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.
They're not the heroes we deserve. They're just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.
When Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman team up to write a book,
I read it.
NO questions asked. I mean The Illuminae Files were pure brilliance and
Obsidio is one of the few finales that really satisfied me. But that being said, Illuminae set the bar so high and when Aurora Rising was announced, I was worried it might not live up to the awesomeness of Illuminae.
Did it? Well not quite
Did I enjoy it though? I sure did!
5 REASONS TO PICK UP THIS BOOK -
1. #SQUADGOALS - If I had to choose
ONE favourite bookish trope ever, I'd go with
found family. This space squad is 1000% dysfunctional and tasked with saving the universe....
good luck Universe. I love the squad dynamics and the different kinds of relationships between the characters.
-
Tyler and
Cat have this whole "
so we're kinda totally into each other but will forever pretend otherwise" thing going on so obviously we have the
#angst.
-
Kal basically
looks like Legolas,
acts like Thranduil but in space so we have LoTR references and elf drama (
it's a thing!).
“I was born with the taste of blood in my mouth. I was born with my hands in fists. I was born for war.”
- There's
Auri who is totally out of her depth and is throughout alternating between "
WHAT IS HAPPENING?" and "
WHAT THE HOLY HECK IS HAPPENING?".
- We have
Scar who is like the
most sane person in the group and constantly rolling her eyes because
#kids.
le sigh.
- There's
Zila who has the least page space but there's something she says towards the end which made me tear up so we got
#feels.
- Then there's my boo
Finian who is like
the best of them all. Period. He's disabled so wears an exosuit and the disability rep was perfection. Also he's bi and constantly wondering if he should hit on Tyler or Scar and I'm just
SO here for his
one-liners and
sass.
(
I must say though, I thought I'd love Tyler. He sounded like a total Captain America who I LOVE but somehow he just fell short. I mean I still like him but my absolute favourites have got to be Fin, Kal and Scar.)
And special mention to the dedication at the start of the book -
“If your squad was hard to find, or you’re still looking, then this one is for you.”
2. It's set in space. Okay that's a
LEGIT reason. Books set in space are
automatically more intense and scary than books not set in space. And like
waaaay more dramatic. Aurora Rising, for all it's humor and fun was also super intense and
THAT ENDING. It was right out of a sci-fi horror movie (
Think Alien, Prometheus etc) and gave me the goosebumps and also the
#feels because is it even a Jay Kristoff book if it doesn't leave you screaming "
noooooo" into the void?
3. SO fricking entertaining! What I love the most about Kristoff & Kaufman books are
THEY. ARE. UNPUTDOWNABLE. I read this book in one sitting. I mean there's
humor, sass, angst, badass action sequences and plot twists that you just
CANNOT stop. I mean there were some things about this book that was kind of predictable? But is was
STILL entertaining? And I appreciate that.
4. The Plot Twists. I mean yes a few things were predictable but can we appreciate and cry about the
MASSIVE plot twist at the end? I did not see that coming and
I SHALL NEVER RECOVER.
“We the legion
We the light
Burning bright against the night.”
5. The diversity. I am so here for the bi rep and the exceptionally done disability rep brought to you by the one and only Finian. Also he's an alien. If it hasn't been clear so far,
I LOVE FINIAN. I shall protect this cinnamon roll with my life and stab anyone who tries to hurt him.
Thanks for coming to my ted talk.
So basically,
GO READ THE BOOK. The only reason this is not a five star is because in my opinion, The Illuminae files was a notch better.
While I love Squad 312, I was more emotionally invested in The Illuminae Group and the trilogy.
BUT regardless, this is a super fun, seriously entertaining space opera with a misfit gang, aliens and lots of stuff in space blowing up.
***
Have you read this book or The Illuminae Files? Any favourite books books set in space? Tell me in the comments below!
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