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loserlesbianlover's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
neelamreadsalot's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. I took half a star off because Kady is really dull with little personality for 3/4 of the book.
Shout out to the authors for putting women in high-rank official positions and not making a big deal of it. I love that there was no emphasis on the fact that the authoritative figures were majority women. I hate how some books go out of their way to make a show of it. Amazing job with that.
Overall I really liked the book. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to read Gemina.
Shout out to the authors for putting women in high-rank official positions and not making a big deal of it. I love that there was no emphasis on the fact that the authoritative figures were majority women. I hate how some books go out of their way to make a show of it. Amazing job with that.
Overall I really liked the book. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to read Gemina.
emrodav's review against another edition
DNF @ 150 pages.
Another one bites the dust.
As much as I love books told in this kind of found artifact style, I just couldn't get into Illuminae. It's not really the book itself, it's mostly that I'm just not that big a fan of sci-fi in general, and I've been reading less and less YA lately. I thought maybe this book would be good enough to draw me in despite those factors, but it just didn't happen. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Another one bites the dust.
As much as I love books told in this kind of found artifact style, I just couldn't get into Illuminae. It's not really the book itself, it's mostly that I'm just not that big a fan of sci-fi in general, and I've been reading less and less YA lately. I thought maybe this book would be good enough to draw me in despite those factors, but it just didn't happen. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
grumpiimouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
jenhurst's review against another edition
2.0
The idea and the format is 5 star worthy in my opinion. Everything else was not good. I couldn’t get into the romance, the characters felt kind of like stock characters to me. Kady was in love but I can’t tell you anything else about her. The plot was lacking to me. It felt like the whole point of the book was the visuals. Which, we’re cool but the rest of the book didn’t live up to that for me. I was really excited to read this book since it had such hype around it and I like scifi.
sarah787's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
thenameless13th's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lmskikun's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
reader305's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? N/A
5.0
mxunsmiley's review against another edition
4.0
This has shot my instinctual reluctance toward YA to bits. While there were sections I did find to be obnoxious and a strain to read in terms of presentation--the typographical design of the parts presumably meant to emulate missiles, for example--I thought the unorthodox structure of the book overall worked extremely well, all the tension and suspense intact as if it were told traditionally.
I am predictable so yes, I loved the AI character, with its often clumsy way of mixing metaphors and waxing poetic. I'm not sure if it's intentional, either, but I think its name is very clever on its own, as it believed itself an aid to the very end... get it, "AIDAN"? Most likely, it was, because the book as a whole was a well thought-out and tight narrative, and the acknowledgments affirm this as well.
The book offers a lot of material to think about the value of human life, consciousness, deference to authority, ontology... Aside from that, there's so many horrifying scenes that they're genuinely difficult to stomach, some gruesome and others psychological. A few of the latter didn't quite hit the mark, though; I rolled my eyes at those.
But I definitely want to continue this trilogy. I do enjoy books written in different formats, even if reading them can be a physical effort on its own--having to maneuver holding this book in my hands was no joke!
I am predictable so yes, I loved the AI character, with its often clumsy way of mixing metaphors and waxing poetic. I'm not sure if it's intentional, either, but I think its name is very clever on its own, as it believed itself an aid to the very end... get it, "AIDAN"? Most likely, it was, because the book as a whole was a well thought-out and tight narrative, and the acknowledgments affirm this as well.
The book offers a lot of material to think about the value of human life, consciousness, deference to authority, ontology... Aside from that, there's so many horrifying scenes that they're genuinely difficult to stomach, some gruesome and others psychological. A few of the latter didn't quite hit the mark, though; I rolled my eyes at those.
But I definitely want to continue this trilogy. I do enjoy books written in different formats, even if reading them can be a physical effort on its own--having to maneuver holding this book in my hands was no joke!