CBR16 Book 64: "Obsidio" by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Page count: 615 pages

Audio book length: 13 hrs 1 min

Rating: 5 stars

CBR16 Sweet Books: Binge

CBR16 Bingo: Celestial (set in space. I'm sure the characters observe lots of stars on their epic journeys through space)

Spoiler warning: this is the third and final book in the Illuminae Files. A lot of stuff happened in the previous two novels, and it will be impossible to review this book without referring to some significant plot points. Additionally, I don't see how this book would be a satisfying reading experience taken out of context. So if you aren't up to date, and have finished Illuminae and Gemina, skip this review until you can return unspoiled. Or you know, read it and get minor plot spoilers. It's your life, you do you.

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Previously in these books. The evil BeiTech corporation attacked an illegal mining colony on a small ice planet called Kerenza. They also deployed some scary biological weapons with disastrous results. Only very few of the refugees who originally escaped Kerenza in various rescue ships are still alive, now doing their best to stay alive on the Hypatia. They were trying to get to the wormhole at Heimdall station, but BeiTech's evil goons arrived before them and did their best to wipe out everyone there as well, trying to cover the tracks of their evil actions. Now the Heimdall space station is no more, the wormhole is useless and the survivors from Heimdall station need to join forces to survive. Luckily, the leader of the BeiTech assassination squad had a pretty cool spaceship that they now have access to, but it wasn't really designed to hold and transport several thousand passengers.

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Our intrepid YA heroes include Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik, not to mention Nik's genius cousin Ella. Despite all the amazing feats these young people have managed to perform, a lot of the older crew members now distrust and underestimate them, which leads to conflict and frustration. They discover that there are still people alive on Kerenza and that BeiTech hasn't been able to mine enough fuel to leave the place yet, but the clock is ticking, and despite the reluctant mining crew's many attempts at sabotage and delay, soon the evil corporate overlords will have what they need to leave for good, and whatever survivors are still on Kerenza will be disposed of.

On Kerenza, we are introduced to two new young rebels to cheer for, even though Rhys is working as an engineer for BeiTech and is now forced to work with the mercenary soldiers on the planet itself. He is shocked to reunite with his old girlfriend, Asha, who also happens to be Kady Grant's cousin. After a very passionate love affair a few years back, where both of them made some questionable decisions and got involved with some unsavoury people, Asha and Rhys were forced apart. Rhys was enrolled in a military academy, and Asha was sent to live with her relatives on Kerenza. While actually a pharmacy trainee, she now works as a nurse and pathologist at the only med centre left on Kerenza, and she is also a member of the resistance trying to sabotage BeiTech's remaining operations as much as possible. She can't believe that the man she loved is now part of the evil organization who is oppressing her friends and neighbours, but obviously, there is more to the story that she knows - and it will surprise no one that Rhys isn't actually a villain.

So we have the desperate people trying to stay alive on Kerenza, and the harried survivors returning through space from Heimdall station, on a ship that may not have enough resources to get everyone safely there in time. It's clear that these brave young people have to outsmart BeiTech once and for all, and to do that, they also need to make sure that all the atrocities are documented. So in this book, we finally find out how a lot of the material we've been reading for the past two books was assembled, and we discover the identity of the snarky young tech who has been narrating all of the video files throughout.

This is the first of the books I read partially in audiobook, after recommendations from among others, my friend cheerbrarian (she also has a podcast). I don't know if I would have liked the audiobooks from the start, knowing how many different types of text are collected in the novels, but having read the other two in paperback, having this as an audiobook for when I was out and about was great. I have also gotten the audios of the previous two and can see myself using them when I want to reread in the future.

