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caoimhe9876's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
nxclx's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit
This is a book filled with hard and difficult topics. Read the warnings.beefromanoff's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Gun violence
athousandlives's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I wolfed this one down in three days. I had a bit of trouble getting into the story at first, but then the pace quickened (and the death toll grew bigger) and I couldn't stop reading.
The format was very original and funny to read. The dialogues in the chats were sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, and were my favourite to read.
I really enjoyed the plot-twists as well, especially the Ezra-is-dead one, and I was a bit disappointed when a/Kady miraculously recovered from the Alexander destruction and b/we found out that Ezra was alive as well. I mean, I love those guys and I'm glad I can read about them too in Gemina, but I think I would have liked it even more if they had their tragic, star-crossed lovers end, both as heroes.
The format was very original and funny to read. The dialogues in the chats were sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, and were my favourite to read.
I really enjoyed the plot-twists as well, especially the Ezra-is-dead one, and I was a bit disappointed when a/Kady miraculously recovered from the Alexander destruction and b/we found out that Ezra was alive as well. I mean, I love those guys and I'm glad I can read about them too in Gemina, but I think I would have liked it even more if they had their tragic, star-crossed lovers end, both as heroes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent
vendela's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, and Grief
Minor: Medical content and Medical trauma
ph_read_be's review
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Picture an adult woman, lying on a hallway carpet at 2am, frantically twisting a book this way and that in a similar fashion to a fighter pilot completing evasive maneuvres.
That woman was me as I tore through the last hundred pages of Illuminae.
Book One of The Illuminae Files was a wild journey that kept me up until 2.30am with its bold plot and incredibly creative mixed-media approach.
I'm pretty much always a fan of mixed media in fiction, and this book particularly appealed to me as it is presented as a dossier. You are thrown into a world already in crisis and things don't slow down from there. While it may sound a little dry to read 600 pages of transcriptions and schematics, the constant drip feeding of new information and shifting voices kept me turning the pages to find out more - it was a quick read despite the page count and I finished it in 24 hours. The format of the novel also means that you are only fed relevant information which keeps the plot moving, however, some may prefer a book that goes deeper into explicit character study. Some interesting questions about artificial intelligence are raised that I hope are explored further in the sequels.
Between Skyward, The Weight of the Stars, and now Illuminae, I can confidently say 2020 has made me fall back in love with sci-fi!
That woman was me as I tore through the last hundred pages of Illuminae.
Book One of The Illuminae Files was a wild journey that kept me up until 2.30am with its bold plot and incredibly creative mixed-media approach.
I'm pretty much always a fan of mixed media in fiction, and this book particularly appealed to me as it is presented as a dossier. You are thrown into a world already in crisis and things don't slow down from there. While it may sound a little dry to read 600 pages of transcriptions and schematics, the constant drip feeding of new information and shifting voices kept me turning the pages to find out more - it was a quick read despite the page count and I finished it in 24 hours. The format of the novel also means that you are only fed relevant information which keeps the plot moving, however, some may prefer a book that goes deeper into explicit character study. Some interesting questions about artificial intelligence are raised that I hope are explored further in the sequels.
Between Skyward, The Weight of the Stars, and now Illuminae, I can confidently say 2020 has made me fall back in love with sci-fi!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
All swearing is sensored (redacted) and an in universe reason is given for this. However, due to the violence that is described I would still only recommend this for older teens or adults. The main characters are 17 and 18 and most of their interactions are with adults.crunchycrystals's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
this was originally supposed to be 4.5 but i bumped it up because of what happened at the end. the way the story was told was extremely effective, i'd say more so than just describing it like a regular book. the story had me immersed after the first 100 or so pages which is long but worth it for what happens.
one scene i really enjoyed was the one where AIDAN let out everyone in bay 4 and started playing Mozart. i put on the song and it fit the scene so perfectly i can't even describe it. i recommend you play it if you reread the book and it's mentioned that it's playing.
hello that first review was written 2 years ago when i first read it in 2020 and now im here in 2022 and i still really like it. the portrayal of grief is really great and i remember feeling the kady's emotions really strongly even back when i first read it. spoilers here the scene where she explains to ezra about her mom especially got me. there were real tears coming down my face when i read the diary since i already knew she was dead. the part when she finds out her mom and ezra are dead really got me the first time i read it and that feeling of hopelessness gets you. the part that really got me though was near the end when kady just floated in space for a few minutes. its possibly my favorite part just because of the emotions in it
hello that first review was written 2 years ago when i first read it in 2020 and now im here in 2022 and i still really like it. the portrayal of grief is really great and i remember feeling the kady's emotions really strongly even back when i first read it. spoilers here
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Violence and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
deaths are explained in vivid detail, including one of a young child. it's immersive but it's also really gore-y. minor mention of domestic and child abuse for a couple of pages, mostly implied but never explained in detailscarlettskyes's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing
kestrel's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The mixed-media format was very enjoyable and the audiobook was amazing!
Something constantly was happening, most of the time several things at the same time. No pause to rest, what an experience.
Not sure if I'd have liked it if it had been written the traditional way, but we'll never know since the format the authors chose was perfect.
Something constantly was happening, most of the time several things at the same time. No pause to rest, what an experience.
Not sure if I'd have liked it if it had been written the traditional way, but we'll never know since the format the authors chose was perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Child death
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