Aurora Rising
by Amie Kaufman and Jay KristoffPublished: Knopf, 2019
Pages: 473
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Amazon, Goodreads
I was born with the taste of blood in my mouth. I was born with my hands in my fist. I was born for war.
About the book
The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…
A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
Review
I was hoping Aurora Rising would be like the Illuminae Files, creative, thrilling and hard to turn away from; however, it didn’t quite make it.
What’s it about?
At Aurora Academy, star pupil Tyler Jones is stuck with a ragtag crew and a girl woken up after being cryogenically frozen for 200 some years. He soon learns that the very girl he saved may be the catalyst that starts a war.
I’ll focus on the positive first. The characters were very distinctive and interesting. I really liked the storyline. Aurora Rising WAS similar to the Illuminae Files as they are both science fiction novels set way in the future and aboard spaceships. I also have to admit that the ending was exciting.
As for the negative, Auri really bothered me at the beginning. I mean, this girl wakes up after 200 years to discover her family is all dead and all she focuses on is how hot she thinks Tyler is. Auri seemed shallow, insubstantial and just really freaking annoying.
Switching between multiple perspectives from first person was confusing for me. Though the characters had striking personalities, they didn’t have distinctive voices. This could have been avoided by writing in third person.
Overall, Aurora Rising was enjoyable even though I had a few issues with it. I feel it’s worth a read for those who like YA science fiction.
RATING (out of five puppies)
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