Tag: sci-fi

REVIEW: Aurora Rising – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (ARC)

9 Comments

30075662 (1)Title: Aurora Rising (Aurora Rising #1)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Rating: ★★★★½

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

I’m loving all the great sci-fi/space books coming out recently in the YA genre, and this was no exception. I will admit I was nervous going into this. Not only was there a tremendous amount of hype for this, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person out there that did not like The Illuminae Files. Thankfully, Aurora Rising quickly squashed my worries and had me hooked from the first paragraph. 

“Um, excuse me.” Finian raises his hand, looking at Pixieboy. “But between me and Red over there, I think the squad already has its sarcasm quota filled.”

From the very beginning, this book was full of nonstop action. I mean, literally, from page one. The authors really killed it with those opening pages and it’s hard not to find yourself hooked from there. Amie and Jay did such a great job with the writing, to no one’s surprise. They’ve created an amazing ensemble of characters, each with their own distinct personalities. Having multiple POVs can be tricky, but I think they did a fantastic job making sure it would be easy to tell each character apart. My only issue was there were a couple of characters whose viewpoints I didn’t enjoy: Zila’s and Cat’s. I couldn’t connect with Zila because she was so quiet and only had a handful of pages written from her POV (because of her personality, I get it). And as for Cat, I’m sorry to say I just didn’t like her, which made me really not care too much about some of the events at the end of the book.

“Then again, I’m two hundred and thirty-seven years old myself. On a ship full of aliens. With whom I just robbed a space station. Nothing is impossible. But something is very, very wrong.”

Besides the action, the story was also full of excellent banter and just enough mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat. The entire time I was reading I couldn’t help but think this would make a really great movie. Aurora Rising was a fun, entertaining book perfect for fans of the YA sci-fi genre!

#ARCstravaganza: Aurora Rising – Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

3 Comments

Happy Monday! #ARCstravaganza is a weekly meme now hosted by Flavia the Bibliophile where readers can show off their wonderful ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) and spread the word about upcoming releases. For more information about this meme and its origins check out this post. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

30075662 (1)Title: Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle #1)
Author: Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman
Release: May 7, 2019

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

REVIEW: Skyward – Brandon Sanderson

14 Comments

39348113Title: Skyward (Skyward #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Rating: ★★★★★

Stars, this was scudding fantastic. This was my first Brandon Sanderson novel, but you can bet it definitely will not be my last. I’ve heard such great things about his works, and now I can finally understand all the praise. Skyward was thrilling Sci-Fi full of non-stop action and terrific characters. 

I could not stop reading this book. The way in which Sanderson describes the action sequences was so vivid and easy to follow along with. I could understand everything and could clearly picture what was happening in my mind. It seriously made me not only enjoy the book so much better, but also had me flying through the action-packed pages. There were also a few illustrations within the book that were not only interesting to study, but also helped with envisioning the maneuvers and flying described in the scenes. 

“Tremble and fear, all enemies!” he shouted. “For we shall shake the air with thunder and blood! Your doom is eminent!”

Spensa was an amazing protagonist and I really enjoyed reading the book through her perspective. She not only gained my empathy because of her situation, but also my respect because of the way she conducted herself, and her passion and dedication towards her goals. I also really loved how dorky she could be and her sense of humor! Not only was there a great main character, but a whole cast of lovable side characters as well, including a quirky AI spaceship named M-Bot. The friendships (and possible enemies-to-lovers?!) formed between Spensa and them were so wonderfully written and realistic, and I look forward to more in the next book. 

I always talk about how fantasy is my favorite genre and everything, but books like Skyward remind me just how much I love Sci-Fi/Space books and why it’s one of my favorite subjects to read about. If I could pick any genre to transport myself into, it would be something like this. Skyward was such a delightful and fun surprise to read, and the sequel is already on my list of most anticipated releases for next year!