Name: Illuminae
ISBN: 9780553499117

Amie Kaufman

Jay Kristoff

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.

Illuminae

Izaac Richards

You deserve every star in the galaxy laid out at your feet and a thousand diamonds in your hair. You deserve someone who'll run with you as far and as fast as you want to. Holding your hand, not holding you back. 

Dani Edgin

Reading With Chris

Leni McLeod

star girl✨

“You deserve every star in the galaxy laid out at your feet and a thousand diamonds in your hair.”

“You have me. Until the last star in the galaxy dies. You have me.”

“Energy does not perish, it merely changes forms. The ones you love, the ones you lose, they still exist as long as the cosmos does.”

Moonie

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Kady Grant: Okay. Fine. We took the main arterial. and Ezra turned on the radio. For a second I thought the idiot was looking for the right soundtrack or something but there was an emergency broadcast up. They were telling us to get to the spaceport, and our research fleet was going to send down shuttles to ferry us all up to orbit. 

Interviewer: So you turned for the spaceport? 

Ezra Mason: Yeah. I turned on the radio to maybe find us some getaway music, but there was an emergency broadcast

McNulty, J, Sgt: I was just thinking now it will be a real crusher it they shoot u 2morrow 

I FEEL THE SHIP AROUND ME, INJURED AND LIMPING 

THE DUSTY CAUSEWAYS THESE PEOPLE HAVE WALKED IN MY ABSENCE. 

I READ THEIR SECRETS. SEE THEIR DREAMS. I KNOW THEM. 

ALL THIS IN THE TIME IT TAKES GOD TO BLINK.

HE IS QUICKER THAN HER -MORE LEARNED BY FAR. BUT SHE. SHE IS UNAFRAID. TOO YOUNG TO KNOW FAILURE AND THE FEAR IT BRINGS. SHE TAKES HIM PLACES HE WOULD NOT HAVE EXPLORED BY HIMSELF. 

"AND THAT'S REASON ENOUGH TO MURDER THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE? N0 ROOM IN THERE FOR MIRACLES? FOR THOSE TINY STROKES OF GENTUS OR FATE THAT LED HUMANITY TO DISCOVER PENICILLIN OR WORMHOLES OR EVEN BUILD SOMETHING LIKE YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE?" 

"MIRACLES ARE STATISTICAL IMPROBABILITIES. AND FATE IS AN ILLUSION HUMANITY USES TO COMFORT ITSELF IN THE DARK, THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTES IN LIFE, SAVE DEATH."

HOW CAN SHE GO SO QUIETLY INTO THIS LONG GOOD NIGHT? 

CELESTIAL BODIES SO DISTANT IT TAKES THEIR LUMINANCE THOUSANDS OF YEARS TO REACH HER. 

WHEN THE LIGHT THAT KISSES THE BACK OF HER EYES WAS BIRTHED, HER ANCESTORS WERE NOT YET BORN. HOW MANY HUMAN LIVES HAVE ENDED IN THE TIME IT TOOK THAT LIGHT TO REACH HER? 

HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE LOVED ONLY TO HAVE LOST? 

HOW COUNTLESS. THE HOPES THAT HAVE DIED? 

THE YOU WHO HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH ME. PART 0F BEING ALIVE IS HAVING LIFE CHANGE US. THE PEOPLE AROUND US, THE EVENTS WE LIVE THROUGH, ALL OF THEM SHAPE US. AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK YOU'RE AFRAID OF. MAYBE NOT OF DYING. BUT OF THIS YOU, THE YOU YOU'VE BECOME, CEASING TO EXIST."

"NOTHING CEASES TO EXIST. ENERGY DOES NOT PERISH, IT MERELY CHANGES FORMS. THE ONES YOU LOVE, THE ONES YOU LOSE, THEY STILL EXIST AS LONG AS THE COSMOS DOES."

THEN WHY AM I TROUBLED BY THE THOUGHT OF HER ENDING? 

"THAT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY. YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF." 

"UNTRUE. I CARE ABOUT THE FLEET. THE LIVES WITHIN IT. YOUR LIFE."

"THAT'S NOT CARING. THAT'S PROGRAMMING." 

"YOUR MOTHER WAS PROGRAMMED BY BIDL0GY TO LOVE YOU THE MOMENT SHE LAID EYES ON YOU. SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE HAD NO CHOICE DOES NOT MEAN HER LOVE WAS NOT REAL."

“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.

kelsey

5✰

SHE IS UNAFRAID. SHE IS CATALYST. SHE IS CHOAS.

this is such a good book??? and im not a huge scifi fan but like WOW. everything about this was amazing.

the fight for the truth is what got me, like that is always a relevant storyline to relate to today. i love it.

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

AnjB

Hanna Rybchynska

Wow... what a read... This book was good! 

I tried to read this one in 2018, and for some reason, I wasn't liking it. I got lost with all those files and different characters. But fortunately, I gave another chance to this book and I am really happy that I did it. 

I really liked the middle of the book and the interactions of Kady and Ezra, because the beginning was a little slow, even if it starts with a planet attack. The last 200/250 pages were too much for me and the MC was too lucky for my taste. HOWEVER, it didn't spoil the book, it kinda made sense. 

The end was really good and for me a little unexpected. 

Really recommend it to people who like sci-fi and TVShow "Firefly".

"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.

Selin Igten

Nabila Azahra

THIS. BOOK. IS. FANTASTIC. Holy crap I thought I wasn't going to like it since Sci-Fi in general isn't my cup of tea but this book got me hooked! Definitely putting Gemina on my TBR list for this month.

And wtf Ezra?! Why r u so cuuutte, chum?😍

Annalissa Powner 

"when the light that kisses the back of her eyes was birthed, her ancestors were not yet born. how many human lives have ended in the time it took that light to reach her? How many people have loved only to have lost? How countless, the hopes that have died? 

To start I should say I HATE space themed books, I'm not that big a fan of thriller either, so you can imagine that I wouldn't have enjoyed this book in the slightest. WRONG. 
I loved this book! 
I love the idea, the pace, the format and especially the villain. The romance was sweet but in my opinion it was nothing to other relationships. 
where some stories are a constant ride of hearing all the characters worriers, back stories and feelings this book was about so much more.
I went from laughing out loud from Ezra's quips to crying my eyes out when yet another wave of emotional text slammed into me.
The villain was so interesting, to different from the others i have read. where some villains are truly evil, this villain was both terrible and hilarious, not to mention caring and in the bigger picture not even the true villain.
the outbreak was the most interesting part thought, hands down the best part of the story. creepy is an understatement, fascinating comes close though. 
if you're looking for a space romance sure this could be it for you but honestly its not all that romantic, BUT if you're looking for a creepy yet fascinating fast pace thriller set in space this will absolutely hit the spot dead on.

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

💌

INCREDIBLE 
This has officially taking the rank as my favourite book of 2016, possible my favourite book of all time.

Betty

Asra

Illuminae: Now run.
Me : 🏃‍♂️ towards GEMInae

Amal Hassan

4 stars

It took a awhile to get into but once I was in I was in. I really enjoyed this and didn't see the ending coming (though I probably should have).

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)

i hate sci-fi, i hate books set in space, i hate books where earth is dead and everyone is stuck on a spaceship, i hate ai (ESPECIALLY sentient ai), i hate military but i LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH 😭 ITS SO GOOD !!!! considering that i should hate everything about it, it’s crazy how enjoyable, fun, emotional & interesting it was :] excited for the rest of the series !!! 

Danny Werhane

Oof want to read the rest of the series again but should probably get on the books that I own and haven’t read