Book 21 of 2021: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
The Book | Briefing Note
spoiler-free
The coolest book concept, story, and audiobook maybe ever! It was also my first immersive reading experience and I was 100% obsessed. It's like if Star Wars and Alien had a baby and then copulated with both The Walking Dead and probably the Terminator and maybe also the Matrix. Seriously. If you take Mother from Alien (or Father from Alien 4), the universe expanse of Star Wars, the murderous zombie mobs of The Walking Dead (or really, any virus-turns-people-into-monsters story), the machine-believing-it-knows-better-than-all-living-creatures in Terminator, and the code from the Matrix, you’d basically have a lot of the elements of Illuminae! And I was completely here for all of those things! It was also SO STRANGE reading about a virus outbreak and quarantine protocols... but in space... circa 2015. Can we say premonition? It hit a little close to home in that regard! And listen. Ezra is the cutest and the banter between him and James, especially about Kady, is *chefs kiss*. AIDAN is also terrifying… yet not? Um, what. And Kady is so badass! I want to be her.
Illuminae is the first book in the YA space opera fantasy series, The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. It’s a fun and epic YA sci-fi novel set in space with a gang of badass, lovable, and snarky characters. It has everything I love in a story and more! AND THE BOOK CONCEPT. Talk about uniqueness and creativity. When I first picked it up, I was nervous about how easily I could get into the story just based on how the book was laid out. But once I was really into it - seriously no issues and I loved it all the more! I laughed out loud, gasped, sat on the edge of my seat the entire time, and definitely got my heartstrings broken and then repaired… It was absolutely an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least! I also read this book immersively where I alternated between reading the physical copy for several chapters and then switched to the audiobook. It was yet another unique experience for my 21st read of the year! And to celebrate, I thought I’d recap 21 things I loved about Illuminae. And yes, before you ask, I had zero trouble coming up with 21 things 😅
21 Things I Loved About Illuminae | Prepared by Analyst ID 7213-0087-DN
in no particular order and somewhat spoiler-free, but if you like going into a book completely blind, turn back now!
1. The Book Concept
The artistry and creativity are really beyond words. I’ve never read a book like this. Action scenes are made visual through words on a page and then to hear it played out on the audiobook is just REALLY, REALLY COOL. Every page is literally a work of art.
2. The Virus-Turns-People-Into-Monsters Trope
Yes, that’s IN HERE. And we’re in space. On spaceships. And I was so excited about it 😅 I have a very weird obsession with this trope. DON’T LOOK AT ME, okay?! Ha 👀
3. Ez & Kades
Ezra may just be the sweetest boy in town or rather outer space. He is SO CUTE with Kady. I adore him. The keyboard face mail was by far my favorite moment with him, and also this quote! Heartstrings = broken. Kady is also pretty badass with her pink hair and coding skills, oh and you know, saving the galaxy and all that.
“You deserve every star in the galaxy laid out at your feet and a thousand diamonds in your hair. You deserve someone who’ll run with you as far and as fast as you want to. Holding your hand, not holding you back.”
4. The Snarky Banter Everywhere
Wit, snark, banter - you name it, it has it. For a YA book, it’s surprisingly (in the best way) racy and very, very cheeky. I LOVED IT. I was constantly laughing out loud and being shocked by what I’d just read. It was amazing!
5. The Typography
A lot of character interaction is done digitally through emails or instant message systems, so it was fun to have that virtual banter along with scream-typing and actual typos. Oh, and the censoring of all the curse words. So awesome! Because we can’t use swear words in YA books, but murder, mayhem, GD, and innuendos are totallyyyyyyyyyy fine. Lol. But really, the uniqueness with which words were used to artfully show action or large-scale battle scenes was incredibly noteworthy, too.
6. The Diversity of Characters
I really love when authors put forth the effort to have a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, and when you can tell! From the main squad all the way down to the somewhat side characters and thousands of others affected by the craziness of this story. There was diversity ev-er-y-where.
7. The Audiobook
OMG, if I were you I would NOT skip the audiobook! It really brings the story even more to life. The sound effects, casting, and overall compilation of the story in audio form was just exquisite.
8. The Keyboard Face Mail & Other Art Creations With Words
I think you’ll get this if you’ve read it 😂 I laughed SO HARD at that part and my heartstrings again… just broken! By far some of the coolest ways to use words ever.
9. Quarantine Vibes
Not sure if this truly counts as something I love about the book, ha, but it was super and strangely relatable circa 2015.
10. All The Sci-Fi Movie Vibes!
Can you guess the movies based on these quotes?! These are honestly some of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies, so to get those vibes in Illuminae, I was just in heaven the whole time.
“May the force be with you.”
“This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off”
“I’ll be back.”
“Ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or dreaming?”
