Hi everyone! I'm back from taking a mental health break! Welcome to Nox Reads, I'm "Nox", and Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is one of my favorite series, definitely a GET ME ALL THE MERCH!
"I don't know my limit, but I'm scared to reach it. I don't know what will happen if I do. And I still can't sleep."
TRIGGER WARNING: Death
My favorite part of Illuminae is the characters. Our two main protagonists are Kady Grant and Ezra Mason, two teenagers who broke up hours before their planet was attacked by a corporation known as BeiTech. For the most part, the story follows these two as they deal with the aftermath of the attack while on two separate vessels- Kady on the Hypatia, and Ezra on the Alexander.
Kady is a talented hacker, which she uses to her advantage when she realizes that there are secrets between the vessels. The book starts with transcripts of her being interviewed by psychologists on the Hypatia, right after the attack on Kerenza IV, and right away we get insight to what kind of person she is. She's smart but has a problem with authority, with a quick temper. She's sarcastic and brilliant and everything I want to be as a human, and I love that for the most part, the book follows her story/ She deals with a lot during the book, and you can't help but feel for her.
Ezra Mason. What is there to say about him? Ezra loses pretty much everything during the attack on Kerenza IV, and the Alexander psychologists feel that it's a reason to conscript him into their emergency army. Ezra is just as quick as Kady is but in different ways, and he's much more level-headed. Ezra has a high moral compass, not allowing his newly instated soldier status to get in the way of what he believes is right or wrong. Since the documents in the story are mainly Kady's, readers don't get to see too much of Ezra, but when he's in a scene, you can't help but love him.
I love the way that Ezra and Kady seem to balance each other out. They're stronger together, with Ezra (trying to) keep Kady's anger and rebellion in check, and with Kady getting Ezra to realize there's something weird happening with the Alexander. Their love and devotion is ultimately what drives each other during the story's climax, and I can't help but adore them.
Of course, I must mention the book's format. The book is told as a collection of files put together by the Illuminae Group, who aim to prove BeiTech's involvement on the attack on Kerenza IV and eventually, Heimdall Station. There are transcriptions of video footage (told by an amazingly hilarious informal narrator), IM messages, interviews, emails, etc. There are pictures created by words, dialogue taken by the vessel's AI, and although the book is at the very least 400 pages (I don't have my book with me to check), I found it to be a fast read. The format is unique and interesting.
If you know somebody who has trouble focusing on books, I'd recommend this book. My friend told me that he can't really focus when he reads, so I lent him my copy (if he loses or ruins it in anyways he has to buy me the hardcover version, so lowkey I'm kind of hoping he does) and he has said that it's a bit easier for him. He's really enjoying it.
The main thing I want to talk about is a spoiler, so if you haven't read Illuminae, I definitely recommend checking it out!
Last chance to avoid spoilers! Ready? Set? GO!
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"I don't know my limit, but I'm scared to reach it. I don't know what will happen if I do. And I still can't sleep."
TRIGGER WARNING: Death
Illuminae was definitely a series that I picked up because of the book community. I heard a lot about the interesting format and it made me want to check it out, and I am so glad that I did because it quickly became one of my favorite series.
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S P O I L E R - F R E E T A L K
My favorite part of Illuminae is the characters. Our two main protagonists are Kady Grant and Ezra Mason, two teenagers who broke up hours before their planet was attacked by a corporation known as BeiTech. For the most part, the story follows these two as they deal with the aftermath of the attack while on two separate vessels- Kady on the Hypatia, and Ezra on the Alexander.
Kady is a talented hacker, which she uses to her advantage when she realizes that there are secrets between the vessels. The book starts with transcripts of her being interviewed by psychologists on the Hypatia, right after the attack on Kerenza IV, and right away we get insight to what kind of person she is. She's smart but has a problem with authority, with a quick temper. She's sarcastic and brilliant and everything I want to be as a human, and I love that for the most part, the book follows her story/ She deals with a lot during the book, and you can't help but feel for her.
Ezra Mason. What is there to say about him? Ezra loses pretty much everything during the attack on Kerenza IV, and the Alexander psychologists feel that it's a reason to conscript him into their emergency army. Ezra is just as quick as Kady is but in different ways, and he's much more level-headed. Ezra has a high moral compass, not allowing his newly instated soldier status to get in the way of what he believes is right or wrong. Since the documents in the story are mainly Kady's, readers don't get to see too much of Ezra, but when he's in a scene, you can't help but love him.
I love the way that Ezra and Kady seem to balance each other out. They're stronger together, with Ezra (trying to) keep Kady's anger and rebellion in check, and with Kady getting Ezra to realize there's something weird happening with the Alexander. Their love and devotion is ultimately what drives each other during the story's climax, and I can't help but adore them.
Of course, I must mention the book's format. The book is told as a collection of files put together by the Illuminae Group, who aim to prove BeiTech's involvement on the attack on Kerenza IV and eventually, Heimdall Station. There are transcriptions of video footage (told by an amazingly hilarious informal narrator), IM messages, interviews, emails, etc. There are pictures created by words, dialogue taken by the vessel's AI, and although the book is at the very least 400 pages (I don't have my book with me to check), I found it to be a fast read. The format is unique and interesting.
If you know somebody who has trouble focusing on books, I'd recommend this book. My friend told me that he can't really focus when he reads, so I lent him my copy (if he loses or ruins it in anyways he has to buy me the hardcover version, so lowkey I'm kind of hoping he does) and he has said that it's a bit easier for him. He's really enjoying it.
The main thing I want to talk about is a spoiler, so if you haven't read Illuminae, I definitely recommend checking it out!
Last chance to avoid spoilers! Ready? Set? GO!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S P O I L E R - T A L K
My favorite character in the book is easily AIDAN. As cool as Kady is, and as much as I fell for Ezra, I couldn't help but be drawn to AIDAN. Of course I've heard of murderous AIs before- I've seen Age of Ultron. It's amazing though how Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff took this common trope and made it their own though. If you think about it, Illuminae is a culmination of sci-fi tropes: space battles, uncurable plague, zombies (essentially), a murderous AI, plucky (for lack of a better word) protagonists, the works! Yet somehow, it doesn't feel cliché to me. It's an all original masterpiece.
So back to AIDAN. Yes, the murderous AI has been there, done that. But AIDAN is set apart from all the rest because of Kady. He loves her when he shouldn't be able to feel anything at all. Everything he does is because in his twisted...mind, I guess, he thinks it's all for the best of the fleet. To him, it's the only way to survive. He isn't doing this to prove he's superior to humanity and to overthrow them, he's doing it to protect them. And in that sense, his intentions are pretty noble. Of course, his ways are barbaric and lack any sort of compassion, but he's an AI. Compassion isn't programmed into his hardware. Which makes Kady special.
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Overall, Illuminae was amazing! If you've read it, who is your favorite character? I hope you all have an amazing day!
Thank you for reading!
~Nox
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Thank you for reading!
~Nox
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