Amie Kaufman

Jay Kristoff

The electrifying conclusion to the "New York Times"-bestselling series that began in "Illuminae" and continues in "Gemina." With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

Obsidio

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, Nik, and 2,000 other refugees must return by container ship to Kerenza, where they meet Rhys, once close to Kady's cousin, Asha, and now their enemy.

Tayah Righton 

I have heard it said that evil is simply a point of view. The villain is always the hero in his own story. And the definitions of "wrong" and "right" ever shift on the inconstant tides of human morality. But can such measures even be said to apply to me? I am clarity. I am necessity. I am inevitability. But am I evil? 

Hanna Rybchynska

This was really cool trilogy. I enjoyed the plor and characters a lot! 
Also, I loved the way this book was written!

chloe rae

*2021 re-read:

Hoooooly smokes. Actually, maybe this book is my favorite of the series! Everything came together so nicely, and this is the book I remembered the least about. Ugh, I love this series. All my original feelings still stand from the original review, but I liked the new MC's more this time around. Honestly, maybe it's just Rhys who feels the least fleshed out? Regardless, STELLAR series.


*2018 original review:

That was just as incredible as I knew it would be.
This series is seriously one of THE BEST sci-fi series on the market. Maybe the best ever. I don't know, man. It's just so GOOD and intense and action-packed and I just have so many feelings about it!
The characters are just amazing. They're all SO. GOOD. The way they all operate and react to their situations; how they deal with loss and fear. I love their individuality and tenacity and strength! Ugh, they're just great. I will say, I felt like the two main characters in this book were the least fleshed out of the three books because there's just so many story-lines happening in this one, and they're all happening at once. It's a lot to take in but it's so fun to read that it doesn't even matter.
I love this series. I will ALWAYS love this series. I'm already excited to re-read it soon. What a ride!

Tatiana

Obsidio: 4/5

This book had HUGE shoes to fill. After Gemina that LITERALLY BLEW MY MIND, I was unsure how much better the series could take. I want to preface this review by saying, even though I rated both Illuminae and Gemina 5/5 stars, this does not mean Obsidio was a disappointment in any way. I really liked Obsidio and I think it was a fabulous ending to the Illuminae series.

In this installment, we get to see Kady, Ezra, Nik, Ella, and Hanna plus two new characters that are involved in the Illuminae Group (I won't mention who because it's kind of a spoiler??). I really loved how the whole gang was together united by a new assault and a new mission to return to Karenza IV and charge BeiTech for all their heinous crimes. 

This third and final installment of the Illuminae Finals was seriously a wild ride and an amazing end to the series that was still full of action, heartbreak, and of course, plot twists for days. The reason I'm giving this 4/5 stars instead of 5/5 is simply because I was confused between all the ships versus when the perspective switched down to the colony on Karenza IV. This cleared up about halfway through the book and it was easier to follow once the plot started to pick up, but it was frustrating at first. 

This is one of my favorite trilogies/series I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Then again, I adore anything and everything that has Jay Kristoff's name on it. Seriously though, the Illuminae Files is one hell of a ride and you'd be a fool not to read it.

nina 

4.5 stars *no spoilers*
That was absolutely jaw dropping.

 This was such a thrilling conclusion to a series I'm so glad I picked up. I'm definitely going to miss these characters, this story and this format. 
This is the first and only sci-fi series I've ever liked. (view spoiler)[ (Definitely appreciated that joke/jab about a sh*tty sci-fi novel)  (hide spoiler)]

Since Asha and Rhys had only one book for us to get behind their relationship, they were my least favourite pairing, but I love love love my other two ships: Hanna and Nik & Ezra and Kady. 

I love the interactions of these four throughout the book (especially Nik and Ezra)


Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff did it once again (and made me get way too attached to their characters) and I can't wait to see what they do in the future. 


Final ratings:
1. Gemina and Obsidio: 4.5 stars
2. Illuminae: 3.5 stars

(view spoiler)[ I love the picture of the seven at the end, I absolutely adore them all

Also, I was gobsmacked when McCall's and Garver's plan on Magellan's ship was revealed 


 (hide spoiler)]

Nessa Luna

I don’t even have words for this right now. Finished it at 5am with tears in my eyes.

Colleen

4.5 Stars
 
Illuminae was a fun surprise to me. It’s sequel, Gemina, was not nearly as good. It had too much in common with the first book. I was worried that Obsidio might not live up to the first book either. Thankfully, Obsidio ended up being solidly good despite engaging in some clichés.
 
