Rating: 2 out of 5
Genre: YA, Scifi / Fantasy,
People who should read this: If you love intergalactic space travel, enemies to friends, insta-romance, large teams.
“Just because you're not saying it doesn't mean you're not thinking it.”
Wow is this quote going to summarize today’s blog - I’m thinking all the things I’m not saying.
I wanted to like this book . I tried and tried, willing every fiber in my body to change its mind. I’d put the book down and hope that I’d pick it up later in a mood that found the one liners interesting, the internal monologues compelling, and the character’s voices different. Nope. Each time I’d dread reading it instead.
What can I say? Kristoff and Kaufman killed it with the Illuminae series but Aurora Rising felt like the debut book that would never have gotten published.
First things first, let me list the things I loved about the book. Here we go…
Did you get that? Is your browser not showing the zero things I wrote. Great… I thought magic would conjure up at least one good comment. Oh wait! I just thought of one - it was set in space.
The beginning started out decently well. Either that or I wasn’t convinced yet that it would go so poorly. Kaufman and Kristoff threw the readers right into the mix. They made it clear what was at stake and essentially what was about to go down. They didn’t waste time with a long drawn out intro to lay the stage of their world. It was the same way with Illuminae and might just be their MO. I won’t say that it’s bad, it’s about the only decent part.
What I wasn’t a fan of, was that every single character was actually very good at what they did, they just all had inflated issues that made them the last people to be picked in the draft. And this only accounts for half the crew. The other half were the top recruits and just played loyal, sticking with their Alpha that hadn’t even make it back in time for the draft. Hmmmmmmm…. Somehow this doesn’t match up with the line used to hype the book.
“They’re not the heros we wanted They’re just the ones we could find.”
I’m sorry Kristoff. I hate saying all of this. You’re still my idol and writing goal.
Now on to the worst parts of the book. You might need to close your eyes or have some chocolate nearby. I’ve barely accepted the truth myself. *bites into a piece of sea salt and 70% dark chocolate*
Nothing, and I mean nothing, was original in the story. It was one massive rip-off mostly from Firefly. I won’t list the reasons why since that will give the story away. Or I might have already. Oh well… don’t waste your time. If it wasn’t a rip-off from Firefly, then it was ripped-off from Six of Crows. Not that… then The Happening. I think you have a clear idea of what I mean now. I’m down for some inspiration, some retellings, but not an entire story, down to the characters and all, taken from another story. Be original people. I know these two geniuses had it in them.
I think it comes down to timing. Kristoff and Kaufman have too much on their plates and they rushed to get this book out while the presses were still hot with Obsidio. Instead of taking their time and creating another knock out series that would obtain them legit followers, they rode the wave of notoriety. And hey, it looks like it’s paid off since they already have a movie deal for Aurora Rising. (or maybe it’s a TV deal…)
All of the characters were poorly developed with the same tone of voice. I couldn’t tell them apart. It also felt like Kaufman and Kristoff didn’t trust us to remember information about the characters and decided to repeat the same information over and over. Like this one specific scene was repeated over and over and over to set up the character dynamics. Not something else from all the other years that the characters were together. I ended up not caring because I wasn’t given enough to care about. No tears were shed in the reading of this book.
And when the authors had a chance to be forward thinking and use their imaginations, they took the easy route and gave some lame excuses as to why.
Don’t even get my started on the black hole… * eye roll*
…. the telling vs showing.
If I keep going, this blog will never end. Takeaways - I wouldn't have finished the book if it wasn’t for book club and the tears I shed were for how bad the book was. I still feel some tears coming when I think about it. WHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?????? They had a chance at greatness and they missed the mark by a few solar systems. I won’t be reading the rest of the series… It hurts to type that.
Happy Reading
Love Kait
Reading Challenge: 67/100