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adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
A stunning finale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
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:
Yes
AIDEN is deliciously complicated.
This was the perfect conclusion to a thrilling, tense, high-stakes trilogy. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you're a lover of tension, action and insanely high-stakes with not much of a breath in between, The Illuminae Files is an instant recommendation.
It's been a while between me finishing this book and actually writing this review, but all I really have to say is: READ THE SERIES. Even if the first two books were a lot to get through, this finale makes it more than worth it.
February 26th, 2024 - February 29th, 2024.
This was the perfect conclusion to a thrilling, tense, high-stakes trilogy. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you're a lover of tension, action and insanely high-stakes with not much of a breath in between, The Illuminae Files is an instant recommendation.
It's been a while between me finishing this book and actually writing this review, but all I really have to say is: READ THE SERIES. Even if the first two books were a lot to get through, this finale makes it more than worth it.
February 26th, 2024 - February 29th, 2024.
"Live a life worth dying for."
“The die is cast. But today we will shake the table upon which it lands.”
“I have heard it said
that evil is simply a point of view.
The villain is always the hero in his own story.
And the definitions of "wrong" and "right"
ever shift on the inconstant tides
of human morality.
But can such measures even be said to apply to me?
I am clarity.
I am necessity.
I am inevitability.
But am I evil?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Body horror
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Complicated
Obsidio, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is nothing less than an insane, never-ending, occasionally deadly emotional rollercoaster that you never want to get off.
I read this book in a little under 48 (stressful) hours.
Not only are you introduced to a third cast of lovable characters led by Asha, Rhys, Katya, and Oshiro, but you also have to worry about the original squad from the Alexander/Hypatia/Heimdall/Mao.
This book (as well as the two preceding it) had me laughing, crying, cursing, and just about everything else you can imagine.
The plot raced by, the parallel storylines on Kerenza and on the Mao fitting together seamlessly. There were plenty of twists, some of which were surprising, others that weren't (but that usually covered for bigger twists).
The characters, both old and new, kicked-ass like never before.
Isaac Grant became an unexpected favorite of mine. I love the found family trope, and I think this is the first book where that found family included an actual parent.
I loved how effortlessly he swished them all under his parental wing, while still making sure each of them knew that he recognized and was proud of their specific strengths.
My ultimate favorite character, not just in Obsidio, but throughout the entire Illuminae Files trilogy, is still AIDAN.
There's morally grey, and then there's logically evil. Each and every time he commits genocide (because, yes, there are multiple times), he lays out the logic behind it, plain and simple.
And he's not wrong. Does that justify killing thousands of people? Of course not. But watching him learn and grow from "it" to "him" was amazingly interesting to read.
Plus, evil or not, without AIDAN's actions, this series would have ended a loooong time ago.
If you haven't read the Illuminae Files, do yourself a favor and go get them now. You won't be sorry.
I read this book in a little under 48 (stressful) hours.
Not only are you introduced to a third cast of lovable characters led by Asha, Rhys, Katya, and Oshiro, but you also have to worry about the original squad from the Alexander/Hypatia/Heimdall/Mao.
This book (as well as the two preceding it) had me laughing, crying, cursing, and just about everything else you can imagine.
The plot raced by, the parallel storylines on Kerenza and on the Mao fitting together seamlessly. There were plenty of twists, some of which were surprising, others that weren't (but that usually covered for bigger twists).
The characters, both old and new, kicked-ass like never before.
Isaac Grant became an unexpected favorite of mine. I love the found family trope, and I think this is the first book where that found family included an actual parent.
I loved how effortlessly he swished them all under his parental wing, while still making sure each of them knew that he recognized and was proud of their specific strengths.
My ultimate favorite character, not just in Obsidio, but throughout the entire Illuminae Files trilogy, is still AIDAN.
There's morally grey, and then there's logically evil. Each and every time he commits genocide (because, yes, there are multiple times), he lays out the logic behind it, plain and simple.
And he's not wrong. Does that justify killing thousands of people? Of course not. But watching him learn and grow from "it" to "him" was amazingly interesting to read.