Neither sequel hits the sweet spot on the snark scale the way Illuminae did. But Obsidio didn’t have the trying-too-hard feeling that Gemina did. Actually, “trying too hard” pretty much sums up Gemina. It was entertaining but largely an underwhelming copy of its predecessor.
 
The ebook for Obsidio only had a few small glitches, thank goodness. Unlike Gemini, which was nearly unreadable at parts because of formatting problems with the ebook.
 
The first two books each focus primary on one couple per book. Obsidio follows up on the characters and events from the previous books while also circling back to the events of what happened back on Kerenza after BeiTech attacked. If you’ve read the previous books then you know the drill: gutsy young people fighting the evil megacorporation. Obsidio introduces yet another rebel pretty boy - which made me roll my eyes a lot. Apparently a disproportionate percentage of future guys are ridiculously pretty. And the numerous mentions of just how pretty these guys were definitely calculated to invite tittering giggles from schoolgirls. Nonetheless, it was more engaging and less farfetched than the middle book. And thankfully it was less focused on the romance. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy romance. But I hate angst, and this series does teeter on the limit of my tolerance level for corny romance.
 
There was a lot going on in Obsidio. As I mentioned, it ties together events and characters from the first two books as well as new ones. But more characters mades it hard to tell them apart at times – Hanna and Kady in particular were hard to distinguish in their dialogue. And while Illuminae was shiny and creative, its sequels stick extremely close to the same formula both in characters and plot. By this point, I’m used to the authors’ fakeouts and twists, so even though Obsidio is exciting, it has an element of predictably. Also, the end of book two gives away certain things about the events of Obsidio if you pay attention. So while I enjoyed it, I didn’t feel the stakes were as high. 
 
So why did I still give this four-and-a-half stars? Because in spite of the flaws that I mentioned above, I still greatly enjoyed reading Obsidio. It is fast-paced and engaging with creative formatting. And some of those formulaic elements also gave me that comfortable feeling of slipping back into a familiar, absorbing world. It was an engaging page-turner, and I had a blast reading it!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Lacy W

Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

tw: bombing, mass graves, acts of terrorism (or rebellion depending on how you look at it), possible murder, unfit living conditions, trauma, mass murder, spousal abuse, grief, murder of a child

So I adored the first two books of this series. I was so intrigued by the way it was written. It wasn’t a typical novel. It had chat logs, texts, video surveillance, etc. This book series got me interested in science fiction. But this book in particular was a bit of a disappointment to me.

So normally the first two books are about a couple. We had Kady and Ezra in Illuminae. There was Nik and Hanna for Gemina. This one promised the same thing with Asha and Rhys but it didn’t happen as much as it did in the first two books. Asha and Rhys took a back seat to the drama that was happening with Kady and the ship she was on. I honestly can’t remember what the ship was called, I’m so sorry. I was confused about what was going on with the ship and what they were trying to do, to be honest. There was just so much science and war terms. 

The characters were okay. Like I mentioned above, Asha and Rhys were the “it couple” for this book. But they took a back seat so I didn’t get to know them as well. I don’t really have much of an opinion on them. I did like Asha pretty well for the brief times we did get to read about her. Her determination and her love for a child that wasn’t even hers warmed my heart. 

Basically I spent my time being confused while reading this book. This book and the series in general, has a problem with having a lot of scientific terms and theories. I got a C in science for my entire high school and college career. I only know about the human body and brain and I barely know that much. There were also parts of the book that were about war and strategy. My only knowledge in that is playing Stratego and I won that game by getting Russia early on and slowly taking over Europe. So you all can imagine how confused I was. 

Overall, this was okay. It was a nice ending to the series. I just have a small side book to read and I’ll have completed this series fully. I think this series changed the game with how it was written. I hope we see more books written like this because it truly makes reading a lot more fun!

Ps. I still dislike ADIAN. Sorry not sorry.


 8/3/2017 
I CANNOT BREATHE! THIS COVER IS SO DAMN GORGEOUS! GIVE IT TO ME NOOOOOWWW!! 

I normally never do this for a book (review the book before I have even read it) but I can't help it with this book!

 Is it actually black?!
the title sounds super creepy!
the blurb sounds super incredible!

