Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Aurora's End by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman

16 reviews

kathrynleereads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.75

In Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, we follow our favorite six Legionnaires as they make their final stands against the Ra’haam from three different decades. 

So much happened in this book that I had a hard time wrapping my head around all of it. I don’t just mean that it was fast-paced (which it was), but that it was almost hard to keep track of what was going on. 

As a general rule, time travel is something I stay away from in books. The laws and rules involved are always so specific but differ so greatly from story to story that I find it easier just to steer clear. 

With time travel being introduced at the end of the second book, I didn’t really have a choice here but to accept it. 

And, I’ll admit, Kaufman and Kristoff did a really good job keeping the details and rules of the time jumps clear for the readers (mostly through Zila).

It did lead to me getting turned around quite a few times though. 

When Auri and Kal were in the future with 40-year-old Tyler, and then we jumped back to Tyler’s POV in the present, I got a bit of whiplash.


As far as the characters went, I really enjoyed the development we saw (with two exceptions)

Auri - Auri continued to get stronger, while also fighting against the suggestion from the Eshvaren that she burn away everything that makes her her.

I will say, however, that I was a little disappointed in Auri toward the end. 

After realizing that love was the tool necessary to defeat the Ra’haam, she brings together all the people she loves… and leaves them? 

That development made no sense to me. 

And while she did end up staying with them in the end, it wasn’t by her choice, it was by the will of her squadmates.

Kal - I didn’t feel like Kal really changed at all in Aurora’s End

He continued to fight for his squad and for Auri, but it felt as if his growth kind of plateaued here. 

Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, it was just different for him compared to Kal’s growth in Aurora Rising and Aurora Burning.

Tyler - Tyler definitely took strides in terms of his confidence and his willingness to bend the rules to do what’s right. 

For most of Aurora’s End, Tyler was flying pretty blindly, with an objective and little to no plan, and somehow he made it work. 

Scarlett - I don’t know if Scarlett’s change in Aurora’s End can really be described as growth, as I think it was more just realization. 

With Fin’s help, she came to understand her incredible value to the squad, which she hadn’t seen before, and she opened her eyes enough to see Finian in front of her.

Finian
- My favorite wiseass. Finaian kicked butt in this book and finally got Scarlett to see how amazing he is. What more can be said about Finian de Seel?

Zila - Zila’s transformation throughout The Aurora Cycle series was honestly incredible. 

She accepted the squad as her family, learned how to open up with them, and allowed herself to lower her emotional barriers.

Zila Madran does not feel nothing.

Saedii - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I love this woman. 

Saedii (obviously) has her issues, but she doesn’t let them stop her from being a total badass and choosing her own path. 

-

Finally, the ending. It took me a while to sort out my feelings about the end of Aurora’s End, and I think what I’ve boiled all my emotions down to is: satisfaction.

This ending provided me with all the answers I had been looking for, and with enough heartbreak and happiness for it to not feel like a cheap shot. 

Do I wish some things had been different? Of course. 

But overall, I’m happy with the ending Squad 312 got. 

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tranquiltides's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

I’m not crying, you’re crying… 

And tha us about all I have to say on the matter. 

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kaelielily's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

4.5

Alle vorangegangenen Plot Twists, Rätsel und Geheimnisse sind im Finale der Aurora Trilogie zum Zug gekommen und bilden einen erfüllenden Abschluss ohne offene Fragen. 
Lediglich das Ende selbst war sehr kitschig und hätte gerne anders ablaufen dürfen. Genauso wie sämtliche Szenen zwischen Aurora und Kal.
Viel besser fand ich die Kapitel von Tyler und Saedii, von denen ich schon im zweiten Buch ein großer Fan war, und von Scarlett und Finian.
Die Geschichte hinter der Gründung der Aurora Legion sowie den Gegenständen, die dem Squad hinterlassen wurden, war super interessant und berührend.

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notacartoonyet's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5


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summer_19_'s review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

                                                                                     **Disclaimer**
Jay Kristoff, one of the authors of Aurora's End, is very problematic. So, if you are interested in this book series buy them secondhand or get them at the library.
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This series was very enjoyable to me and the final book did not disappoint. Of course not everything was amazing and there are some things I would change. Multiple times throughout the series, and especially this book, I felt like the characters were reduced to a few traits or people. I also didn't love the time travel route they went with. I overall liked this book, but it wasn't the best I've read.

