Tag: sci-fi

REVIEW: DEV1AT3 – Jay Kristoff (ARC)

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40177770Title: DEV1AT3 (Lifelike #2)
Author: Jay Kristoff
Rating: ★★★★

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Jay Kristoff has delivered another thrilling book. Like it’s predecessor, DEV1AT3 was action-packed, features a cast of amazing characters, and is full of plot twists and reveals that will keep the reader begging for more.

First of all, the book begins with a recap. Bless you Jay. As silly as it may seem, I really wish more authors would do this with their series! It’s so incredibly helpful and saves me from either searching the internet for a recap or spending the first few chapters trying to remember everything that happened in the last book.

DEV1AT3 focuses a lot more on Lemon Fresh and her story. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this, but once I started it was a total non-issue. I really enjoyed her character in the first book and I loved following her journey in this one. She makes some important discoveries for herself and finally starts to develop of sense of self-identity. There were some X-Men vibes and I was totally digging it! We’re also introduced to some new fun characters; in particular, I was really enjoying reading about Grimm and Abraham and hope to learn more about them.

Besides Lemon Fresh, the story also features chapters from Cricket’s and Ezekiel’s POVs, but only few from Eve’s. Eve’s presence wasn’t as prominent in DEV1AT3, which I think is what led me to holding back a star, but I understand the decision to withhold her perspective. Eve is going through an identity crisis and therefore is make some really terrible choices. I really feel for her and I think by the end of the book she was beginning to realize that perhaps the path she has chosen is not what she really wants or believes in. I have total faith in her for the next book.

Jay absolutely killed it with the end. And by that, I mean he pulls another jaw-dropping cliffhanger that has me itching for the third book. DEV1AT3 was full of non-stop action and a fast-moving plot that pulled me in from the prologue. I absolutely love these characters and this world that Jay has written and I cannot wait for the conclusion!

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

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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

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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.