This YA series is unlike anything I've ever read before and it made me feel pretty much all the feels at some point or another. I've been scared, grossed out, I have laughed and cried. Despite all of these events clearly being told after the fact at a tribunal for the head of BeiTech industries, so it's obvious that our band of heroes will be OK in the end, I was still on the edge of my seat and scared that one or more of them wouldn't make it. It's also important to note that while our protagonists survive, these books have death counts in the multiple thousands. So many innocent (and not so innocent) people die, in all sorts of horrible and/or tragic ways, and yet you feel elated and happy at the conclusion of the trilogy, because a little core of found family is safe and well, despite everything. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 47: "Gemina" by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Page count: 672 pages

Rating: 5 stars

CBR16 Sweet Books: Binge

Nowhere Book Bingo: A YA novel

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Epistolary romance

CBR16 Bingo: Part 1 and Part 2 (the book has more than 600 pages)

This is the second book in a series, and starting with this one means a lot of stuff won't make much sense. I also don't think it's possible for me to review this book without spoiling the previous one, so if you're not up to date, start with Illuminae.

After the disastrous events, first on the mining colony of Kerenza, and then on the space fleet evacuating survivors, the only remaining ship, Hypatia, is on its way to Jump Station Heimdall, hoping for aid. BeiTech, the organisation which launched the attack on Kerenza and utilised the bioweapon which led to a plague, cannot risk word getting out about their heinous deed and therefore need to make sure that they eradicate the Hypatia. To do so, they will need to use the jump station's wormhole, and later make sure that there are no survivors on Heimdall left to reveal the truth.

Entirely unaware of BeiTech's sinister goals are two teenagers aboard the Jump Station, Hanna Donnelly and Niklas "Nik" Malikov. Hanna is the station captain's beloved and pampered daughter, Nik is part of the Malikov crime family, and Hanna's occasional drug dealer. There's clearly an attraction between them, but Hanna is in a relationship with the dashing Jackson Merrick, one of her father's officers, and consequently doesn't really have time for more than some light flirtation with Nik. Life onboard a space station surrounding a wormhole obviously isn't very exciting for either of them, but Hanna tries to pass the time by studying, parties and working out, while Nik reluctantly assists with his family's business.

Both of their lives are irrevocably changed once an elite team of BeiTech mercenaries arrive, and very rapidly take control of the station. The mercenaries start by wiping out the people who helped their ship get onboard (Nik's family) and Nik only survives because he's on his way to deliver party drugs to Hanna. Thankfully, while she's annoyed that Nik is late for their deal, Hanna is also spared from seeing her father shot in the head when the mercenaries take control of the majority of the station. Now, Hanna might seem like nothing but an airheaded, fashion-obsessed teen, but being the daughter of a military commander with a keen interest in history, she's picked up a lot of useful knowledge about strategy, tactics and how to be stealthy. Nik, meanwhile, has only one family member left alive and is determined to avenge the Malikov crew in any way he can deal hurt to the mercenaries. Unfortunately, in all the sudden danger, both Nik and his computer genious cousin Ella completely forget about the very dangerous alien parasites hatching in a secluded part of the station (long story, the drugs the Malikovs sell are derived from some truly scary creatures, who should not be left unattended and allowed to crawl through space station vents and the like). Of course, the BeiTech baddies don't know about them either.

The BeiTech kill squad need to take control of the wormhole so that a second kill team can be sent through to deal with the Hypatia. They were not expecting to be foiled by a few teenagers and a few officers having sealed themselves on the bridge of the space station. Can Hanna, Nik, and Ella with a few ragtag allies foil their enemies, warn the Hypatia, save the remaining crew and thwart BeiTech's evil schemes? (This is book 2 of 3, what do you think?)

Fans of Ezra and Kady (her dad is the chief of security on Heimdall), not to mention AIDAN, will be pleased to know that in the latter half of the book, they do appear, although they are not the focus of this story, that would be Hanna and Nik. While Kady and Ezra had a past, and many months of separation with only computer chats to make the heart grow fonder, Hanna and Nik's attraction to one another is basically put to a boil in an insanely tense and demanding situation, where they are fighting for survival, grieving loved ones and trying to find a way to help complete strangers aboard the Hypatia. 

