Book Review: Illuminae

Title: Illuminae
Authors: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Rating: 5 Stars
Dates Read: 12 October - 19 October 2016

Illuminae is unlike any book that I have read before. I am glad that I chose a physical copy of the book rather than a digital copy to appreciate the different "documents" that lay out the story.

The book starts with a planet with an illegal mining operation being attacked by a corporation. Kady Grant and her (ex) boyfriend Evan Mason manage to escape on two different ships and head for safety while one of the corporation's ships follows. The story is told through different documents - e-mails, IM conversations, confidential reports, etc that have been compiled by a hacker - Illuminae. There is even an appearance by a little paper clip guy to explain how these documents were discovered.

The action of the story was fast-paced and exciting. There was a little bit of romance through Kady and Evan's IMs, and even though their relationship is what seems to drive Kady's survival, it actually wasn't a distracting part of the story (as romances usually are for me). There was just enough science and technology to make the story believable. And I absolutely love Kady! She is a serious butt-kicking hacker!

At 599 pages, the book is hefty, but by using the document format it doesn't feel like a long book. The only downside to the format is that some of the pages are black, which means smudgy fingerprints when turning the pages.

Overall I was engrossed in the book and could not wait to see how it ended. I was somewhat surprised at one of the reveals at the end, and as someone who usually figures everything out, I liked that it caught me slightly off guard.