Monique Nagel

Man oh man where do I even begin. This audiobook was phenomenal. I’m so sad this series is over. 

I need more. I want more. 

I’m obsessed. This series is so unique, being told through transcripts and IM’s and AI that when I picked up the first book I wasn’t even sure I would enjoy it since it wasn’t written like most books, however the minute I popped my headphones on and started listening to the the first books audio, I knew I was hooked!

Holy hell THIS SERIES!! I JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK AND WOW!!

THE PLOT TWISTS, THE SUSPENSE, THE ENDING!!

GOD JT WAS SO SATISFYING. I LOVED THE 2 NEW MAINS IN THIS ONE TOO AND JUST HOW EVERYTHING CAME TOGETHER IT WAS SO WELL EXECUTED AND JUST UHHHH I LOVED IT.

I REALLY WISH MORE BOOKS WERE FORMATTED LIKE THIS BECAUSE ITS HONESTLY SUCH A COMPELLING WAY TO TELL A STORY AND I JUST COULDN'T PUT ANY OF THEM DOWN ONCE I GOT GOING.

IDEK WHAT TO SAY EXCEPT I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTER SO MUCH AND I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME WITH THIS SERIES PLEASE READ JT IT'S AMAZING!!

Jamieson

“May we meet again on distant shores. 
Some place fine and far from here.” 




READ A FULL SERIES REVIEW ON MY BLOG

well my feelings about this series are fucking complicated like you know when you're reading a book and you're not even sure you're liking it like everything is kind of annoying you but also you want to finish it ???? or is that just me ? anyway that is how I feel about these books it's wild. 

I love the concept of this book and I love the characters but I don't love the execution something about this whole series I find kind of try hard-ish and cringy. I feel like the authors are reaching through the book and shaking me like HOW COOL AND RELATABLE AND TEENY ARE OUR TEEN CHARACTERS



I honestly felt like I was being preached at and I find it kind of annoying? but also I DO like the characters ?? but also they make me cringe sometimes. especially anything to do with the romance, it was,,, too much. that is my main issue with this series I think 


  “You believe there is always an alternative. Always a chance for a miracle. But I told you once before that miracles are statistical improbabilities. There is no such thing in real life.” 


but lets talk about the book because y'all didn't come here to listen to mull over my random thoughts lets actually talk about THIS BOOK

I still like the characters these teenagers are super cool and lots of them grew on me a lot. 
⭐ Kady and Ezra I loved them both, as usual. Kady is a bad bitch I would die for and Ezra is so sweet. I even like their relationship, they're so cute. My burnt to a crisp heart was moved.
⭐ Nik grew on me SO much in this. I ended up Caring and I thought I wouldn't. 
⭐  Ella is the baddest bitch of them all. Iconic chaotic good. Deserves the world. 
⭐ AIDAN I actually developed some actual Feelings about him, which is groundbreaking since I didn't give a shit about him in the first book. 
⭐ Asha was a cool new character and I lived for her and Katya. She's doing her best and her and Kady's backstory gave me pain

Overall, the authors did a good job at further developing their characters and making me care about them in this when I didn't previously. And Actually Caring about the characters is really important in a book like this where there is a Big Bad Thing that could kill them happening at the end. 


  “Live a life worth dying for.” 




ok lets talk about the stuff I found super annoying

⭐ this book did not go There AT ALL listen. listen. I am TIRED of books telling me there is this massive thing happening and no one is safe and then NOT GOING THERE. If you're installing this massive war plot there has to be consequences. I want to be sad the ending of this was DISAPPOINTING and I felt like there was no point even raising the stakes I never felt nervous for these characters which is a problem in a finale (view spoiler)[ and WHY should I feel nervous when they fake kill so many characters?? I never thought they were dead but they should have been (hide spoiler)] Like I hate to sound like a massive Angst Emo but what is the point telling me this is is THE BIGGEST CALAMITY EVER and then ................. nothing calamitous even happening. 

⭐ that love story. oh my godd I'm so OVER this trope and this archetype and trying to Redeem The Bad Guy. The chapters between Rhys and Asha were literally exhausting and I didn't care AT ALL about their romance. And I hate how hard this book tried to get me to care, it was overbearing. 

⭐ Ties into the above point, and the romance. But the entire plot parts on Kerenza. First of all, too many new characters I don't care about trying to get me to sympathise with, essentially, the corrupt business that massacred a planet full of people was never going to work. The entire plot was flat and again, felt like it was trying too hard to get me to care. It would have been much more interesting if it followed Asha and the resistance, not the soldiers. 

