Name: Illuminae
Rating: 4.330141129032258 (992 reviews)
ISBN: 9781101916629

Amie Kaufman

Jay Kristoff

Full Cast

Olivia Taylor Dudley

Lincoln Hoppe

Johnathan McClain

Kimberly Farr

Donnabella Mortel

Matthew Frow

Ryan Gesell

Sile Bermingham

Beata Pozniak

Jolene Kim

Emma Bering

Illuminae

For fans of Marie Lu and James Dashner comes the first book in an epic new series. “Never have I read a book so wholly unique and utterly captivating.” —Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of the Legend trilogy 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 one of the 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 sheswore 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.

“The more you lose, the more you realize you don't have much left.”

Wow this book absolutely blew me away, I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did and yet this has become one of my top reads for 2024. Firstly, the formatting is incredible, the story is told through files dredged up from the AI computing system used during an attack on an illegal mining settlement on a planet called Kerenza and the resulting deep space adventure following that. The files are a mixture of IM messages, emails, the AIs thoughts itself and reviewed surveillance footage, schematics of the ships, Unipedia pages, scientific studies etc from onboard the three ships that managed to rescue survivors from the planet but are now on the run from their persuing attacker. At first I was dubious whether I would enjoy this formatting, other books with similar unique formats that I have read previously have been rather hit or miss, but by about 100 pages in I was absolutely rapt and loving the immersive, interactive experience - and I feel it really added to the tension of this story.

I thought I would find it a bit hard to connect with the characters because the format does mean we are relatively removed from them personally, aside from a few journal entries and the IM conversations between our MCs, Kady and Ezra, we don't get a lot of their internal feelings and monologues, and in tense moments especially towards the end their whole story is told from the POV of the AI system, AIDAN and so I thought human emotion wouldn't really be an aspect. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was still very invested in their story and their romance, and that AIDAN had enough emotion, and beautifully written prose, for me to connect. I do think if this had been written in a usual format, I might've been moved to tears, but unfortunately I wasn't - so that's probably my only let down with this book. I did find both Ezra and Kady to be a little bit stereotypical and predictable but I don't think this ruined the story at all.

The storyline was really great and really carried this book along, and while there were some files that were a little dry, I didn't ever feel bored while reading. The pace outside those files was enough to keep my attention and I ended up flying though the last half of this book and didn't want to put it down. It does have a pretty run of the mill plot, attack on a planet sending the survivors into space, turning this into a typical sci-fi space opera, with a rogue AI and standard "unknown" bad guys in pursuit, plus a terrifying plague sweeping through the ships and space jet fights/war between the battllcarriers, but I thnk this is where the format really assisted with this book not feeling too predictable because files were released to us in a way that uncovered the storyline in shockingly convulted twists, and with pages where the words were floating across the page like we were really in space with the characters, it all made this feel like I was watching a movie rather than reading the words in a book. I can usually envisage books as movies in my head but with this book it felt like the movie was actually occuring on the page, especially when you had to physcially turn the book upside down to read the words.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, I was 100% entertained and on the edge of my seat, eyes wide open as everything unfolded. It all came together to make this book a completely unique experience and a wild ride. I would definitely recommend this book to most people, I can see how some people might not enjoy it, but I think it is worth giving it a try even if it's not something you end up enjoying as much as I did. I'm going to be diving into the next books in this series ASAP and can't wait to see where this story goes!

Genevieve 

“The more you lose, the more you realize you don't have much left.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow this book absolutely blew me away, I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did and yet this has become one of my top reads for 2024. Firstly, the formatting is incredible, the story is told through files dredged up from the AI computing system used during an attack on an illegal mining settlement on a planet called Kerenza and the resulting deep space adventure following that. The files are a mixture of IM messages, emails, the AIs thoughts itself and reviewed surveillance footage, schematics of the ships, Unipedia pages, scientific studies etc from onboard the three ships that managed to rescue survivors from the planet but are now on the run from their persuing attacker. At first I was dubious whether I would enjoy this formatting, other books with similar unique formats that I have read previously have been rather hit or miss, but by about 100 pages in I was absolutely rapt and loving the immersive, interactive experience - and I feel it really added to the tension of this story.

I thought I would find it a bit hard to connect with the characters because the format does mean we are relatively removed from them personally, aside from a few journal entries and the IM conversations between our MCs, Kady and Ezra, we don't get a lot of their internal feelings and monologues, and in tense moments especially towards the end their whole story is told from the POV of the AI system, AIDAN and so I thought human emotion wouldn't really be an aspect. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was still very invested in their story and their romance, and that AIDAN had enough emotion, and beautifully written prose, for me to connect. I do think if this had been written in a usual format, I might've been moved to tears, but unfortunately I wasn't - so that's probably my only let down with this book. I did find both Ezra and Kady to be a little bit stereotypical and predictable but I don't think this ruined the story at all.

