Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Illuminae

"Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me."

"...like roses in his hands, death blooms."

"She is catalyst. She is chaos."

"Am I not merciful?"

"Perhaps bravery is simply the face humanity wraps around its collective madness."

This book was so freaking intense. If you like thrillers that'll keep you guessing, this is probably up your alley. The twists and turns kept me engaged and I was surprised by how much narrative shown through given the formatting. The story is told completely through reports and IMs. Essentially the book is a "dossier" on the events so the only passages that even resemble prose are the "transcriptions" of video files. The visual element of the book itself is incredibly compelling. My only negative, I'd say, was that I would have liked more description of the characters. I had a hard time picturing some of them. I think it was a major drawback to the unique formatting to the book. But I can also understand how not having specific descriptions of the characters leaves what they look like open to more interpretation. I can see the appeal of that, too. I think I just really wanted more ways to fully connect with the characters since I couldn't be in their heads. Overall, I had a blast reading this and am looking forward to picking up the rest of the series.

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paper_queen's review

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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? No

3.0

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scarlettskyes's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As one of the most unique book styles I have ever read, I was at first hesitant to read this book. But as soon as I got used to the different file types presented, ranging from diary entries, to camera feeds, to messages between characters and even the perspective of a faulty AI unit, I absolutely loved this book. The characters are engaging and fun, even in high stress situations, and the plot twists are shocking without being unbelievable. The art and formatting used is incredible, and it just goes to show how much work went into developing it. While there are dark pages, the text tends to be contrasted enough to read easily, though some entries are harder to read than others. The amount of plot shown in such strange ways is incredible and surprising, and I found myself on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was particually amused that in the very first page, it mentions that while all the brutal details of the incident are described, swear words have been censored as it is inappropriate, giving an in universe reason for the blacked out cursing.

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