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A review by frogsarelovely
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
5.0
This is my favourite young adult book I’ve read so far. My emotions haven’t had this much action in a long time. This book was insanely cool, like, /insane/ly cool… Going through this book, I wasn’t just interested in what was going to happen next, but I was excited; and that doesn’t happen often.
First off, the format is wonderfully unique. The story is told through a series of interviews, emails, audio files, and camera footage descriptions. It’s as if you’re researching the story yourself. Because of this, we can only ever see what has been physically shown by the characters, we don’t know what else may have been going on in their head, and we don’t get a complete feel for the scenery. This I loved. It felt realistic and intimate. It also allowed you to feel the fear, nervousness, and excitement of the characters. I was therefore on edge for most of the novel.
The book had me laughing out loud for much of the story, something only a handful of authors have been able to make happen. On the other hand, I was on the verge of crying for a lot of the scenes, and probably would have bawled my eyes out if I hadn’t been half asleep because I was dying to read the whole book at once. The characters are wonderful, including the side characters. I was emotional for those I had hardly read about, and was rooting for both leads. I was even emotional over the artificial intelligence. Kady, the main female, is fantastic. If you want an example of a strong female lead, she is your girl. She, for me, was very inspiring and the best female role model I’ve come across in a young adult novel so far.
Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book. The format could get a little bit repetitive but this would soon be turned around when another jaw-dropping event occurred (which happened a lot). The story is also pretty scary, did I mention that? I LOVED it. Solid 5* for me.
First off, the format is wonderfully unique. The story is told through a series of interviews, emails, audio files, and camera footage descriptions. It’s as if you’re researching the story yourself. Because of this, we can only ever see what has been physically shown by the characters, we don’t know what else may have been going on in their head, and we don’t get a complete feel for the scenery. This I loved. It felt realistic and intimate. It also allowed you to feel the fear, nervousness, and excitement of the characters. I was therefore on edge for most of the novel.
The book had me laughing out loud for much of the story, something only a handful of authors have been able to make happen. On the other hand, I was on the verge of crying for a lot of the scenes, and probably would have bawled my eyes out if I hadn’t been half asleep because I was dying to read the whole book at once. The characters are wonderful, including the side characters. I was emotional for those I had hardly read about, and was rooting for both leads. I was even emotional over the artificial intelligence. Kady, the main female, is fantastic. If you want an example of a strong female lead, she is your girl. She, for me, was very inspiring and the best female role model I’ve come across in a young adult novel so far.
Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book. The format could get a little bit repetitive but this would soon be turned around when another jaw-dropping event occurred (which happened a lot). The story is also pretty scary, did I mention that? I LOVED it. Solid 5* for me.