The storyline was really great and really carried this book along, and while there were some files that were a little dry, I didn't ever feel bored while reading. The pace outside those files was enough to keep my attention and I ended up flying though the last half of this book and didn't want to put it down. It does have a pretty run of the mill plot, attack on a planet sending the survivors into space, turning this into a typical sci-fi space opera, with a rogue AI and standard "unknown" bad guys in pursuit, plus a terrifying plague sweeping through the ships and space jet fights/war between the battllcarriers, but I thnk this is where the format really assisted with this book not feeling too predictable because files were released to us in a way that uncovered the storyline in shockingly convulted twists, and with pages where the words were floating across the page like we were really in space with the characters, it all made this feel like I was watching a movie rather than reading the words in a book. I can usually envisage books as movies in my head but with this book it felt like the movie was actually occuring on the page, especially when you had to physcially turn the book upside down to read the words.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, I was 100% entertained and on the edge of my seat, eyes wide open as everything unfolded. It all came together to make this book a completely unique experience and a wild ride. I would definitely recommend this book to most people, I can see how some people might not enjoy it, but I think it is worth giving it a try even if it's not something you end up enjoying as much as I did. I'm going to be diving into the next books in this series ASAP and can't wait to see where this story goes!

Sunky

Anna 

Opět píšu bez jakýchkoliv příprav.
Abych řekla pravdu, prvních sto stran bylo čisté utrpení. Autoři vás vhodí do děje a s jakýmkoliv vysvětlováním se nezdržují. Vy si pak musíte všímat i nejmenších detailů, abyste tak trochu pochopili, o co sakra jde. Já jsem si na začátku knihy myslela, že dalších 600str. prostě nezvládnu, a bála jsem se, že knížku odložím. Ale trpělivost růže přináší. Začala jsem se v ději pomalu vyznávat a nakonec jsem klopýtala už jen na několika slovech, kterým jsem nerozuměla.
Děj vás do sebe vcucne a nepustí. Přečtete 50 stránek, a ani si to neuvědomíte. Proplouváte všemi těmi kódy a čísly a nadávkami a tajnými soubory a zadržujete dech a pláčete a věříte a kniha s vámi hází z jedné lodě na druhou a vy nevíte kam dřív a na co se zaměřit a jestli se radovat nebo ne. A to na tom bylo to nádherný. Teda pokud nemám mluvit o zpracování knihy. To mě uchvátilo ještě dřív, než jsem se do příběhu pustila.

Takže ano, stojí to za to. I kvůli té nádherné obálce a zpracování knihy, tak i kvůli samotnému zamotanému ději.
✩
5*/5*, nejdřív jsem si nebyla jistá, jestli nemám ubrat počet, kvůli tomu zmatení v prvních 100 stranách, ale ten příběh mi pak tolikrát vzal dech, že jsem si řekla, že nějaké menší zmatení tomu mohu odpustit.

Shannon C

Oh my God.... Fantastic! Ready for book 2, Gemina.

One of the best books I have ever read! The format, the writing, the twists, the theme….all 5*****

AnjB

"The planet Kerenza is attacked, and Kady and Ezra find themselves on a space fleet fleeing the enemy, while their ship's artificial intelligence system and a deadly plague may be the end of them all"--

aiden

amazing and great book. I would highly recommend, from the way it's written, to the layout of the pages to the plot itself. Can't wait to read the second one.

chloe rae

*2021 reread:

This was just as much fun the second time around!



Original 2017 review:

OH MAN OH MAN. There aren't enough words to describe how much I freaking LOVED this.
Starting out, I was confused (which I think is kind of the point). I wasn't sure if I liked the format of this book because I'd never dealt with anything quite like it before. I didn't know if I'd get used to it.
I WAS WRONG. VERY WRONG.
The format of this book was essentially one of the coolest and most interesting arrangements of storytelling I've probably ever seen. Reading this was an EXPERIENCE. I can't even fully tell you how much I loved how this story was told, with IM chats and e-mails and surveillance logs. It was GENIUS and an absolute blast.
And oh, the TWISTS. Just when I thought I knew what the hell was going on, something I never expected would happen and I'd gasp out loud. It was so awesome, guys.
The characters were stellar, the love was amazing, the story incredible; this is one of my favorite books of year. It was exactly what I needed/wanted right now. I just feel like applauding how well this book did everything. Can't wait to pick up the sequel!

Tatiana

Iluminae: 5/5

I don't even know where to start with this one. This was one of the most entertaining, fun, and suspenseful reads of 2020. Who knew that in the very last days of 2020 I would find a new favorite. This book is absolutely incredible. From the plotline to the creativity on the pages, I was shocked the whole way through.

If you don't know, Illuminae is a science fiction book told in the form of mixed media, or files, all uncovered by our main character, Kady. Some of these include actual files, posters, or chat logs. The illustrations and simply the way this story is told is like nothing I have ever witnessed. This book is a full experience and I am so happy I could read it in 2020. The world and characters are so real, and the detail included within the files is astounding, even down to the redacted text and blacked out curse words.

This is the first book I have read by the dynamic duo Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman and I was, simply put, blown away. I am more than excited to jump into more of their work including the next two books within the Illuminae Files as well as the Aurora Cycle series.

Kady and Ezra thought their break up was messy until they witnessed their entire world literally falling apart. Now Kady and Ezra are piecing together what's left of their lives, and their romance, and trying to survive an intergalactic war. An innovatively designed story that's best described as Battlestar Galactica meets 10 Things I Hate About You.

The Illuminae Files_01

nina 

3.5 stars 

Get rekt, Leanne. "Now run"

Aaaaanyway. I love that these authors live in Australia!

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 mega-corporations 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 one of the 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: Ezra.

Anna

Omg this was amazing! I thought it would be quite confusing to read with lots of plot holes but everything was weaved together so well! An excellent plot and great lead character!

5/5

Betty

Petaco

I had a hard time not being bored. Two stars because of the format and there were two parts of the book that I actually liked. 

Not a fan of the lead being a teen though. (It did work)

Illuminae

Reviews

Highlights