The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Aurora Rising

Series: Aurora Cycle #1

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Found Family, Adventure

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

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. – summary from Goodreads

Aurora Rising was an absolutely incredible start to an action-packed space adventure trilogy!

This book was absolutely incredible! It had been way too long since I have read a sci-fi book, and this was the perfect introduction back into this amazing genre!

I will start with this: this book is really focused on setting up the story. There were times it was a little hard to get into because of this. Also, it has seven character’s perspectives. So, there was a lot of information. And this is just a big story in general. For part of the story I was wondering why everything was happening. It took a while for it all to snap into place, but once it did it was even better. Also, even the parts where I was left wondering what was happening, I was still glued to the page.

The storyline itself was amazing! It is a space adventure, with our main characters being members of a military. There are aliens, new planets, and unique space travel. I haven’t read anything like this in a long time, and I forgot how much fun it was.

I loved the military components of the story. It was really unique and was an interesting way to tell this story. The different military tracks and their names were very unique and the way the world (or our characters’ world) was built around this was intriguing. There were the Alphas, Aces, Faces, Tanks, Gearheads, and Brains. I loved how everything was divided and thought out. While our characters are teenagers, they fit into their roles while being professional and still being kids.

We got seven characters perspectives! We got the least of Zila, and I hope that changes in the future. I actually really liked the small snippets we got from her- each of her chapters were no more than a page and a half long, but I really did enjoy them. Honestly, I enjoyed all the characters perspectives. I especially liked Kal’s and Finian’s. Both of these characters are alien species. Kal is our brooding character, who has quite a lot going on under the surface. He had some of the best emotional chapters. Finian is just one of the best characters ever. He is the classic funny guy, but he had more to him, and I loved those sides of himself. Usually there is one character who I like less than the others, but I loved all of the characters.

All of the characters are main characters, but Aurora is technically the “main” character. I’m curious about Aurora. I liked her a lot, and her whole story is very intriguing. However, she is the girl out of time. She is from two hundred years in the past. She didn’t quite belong in this time period and was grieving everything that had happened to her. On top of that, she was developing powers. Again, the story switches perspective every chapter, so the majority of the book is told from the perspective of people who had been in the time period their entire lives. I think this made it a little hard for me to get to know Aurora on a deeper level. I still quite enjoyed her though and look forward to seeing where her story goes.

The characters also weren’t supposed to work together. I truly love how this is a band of misfits that comes together to make a team. One of my favorite storylines in books, and I loved how it was done here.

Also, I know the summary says the scientist is a sociopath. They are not. They are quirky and struggle with people skills, but they are not a sociopath.

The ending was a genuine shock. It took a bit to get to this part, and when it did, I was enthralled and shocked. I did not see that coming and the true antagonist is genuinely scary. There is also a sad loss at the end of the book, which really drives home the threat the antagonist plays.

I will never not love a good heist or scheme. Despite the fact this is a more serious book, it did have me laughing multiple times, and it had some fun adventures. Though these adventures were serious and held dire consequences, they were also fun to read, and reminded me, very faintly, of the Six of Crows heists.

Aurora Rising is a thrilling beginning to the beginning of a YA sci-fi, with found family, military, space adventures, and unique characters!

Quotes:

“Go with dignity. You are more than this.“

“There is no love in violence.”

“‘The only places I fit are the places inside my head. It is as you said, sir. I do not understand people. But I believe of all the places I have not fit, I fit here a little better.”

“We the Legion. We the light. Burning bright against the night.”