aurora rising is a sci fi book cowritten by jay kristoff and amie kaufman. sci fi isn’t usually a go to genre of mine. i perhaps read one or two books a year in the genre, a handful of horror, and firmly a lot of fantasy. however, i was really impressed with aurora rising and it certainly helped me get out of the reading slump i’ve been feeling lately.
aurora rising is told from the perspective of several characters throughout the course of the story. they each have a vital role within the squad and a valid input into what is going on so it’s hard to say who the main protagonist is. usually i struggle when books flip perspectives but as this pretty much keeps within the same timeline, bar a little back story, it’s really easy to follow and keep up with. aurora rising is incredibly well written and flows seemlessly from character to character. this is impressive for a collaboration piece. i can’t help but think the two authors just work amazingly well together.
the book is really fast paced which i loved but nothing feels out of place. everything is explained properly and appropriately. i loved the factfiles throughout the book too as a little addition, i felt they worked really well. you get a lot of insight into the world around you depending on what character you play. having the alien races in the book with customs and cultural differences showed a different inner dialogue when reading from that perspective so you learned more about the character.
i’ve also found it really enjoyable to readalong with the authors and that’s what inspired me to get the book. it’s so great hearing about them talking about the book (over on instagram) and sharing a bit more insight into the characters. it made me feel a bit more immersed in the story having some behind the scenes snippets too.
affiliate link to purchase aurora rising
there are lots of great characters in the book but i think my two favourite are finian and zila. zila i’d love to know why she is the way she is. she’s the brains in the squad and is the go to for facts, medical and scientific knowledge. she’s got a good hand with her weapon too. her chapters are really short and few and far between but her lines are brilliant. i can’t help but feel there’s going to be some sadness to this back story. fin is a great character and you already know his back story at the start of the book when he’s introduced. his interactions with scarlett are really moving and reading these from his perspective just shows what it means to him.
the rest of the squad are great too. i really like auri, she’s interesting and you can feel her grief throughout the book at what has happened but she kind of keeps on keeping on. i think the dynamics of all the characters make a really good team and they go through a lot in this book, it requires a good deal of character to be able to survive it all.
the sequel, aurora burning, will be available 5th may. i have an illumicrate special edition preordered which looks amazing and i can’t wait to jump back in and see what happens next. i purchased the first book aurora rising on kindle when it was on offer.
affiliate link for aurora burning
One of my goals for 2020 is to read 52 books or around one a week. Some might be new, some are ones I’ve had for a while or been meaning to read, some I haven’t quite finished yet and some will be recommendations from others. You can see all the books I’ve read so far on my Good Reads 2020 Reading Challenge.
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