First off I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this ARC. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition. While the copy was provided for free, all opinions are honest and my own.

Aurora Rising is the brand new space trilogy from the renowned Illuminae duo. It follows a new cast in a new world, a band of misfits put together on the same squad all led by Aurora Academy’s best student. It involves hidden government secrets, found family, and lots and lots of aliens.

I want to preface this review by noting very explicitly that I was not a fan at all of this book. While I absolutely adored Illuminae and Kristoff’s other works, this book felt like a huge miss for me. I know I will probably get a lot of hate for this, but I want everyone to know that I love Jay and Amie fiercely, and no one is more disappointed in my opinion of this book than me. I also have very valid and real reasons for my dislike, I’m not just hating on a hyped book for attention. With all that out of the way, if reading this review will make you hate me or irrationally angry, just do yourself a favor and click off of it now. (I also won’t go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, as this book is not yet out!)

Aurora Rising did not feel new and unique at all. This was due to the way the story itself was constructed as well as the writing style and personalities chosen for the characters. All of this felt old and uninspired, from the tropey characters to ‘normal’ writing style of the book. And I get that comparing authors’ books to their older ones isn’t always fair, but the comparisons with Illuminae are ones I can’t avoid here. Illuminae, for example, had a fresh and interesting writing style, even if you take away the interesting file aspects. The character’s voices all felt unique and real. Aurora Rising had seven characters that all sounded the same with very slight variations written in a style that most YA books nowadays have, a mainly factual way of storytelling with a lot of sarcasm or snark mixed in. Additionally, while this is not something I noticed myself, many of the people pointed out the extreme plot similarities with a popular tv show. I haven’t watched this show myself and therefore this did not really affect my own reading, but I feel this is just another part of the book that will make it feel unoriginal to a lot of other readers.

Throughout reading, I kept my distance from Aurora Rising, from its stories and characters. I was never truly drawn in, never made to care about the world, plot, characters, etc. When characters were hurt, I kept on reading as if nothing happened. When shocking revelations were made, I blinked twice and kept on going. Illuminae had me emotionally shutting my book, gasping out loud at the twists and turns, flipping the pages manically to find out what would happen next. There is a divide between the emotions these two books made me feel, and while the hype and hope I had for this book made the fall hurt even more, it does not erase that Aurora Rising felt like any ordinary YA novel.

Lastly, one of the most memorable parts of Illuminae are all the shocking, dark and honest moments of the book (most notably ones dealing with AIDAN). Aurora Rising attempts to mimic this, but fails horribly. There are many portions of the book that I know are meant to make me feel things, either deep and unending sorrow or utter fear. This book tried to do that using needless gore, repulsing me rather than shocking me. Only the final sequences seem to emulate the emotion Illuminae created in me, but even that was only a whisper as by then I had given up on the book.

I’m not going to tell you all to cancel your preorders (though that’s a whole new can of worms I’d really rather not get into here), and I’m not going to tell you to lower your high hopes. There are things in this book that a lot of readers may love, a story here that may somehow turn into something in later sequels. But if there is one thing I want potential readers to take away from this review, it’s that Aurora Rising is no Illuminae .