your alley. The twists and turns kept me engaged and I was surprised by how much narrative shown through given the formatting. The story is told completely through reports and IMs. Essentially the book is a "dossier" on the events so the only passages that even resemble prose are the "transcriptions" of video files. The visual element of the book itself is incredibly compelling. My only negative, I'd say, was that I would have liked more description of the characters. I had a hard time picturing some of them. I think it was a major drawback to the unique formatting to the book. But I can also understand how not having specific descriptions of the characters leaves what they look like open to more interpretation. I can see the appeal of that, too. I think I just really wanted more ways to fully connect with the characters since I couldn't be in their heads. Overall, I had a blast reading this and am looking forward to picking up the rest of the series.

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