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ladykatiereads's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5


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aspoonfuloflanguage's review

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

 Ouf. Im not mad I’m disappointed. Where do I begin? So it’s not that this book was bad it’s… there were so many little things that annoyed me that, when all added up, it kind of. Eh? It also probably didn’t help that I read this in 10 hours. I needed to know what happened ok? With further reflection I’m not *as* disappointed about this book as I was when I first finished, but I’m still grumpy. 
 
Let’s talk about the negative first so we can end on a high note. 
 
This book was long. 493 pages long. Space time anomalies are cool. This book didn’t need to be that long because of it. The same effect could have been had without umm… *that* much repetition. 
 
Please has anyone in the future heard of biohazard containment?!?!?! Please why WHY in the name of all biologics would that be a good idea??? I don’t care if it was for an emotional impact and plot progression it was dumb and the only emotion I had was “y’all are nincompoops”!! Agh! 
 
*Flips chair* now this?! I’m not disappointed. I’m mad. They did my boy Kaliis dirty. His character growth was so beautiful and it reached a brief climax in this book but after that?!?! AHHH! They just made him… simple? When he’s! so! complex! He’s his own person!!! Please!! De’sai. 
 
The uhh… conflict resolution of the Ra’haam. I can’t rant about this without giving spoilers. But let’s just say, I see what they were trying to do. I understand it. But it came off as borderline cheesy and slightly underdeveloped. I think there were relationships and character progressions that were lacking or disregarded throughout this book that really could have bolstered this part as it is IF they were properly explored. But alas, they weren’t. This is mostly in relation to Auri. I think they did a great job at growing her in book 2 and creating empathy for her, but there was a disjoint between her then and her now. That, Kal, and their relationship really had a chance to shine here. While they did an okay job at pulling it together, I was left feeling unsatisfied. It was not bad, it was just not… entirely logical given what they presented us with and it could have been made stellar. That’s all I’m saying. 
 
OK SO now let me tell you what I loved and why I think this still falls in the “ok maybe this book was mildly satisfactory but the series still remains one of my favourite to date.”
 
Tyler and his chapters. I can’t anymore at this point. I loved him. Literally everything he’s been through and how he handles it is so *waves hands around incomprehensibly*. This little blurb can’t fully express all my thoughts, but a big blurb couldn’t either. Plus, yanno, trying to avoid spoiling y’all. 
 
Ohh Saedii. She’s dark, she’s dimensional, she’s tearing herself apart and pulling herself back together. She started growing on me after book two but now? Yeah she’s a favourite now. 
 
Finian and Scarlett and Zila I’m crying I love them SO MUCH!!! Heartbreakers, the lot of them. Their relationship with themselves and with each other. Their chapters (while slightly redundant) were some of my favourites, which made the redundancy a lot more bearable. 
 
The end. Like, the end end. The prologue at the end. I’m torn about this but it erred on the side of “I like it” so it’s going here. It was emotional and definitely a bittersweet but feel good wrap up. Plus it was super touching. Can’t be mad about that. That said (this part of the “I’m torn” sentiment and has MAJOR spoilers so read on with caution if you choose to. Like probably don’t read this unless you’ve read the book and are curious what’s beneath the cut. It’s up to you tho.)
I would have loved it if they took the time to explore Auri and Kal’s relationship post everything-that-happened. Up until this point their relationship was pretty well founded, mostly in part to the telepathic aspect of Auri’s powers and Kal’s Waywalker abilities. While they did have good communication throughout the series I would have loved to see how their relationship developed positively after Auri made the choice to cut herself off from the Ra’haam rather than join it, her subsequent loss of powers and return to Kal, and ultimately the trauma they went through together throughout the series and this book in particular. I think it could have made a really beautiful addition to the story, and I’m only kind of harping on this part because I loved how strong and well developed Finian + Scarlett, Tyler + Saedii, and even Zila + Nari’s relationships were, even though we don’t know Saedii or Nari for nearly as long as we do the others. Again, it’s not bad per se, but I think there was a significant aspect left unexplored and in all honestly it probably would have added 1/2 to 1 star on to my overall review if this were touched on (even if everything else was left the same).
 
Overall while I’m not entirely satisfied with this book, it was still a decent conclusion and this series overall has weaselled its way to being one of my favourites. I highly recommend the series and it's probably something I'll reread, which is saying a lot.

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momloves2read's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0


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mypatronusisajedi's review

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adventurous emotional funny sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


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smasson13's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A wonderful end to the series. It was exactly as I hoped, but also not at all like I imagined! 

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