A review by libraryofhades
Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

I went into this book quite nervous because I had heard mixed thoughts on it, but I ended up absolutely loving it. I finally decided to pick it up because someone had said that it was intentionally campy and reminiscent of Star Trek. As a big fan of Star Trek and lover of cheesy science fiction I had to see what they meant and I was not disappointed. This book was genuinely a lot of fun, the plot was wild, the characters were great and the Aurora Legion definitely felt like a bit like a satire of Starfleet (which I loved). I think what stuck with me the most after reading was the characters. Not only were they fantastic individuals with distinct personalities, but as a team they were wonderful. These differing personalities balanced each other out creating a compelling team dynamic, and it really felt like the story was building up a found family. Found families are one of my favorite things in books, particularly in space opera style novels so that worked really well for me personally.

I originally did rate this book four stars because it does include a few tropes that I do not normally enjoy and there were a few convenient feeling moments here and there. I did, however, decide to bump my rating up to five stars, because even though this book is not perfect it did feel perfect for me. I was not bothered by those familiar tropes and plot conveniences because of the way they were used and my love for the story has continued to grow the more I think about it. So, for pure enjoyment reasons I had to rate this one five stars, it is a new favorite and something I would definitely recommend to those that enjoy a cheesy space romp with lovable characters.