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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
This book was actually the most creative and maybe even the most inspiring book I've ever read.
And I've read a lot of books.
I've been in a reading slump lately (maybe like a writer's block but for readers), and I haven't read a book that made me want to finish it so bad and made me stay up at night.
This book was it.
It was literally a mix of all of my favorite genres - mystery, thriller, space, zombie apocalypse, science fiction, dystopia - everything you can think of.
It looks long and daunting, but the storytelling is so good and told so interestingly. It's told in text messages, files, emails, etc.
This is the kind of book that makes you freak out in the bathtub, scared there's a zombie behind you - if anybody knows what I'm saying (lol).
Well, I just have to say - READ THISSSS.
Also the ending -
PERFECTION (can't wait for the next one)
Well, it took me long enough, but I am finally getting a review together for this...and honestly...it has kind of grown on me. Two reasons for this: The added depth to the story provided by the shipboard AI, known as AIDAN, and me being a sucker for any fictional narrative relying primarily on epistolary elements. Concerning the former, the authors strike a vital balance with AIDAN. Without the onboard AI system's dialogue the story would lack guidance, not only in a narrative sense considering its ability to see everything (or at least everything plot convenient) on the ship, but also in emotional sense. Without the emotional depth Kaufman and Kristoff grant through AIDAN, this would just be an overly-long story about two unusually-flirty-considering-the-circumstances teenagers stuck in separate doomed spacecraft.
Speaking of overly long...let's get into the design of the book. First off, a positive: At times, especially in the third act, it is truly a beautifully designed book. Whether it's words on a page following the path of rockets or fighter jets, or the interplay of shipboard texts, surveillance footage dictions, and AIDAN dialogue, the epistolary nature of the book is what sells this otherwise commonplace YA SCI-FI book, in my opinion. Therein, however, lies a problem. At around 600+ pages, the first half of the book feels really bogged down in bland conversation or semi-mysterious details from the ship logs. The book only really picks up pace in the second half, and even then only partially because of plot and partially because the pages simply contain less words and more of the aforementioned artistic brilliance.
You may notice I've yet to mention either of our main human protagonists, Ezra and Kady. I have good reason, mainly in that I have little emotional attachment to them. Am I cold-hearted? Too old for YA? Possibly. Still, I don't feel as if I was given much of a reason to care about them. Sure, their home was destroyed by an evil space-Amazon fleet, but they're still somewhat one-dimensional, focused merely on each other for 80% of the time, and their impending doom the other 20%. That being said, it does appear by the conclusion that the future novels will provide more background and character development for the picky readers such as myself.
Overall, I give this a solid 3.5/5. The plot and story itself is intriguing, the nuanced treatment of AI (especially considering this is YA) is very impressive, and the storytelling-through-documents really make this book pop at times. Just enough to make me read the next book in the trilogy...
Though I appreciated the experimentation with style, the storyline here was too dark and bloody for my taste
Edit 11/4/24:
Rereading this was such a good time. The concept and visual way of conveying information is so interesting, and every word from AIDAN is pure poetry. This book stands so close to my heart, and still inspires me years later. It’s just such a good, creative story.
