Review: Illuminae

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Am I not merciful?"

I'll admit I went into this with nothing more than a strong love for another book this duo co-wrote and a lot of recommendations and praise along the lines of "It's great!" and "Listen to it."
And I found myself doing just that.

Listening, obviously. The narration for Aurora Rising was so spectacular I knew I needed another that had a full cast narration. And let's be real, AR was so amazing I just had to read another book by this powerful duo.

It took a moment to get the format of this book. Not written in a traditional sense, but rather told through transmissions, interviews, and text of varying degrees, Illuminae is like nothing I've read before.
And I mean that in so many ways.
It wasn't just the style and the flow of the words. It was the content. Yeah, sure, space has been done. The world resting on the shoulders of few has been done. I'm sure AI has been done--although I haven't really read it before. And given that I've just listened to a full cast narration, we know that isn't new either. But I do think it made this book that much better.

I picked up this book because Johnathan McClain is one of the narrators and I have a strong love for his voice. I've had this sitting in my audible library for what feels like forever.
And now, here in 2020, as I have made the decision to get back to my love of YA, I took the plunge and listened to this.

HOLY FREAKING COW THIS BOOK IS FANTASTIC.

Kady. Ezra. James. Aiden. And everyone else you meet aboard the Hepatia and Alexander. The lives that are intertwined, the stories they have to tell, the way they tell them. GAH. I don't have the words to really and truly describe what it felt to listen to this.

I was on the edge of my seat. I was tense. I was scared and nervous. I found myself laughing because the banter is funny. I found myself crying because death is painful. I found myself falling in love--which was a bit unexpected, yet also beautiful.

I don't know how to tell you this is a must read book. If you haven't gathered that from everything else I've said, let that be the takeaway now.

READ THIS BOOK.
Because, after all, "Am I not merciful?"

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