Hanna is unbelievably badass, and Nik may seem like he's got a dangerous and ruthless past but is really just a big, tattooed cinnamon roll (who will still do what is necessary if his or others' lives are in danger, he just needs more time to process it than Hanna). Ella is more of a secondary character, but the girl is fierce, especially since she's not really able to move around except via her computer. I love all of them and am so glad that Kaufman and Kristoff had the surviving characters from Illuminae take a backseat so readers could get to know these guys as well.

I am also grateful that while the lanima (super creepy alien parasites) are scary and unpleasant, any scene involving them (including the early ones where it's explained how they incubate) was a pale shadow of all the horror with the virus rage zombies of the previous book. I really liked how the book includes the photos and call signs of all the BeiTech mercenaries, and how as the book proceeds, more and more pictures are just crossed out (they may be teenagers, but Hanna, Nik and Ella are NOT messing around). 

Having now read two of these books, I have absolutely no idea what the authors are going to come up with next, but I'm hopeful that eventually the BeiTech corporation will be brought to justice for all the horrible things it has done. Having now heard so many cool things about the audiobooks, I may do the third and final book partly in audio.

Judging a book by its cover: While the first book was all warm colours, red and orange, this one is all cold, with a cloud of something (dust? smoke?) blue over a black background. I think this entire series has a very well-done cover design, with the covers of the trilogy complementing each other so well. 

CBR16 Book 14: "Illuminae" by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Page count: 602 pages

Rating: 5 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: An epistolary novel

CBR16 Sweet Books: Binge (I have already bought the next two books in the series in paperback, so I can read all of them as soon as possible.)

Official book description:

Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she'd ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what's really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.

Kady is a talented hacker and is fully aware that the evacuated passengers aren't being told much of anything. She is determined to find out the truth of what is going on, especially after the AI of the leading evacuation ship, AIDAN, blows one of the other two up unexpectedly. Naturally, the remaining ship's crew are rather nervous about the incident being repeated and the AI needs to be shut down until they can figure out why it acted so erratically. Ezra is recruited as a fighter pilot, working to defend the evacuation fleet, not exactly a job without significant risks.

As Kady becomes more and more isolated, and the losses really start affecting her, her illegal communication with Ezra becomes one of the things that keep her going. Neither of them has anyone else significant left in their lives, and it becomes clear that the reasons why Kady dumped Ezra in the first place become very insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and now they would just like to be reunited, before they quite possibly die. 

As the back of the book says, the novel is "Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more". I am very glad I got the paperback from the library, I'm genuinely not sure how in the world this book would work in audio, and I don't think I would have found it as engrossing a read on an e-reader screen. There were sections where I literally had to keep turning the book sideways or on its head to be able to read everything. It's a very interesting take on the epistolary format. 

I can absolutely see why this book wouldn't be a 5-star read for some people. It was a bit slow to catch my interest in the beginning, but since it's not divided into chapters like a traditional book, but interview transcripts, memos, chat logs, and the like, it's very easy to get tempted to read just a little bit more, since each individual section is so short. Once things really started escalating, I had trouble putting the book down. I stayed up until far too late o'clock on a work night just to finish it (and had to actually peek at the ending about halfway through the book because all the tension was going to kill me if I didn't know how it all turned out). So to me, this was a five-star read, even though some of the characterisation probably could have been deeper, and parts of the book were pure horror, and really upsettingly graphic when it came to the violence perpetrated by those afflicted with the virus. 

I have now bought this book for my keeper shelf, along with the two sequels, if they're even half as gripping as this one, I want physical copies of them for my very own. Also, having read the first one in a physical format, I'm not even sure it would be possible to get all the necessary information if you read them as an e-book or listened to it in audio. 

Judging a book by its cover: The reds and oranges are very eye-catching and I'm not entirely sure what the cover is supposed to show, but I think it might be a firestorm, suggesting either the original attack on Kady and Ezra's home world or the subsequent explosion of one of the evacuation ships. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read