From Star Wars To Alien To The Terminator, and The Matrix… oh, and throw in some of The Walking Dead… and you’ve got LOTS of the elements that make up Illuminae. IT WAS AMAZING.
11. Reading Immersively
So Illuminae was actually my first audiobook EVER! And I actually tried immersive reading. So, I alternated between reading the physical book for a while and then I’d listen to the audio for what I’d just read. With the way the book is put together, the story truly jumps out at you on the page when you’re reading the physical copy, but the audio really brings it to another level of life. I would not skip giving this technique a try! It was an amazing reading experience. There’s a whole cast of diverse narrators who are truly very talented. It made me REALLY want to see this story brought to life on screen, in TV series format. Maybe one day… fingers crossed!!
12. The Briefing Notes & < ERROR>s
The robotic “briefing note” voice with glitchy sound effects on the audiobook, the small note with a paperclip at the top of the page in the physical copy, and ADIAN’s shakey <error> messages will forever be iconic traits of this book and series!
13. The Plot Twist Fake-Outs
Just when you think you know what happened and your heart’s been ripped out… PLOT TWIST, JUST KIDDING, DO NOT PASS GO. Lol. This book keeps you on your toes for sure.
14. The Space Opera Epicness
This was the space opera I didn’t know I was looking for. After having tried reading the Red Rising series and it sort of falling flat for me, I was SO BUMMED. But Illuminae was exactly what I needed! I also kind of enjoyed the space and coding jargon - strangely enough - even though I really didn’t know what I was looking at most of the time, ha. These are two things that are not really my thing at all, but I loved being immersed in all the technical stuff of the world.
15. The “Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network”
aka AIDAN. He’s murderous and well, robotic, and lives in cyberspace so you can imagine that made things interesting. Combine Father from Alien 4 with the Terminator’s core directive and there’s AIDAN.
16. Accompanying Book Playlists
So many good songs peeps! This is the one I found on Spotify while I was reading Illuminae.
And these were the songs Amie and Jay picked for the soundtrack (see Q&A at the end of Illuminae!).
From Amie (there is some cursing involved)
“Madness” by Muse - Live at Rome Olympic Stadium (For Kades & Ez)
“You Told The Drunks I Knew Karate” by Zoey Van Goey (For Ezra with Kady before the book starts)
“Closer” by Joshua Radin (a mood thingggg)
“Starlight” by Muse (the epicness)
From Jay (his favorite warning about the music he likes: it will frighten your children):
“Bleed” by Meshuggah (AIDAN inspo)
“Lovesong” by The Cure (Ez & Kaaaades)
“Lateralus” by Tool (inspired the title)
“Horizons” by Parkway Drive (more AIDAN)
“Hospital for Souls” by Bring Me The Horizon (Kady’s counseling scenes)
17. Making Battle & Space Scenes Visually Epic Through Words
This probably makes no sense, but I kind of touched on it earlier with the general typography of the book. I just loved the uniqueness with which words were used to artfully show action or large-scale battle scenes. It was incredibly noteworthy for me. Big bold fonts, short outbursts, and exclamations, all jammed together perfectly vertical and horizontal on the page backdropped by the blackness of the galaxy and the stars shining within. Sentences swirling around the page as single fighters flew through space. SO. FREAKING. COOL.
18. The Author’s Acknowledgments
So sweet and epically hilarious. These two authors are just the best.
19. Countdowns & Tolls & Percentages
All of these are 100% accurate and I’m so impressed by this! It also helped to remind me how much these lovable and epic characters were truly against the clock with regard to SO MANY things happening in the story! It helped to keep the big picture at the forefront of our minds throughout the entirety of the book. Because, honestly, it was so easy to get lost in every page being art and also just the banter and epic hilarity of all the things going on amongst our favorite characters!
20. Guessing The Censored Curse Words
This was an exceptionally fun game to play while reading. I always seemed to begin with a word that rhymes with duck and I’d go down in curse word scale from there, ha! Sometimes I was also trying to guess based on the length of the black out lol or just what (I thought) flowed the best with what was being said. The audiobook also helps a bit in this regard. While the words are still bleeped out, you can get a better sense of what’s being said (if that’s something you want to know 😅).
21. When The Title Makes An Appearance Inside The Book Pages
I love, love, love when you finally start getting the sense of how the book title works within the book’s pages and also when it’s almost clearly spelled out for you! It always feels like a lightbulb moment and it’s just the best. And by the end of Illuminae, this happens!
End of File, Data Complete
So what did you think of this list?! Were there things that you loved about this book that I missed or didn’t include? Tell me all the things!
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I’m Leah. Cozy connoisseur and bountiful book buyer. I have a minor obsession with getting lost in the pages of a good book, guzzling coffee, and thriving at home. Yoga pants, wine, and essential oils are also my jam. I'm truly just a homebody at heart with a knack for content creation, flatlays & cozy shots. This is my creative space.
