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deinnos 's review for:
Aurora Burning
by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman
3.5 out of 5
Well. With an ending like that, I’m not sure how I’m going to survive till next year. It left us in quite a huge cliffhanger where we have no idea what happened to any our Squad members. I just hope Kaufman and Kristoff know how to get them out of there! No matter how great of an ending this book had, the rest just left me a bit disappointed.
What really soured my reading experience for me was that while similar to the first book, it fell into well-known YA tropes, but this time around the way they were used was neither refreshing nor new. Most of the plot twists that were sprinkled through out I saw a mile away, minus one. This installment felt like your typical second book where everything hit the fan and ends with a shocking ending. After that fantastic first books this one just seemed a little too plain for me.
Another thing that I disliked a lot was the characterization of certain characters just completely annoyed me to no end, especially Auri. She lost whatever backbone she had. Every time she did anything with her powers, she would pass out immediately. If she wasn’t passed out, she was constantly crying that she couldn’t control her powers and needed reassurance from Kal. And after I thought she would get a backbone back, she just continues to be pushed around by others. It’s like she can’t think for herself for once. She’s supposed to be our chosen one, but I don’t find myself rooting for her whatsoever. I honestly wouldn’t care for her if she wasn’t part of Squad 312.
Kal. Yeah, he’s very sexy and pretty. But every time we got to his POV all he was thinking was “Aurora this” “Aurora that” “Aurora, my sun, my everything”. I’m a fan of the mating bond and had high hope for how things ended between them in the previous book. But all of that seemed to be dumped out the window for some insta-love. He’s by far the character with the most complex background and we still know so little of him. Even when having his sister present in this book we still didn’t see any character development! Every action and every thought is for Auri only and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes for the majority of the book.
The rest of the Squad were great. Ty, Scar, and Fin are by far what make the series a joy to read. I especially love reading from Fin’s point of view. His humor always makes me crack a smile and his perspective of other characters and events are very insightful. Zila in this book I really appreciated. Not only do we finally get her much needed background story, but we also see ever grow more confident into her own self. I’m really excited to see more from her in the next book.
Compared to the plot in Aurora Rising, this one didn’t appeal to me that much. I found myself trying to quickly get through the mini adversities the characters were going through just to get some of the juicier parts. The whole deal with Eshvaren was pretty cool and kinda reminded me of the movie Prometheus. How that plot line interlaced with the Starslayer I saw coming so I was pleased to see my prediction being true. This overarching plot of saving the galaxy is what really keeps me coming back. It’s by far one of the most original idea I’ve seen from any YA series in a long time.
Regardless of its flaws, Aurora Burning was a commendable second installment to the trilogy. It didn’t suffer from second-book syndrome which I was quite surprised about. It quick-paced and sucks you into back into the galaxy (*wink*get it?*wink*) just as easily as the first book did.
Well. With an ending like that, I’m not sure how I’m going to survive till next year. It left us in quite a huge cliffhanger where we have no idea what happened to any our Squad members. I just hope Kaufman and Kristoff know how to get them out of there! No matter how great of an ending this book had, the rest just left me a bit disappointed.
What really soured my reading experience for me was that while similar to the first book, it fell into well-known YA tropes, but this time around the way they were used was neither refreshing nor new. Most of the plot twists that were sprinkled through out I saw a mile away, minus one. This installment felt like your typical second book where everything hit the fan and ends with a shocking ending. After that fantastic first books this one just seemed a little too plain for me.
Another thing that I disliked a lot was the characterization of certain characters just completely annoyed me to no end, especially Auri. She lost whatever backbone she had. Every time she did anything with her powers, she would pass out immediately. If she wasn’t passed out, she was constantly crying that she couldn’t control her powers and needed reassurance from Kal. And after I thought she would get a backbone back, she just continues to be pushed around by others. It’s like she can’t think for herself for once. She’s supposed to be our chosen one, but I don’t find myself rooting for her whatsoever. I honestly wouldn’t care for her if she wasn’t part of Squad 312.
Kal. Yeah, he’s very sexy and pretty. But every time we got to his POV all he was thinking was “Aurora this” “Aurora that” “Aurora, my sun, my everything”. I’m a fan of the mating bond and had high hope for how things ended between them in the previous book. But all of that seemed to be dumped out the window for some insta-love. He’s by far the character with the most complex background and we still know so little of him. Even when having his sister present in this book we still didn’t see any character development! Every action and every thought is for Auri only and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes for the majority of the book.
The rest of the Squad were great. Ty, Scar, and Fin are by far what make the series a joy to read. I especially love reading from Fin’s point of view. His humor always makes me crack a smile and his perspective of other characters and events are very insightful. Zila in this book I really appreciated. Not only do we finally get her much needed background story, but we also see ever grow more confident into her own self. I’m really excited to see more from her in the next book.
Compared to the plot in Aurora Rising, this one didn’t appeal to me that much. I found myself trying to quickly get through the mini adversities the characters were going through just to get some of the juicier parts. The whole deal with Eshvaren was pretty cool and kinda reminded me of the movie Prometheus. How that plot line interlaced with the Starslayer I saw coming so I was pleased to see my prediction being true. This overarching plot of saving the galaxy is what really keeps me coming back. It’s by far one of the most original idea I’ve seen from any YA series in a long time.
Regardless of its flaws, Aurora Burning was a commendable second installment to the trilogy. It didn’t suffer from second-book syndrome which I was quite surprised about. It quick-paced and sucks you into back into the galaxy (*wink*get it?*wink*) just as easily as the first book did.