Illuminae Review

Illuminae sky rocketed into book fame when it was released late last year. This book held many readers captive until the very end and they were left begging for more. On YouTube this was all anyone could talk about and on Goodreads it holds a 4.3 star rating. Overall, this book has almost no bad reviews. But, I didn't love this book and I am going against the grain with most people. This has absolutely nothing to do with the authors so this will not be a bashing session.

I didn't like quite a few things about this book but I feel it was more a fault of my own than of the book itself. I am not a huge science fiction fan. I prefer more fantasy, dystopian, some paranormal, and contemporary. This book is very much based around a science fiction idea with space ships and other attributes that make something science fiction. I didn't do my research on this book to actually know what kind of genre it was. I saw it on YouTube and thought the cover was pretty so I went out and bought it. Not the wisest decision ever made but I know I'm not the only person who has ever done that. Characters fell a little flat for me, also. While Kady was admirably brave in what she had to do to save other people, I felt as a reader that I never got to know her as a character. In general, we couldn't get close to many characters because they would end up being killed of in a number of pages. I know these book are meant to be fast paced but there was just too much killing for me to keep up with and that kept me distant from the book. One huge compliment about this book that I must give is the writing style. The whole book was told in I.M's, interviews, journal entries, and the point of view of the surveillance man. It creates this unique reading experience and you feel like you are going through these files and trying to figure out what has been going on and why. I do prefer normal writing style than this type but it did help me like this book a little bit more.

This book really is for anyone who loves space and mystery and a rouge computer out to destroy the world. This genre isn't for me but obviously plenty of people have had nothing but amazing reviews for this book.

3 Stars