Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman

57 reviews

sleepythingie's review

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mengzhenreads's review

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-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

5.0

This is easily one of the most unique books I've ever read. The formatting and writing style makes this book consistently entertaining and mysterious and despite the slightly untraditional formatting, the plot and characters still feel wonderfully fleshed out. The romance was very cheesy, but it was a nice change from the rest of the book which was quite dark and heavy for the most part. Although none of the plot twists really blew my mind, it was still incredibly entertaining and this book is just absolutely thrilling in terms of action, explosions, and zombies. Overall this is just a thrilling, heart-wrenching space opera that I would recommend to anyone who likes seeing things explode in space.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kabookworm's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful tense fast-paced

4.75

I was really conflicted about how to rate this book, because it feels like a 5-star, but I got so bored in the middle I was kind enough to consider keeping it at a 4. Not because the writing was bad, but because it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I enjoyed the ending, however, and I thought the way the book was written was so creative and unique that I’d be remise if I didn’t give them credit for their hard — and truly genius — work. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

annuich's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? N/A

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

katsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"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. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lucilaroife's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

melodiereads's review

Go to review page

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

4.25

I am emotionally drained from this book and it has put me into a reading slump. I will be reading the next one (from the library of course because jay kristoff is problematic) but i advise everyone to proceed with caution

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

atrkula's review

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

As promising of a book as this looked, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I felt like I was supposed to ship the main characters together,  but there wasn’t really any reason to actually care about their relationship. Some of their decisions just seemed dumb. And everyone was in love with the female character for no reason. I also didn’t fully get how the virus seemed to both make some irrational but also allowed them to have enough wits to literally track someone down, and wait outside for a specific person. I would think this sudden madness would be less rational. The AI was interesting but that was where my interest ended

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

caoimhe9876's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nxclx's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I don't cry at books. I've cried twice now with this book, one of those being as I write this review. I don't have much to say, though besides I want the whole series right now - oh and you should read this.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings