Reviews - Aurora erleuchtet

2.32k reviews for:

Aurora erleuchtet

Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman

4.18 AVERAGE

watteblume's review against another edition

5.0

Achterbahn der Gefühle!

pastahater3000's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous

foxy_ave's review against another edition

3.75

Not the strongest book in the series. Slow pacing in the first half and then so many things had to be wrapped up at the end that the last few events got confusing. Was particularly fond of the way the time loop situation panned out though. Still a solid read.

write_of_passages's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I wanted to adore this final book so much. After the absolutely amazing wild ride with a brilliant found family that we have in the first two books, Aurora's End could have gone absolutely anywhere. Instead, I personally felt that the pacing ground to an absolute halt so that all the characters could spend time being overly sexual in relationships that ranged from boring, to annoying, to downright cringeworthy. I began the book excited, then surprised, then dismayed, then disappointed, and by the 50% mark I was bored. I prayed that the book would get better but I still had to push through/skim up to the 75% mark. The ending definitely helped to redeem the book, as everything I was expecting to happen from the beginning of the book finally comes back online. Sadly, it was only the final 25% of the book. Overall, I'm glad I read it, disappointed I didn't love it more, and feel this is the weakest book in the series.

Knowing what I know now about this book, would I still read it if I went back in time?
I still would, because I wanted to know how it ended.

See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book

CHARACTERS: Each of the characters backtracks in terms of everything that made them lovable and dynamic in the previous books. Finian isn't nearly as snarky, Scarlett is just.... there, Tyler at least still has his drive, but his relationship with Saedii is absolutely cringe, Aurora spends her time either unconscious or not all there as she uses her powers, Zila feels the most like herself (and actually spends time metaphorically snapping her fingers in the face of other characters to get them to focus), and Kal... Kal spends all his time just fawning over Aurora. Because of the way the plot is structured, we also don't get any more chances for them to develop as a found family, which is unfortunate, because the scenes with all of them together and working together were the highlights of the first two books. I really skimmed through nearly every POV except for Zila because it was just fawning over another character. They didn't all have to end up in relationships and it felt it went against the found family message of the book.

PLOT: The plot had the chance to go truly anywhere after the Battle of Terra that ended Aurora Burning. After the group is all split up throughout time and space, overall it felt as though the main plot is set aside to focus on romances. Because of how often the characters thoughts were just about another character, even the tension evaporated. Tyler and Zila were the closest to actually remembering that they were all still saving the galaxy. Ultimately, the team needs to find a way to get back together in order to finally defeat the ra'haam. This happens incredibly quickly once they all get back on track, but that isn't until the 75% mark. Thankfully the ending does pack quite the punch, which I really appreciated.

EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.

1:5/ low. It probably could have been higher, but because the characters didn't seem to care, I struggled to really care too.

CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled?

75%. At least the book ends well and wraps up the plot. We don't really get much of a denouement with any of the characters, not much chance to see all of them together and just enjoying life after succeeding. But at least they did succeed.

barbells_and_bookshelves's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

easydeezylemonreadies's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Took about two years after purchase and a year and a half after first attempting to read this one, and I'm both glad I finished and SO INCREDIBLY SAD. Another book that made me feel stupid for not understanding the science but kept dragging me along by the throat. I wish the ending was a little more fleshed out to see certain characters interacting after all is said and done.

And a very sincere fuck you to the authors because IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HURT ME LIKE THAT.

skyelitbystars's review against another edition

3.5

enjoyable silly not-very deep read - it didn't really keep me thinking about it like some other books do, but it's the type of series that is sometimes exactly what you need in the moment