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mangocult 's review for:

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman
4.0

"Wunderkind hacker flies under the radar and faces every foe imaginable, including planetary destruction as a result of domestic abuse and capitalism, viral outbreak in space, rogue AI, and (surviving) hyperspace nukes."

Unique and interesting format for sure! I read the ebook, but I bet the print copies were just out of this world - no pun intended. Illuminae gets off to a fast start but slows down in the second quarter. If I'm being totally honest, I almost DNFd because the romance subplot felt kind of dumb and boring. Like, can you be a more disconnected and obtuse teenaged boy? Keep the faith if you feel the same way, because it ends up being a long-term investment into something nefariously cool. For all of my minor gripes, it was fun. It wasn't nutritious and it wasn't deep. It was just a fun romp through space. And it got really good in the last third or so. Would recommend!