Review: Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Title: Aurora Rising Series: The Aurora Cycle #1 Written by: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Published: May 7, 2019 by Delacorte Press (Random House) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: From the internationally bestselling authors of THE ILLUMINAE FILES comes an epic new science fiction adventure.  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.  They're not the heroes we deserve. They're just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

Wow! This book was fantastic. I mean, I am not surprised because both Amie and Jay are fantastic science fiction writers and I have loved all their books (both together and apart).

 The squad was completely amazing. My favorites were probably Scarlett and Fin. Scarlett gave me some amazing Nina Zenik vibes, Nina is space kicking ass and being fabulous. Fin was the comic relief for sure but he also is a big old softie. But honestly, every character was fantastic and likable. I didn’t even mind the multiple perspectives because I enjoyed each character so much. Although, I listened to the audiobook which definitely helped with that. Each character had a different narrator, including some of my favorites, which I enjoyed.

The world was also really fantastic. It’s a complex and engaging science fiction world with a deep history that I think we are only just beginning to scratch the surface on. This is one of those books where when it was all over I’m theory crafting about what it all means and what the big reveals are going to be for the next book. Honestly, that usually only happens in a fantasy so the fact that it is happening in a science fiction says something.

My favorite thing however was the plot. One of the best things is that it has classic space opera vibes but goes even deeper than that. Because you guys... this is a heist novel. That’s right... SPACE HEIST! I’m a huge fan of heist novels. The world definitely needs more of them. But they have to be done right. They need to hit the right emotional notes, the reveals need to be slow and steady, and there needs to be big surprises. This book did all of that. It was an emotional roller coaster full of surprises and I loved every minute of it.

 I really needed a book like this right now. I have been going through a pretty serious reading and blogging slump and this book pulled me out of it I think. It might be the catalyst to get me going again. But even if it isn’t, it was a fantastic read and an a great start to what I am sure will be an amazing new series.

I give Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 9.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. I definitely recommend this book. I read a fair amount of YA science fiction and these two are masters of the genre. If you like science fiction or want something with found family or unlikely teams definitely check this one out.

Have you read Aurora Rising? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!