Review of "Illuminae" By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Title: Illuminae

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Number of Pages: 599 pages

Series: Book #1 In the Illuminae Files Series


This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.


First things first I admit I did by this book because of the beautiful cover, number two this is the first intergalactic/space book I read and I thought that I wouldn't enjoy it because I'm more of  a contemporary girl , and third I really liked this book.

I feel like this book was one hell of a ride. Initially I was afraid that this long of a book was going to bore me and parts were going to drag on but I didn't feel that way at all about the book. There were constantly new things happening and going on like viruses, battles and just some out of this world technology. At certain points of this book it was actually scary like I could legitimately feel my heart racing in my chest because I was so scared but there was surprisingly a lot of comedy too.

I was totally won over by these characters from the beginning. Kady is this fierce confident woman will take shit from no one and will do anything she wants, not thinking about the consequences at all. Ezra's just perfect he's kind, sweet and funny I just totally fell in love with him. I feel like these characters balance each other out being sort off opposites which I really enjoyed. Since these two mostly communicate between emails rather than in real life I feel like you get to understand there personality more and  it truly shines out. I sort of like it better that they're separated because I feel like if they were together threw the whole thing it would just cause more fights and problems but since they were not together there was more of a longing for each other which was really cute to see.

This book was written in a way I've never seen before with data logs, chats and surveillance which makes us see and understand more from multiple perspectives instead of just one perspective. But along with this it got a bit confusing for me with the different perspectives and technology that it sort of got confusing for me and my little brain and parts when I had to stop and think about it but I started to understand it better the more the book went on.

All in all I really enjoyed this book, everything from the cool yet sometimes confusing format, exciting plot and the heart winning characters. It was a fun ride and I can't wait for the next two books SO EXCITED 

I'd give this book a 4/5 and highly suggest you listen to all the hype and just go read it.