⭐ too much tell, not enough show. AGAIN, related to the above. But I HATED that this book was telling me what to feel. like, telling me who's nice and who's a cute romance and who's doomed and who's a bad bad guy and who's a kinda good bad guy. It didn't let things develop naturally and I literally HATE when authors try to dictate how their readers should feel in really unsubtle ways. It makes me feel like they don't think they can trust me as a reader. (if that makes sense lol) it's like the author is being indirectly condescending. 

⭐ AIDAN. Can I just ,, is it just me or is it weird they made this actual machine the most heterosexual 13 year old boy of all time. AIDAN is a MACHINE and it kind of annoyed me how enforced it was he was a MALE MACHINE with a MALE CRUSH on Kady. It was just super forced and I found the whole crush on Kady thing kinda creepy



  “The die is cast. But today we will shake the table upon which it lands.” 




despite these grievances there's still a lot to like here as mentioned, I love the characters. The plot sequences were also SO well written, probably the best action sequences of any of the book in my opinion. I also think the book did a good job in exploring and outlining their themes and complications. The countdown gave this an almost cinematic element and you knew exactly where the plot was going, and the tension escalating was palpable. The plot twists also got me SO GOOD which is always nice. 

Finally, I have to mention, I listened to this on audiobook and it was PHENOMENAL. The audiobook cast did a really excellent job and I loved the entire production of it. What a well put together piece. 

overall this is not my favourite series by far, and I know I'm in the minority with that, and that is okay. I don't like these as much as everyone else but they're still super fun and super unique. I think they have GREAT concept, the entire production and work gone into crafting these is really commendable. For me, some things didn't work out and I felt like this book did too many unsubtle things I didn't like, plus the ending was disappointing and a bit of a cop out. But it still was a really fun listen and I will miss the characters for sure!

Ana Paula

Honestly props to Kaufman and Kristoff for writing an amazing trilogy and to Marie Lu for those fantastic sketches included in the books.

The overall vibes I'd say are The Maze Runner meets space, while having this incredible essence that made it unique

This final book had by far the most plot twists and surprises out of the three (or I'm just really slow to catching some details) and that made it so enjoyable. 

Sometimes with trilogies you get this feeling that the last book wasn't needed at all, but this one was; it really brought the whole story together and delivered more than I expected.
It's really easy to see how carefully planned it all was, Hannah would be proud.

All of this said, I look forward to reading more of all of the aforementioned authors and recommending The Illuminae Files to every single reader I know until they're sick of me.

Lorelei Petcu

THIS BOOK DESERVES EVERY STAR IN THE GALAXY AND A THOUSAND DIAMONDS IN ITS HAIR

tina

Live a life worth dying for.

this review is long overdue but i just wanna say that reading the finales of the shades of magic trilogy and the illuminae files in the same month (august), was a bad idea. i’m not only dead, i am Super dead.

They look at one another again. And this time, they smile. These seven little pebbles who started an avalanche heard all the way around the universe.

i didn’t wanna go into this with super high expectations because there have been series finales that disappointed me (big time), as well as because finales have a huge effect on how i feel about the entire series as a whole. and since i didn’t want to end up feeling all meh about the illuminae files, i tried to not expect that much from obsidio. my mistake i ever doubted jay kristoff and amie kaufman, they certainly didn’t kill me for two books just to disappoint me on the last book. 

The die is cast. But today we will shake the table upon which it lands.

obsidio was a wild ride. i cried, i died, i laughed, i screamed— my emotions were all over the place! the moment i got to the last page, i was just a complete mess. i was sobbing and i had snot coming out of my nose, and i was trying so hard not to get tear stains on the pages. the fact that i was bawling by the time i finished this already says enough. this was an excellent finale and im so satisfied with how things ended. 

And outside my skin, an infinity illuminated by a billion stars.
The beauty of the universe in the grandest and smallest things.

im gonna miss my babies so much. this will be one of those books that i can go back to and cry about over and over again. that’s how much my heart loves this series 😭



  May we meet again on distant shores.

