Illuminae by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This is the second book I just randomly grabbed off a shelf and I. LOVED. IT. (First was Six of Crows and look how that turned out.) Conclusion: do that more often. Even before, especially around its release, I’ve heard a lot of affirmation around Illuminae but given that the hardbound costs around P900 and I am usually poor, I’ve never included it in my to-buy list. But then Christmas came and so did cash and after around an hour of contemplation around Fully Booked, I just finally did a grab-and-go. No regrets.

Illuminae was aesthetically beautiful outside and inside. The narrative was presented through a dossier of confidential files, IMs among subjects, transcripts and the like. It was creative, to say the least, and presented a different perspective to the whole story. Set in the future, we mainly follow Kady Grant and Ezra Miller aboard the spaceships (think Star Trek’s Enterprise and Across the Universe by Beth Revis) Hypatia and Alexander respectively as refugees from a massive terrorist attack on the planet they were residing in. While they take great sums of the narrative, we still get a look at important characters aboard the UTA (United Terran Authority) spaceships such as the commanders and even, their AI named AIDAN and their positions on whatever’s happening. I had told Julienne that Illuminae reminded me of a Nolan movie and the different POVs was one of the many factors.

Illuminae was fast-paced and action-packed, decked with mystery, from the beginning. You think you know what’s happening then it twists and turns in a direction you didn’t even know was possible. There were many times I caught myself in a movie gasp (legit) or rereading a certain page, or even just a line, to convince myself that actually happened. There was consistency with the hype of the story as it went, making you eager to flip to the next page and never stop. (I finished this 800+ pages wonder in less than 24 hours, folks. I was sick a good part of that, too.)

The layout of the book clearly had a big part in the storytelling. Since what we get were transcripts of conversations, unanswered emails, casualty lists, there’s the opportunity to piece the story and the world through context clues, even side by side with the people living it. Through this, I was also able to connect with the characters even if they are from the future with different lives and personalities. We got to know Kady, Ezra, even Byron and McNulty with their cards laid out there in the open; how else will you know someone as real as that, even without a direct physical description or a paragraph of adjectives. Personally, I enjoyed Ezra and McNulty’s friendship a lot. There was a lot of real-life humor to it, presenting a needed comic relief. It made you love these characters and feel so much pain as they went through difficulties.

I got to be honest here, though. Fair warning: the names were a headache at first. Since the book immediately throws you into action – and as I said, context clues, you basically have to bookmark every name and add it into your own encyclopedia in your head. Fortunately, you get used to it of course.

Overall, I loved Illuminae. It got my heart from the start, played with it all throughout, and it still has it until the acknowledgements. I gave it 5/5, people…FIVE-OVER-FIVE. (Julienne is judging me for rating it higher than SOC. So am I.) The presentation of the story was different and creative and enjoyable. It was refreshing to read and also had the right balance of humor from the characters and gravity from the plot.

I am itching for Gemina. However, I’ve read the synopsis and this time, we’re getting new characters. This honestly made me double-think because I have fallen for Kady and Ezra and they’re dynamic that it feels wrong to want more of them but end up with another set. I don’t want to say goodbye to these characters, albeit temporarily. I guess we’ll have to see.

P.S. Through the influence of Christine Riccio in my life, I am currently listening to the audiobook. I have never tolerated audiobooks until I met Illuminae. Thoughts? Plenty. Must you wait? Probably.

LET’S GET SPOILERY. THIS IS BASICALLY WHERE PROFESSIONALISM ENDS AND FANGIRLING BEGINS. 

Warning, unlike the Illuminae group: I do not censor.

HOLY FUCK. DID ANYONE FIGURE THAT EZRA WAS ACTUALLY ALIVE?? Because with every free moment, I was going through the events since Lincoln Fight 2.0 and combing through when he could have possibly died and how. Last scene of him was getting a hero’s welcome, of all things. I knew something was missing. AIDAN would’ve told a transcript of his goodbye video or his last IM to Kady. (Is he not merciful?) Although I was speculating hard on this, I was still blown *cue legit movie gasp* when Frobisher dropped that he was actually alive like commenting that there’s honey on a pancake. OH MY GOD.

In that spirit, I need to know Ezra’s perspective. We were tailing Kady as she jumped-ship to the Alexander. After AIDAN’s big revelation about “Ezra’s death” and it acting as Ezra, we were now focused on the new duo, Kady and AIDAN v. Lincoln. While my heart was in every moment of it, I love Ezra and he’s disposition was continuously knocking at the back of my brain. When we learned that Ezra was actually alive *cue legit movie gasp* and he was fighting for her from the Hypatia, GOD I NEEDED TO KNOW HOW THAT WENT DOWN. Ezra was such a vital character to the plot and even the humor and to have him disappear for the back half of the book was painful but yes, necessary. I see the necessity in this too. A novella, perhaps?

I HONESTLY THOUGHT KADY WAS GOING TO DIE. AND BEING ME, I AM THE LITTLEST BIT SAD SHE DIDN’T. I watched Christine’s booktalk and she shared the same sentiment. I wasn’t disappointed per se, I would say more of surprised. The whole Lincoln chase was basically a set up for failure or death, to say the least, and after AIDAN’s whole hostile takeover, it was a fucking definite. AND THEN there’s the whole Ezra-is-actually-quote-and-quote-dead bomb drop and Kady conceding to suicide to save what’s left of Alexander’s fleet. DO YOU SEE? It’s basically lining up for a firing squad and aiming but not shooting. Kudos to doing the unexpected until the very end. Kudos.