Review: Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I had so much fun with this story!

Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff really did an excellent job not doing not redoing Illuminae; this series is so different! It is a more typical story format, first-person POV told by seven characters, it's more of a genre blend than the harder sci-fi nature of Illuminae; also they did the thing that I was most sad they did not do in Obsidio (or the other two). I cannot say what it is because of spoilers, but I was impressed.

It did take me a moment to get used to the more fantasy elements of this story, I don't think I was expecting it so I had to pause and rethink the framework I was seeing this story through. Then I jumped right back in and had a grand time.

I am so interested in what they are going to do with book two! And according to the internet, they have written the last of book two as of yesterday, so that's super exciting. I cannot wait to scour the internet for theories about book two.

Seven POV characters is a lot of YA (and more than a lot of adult), but they did an excellent job of giving strong character establishing moments. I was never confused about whose POV I was in, and because the characters were so different, it was pretty easy to guess who said a line before the name popped up. I am always impressed by that!

I really liked six of them and was fine with the seventh.

I specifically love Zila. I really really hope we get more from her in the next two books. She is the character that made me cry the most and is the queen of the mysterious backstory. Also, her earring game is strong. I want more Zila.

The romances were delightful to see develop! They do use a bit of 'this fantasy creature can tell who its life partner is right away' which is a trope I don't LOVE, but I did like that relationship overall, so I'm going to get over that for this book. I am flexible. And they do use this relationship to show a lot of communicating your feelings and doubts honestly, and I appreciated that. If Finian/Scarlett (Finlett? Scarian?) does not sail, I will riot. I LOVE them.

So excited for this story to continue! The next book comes out while I am in grad school (I think?) so let's all hope I have a day or two free to read book two. If not I will probably fake ill.

I gave this book five stars on Goodreads and finished reading in on May 8th, 2019.

I made a crossword puzzle for this book! And the sequel!