REVIEW: ILLUMINAE (THE ILLUMINAE FILES #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

ILLUMINAE

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files #1
Source: Purchased from Chapters
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 20, 2015
Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Summary:
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. 

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

I think this is one of those cases where hype killed the book for me. But I guess I was just anticipating something more. Having read a lot of science fiction books, I was hoping for something new and groundbreaking from how everyone was talking about it, but this is like a mishmash of all the good science fiction tropes in existence. If you have read or seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, then you have basically read this book. Add in a disease and a semi-zombie apocalypse and there you go book done.

The format was cool and unique and it made for an easy read, but the plot freaking killed it for me. I skimmed half the book waiting for the twist and HOPING that it would be different than what I've read before but alas it was not. I know I'm a black sheep on this one but I don't care that much. I think if you haven't read a lot of science fiction, you will love this one BECAUSE it is all the best parts of science fiction put together. But if you have exhaustively read science fiction, then you will not be too surprised by what happens and the outcome of this story.

The romance was okay. I liked Ezra and Kady as people but I didn't like them as a couple. Based on how the story was told, I think it was pretty obvious what the outcome was there. But hey, whatever right. This was just a bunch of cliches all together. And while I usually love cliches, these ones just didn't sit right with me.

If you have read a lot of science fiction and you're still curious, check it out at the library. If you haven't read a lot of science fiction, I hope this sparks your interest and that you start reading a lot more of it. Science fiction offers so so much and it is just SO good. And this has a lot of the cool parts of the genre in it but there are a lot of other things to still see and read.