by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Genre: YA science fiction
My Rating: ★★★★
Description:
After the destruction of Jump Station Heimdall, the race is on for research vessel Hypatia to make the long journey back through space to Kerenza V. There, BeiTech's mobile jump platform may be their only hope of getting their story back out to the rest of the universe.
But supplies are running thin -- food, water, even oxygen, will run out before Hypatia makes it to Kerenza.
In a race against time, Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik struggle to compile both a plan to capture the jump platform and the rest of the Illuminae files.
Back on Kerenza, Asha Grant is just trying to keep her head down. But when she runs into her former boyfriend, Rhys Lindstrom, she is sucked into a secret rebellion against the BeiTech occupation.
Together, they might be able to send out their message to the universe -- but at what cost to themselves?
Overall Thoughts
Alright. You guys probably know by now that I loved this series. And I definitely loved this book, too. But there were a couple issues I had with the book that meant it couldn't compete with my favorite in the trilogy, Gemina.
The Characters
One of the biggest problems I had with the book was the new set of characters. You have Asha, Kady's cousin, who was trapped on Kerenza after the attack by BeiTech, and her former boyfriend, Rhys, but I feel that neither of them got enough page time for me to really care about them? I feel like I would have liked them more as characters if they had gotten a bit more development, but with all of the plot and character threads to wrap up in this book, I'm not sure if it would have been possible without serious detriment to the story. But I loved how all of the characters' stories intersected, and how all of them worked together to save the people on Kerenza and get their message to the rest of the universe.
Plot/Pacing
As usual, I really liked the plot for the story. It was really fast paced -- near the end, it was really, really intense, but I never lost track of where the story was going, or what was happening. It was also incredibly tense -- near the beginning of the book, Hypatia is faced with the threat of losing oxygen before they reach Kerenza (imagine running out of oxygen in the middle of outer space with no one to help you) and it only picks up from there.
Also, there was one small twist -- maybe not even a twist -- that I loved so, so much. I can't say any more because of spoilers, but guys. I don't know why it excited me that much, but seriously, it excited me that much. (I'm dancing on the edge of fangirling right now, so I'm just going to leave it at that.)
The ending was also excellent. I feel like it wrapped up the entire story so perfectly, and it just made me really, really happy. I'm not sure how I feel about the last little segment? On one hand, I like it, and I thought it was brilliant, and on the other hand, I did like the preceding segment better, so I'm really conflicted on that part. But oh well.
These books were quite a wild ride, and I'm really glad I took the chance reading them!
Content (potential spoilers)
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
The Characters
One of the biggest problems I had with the book was the new set of characters. You have Asha, Kady's cousin, who was trapped on Kerenza after the attack by BeiTech, and her former boyfriend, Rhys, but I feel that neither of them got enough page time for me to really care about them? I feel like I would have liked them more as characters if they had gotten a bit more development, but with all of the plot and character threads to wrap up in this book, I'm not sure if it would have been possible without serious detriment to the story. But I loved how all of the characters' stories intersected, and how all of them worked together to save the people on Kerenza and get their message to the rest of the universe.
Plot/Pacing
As usual, I really liked the plot for the story. It was really fast paced -- near the end, it was really, really intense, but I never lost track of where the story was going, or what was happening. It was also incredibly tense -- near the beginning of the book, Hypatia is faced with the threat of losing oxygen before they reach Kerenza (imagine running out of oxygen in the middle of outer space with no one to help you) and it only picks up from there.
Also, there was one small twist -- maybe not even a twist -- that I loved so, so much. I can't say any more because of spoilers, but guys. I don't know why it excited me that much, but seriously, it excited me that much. (I'm dancing on the edge of fangirling right now, so I'm just going to leave it at that.)
The ending was also excellent. I feel like it wrapped up the entire story so perfectly, and it just made me really, really happy. I'm not sure how I feel about the last little segment? On one hand, I like it, and I thought it was brilliant, and on the other hand, I did like the preceding segment better, so I'm really conflicted on that part. But oh well.
These books were quite a wild ride, and I'm really glad I took the chance reading them!
Content (potential spoilers)
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Explosions, resulting in several people dying. Descriptions of blood, sometimes bordering on gory (though the violence in this book felt less gory than the violence in Illuminae. Could just be me, though.) A machine is used to intentionally collapse a section of a mine, killing the operator and several soldiers as well. Several large scale space battles similar to the ones in Star Wars. Hundreds of people die from suffocation.
Language is mostly blacked out, as in the rest of the series, but it's pretty easy to tell what the characters are saying, despite that. A few words are not blacked out.
A few instances of sexual references, nothing explicit that I can remember. There were a few instances of sexual innuendo. There is a reference that suggests two background female characters are lesbian, and another female character mentions having had romantic relationships with other women in the past.
Mentions of the use of dust, a drug first introduced in Gemina. Nik smokes.
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