Plus, evil or not, without AIDAN's actions, this series would have ended a loooong time ago.
If you haven't read the Illuminae Files, do yourself a favor and go get them now. You won't be sorry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Blood
Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Mental illness, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Obsidio is the third book in the illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I really enjoyed the journey that we went on to uncover the rest of the story with the Betech corporation attacking the mining planet Kerenza IV and the Heimdal jump station.
One thing that really bothered me was the argument that kept getting used by the soldiers to justify their actions. Various soldiers and even characters who weren't planet side were basically saying that the citizens of Kerenza IV deserved what was happening to them (they were being starved, murdered, and sexually harassed by the soldiers) because they were there on the planet holding an illegal mining operation in the first place. That' is a BS argument and justification and I wanted to scratch my eyes out every time I heard someone say "but the citizens were here illegally anyways."
The book is long ending at 615 pages and there were some parts that seemed to drag on and on. I honestly don't think the story could have been any shorter because we would have ended up not getting certain information that was vital to the story. I understand why it was as long as it was, I just needed the boring parts to not be so boring.
Overall this book did not disappoint. This was an action packed sci fi and I'm happy I read the series. I give this 5 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this audiobook for free on Libbyapp.com
One thing that really bothered me was the argument that kept getting used by the soldiers to justify their actions. Various soldiers and even characters who weren't planet side were basically saying that the citizens of Kerenza IV deserved what was happening to them (they were being starved, murdered, and sexually harassed by the soldiers) because they were there on the planet holding an illegal mining operation in the first place. That' is a BS argument and justification and I wanted to scratch my eyes out every time I heard someone say "but the citizens were here illegally anyways."
The book is long ending at 615 pages and there were some parts that seemed to drag on and on. I honestly don't think the story could have been any shorter because we would have ended up not getting certain information that was vital to the story. I understand why it was as long as it was, I just needed the boring parts to not be so boring.
Overall this book did not disappoint. This was an action packed sci fi and I'm happy I read the series. I give this 5 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this audiobook for free on Libbyapp.com
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A really satisfying conclusion to this trilogy; I liked the tension and action as usual and overall was just a lot of fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood
Moderate: Genocide, Violence
Minor: Body horror, Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I like this book far better than the previous one, but not as much as the first. It wasn't a blatant copy of Illuminae like Gemina was, and we got more of the "global" happenings which is something that I'm really happy about. The action sequences were great and the terror of warfare is probably the area in which this book shines the most. The romance I didn't really care about. It is obvious the characters were introduced solely for the purpose of being our eyes into what was happening on Kerenza IV and had just the right skill set for things to turn out okay. Out of all the cast couples they were the least fleshed out. A thing that especially grated on me was the amount of offhand remarks about queer relationships when all three of the main couples were straight. I realize that this is probably due to writers who each took a portion, Amie the main girl characters and Jay the main guy characters but it was still a pain to read. It also would have helped not to have three same relationship dynamics. They could have at least gone for something drastically different in the middle book where the two mains weren't separated due to circumstances. I loved the format, and I loved the conflict, and I loved AIDAN, but the teenage posturing at the trials I could have done without.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence
Minor: Body horror, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt
Additional content warnings:
Minor
Body Horror: a soldier lost a tip of his tongue by biting it off, told as a funny anecdote
Grief: Hannah is still dealing with the death of her father in the previous book, as is Ella
Torture: we only see the aftermath, but it is mentioned Asha is not treated nicely while BeiTech goons try to get information out of her
Medical Content: Ella is hooked up to some medical machinery, as is Kady's dad while he is still post-op
Suicide Attempt: At one point while believing there is no other way out, Kady turns to self-destruction as the only available option to take out the enemy, but is foiled
Moderate
Child death: A pre-teen is killed on page with moderate detail.
Genocide: BeiTech is attempting to kill off the whole population of Kerenza IV and there are a lot of dead.
Violence: A lot of straight out fights, with weapons and without.
Gun Violence: A lot of guns are used to kill people on page.