The Illuminae Files #1: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | Book Review

The Illuminae Files #1: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Pages: 602

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Publication Date: November the 1st, 2015
Genre: Young-adult fiction, Sci-Fi
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback

One moment, Kady Grant and Ezra Mason have nothing bigger to worry about than each other. Specifically, avoiding each other in the wake of their messy break-up. In the next second, their entire world falls apart.

The year is 2375 and one of the mega-corporations that control much of deep space has just fired the opening salvo in an intergalactic war, destroying Kady and Ezra's planet. Forced to flee on a small fleet of crippled rescue ships alongside thousands of other refugees, the fear of enemy warships chasing them down is at first all-consuming but soon becomes the least of their worries. A deadly plague is ravaging the refugees on the ships; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be an enemy; and High Command is refusing to acknowledge that there may be a serious problem. As Kady plunges into a tangled web of data in search of the truth, she realises that Ezra is possibly the only person who can help her save the refugees before it's too late.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is a sci-fi, young adult novel that followed two characters in the year 2375, who have been forced to flee their country and go aboard a ship in space. Their life changes dramatically and throughout the novel, we see them experiencing life on the ship and the hardships that they encounter as well as many scenes involving action. Firstly, I would like to tell everyone that Illuminae is one of the best sci-fi books that I have ever read. I know that I did not enjoy Amie Kaufman's other novel, which was These Broken Stars, but I decided to give this one a go and I am so glad that I did. 

I didn't overly enjoy it, but I would say that it was very close to 5 stars for me. To be completely honest, I feel that the reason that I didn't give it 5 stars is because I found there were some occasions in which I felt myself getting bored, but I find that with many sci-fi novels. I definitely think that for those who like sci-fi this book is definitely for you because I enjoyed it and I do not like sci-fi. Everything in this book was absolutely intense and it started at a very early stage of the novel. Ideas and concepts were portrayed so uniquely and unlike anything that I have ever read. Amie and Jay have done an amazing job at writing this book and everything flowed so nicely. The writing was absolutely gorgeous to read and the way everything was put together, from the pictures to the messages was something that I will definitely remember from this book. It was so creatively put together and I loved the different methods that both authors used in the book.

Ezra Mason is probably one of the funniest characters I have ever found in a book. His sense of humour allowed people around him to feel a little more at ease in intense situations and I loved the emotions he used such as 'D:', those just got me so bad. I found myself laughing at many occasions throughout the book and I absolutely enjoyed the humour he portrayed. He does it in the weirdest ways and I think that is one of the best things about him. As well as that, I love how sweet Ezra is as a character. Many times throughout this book, I saw how sweet Ezra was, especially to Kady. I never really expected him to be the sweet kind, but he is hopelessly romantic and absolutely sweet.  

“I'm trying to make you smile." 

So Kady. Kady is an absolutely admirable woman and a character that I absolutely loved. I admired how sneaky and awesome she was, especially how she pretended to be dumb in order to make sure that others did not know she was smart. I envied her brains and how she knew so much about computers, but that was the thing that really made the story. I loved how brave she was and also the love she had for Ezra. She is an amazing character and I just loved her!

Before I wrap up this review, I would just like to take a moment to admire this beautifully laid out book with this wonderful cover. I don't think I would have even tried reading this book if it weren't for the cover and that just goes to show how much a cover affects whether a person will read the book.  I definitely recommend this for everyone, because I found it difficult to give this book a try and I enjoyed it, not being a big fan for sci-fi. So if you live sci-fi, this is probably the book for you!

There was so much going in this book and it was great! When Kady thought that Ezra died, there was a part of me that knew it wouldn't happen, but I still believed it. 

Throughout the whole entire book, I was just amazed by Kady. It is unreal how smart she is and how she came up with all these different plans. 

I'm sorry but the Artificial Intelligence is in love Kady? Is this meant to show that everyone has emotions even if they are robots? I was honestly so mind blown by that, but it was a great touch. In the next book, we will find out about all of this and if there is a message behind it.