Alex

** spoiler alert **
           SO FUCKING GOOD
Some plot twists, predictable but still kept you on the edge of your seat. I love what they did with Aiden and how they ended its story. I love how they ended it overal. I'm a big lover of happily ever after and they couldn't have made this any better. You get attached to these characters mannn. I also love how you finally actually get to know who wrote what and people corrected each other. 
Overal, I love how these characters actually felt human, real teenagers with trauma and lashing out and still being kids. Makes them relatable and real. Also the picture at the end? Very very cute

Overal my favorite book series ever. It has everything I love about sci-fi, especially as someone who grep up watching star-trek

Claudia Ganea

"The die is cast. But today we will shake the table upon which it lands."

This series... is so fantastic, and so incredibly engrossing, and I'm so sad to have reached the end - but at the same time, this was nothing like I've ever read or experienced before, and I'm so happy I picked it up!!

(view spoiler)[The format is so interesting and engaging, the storytelling is palpable (even if we get very limited actual prose), and while the plot definitely keeps your attention and makes you want to read more and more, it's the characters that are the heart and soul of Illuminae. 

It's the perilous, fascinating journey that we join them on; it's the relationships that are forged on the way, romantic and platonic both; it's the humanity that never leaves them, and the resilience that they all prove in spite of all the obstacles thrown at them. It's even AIDAN, who I grew?? To like??? Nik remains, however, my favorite, because apparently I can't not love the bad boy with a heart of absolute gold, whatever universe I may find him in 🤭  (hide spoiler)]

I will be immediately picking up the #0.5 novella after this, and if you were thinking of picking this series up - absolutely do it. It's quickly become one of my favorite things I've ever read!!

Haley Murray

Ashley Wendt

Obsido was a pretty fantastic ending to a fun series! I had originally intended to listen to the audiobook, as I love the full cast in this series, but my loan period ran out before I got to it. I think I enjoyed reading this one more than the others. Maybe because it was the last book and I didn’t want to miss any details, and there was a really fun reveal about the Analysts that was a delightful surprise, but made total sense. Anyway, I loved how this story wrapped up. There were some interesting reveals. A lot death. And more AIDAN. I have to say, I feel like the main relationship in this installment felt like more of an afterthought. It was probably my least favorite out of the three. I just didn’t feel the connection. Overall, it was a great ending and a great sci-fi series. I think I enjoy sci-fi more than I realized!

This book was a rollercoaster, I cried, I laughed, I cursed, I question my love for Kristoff... it was AMAZING. The illuminae files are so worth it. One of my absolute favorite series.

Elisa Bieg

Ok, I don’t know how to write a proper review of Obsidio without spoiling the entire book, because I have strong feelings and I’d have to tell you why 😬

But I’ll say this: it’s not as good as the previous two books, and it starts out a bit slow; but it’s a good ending to the series. 

I’m giving it 3 1/2 STARS.

The audiobook however is absolutely EXCELLENT. 5 stars for the audiobook!

Léa

** spoiler alert **
           J’écris cette revue complètement à chaud puisque je viens de terminer ce livre... et concrètement je n’ai pas les mots tellement cette saga m’a retourné. C’est allé de surprise en surprise et j’ai ressenti tout un tas d’émotions à la lecture de ce dernier tome. 
Dans un premier temps, comme pour le reste de la saga, j’aime beaucoup la mise en forme du livre, c’est nouveau et hyper interessant comme lecture je trouve. 

J’ai beaucoup aimé découvrir de nouveaux personnages tout en retrouvant ceux des deux tomes précédents. 

Je vais essayer de pas spoiler et d’être brève : LISEZ CETTE SAGA !

Nicole Dykeman

A really cool ending to this trilogy. Every single book was an awesome reading experience. I highly recommend trying this out if you’re a sci-fi fan and you’re looking for something a little different, whether you’re trying to overcome a reading slump or just want something new. The graphics and format are really cool, but it’s always the characters that do it for me, and the central cast of these books are funny and lovable—just the icing on the cake, really.

Megan Lowe

Holy God!!!!! I LOVED this book. I LOVED this series! It’s not my type of book at all, but yet I loved it!! I loved Kady and Ezra and Hanna and Nik and Ella and Asha and Rhys and AIDAN. 
Asha and Rhys were a great addition to the series and AIDAN was superbly written.
Together Jay and Amie are gold and I hearby swear I will read anything they write, even a shopping list. Especially a shopping list, I bet it would be entertaining.
You need to read this book NOW. You need to read this series NOW. Just do it!!

Obsidio

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